Air travel has soared in the past decade, despite global economic turbulence, and there’s still plenty of room for growth, particularly in China and the other emerging Asian powerhouses, according to IATA. From 2005 to 2015, air travel grew more than in any 10-year period since 1975 to 1985, says Brian Pearce, IATA’s chief economist. Air travel typically responds to the health of the global economy, but the past few years have been something of an exception, Pearce says. While there was a dip during the 2008-09 recession, growth in air travel has been strong ever since. Pearce attributes this to a number of factors. The fall in oil prices has been a stimulus, pushing down the cost of travel. There also has been a rise in connections, and there have been “a lot of new entrant airlines in Asia, which have also helped push fares down.” <br/>
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Consumers may remember with dread how long airport security lines were this past spring. The problem got so bad that lawmakers greenlighted a TSA effort to hire more than 700 employees to get things moving at a reasonable pace. While the stagnation eventually subsided, TSA officials are concerned that the long lines may return in October. TSA chief Peter Neffenger stated that the agency may need to make job cuts if Congress isn’t able to come together on a new budget. The cuts would result from a larger govt shutdown that would occur Oct 1, the beginning of the 2017 fiscal year. TSA took big steps in the summer to reverse the bad conditions during the spring. However, Congress’ failure to create a cohesive budget would put the agency back in the position it was in during the spring. <br/>
Airbus Group said it still expects to meet its delivery targets this year, days after engine supplier United Technologies Corp warned it would fall short of plans. “We confirm our 2016 delivery guidance of at least 650 aircraft,” a spokesman for Airbus said Monday. Managing suppliers has become an important challenge for Airbus and rival Boeing as they boost output of some of their most popular jetliners after years of strong demand. Airbus also is running behind in delivering its A350 long-range jet after Zodiac Aerospace fell behind in the production of some components. Airbus uses the Pratt & Whitney engine to power its new A320neo narrow-body. A Jefferies analyst said in a note Monday that the engine situation could affect delivery of about 12 A320neo planes. <br/>
Pratt & Whitney is taking twice as long to build geared turbofan engine fan blades as would be ideal, which is the primary cause of GTF delivery delays, the CE of Pratt’s parent company said. United Technologies Corp president and CE Greg Hayes said UTC subsidiary Pratt will deliver about 150 GTF engines this year instead of 200 as planned, and acknowledged that Pratt will be making payments to airlines as a result of engine delivery delays. Variants of the GTF went into service this year on the Airbus A320neo and the Bombardier CSeries, but both aircraft programs have had to delay deliveries this year and have blamed those delays on issues at Pratt. The GTF has been “a bad news story for Pratt & Whitney financially in the short run,” Hayes said, adding that the GTF is “all about the long term at Pratt.” <br/>
Brazilian airlines are up in arms over a decision by Brazil’s tax authority to list Ireland as a tax haven, which means about E273.7m in new taxes on aircraft leases for carriers struggling to regain profitability. “The impact is brutal,” said Eduardo Sanovicz, head of Brazilian airline association Abear, who will meet Monday with tax authorities in Brasilia to try to reverse the surprise tax decision taken without consulting the airline industry. Sanovicz said 60% of the 520 aircraft flying commercially in Brazil are leased from companies registered in Ireland, where they enjoy favourable tax rules. Companies based there will have to start paying a 25% tax rate on transactions with Brazilian companies. Brazilian airlines are reeling from high jet fuel costs and the drop in demand for air travel, and say they have no room to pass additional taxes along. <br/>
Iran has reduced the number of airplanes it plans to buy from Airbus by 6 amid delays in US regulatory approvals, and may knock 1 plane off a similar deal for more than 100 with Boeing, an Iranian official said. Iran announced plans in January to buy 118 jets worth US$27b at list prices from Airbus but has complained about unexpected delays in receiving US licences, which are needed due to the large number of US-supplied parts. The country’s deputy transport minister stepped up criticism Tuesday of what Iran sees as unfair delays in unblocking the deal, which is part of efforts to rebuild Iran’s elderly fleet that were built into a pact between Tehran and world powers to lift most Western sanctions. The deal to be finalised with Airbus in coming weeks could therefore be for 112 aircraft instead of 118, he said. <br/>