Global air passenger traffic has grown 7% year-over-year in Q1 of 2017, exceeding the long-run average 5.5% traffic growth rate, IATA said in its March Air Passenger Market Analysis. Adjusted for the 2016 leap year, Q1 passenger traffic has increased 8.1% over Q1 2016. “The robust start to 2017 has been supported by a combination of lower yields and airfares [plus] a broad-based upturn in in global economic conditions, which has helped to drive demand for passenger travel,” IATA senior economist David Oxley said. “Air travel has continued to become cheaper relative to the price of other goods and services; the price of air travel has fallen by around 10% in real terms over the past year.” Total market capacity grew 5.5% YOY in Q1, and the total market passenger load factor increased 1.1 point to 80.1%. <br/>
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Rolls-Royce will bid to power a new short-haul jetliner being designed by Boeing as the engine maker seeks to re-enter a market it quit in 2011. Rolls is preparing a pitch to Boeing as the plane manufacturer works on the business case for a so-called middle-of-market plane, CE Warren East said. “The answer is that we are pursuing it,” East said Thursday. “It’s not ‘will we be pursuing it.’ We are pursuing it.” The engine would be available by 2025, when the Boeing jet is slated to enter service, he said. Rolls has been mulling ways of getting back into the market for powering short-haul jets, with the Boeing project presenting it with an opportunity to do so several years before the likely replacement of the existing 737 and Airbus SE A321 single-aisle models. <br/>
US Senators turned on the airline industry Thursday as lawmakers discussed possible tougher oversight, including a passenger bill of rights, in the wake of mounting disquiet over customer service. Senator Richard Blumenthal said he was pursuing a passenger bill that could include punitive damages on airlines for flight delays alongside an array of customer-service guarantees. “I take no pleasure in beating up on the airlines, but in this case it is warranted,” said senator Bill Nelson at a hearing convened by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, following the forcible removal of a passenger from a United Express flight last month. Nelson proceeded to give everything from carriers’ information technology systems to damaged airport wheelchairs a bashing. <br/>
Airlines might not have to pay compensation for flight delays if an aircraft is held up as a result of a bird strike, Europe's top court said Thursday, calling such an event an "extraordinary circumstance". The case was brought to the European Court of Justice after a complaint by Czech passengers who argued they should have been paid compensation under EU rules when their plane was more than 5 hours late because of a bird strike. A4E welcomed the ruling, saying bird strikes were beyond airlines' control, much as weather conditions or ash clouds are. A4E MD Thomas Reynaert also called on the EU council to review EU air passenger rights legislation to make the rules clearer and to clarify the definition of extraordinary circumstances. <br/>