general

China’s domestic aviation fuel consumption rebounded to near pre-COVID levels in September, thanks to a fast recovery in passenger travel and cargo freight, although demand from international flights remained weak, industry sources said. Domestic aviation fuel sales amounted to about 2m tonnes (523,300 barrels per day) last month, the highest since February and slightly below January, said two sources with knowledge of the matter. Domestic flights account for roughly two-thirds of China’s overall consumption of the aviation fuel. The rebound in jet fuel demand has improved Chinese refiners’ margins and enabled them to process more crude. From late October through March, domestic consumption will receive a further lift as China adds more flights to the seasonal winter/spring air traffic planning. Between Oct. 25 and March 27, Chinese airlines will fly 84,634 domestic flights a week, 19.8% more than the year-ago level, while weekly cargo flights will rise nearly 40% to 2,101, the CAAC said last week.<br/>

The suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till November 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday. "However, the international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," the Indian aviation regulator said in a circular. The scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under the bilateral 'air bubble' arrangements with selected countries since July. India has formed air bubble pacts with around 18 countries, including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) circular also mentioned that the suspension does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by it.<br/>

Heathrow airport has been overtaken by Charles de Gaulle in Paris as the busiest in Europe, with passenger numbers down almost 80% and losses of GBP1.5b for the year so far. Charles de Gaulle had 19.3m passengers between January and the end of September, about 300,000 more than Heathrow, according to the London airport’s latest figures.  Heathrow also said it expected significantly fewer passengers this year and next than it had forecast during the summer, after a recovery in global travel failed to materialise. In June, it said it expected 29.2m passengers in total for 2020 and 62.8m in 2021. It has now revised these figures down to 22.6m and 37.1m respectively. In 2019, 81m passengers passed through Heathrow. CE John Holland-Kaye warned on Wednesday after Heathrow published its latest results that Britain was “falling behind” other European countries in reopening its borders and said the government had been too slow to introduce coronavirus testing at airports. “We are just going to be taken to the cleaners by the French and other European countries,” he said. Heathrow has led industry pressure on the government throughout the crisis, and Holland-Kaye has been one of the most outspoken critics of the UK’s response to the pandemic. “There seems to be a blind spot in government that the French do not have” over the economic importance of aviation, he said. “Paris has overtaken Heathrow as Europe’s largest airport for the first time ever, and Frankfurt and Amsterdam are quickly gaining ground,” he added.<br/>

Heathrow CE John Holland-Kaye’s campaigning could be heard over the roar of a jet engine. He has spent six months arguing for more testing and less quarantining to help revive his airport. The government’s response has been to don its ear defenders. On Wednesday, Holland-Kaye tried appealing to national pride instead. Heathrow has been eclipsed as Europe’s busiest airport, he said. More passengers passed through Paris Charles de Gaulle in the first nine months of the year — fail to do more on airport testing and Frankfurt and Amsterdam Schiphol could also catch up, he implied. CDG has been closing in on Heathrow for some time. Capacity constraints have limited the west London airport’s expansion. Passenger numbers at the flagship French airport increased 5% last year to Heathrow’s 15. Holland-Kaye tried pulling at patriotic heartstrings back in February when he warned Heathrow would lose its top spot within two years. The government has ducked pushing on with a third runway regardless. The latest passenger numbers are bald. Charles de Gaulle has had roughly 19.3m passengers so far this year, Heathrow 19m. But Holland-Kaye’s claim that the UK’s poor show on airport testing is to blame for Heathrow’s relative decline is hot air. Heathrow’s passenger numbers are down 69% year-on-year since January; CDG’s 67%. It is hard to conclude differing approaches to testing are what has separated the two when the slumps are that steep. At Frankfurt the fall is sharper still: 70% between January and September. Schiphol is at 68%.  The similarities between the three outweigh their differences. Neither Aéroports de Paris, owner of CDG and Paris Orly, nor Fraport, which operates Frankfurt, are having an easy ride. All have high exposure to business travel and transcontinental routes. No one needs to fret about CDG overtaking Heathrow for now. Both depend on a co-ordinated global testing regime to tempt travellers back for a real recovery. Nonetheless, Heathrow’s global hub status is under threat in the long-term. <br/>

Nine years late and eye-wateringly over budget, the Berlin region's new international airport will finally open on Saturday -- in the middle of a global pandemic that has crippled air travel. "We are ready for take-off!" insists the management team at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), set to replace the German capital's ageing Tegel and Schoenefeld airports. But the mood is one of relief rather than celebration. Ever since construction began on BER in 2006, the project has been dogged by one failure after another, becoming a financial black hole and a national laughing stock -- not exactly an example of German efficiency. The airport, located in the south-east of the capital, was originally due to open in 2011. Now it is opening its doors in the middle of the worst crisis the aviation industry has ever seen, as Covid-19 restrictions continue to suffocate air travel. And as if that were not enough, there's also the climate crisis: pressure group Extinction Rebellion is planning acts of "civil disobedience" on the opening day to protest against the impact of aviation on global warming. Against that backdrop, "We will simply open, we will not have a party," according to Engelbert Luetke Daldrup, president of the airport's management company. Lufthansa and EasyJet will be the first two airlines to touch down on the tarmac of what will be Germany's third-largest airport, after Frankfurt and Munich. A few days before the opening, around 200 staff were busy disinfecting the 360,000-square-metre Terminal 1. Some 100 alcoholic hand gel dispensers have been installed and robot vacuum cleaners hum over the floors. The airport has been designed to welcome 27m passengers a year, but in November it will see only 20% of usual air traffic thanks to the pandemic. Terminal 2 won't open until spring 2021. Story has more.<br/>

Boeing is almost doubling its planned job cuts as the coronavirus pandemic and prolonged grounding of the 737 Max jet dim prospects for a financial recovery next year. With the outlook for aircraft sales still uncertain, executives abandoned a forecast that Boeing would stop burning cash next year and said they would eliminate an additional 7,000 jobs. That will bring the expected loss from layoffs, retirements and attrition to 30,000 people by the end of 2021 -- or 19% of the pre-pandemic workforce. Boeing announced a 10% cut earlier this year. The planemaker is “taking tough but necessary action to adapt to the new market reality and transform our business to be sharper and more resilient for the long term,” CEO Dave Calhoun told analysts after the company reported earnings. “Covid-19’s continued impacts have had a more prolonged and deeper impact on our industry, and we’ll have to further reduce our workforce.” Once a prodigious cash generator, Boeing is now carefully monitoring its liquidity and soaring debt while navigating the deep slump in air travel and working with regulators to lift the Max’s flying ban. Boeing has burned through about $22b in free cash since March 2019, when regulators grounded the company’s best-selling jet after two fatal accidents. The cash outflow will probably continue until 2022, said CFO Greg Smith. Story has more details.<br/>