Airlines are cautiously adding capacity between the US and Europe over winter, as carriers try to capitalize on looser travel restrictions without over-stretching during the seasonally slower months. The number of flights from Western Europe to North America is poised to jump by 7.5% between late October and early November, when the US ban lifts on visits from most European countries, based on data from BloombergNEF. Traffic will then head for a peak in late December. While European carriers have built up forward schedules throughout the coronavirus pandemic, only to consolidate when demand fails to materialize, “we’ve seen far fewer cancellations in recent weeks,” said David Doherty, a BloombergNEF analyst. That “shows that airlines are increasingly confident about load factors.” Colder countries such as the UK and Germany are set to capture the lion’s share of any winter bump, as airlines pare back summer schedules between the US and warmer nations. US capacity to the UK is set to surge 79% between September and December based on current schedules, according to flight tracker OAG. For Germany, the increase is 21%, while seats offered for Spain and Italy decline. OAG expects some of the flights to the UK and Germany to be cut as airlines adjust their schedules.<br/>
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The FAA said Tuesday it plans to deploy a new software capability to reduce taxi times and ramp congestion for flights at 27 major US airports. The FAA and NASA said the new software was tested for four years that calculates gate pushbacks at busy hub airports "so that each plane can roll directly to the runway and to take off." When deployed, the FAA said it anticipates annually saving more than 7m gallons (26.5m litres) of fuel and eliminating more than 75,000 tons of CO2 emissions. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the software came from the strategy "the trajectories to get where you wanted out in space to other planets ... The idea was simple: take that technology and apply it to an aircraft." The airports expected to get the software over the next decade include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare and Midway, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston Bush, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Newark, New York JFK and La Guardia, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington Dulles and Reagan National.<br/>
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Tuesday the Chinese government was preventing its domestic airlines from buying “tens of billions of dollars” of US-manufactured Boeing airplanes. Raimondo said that China was not abiding by commitments to buy US goods it made in 2020 as part of a trade deal with the previous administration. “I don’t know if Boeing is here. ... There’s tens of billions of dollars of planes that Chinese airlines want to buy but the Chinese government is standing in the way,” she said in a question-and-answer session after a speech in Washington. In a separate interview Tuesday, Raimondo confirmed she was specifically referencing China’s blocking of Boeing airplane purchases.“The Chinese need to play by the rules. We need to hold their feet to the fire and hold them accountable,” she said. Boeing declined to comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment. Boeing CE Dave Calhoun in March urged the United States to keep human rights and other disputes separate from trade relations with Beijing.<br/>
Sarawak will gradually increase the number of flights to the state from 22 flights a week to 87 starting Oct 1. “These flights are from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Johor Baru, Kota Baru, Labuan and Singapore to various destinations in Sarawak – Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang,” said state Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin Tuesday. Lee’s ministry earlier held a meeting with the airlines, aviation authorities and the federal Transport Ministry to look into the details and smooth implementation of the new flight schedule. “With the gradual increase of flight frequency to Sarawak, we are expecting an increase in passengers and movement of people into the state starting Oct 1,” he said.<br/>
Spain has approved a E2.25b investment plan for its airports for 2022-2026, which includes a freeze on tariffs charged by airport operator AENA to airlines, the transport ministry said on Tuesday. “The freeze ... places AENA’s tariffs among the most competitive and will therefore contribute to attracting new companies and the recovery of the air transport sector,” the government’s statement said. The plan, which expects an average E450m in investment a year and is known as DORA-II, aims to ensure adequate provision of airport services. Environmental sustainability and innovation will also be pillars of the new plan, which will introduce half a dozen new environmental markers among its measures of quality in service. AENA said the decision “gives stability” for airports management for the next five years and will guarantee “an adequate level of investment to maintain and improve the airport infrastructure”. Spain passed a law last week ordering AENA to reduce commercial rents in direct proportion to the passenger flow in each local airport until the pandemic subsides.<br/>
Commercial planemakers touted strong post-pandemic prospects for the Chinese aviation market as the country’s largest air show opened on Tuesday, with an increasing share of the spoils expected to go to domestic manufacturers. The normally biennial Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai, delayed by a year because of COVID-19, is being held from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3, allowing Beijing to parade its growing aviation prowess. China is a key hunting ground for deals for foreign aviation firms, thanks to the quick recovery in domestic travel since the depths of the pandemic, but the outlook is complicated by Beijing’s desire to grow its own champions. The country’s aviation regulator may be a stumbling block for foreign planemakers looking to boost sales in the world’s biggest market for new planes. As COMAC ramps up production of the 90-seat ARJ21 regional jet, the regulator has not certified slightly larger offerings from Airbus SE and Brazil’s Embraer SA that feature more advanced and fuel-efficient engines. Airbus China CEO George Xu said on the show’s sidelines that the manufacturer was still in talks with China about certification, which along with support services was the key to customer confidence in placing orders.<br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has called on the country’s major carriers to stop the sale of domestic flight tickets, as the government drafts a pandemic management plan for transport operators. A CAAV notice issued on 28 September called for the suspension to last “until further notice”, essentially an extension of orders first issued in late-July. “The Ministry of Transport is currently developing a plan to organise passenger transport activities [including aviation, railway, as well as maritime] during the time of…easing of [pandemic] measures,” the CAAV adds, without giving further details. The announcement comes as coronavirus infections in the country — once seen to be managing the pandemic well — dip to a two-month low, after a particularly fatal wave in the middle of the year. As of 28 September, Vietnam reported more than 4,500 new coronavirus infections — the lowest since late-July. Ho Chi Minh City, the epicentre of the latest coronavirus wave in the country, is also set to ease a long-drawn lockdown by the end of September. <br/>
Foreign airlines say international tourism is unlikely to resume by Christmas because there’s too much uncertainty surrounding quarantine requirements and vaccine passports, with one source dismissing the Morrison government’s timetable as “naive”. Even when the international border reopens, flights in and out of Australia will operate at a “fraction of pre-pandemic levels” due to home quarantine requirements, the airlines have warned. That means Australians eager to fly overseas could face difficulty securing tickets, the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia (Bara), which represents airlines including Emirates, Etihad and United, said on Wednesday. The federal government has foreshadowed the international border will reopen by Christmas with seven-day home quarantine for vaccinated travellers entering the country. That, Bara argued, was unlikely to facilitate the return of a commercially viable international aviation industry in the short term.<br/>
Demand for airplane-seat coverings that repel viruses and bacteria has soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, as carriers look to cut the time and cost of cleaning cabins. “The stakes are high for airlines,” said Quentin Munier, head of strategy and innovation at the seat division of aircraft-parts giant Safran. Tenders for new orders increasingly call for fabrics with virus-killing properties, he said. The airline industry has been among the hardest hit by Covid-19 and most carriers have adopted strict health protocols on mask-wearing and cabin cleaning to cut transmission, reassure passengers and revive travel. Industry lobby International Air Transport Association has published a 32-page document on how to scrub the inside of aircraft. “Airlines are cleaning now, but that’s what they want to reduce,” Munier said. A carrier that managed eight daily rotations on a given route before the pandemic can now do only six because of time-consuming disinfection procedures, he said. Safran, based in Paris, is conducting tests with hospitals on the efficacy of fabrics into which so-called biocides have been integrated during manufacturing, he said. Another possibility is the use of sprays that can be applied to existing seats and last between six months and a year. These could lighten some of the procedures between flights and add a new dimension to the roughly $4.2b jet-seat market. IATA recommends using a vacuum cleaner to remove loose particles from fabric seat covers, and wiping and drying those made of leather-like coverings. It also advises the removal of visible stains or else changing a fabric, and that belts and buckles also be cleaned and disinfected. <br/>