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The IATA called on governments around the world to remove all travel barriers for fully vaccinated travellers, calling current travel restrictions "a mess." The airline group released a statement urging governments to accelerate relaxation of travel restrictions "as COVID-19 continues to evolve from the pandemic to endemic stage." "With the experience of the Omicron variant, there is mounting scientific evidence and opinion opposing the targeting of travellers with restrictions and country bans to control the spread of COVID-19. The measures have not worked," IATA's DG Willie Walsh said Tuesday. "The billions spent testing travellers would be far more effective if allocated to vaccine distribution or strengthening health care systems." IATA said governments should remove all travel barriers – including mandatory quarantine and testing rules – for fully vaccinated travellers, as well allow unvaccinated travellers to bypass quarantine if they provide a negative pre-departure antigen test result. The organization argued the easing of travel restrictions should be accelerated "in recognition that travellers pose no greater risk for COVID-19 spread than already exists in the general population." "The current situation of travel restrictions is a mess," Walsh said. "There is one problem—COVID-19. But there seem to be more unique solutions to managing travel and COVID-19 than there are countries to travel to." <br/>

Rising jet fuel prices are likely to cause airfares to increase this year based on current trends, as airlines grapple with higher operating costs, according to global industry association IATA. Speaking during a media briefing on 25 January, IATA director general Willie Walsh noted that fuel prices were “significantly higher than our last forecast in October last year” in the first weeks of 2022, just as airlines are also facing higher labour costs amid the staff shortages being seen in economies around the world. IATA data shows jet fuel at $101.1/barrel on 21 January, against its October forecast for the same date of $77.8/barrel. Given that fuel “represents the single biggest element of an airline’s cost base”, high prices “will be a factor playing into fares later in the year”, Walsh explains, if they remain elevated. And the impact on airlines is likely to be exacerbated, Walsh says, as it is “unlikely they will have significant hedging in place” following nearly two years of disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. “That will represent a financial challenge to many airlines who aren’t hedged,” he adds. On the plus side, however, Walsh observes that a high oil price – which jet fuel prices tend to track – “reflects a strong economic environment”, which is “positive for the industry”. Brent crude has traded above $88/barrel in recent days – the highest level seen since 2014.<br/>

Air cargo proved a lifeline again for airlines in 2021, as global international passenger traffic remained mired at a fraction of its 2019 levels, data from the trade group IATA reveal. Cargo traffic, measured in cargo ton kilometers or CTKs, was up 6.9% for the full year compared to 2019, data released on Tuesday showed. On the other hand, passenger traffic only recovered to 42% of levels seen two-years ago. “Cargo continued to be a very important source of revenue and cash for the airline industry,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh Tuesday. The strength of cargo demand in 2021 was already abundantly clear. It was so great that Airbus, long second fiddle to Boeing in the air freighter market, launched a dedicated freighter version of its A350 with an entry-into-service target of 2025. Lessor Air Lease Corp. launched the aircraft in November with Air France, CMA Group and Singapore Airlines both ordering the jet in subsequent months. And at Korean Air strong cargo demand drove continued profits — a rarity for the industry since the pandemic began — through at least the third quarter. On the passenger side, domestic markets again outperformed international markets during the year. Domestic passenger traffic recovered to nearly 72% of 2019 levels, while international only recovered to just under 25%. Russia had the most robust domestic market with traffic nearly a quarter higher in 2021 than two years ago, while traffic in the Brazilian, Chinese, and US markets was in the 70% recovered range.<br/>

The US FAA Tuesday issued approvals for additional altimeters that allow about 90% of the US commercial aviation fleet to perform low-visibility landings at airports where 5G wireless is deployed. The FAA said it had cleared seven additional altimeters, bringing the total approved to 20. As of last week, it had cleared about 78% of commercial planes. AT&T and Verizon Communications agreed on Jan. 18 to delay switching on new telecom towers near key airports even as they turned on the new 5G C-Band service. Radio altimeters are used to give data on height above ground for bad-weather landings and the 5G technology could cause interference. The issue is disrupting some landing in poor weather at smaller airports. Alaska Air said Monday the "rollout of this new 5G band is still creating disruptions for regional air travel." Verizon agreed to temporarily not turn on about 500 towers near airports, sources told Reuters, or less than 10% of their planned deployment, while the carriers and the administration work on a permanent solution. Some US airlines are concerned about Verizon's plans to turn on additional towers around Feb. 1 and want to know if those new towers could impact any current operations. Verizon did not immediately comment. Separately, the FAA on Tuesday published an airworthiness directive on the Boeing 777 and 747-8 airplanes that interference may affect multiple airplane systems using radio altimeter data. The directive does not prevent any operations at nearly all large U.S. airports. The FAA has approved alternative means of compliance for the airplanes. Airplane models with cleared altimeters include all Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787 MD-10/-11; Airbus (AIR.PA) A300, A310, A319, A220, A320, A321, A330, A340, A350, A380; Embraer (EMBR3.SA) 120, 170, and 190 regional jets; All CL-600/CRJ regional jets; DHC-8 and ATR turboprops.<br/>

Two months before it is due to open with just a handful of confirmed flights, workers are racing to finish a new international airport for Mexico City -- one of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's flagship projects. With two commercial runways built on a military air base outside the capital, Felipe Angeles International Airport is meant to take the pressure off the city's Benito Juarez airport. The existing hub, which handled 36m passengers in 2021, is one of the busiest in Latin America. Its location in eastern Mexico City is far more convenient for many residents of the capital than Felipe Angeles, which is located about 40 km north of the capital's historic district. But Benito Juarez airport is showing its age and handled a record 50.3m passengers in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic. Felipe Angeles airport, named after a general in the Mexican revolution, has been engulfed in controversy from the start. After taking office in 2018, Lopez Obrador canceled another airport project launched by the previous government and already one-third complete. He called the $13b project a "bottomless pit" rife with corruption and decided instead to turn the Santa Lucia military air base into a second airport for the sprawling Mexican capital. Lopez Obrador commissioned the military -- which is also involved in other pet projects of his government, such as a tourist train in the Yucatan Peninsula -- to oversee construction of the new airport at a cost of around $3.6b. Around 87% of the airport construction has been finished with two months left before the March 21 opening, said Captain Diego Diaz Avila of the military's engineer corps. In its first phase of operation, the new airport will be able to handle 19.5m passengers a year. But so far, only low-cost Mexican airlines Volaris and Viva Aerobus have announced plans to operate a small number of flights at the new airport, with most staying at Benito Juarez.<br/>

European airports expect another slow start to this year after passenger numbers across the region ended 2021 still 59% below pre-pandemic levels. ACI Europe, which represents European airports, today reported passenger levels of around 1b in 2021. While that marked an improvement on the 728m European airports handled in 2020, it is still less than half the 2.4b passengers European airports saw in 2019. ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec says: ”After losing 1.72b passengers in 2020, we all had high hopes for a strong recovery in 2021. But last year proved another difficult one, as Europe’s airports ended up losing another 1.4b passengers compared to 2019. ”This means they remain under considerable stress, with systemic financial weakness across our industry.” There was, however, at least an upward trend across most of the year as international borders began opening up in June. Passengers at European airports were only 43% down on pre-crisis levels during the second half of the year and only 35% down in November. However, renewed travel restrictions which were implemented in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant resulted in a slowing of that recovery. December passengers at European airports were 39% below pre-crisis levels and ACI Europe expects Omicron concerns to weigh heavy during the early part of 2022.<br/>

Some Istanbul Airport flights resumed on Tuesday after nearly 24 hours of cancellations as heavy snowfall clogged roads and stranded thousands of people across Turkey and Greece. In Athens, thousands were evacuated from a motorway overnight and took shelter at the city's airport after Monday's severe snowstorm. In Istanbul, the airport, among the world's biggest, has been under a thick blanket of snow with runways and planes covered. The snowfall began late last week and picked up over the past days in the city of 16m people, delaying buses and ferries and prompting a ban on driving private vehicles. "We have been here for more than 24 hours already," said Selim Kilik, who planned to fly to Paris this week. He complained about a lack of staff and information. An airport spokesperson said limited flights began around 1000 GMT (1.00 p.m.) after a 22-hour delay, and that scheduled flights would resume around midnight. Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS) earlier said it had halted all flights until 2100 GMT. Ugurcan Guller, who was waiting for a domestic flight, said stranded passengers had problems with baggage, tickets and food at Istanbul Airport. "We have been sleeping on the floor miserably since yesterday," he said. "We call on the authorities to find a solution for us."<br/>

Holiday bookings have jumped with "notable increases" in trips planned for February half-term and Easter ahead of Covid travel tests being scrapped. Jet2 said bookings had increased by 30% on last week after the announcements that rules would be relaxed for people arriving in the UK. The rule changes mean fully-vaccinated people arriving in those countries from abroad do not need to take Covid tests. The change will come into effect from 04:00 GMT on 11 February. Steve Heapy, CE of Jet2, said the removal of testing was "game-changer" for the travel industry. He said demand was "already strong" before the rule changes for England and Scotland were announced on Monday, but said bookings had since risen further. On Tuesday, the Welsh government confirmed it was "reluctantly retaining alignment" with the UK government to also remove tests. However, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the devolved government would "implement measures to encourage travellers arriving into Wales to take a lateral flow test, plus a follow-up PCR test if positive". Northern Ireland has since announced it will align with the other nations.<br/>

Airbus on Tuesday said it is renting out its giant Beluga aircraft to outside customers, a big bet on the air cargo market. The whale-shaped jets are usually used to transport large aircraft parts for its planes like wings and fuselage sections between its factories in Europe. Under a new airline, Airbus Beluga Transport, the company plans to fly large cargo for space, oil and gas companies and militaries. Air cargo has been a bright spot during the Covid pandemic. Space on passenger jets plunged after airlines cut service due to weak demand for flights. Meanwhile, port snarls caused shipping delays, driving up prices — and demand — for faster shipping by air. Airbus said the new plan will allow it to take advantage of the remaining 20 years of life that BelugaSTs have and will allow it to transport helicopters and engines fully assembled. Larger BelugaXL planes will take over the Beluga STs’ previous missions. The aerospace giant, Boeing’s chief rival, said it flew its first mission late last year delivering a helicopter from its manufacturing site in Marignane, France, to Kobe, Japan.<br/>

Hong Kong as a top aviation hub has become increasingly isolated during the pandemic while the rest of the world has started to open up to international travel, the head of a global airline association has warned. The DG of the IATA, Willie Walsh, said on Tuesday the city’s status as an aviation hub had been “severely impacted” by travel restrictions as it fought the fifth wave of the coronavirus.<br/>“I think Hong Kong has become increasingly isolated,” he told a media briefing. Walsh also weighed in on Sino-US tensions, saying the decision by Washington to suspend 44 flights after Beijing imposed similar restrictions on American companies was “unhelpful”. As many countries have eased travel restrictions and adopt a strategy of living with the virus, Hong Kong and mainland China have stuck to a “dynamic zero-infection” approach, under which local cases are expected but steps are taken to identify transmission links and cut them off as quickly as possible. Hong Kong has banned non-residents from about 150 places it deems high risk because of the coronavirus. Residents arriving from these countries or territories are subject to 21 days of compulsory quarantine after landing. This month, the city also banned all flights from eight countries, including the US and Britain, and suspended transit flights from most of the rest of the world. The IATA said it hoped Hong Kong would look at other countries whose governments were beginning to relax travel restrictions, despite the threat of the Omicron variant.<br/>

Asia's biggest aviation event, the Singapore Airshow, is set to shrink for the second time since the pandemic hit, with strict health controls for trade visitors and a lack of public days for locals dampening potential attendance. The Feb. 15-18 show will require daily rapid antigen tests for attendees at a time when cases of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 are rising in the city-state and dining out remains limited to groups of five. The challenges of holding the biennial air show mirror global travel difficulties that have left the Asian aviation industry struggling to rebound two years into the pandemic. About 360 companies, including major industry players such as Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are expected as exhibitors at the Singapore Airshow, down from 930 in 2020, according to the show's website. Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Director General Subhas Menon said a planned pre-show summit for regulators and airline bosses had been postponed indefinitely, a further setback to the industry's recovery prospects. "Streamlining policies and approaches and all these things are ever more significant now and badly needed," he said. Business jet makers Bombardier and Gulfstream confirmed they would not participate this year. A Bombardier spokesperson said it cancelled because of health and travel restrictions and safety guidelines as Omicron continues to spread. At the show, daily rapid antigen for overseas visitors will be supervised and those testing positive will be required to isolate in their hotel rooms for three to seven days.<br/>

"Private jet for your pet" is the kind of phrase you might expect to hear from a movie star or media mogul. But in 2022 Hong Kong, it's just as likely to be a regular person looking into this very unusual expense. Many people who are moving away from the financial hub have been unable to secure flights out of the city for their dogs and cats, leading to online groups where desperate pet parents try to pool their money to cover the cost of renting a charter plane. "Private jet for your pet" is the kind of phrase you might expect to hear from a movie star or media mogul. But in 2022 Hong Kong, it's just as likely to be a regular person looking into this very unusual expense. Many people who are moving away from the financial hub have been unable to secure flights out of the city for their dogs and cats, leading to online groups where desperate pet parents try to pool their money to cover the cost of renting a charter plane. Hong Kong has some of the world's strictest Covid policies. Nearly all non-residents are barred from entering the city, while locals who leave and then come back are subject to three-week quarantines, which can be in expensive hotels or at government quarantine facilities -- even if they test negative for the virus multiple times. As a result, some 40% of expats polled in 2021 said that they were considering leaving the city for good and permanently relocating themselves and their families elsewhere. Olga Radlynska is the Hong Kong-based founder and director of Top Stars Air, a private aviation company. She says Top Stars has pivoted more of its business away from private flights for business executives and toward group rentals for pet flights.<br/>"People have to move one way, and they have to move the pets," she says. "Sometimes the fur parents have already relocated but the pets are still here."<br/>

GE Aviation turned a $2.9b profit in 2021, more than double its 2020 earnings, reflecting cost cutting and a bump in commercial engine services revenue. “Our strong results reflect our underlying business fundamentals and a recovering commercial market,” GE CFO Carolina Dybeck Happe says of the aviation division on 25 January. Despite the improved bottom line, GE Aviation generated less revenue in 2021 than in 2020, due partly to fewer commercial engine deliveries last year, the company reports. The engine maker shipped 1,487 commercial aircraft engines last year, including 845 Leap turbofans, which power Airbus A320neo-family jets and Boeing 737 Max. The 2021 full-year figure is down from 1,720 commercial engine deliveries in 2020, though Leap deliveries were slightly higher. GE Aviation partially offset the fewer shipments with a “10% increase in commercial services shop visits” year-on-year in 2021, it says. The result was $21.3b in 2021 revenue for GE Aviation, down 3.3% from $22b in 2020. Its full-year revenue from engine sales slipped 12% year-on-year, while services revenue inched up 3%. GE Aviation’s full-year results were capped by a $1.2b profit in Q4 last year, also more than double its profit in the same period of 2020. Though commercial engine shipments declined last year, new commercial engine orders came roaring back to 2,248 units, including 1,457 Leaps. Those figures are up significantly from 2020, when GE Aviation logged new orders for 738 commercial engines, including 351 Leaps.<br/>