Frankfurt Hahn Airport, a German international budget flights hub, has filed for insolvency, according to a court filing published on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how the insolvency would affect flight operations. The airport, which is primarily used by low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and cargo airlines and served about 1.5m passengers in 2019, is 82.5% owned by Chinese airport group HNA, while the German state of Hesse has a 17.5% stake. In February, a Chinese court opened insolvency proceedings against HNA at creditors' request, though China's Liaoning Fangda Group and Hainan Development Holdings have since said they could settle the debt HNA owes to retail investors.<br/>
general
Heathrow will be able to raise landing charges as the travel industry recovers from the pandemic, UK regulators said, a move set to deepen a bitter clash between one of the world’s busiest airports and the airlines that use it. The Civil Aviation Authority on Tuesday proposed allowing Heathrow to increase landing fees from GBP22 per passenger to between GBP24.50 and 34.40 over the next five years. However, it blocked the airport’s effort to nearly double its fees. Heathrow already has some of the highest charges in the world, and the costs are typically passed straight on to consumers through higher ticket prices. Landing charges have long been a source of dispute, but the scale of the aviation industry’s losses over the past 18 months have raised the stakes for airlines and the airport. Heathrow’s plan to nearly double its charges had sparked a furious backlash.Airlines on Tuesday said they would oppose the proposed increases in landing charges set out by the CAA “in the strongest possible terms”. Tim Alderslade, CE of lobby group Airlines UK, said the CAA was airlines’ last line of defence against “a monopoly-abusing hub airport”. “We need a strong regulator to clamp down on what is blatant gouging,” he said. Luis Gallego, the boss of British Airways owner International Airlines Group, said the “disproportionate” hike in fees at the UK hub airport, which serves as BA’s main base, would harm UK competitiveness. The CAA said the changes would be “affordable” for passengers while still allowing Heathrow’s owners to invest in the airport at a time of uncertainty over the strength of the recovery from the pandemic.<br/>
Manchester airport’s Terminal 2 has reopened after a police investigation found “no security threat” following reports of a suspicious package. The terminal was closed and passengers evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after Greater Manchester police set up a cordon to deal with the incident. A Manchester airport spokesman said: “Following its investigation into a suspicious package reported in Terminal 2, Greater Manchester police is satisfied that there is no security threat and has lifted the cordon that was in place. “We thank passengers for their patience.” The police sent a bomb disposal team to the airport as part of its investigation and spokesperson said enquiries are ongoing.<br/>
A private jet burst into flames during a take-off attempt at a small airport outside Houston on Tuesday, but all 21 people on board managed to escape without serious injury, US aviation officials said. The McDonnell Douglas MD-87 was departing the Houston Executive Airport just after 10 a.m. local time (1500 GMT) when it rolled through a fence and caught fire, the FAA said. All 18 passengers and three crew members were able to get out safely. Two people were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Waller County Sheriff Troy Guidry said. The passengers were headed to Boston to see the Houston Astros play the Red Sox in Game 4 of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series, Guidry said. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash, the FAA said.<br/>
Airports Company South Africa is looking to generate more income from hotels and land, win service contracts and boost cargo revenue to prepare for a potential fresh wave of Covid-19 infections and restrictions. The state-controlled owner of international hubs including Johannesburg and Cape Town fears a new coronavirus variant may emerge that is vaccine resistant, CEO Mpumi Mpofu said Tuesday. Alternative revenue streams are therefore vital to ensure the ongoing financial health of the airports group, she said. “It’s the most unpredictable factor,” the CEO said. A variant that undermines inoculations will send the whole industry “back to square one.”South Africa’s aviation and tourism sector received a boost this month when the U.K. took the country off its list of banned countries and the U.S. opened borders to vaccinated travelers starting Nov. 8. That may lead to an influx of holidaymakers over the southern summer months and see a stronger season than thought possible in July, Acsa said in an earlier earnings statement. Even so, preparations for a less favorable scenario are under way, Mpofu said. “We have an intention to monetize non-core assets, which does not necessarily mean disposals,” she said. “We have hotels, land and facilities at airports.”<br/>
As Asia-Pacific tentatively starts opening to international air travel, Beijing’s tough ‘Zero-Covid’ approach means an air travel recovery will be anything but complete for airlines. According to IATA’s travel regulation map, China imposes tough requirements for those entering the country, including two weeks of quarantine. This is in contrast to regional peers, which are cautiously doing away with quarantines, replacing them with vaccine mandates for passengers and Covid-19 testing regimes. Leisure travel to China is basically out, and there are even considerable restrictions on visa holders. Moreover, the restrictions will discourage Chinese residents from travelling abroad, let alone support the legions of package tours that fuelled so much Chinese air traffic growth before the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing’s commitment to Zero-Covid is underlined by its rapid development of “health stations,” where arrivals will serve their two weeks of quarantine. This initiative is exemplified by a 5,000 bed facility in Guangzhou, located 20 miles (32.2km) from Guangzhou’s Baiyun International Airport. Guests communicate with staff through an in-room intercom, with meals served by robot. Story has more. <br/>
With the world’s ports, rail yards and truck depots jammed up with holiday merchandise, the relentless demand for goods and limited capacity to ship them is pushing the price of the fastest and most expensive form of transportation to new heights. The rate to fly goods to Europe from Hong Kong hit a new record this week and the cost of air freight to North America from Hong Kong is staying elevated around a peak reached a month ago, according to the latest TAC Index. Freightos.com just launched an Air Index based on cargo transactions and its latest readings also reflect surging prices. Spot prices from Germany to China, for instance, have more than doubled in the past three months to $3.53 per kilogram. As US companies like Crocs, Nike and Levi Strauss pay premiums to import their goods on planes, the boom in air freight has been the sole bright spot for the global aviation industry as Covid-19 travel restrictions and lockdowns curb passenger travel. But even as people slowly start flying again, spurred by rising vaccination rates, demand for air cargo continues to surge, driven by e-commerce and an ongoing global supply chain crisis on the ground.<br/>