Ukraine International Airlines on Monday said it’s moving some of its planes to Spain after insurance companies refused to cover operations in Ukrainian airspace as tensions mount with Russia. The Kyiv-based carrier said it sent five Boeing 737s to Spain at the request of its aircraft leasing company after it received “an official notification from insurance companies to terminate the insurance of aircraft for flights in the airspace of Ukraine.” The carrier has a fleet of 25 planes, according to its website. Other disruptions resulting from the crisis include KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ announcement on Saturday that it was suspending flights to Ukraine until further notice. Ukraine International Airlines later said it was operating flights on schedule, however Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said Sunday that the country’s air space remains open and that “most airlines continue to operate without restrictions” though it noted some airlines have had problems with insurance providers. “For its part, the state is ready to support airlines and plans to provide additional financial guarantees to support the air market,” it said. Ukrainian International Airlines’ announcement came after another carrier from the country, SkyUp Airlines, said one of its Ukraine-bound flights from the Portuguese Island of Madeira was forced to land in Moldova after the company that leases it jets said the carrier couldn’t enter Ukrainian airspace. “Negotiations with insurers have been difficult, and our foreign partners continue to regularly assess their own risks and monitor the situation,” SkyUp’s CEO said in a statement Monday. ″However, now, with the joint efforts of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and the Government, we have managed to achieve results: flights to Ukraine remain safe and secure.”<br/>
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US passenger airlines carried 670.4m passengers in 2021, up 83% over 2020 levels but still down significantly from pre-coronaviruspandemic levels, the Transportation Department said Monday. The department in preliminary data said airlines carried 303.6m more passengers in 2021 but 245.9m fewer, or 27%, than in 2019. In 2019, domestic flights accounted for 88% of all passengers, while domestic trips accounted for 91% of all passengers in 2021, and international flights accounted for 9%. In December, US airlines carried 66.3m passengers, 118% more than the same month in 2020 and 16% fewer than in December 2019. US air passenger travel fell by 60% in 2020 to the lowest level since 1984, down 549m passengers over 2019. Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said air travel was down 25% in late January, with domestic flights down 23% and international air travel down 38% and business travel still remains down about 51% over pre-pandemic levels. The group said its members were operating 14% fewer flights in January below pre-pandemic levels. The TSA said in the week ending Feb. 13, it screened 24% fewer passengers than 2019 levels. Airlines around the world are expressing optimism that travel will rebound this spring and summer as the Omicron variant's spread diminishes. <br/>
The largest US airlines have been working with the Biden administration for months on creating a nationwide no-fly list that would ban from commercial carriers the worst of unruly passengers, as attacks on flight attendants, airport gate agents and fellow travelers increase. Discussions among the carriers, their Airlines for America trade group, the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration over the issue have intensified over the last six months or so, two people familiar with the issue said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. Airline unions also have been involved in some of the talks. The effort highlights the industry’s increasing push for more effective ways of quelling the jump in unruly passenger incidents since a pandemic-era requirement to wear masks on board planes was imposed. Of 5,981 such reports last year, 72% were related to masks, according to the FAA. The agency launched investigations of 1,105 more serious incidents last year, more than three times the previous high since the agency began collecting such data in 1995. It has initiated enforcement action in 390 cases since the start of 2021. The current mask mandate is set to expire March 18. The biggest stumbling block so far has been setting uniform standards for when someone would be included on the list, one of the people said. Other thorny issues include how to limit inevitable cases of mistaken identity, which federal agency would oversee and administer the system, and whether what amounts to a full ban on air travel for life would be warranted for violators. “It’s one thing to say you can’t fly on one airline,” said Jeffrey Price, an aviation security consultant and professor of aviation management at Metropolitan State University of Denver, who hasn’t been involved in the talks. “It’s another thing to say you can’t fly on any airline.”<br/>
About 40,000 air travel workers face extra background security checks this year under new laws that came into force last month. The Government implemented a new EU directive requiring tougher background checks on those working in aviation, and candidates for jobs in the industry, on January 1st this year. As a result, an estimated 35,000-42,000 staff in the business face extra Garda checks on their backgrounds to ensure they can continue working in airlines and airports. Pilots, cabin crew, ground handling staff and many other groups of aviation workers need special identity passes issued following background checks that include establishing if they have criminal convictions. Workers must renew these passes every year and a special unit of An Garda Síochána carries out the checks. EU directive 2019/103 requires “enhanced” checks, normally carried out by states’ security or intelligence services, for all aviation workers. According to the Department of Transport, the new checks apply to anyone with access to the secure area of an airport, or anybody with an airport ID badge. That includes “airline crew or those working in cargo or supplying aircraft”, the department said. The new rules call for the disclosure of criminal records for the past five years, and employment and education, along with any gaps in either, over the same period. Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines both warned at the weekend that if gardaí did not speed up the time taken to carry out the enhanced checks on new applicants, it could pose problems as the carriers step up hiring ahead of summer.<br/>
With the threat of terrorism on civil aviation still palpable more than 20 years after the 9/11 attacks, Singapore is amending its laws to bring them in line with two international treaties that were crafted in the wake of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States to deter similar incidents. On Monday, Parliament passed the Hijacking of Aircraft and Protection of Aircraft and International Airports (Amendment) Bill. The new law criminalises the use of an aircraft as a weapon, the use of nuclear and biochemical weapons on planes, the transport of such dangerous materials, and cyber attacks on air navigation facilities. Individuals found guilty of these crimes will be jailed for life. The law also allows companies to be made criminally liable. Companies found guilty can be fined up to $1m for these offences.<br/>
Boeing said it’s not racing to resume deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner as the company played down the risk that customers waiting for the jet might switch to rival planemaker Airbus. Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the company is in talks with all the affected airlines and indicated he doesn’t expect to lose their orders. “We hope the power of the product is going to get us through,” he said at a media briefing in Singapore ahead of the city’s biennial air show, which starts Tuesday. “But we don’t take that for granted.” Deal declined to specify when deliveries might restart, adding “we’re not going to rush the process.” Boeing in January recorded $5.5b in total costs for the 787 Dreamliner, wiping away any near-term profit for the marquee wide-body jet. The 787 program’s profits have been erased as Boeing pays airlines for service they’ve lost because of delivery disruptions. The Chicago-based company hasn’t handed over any of the aircraft since June as it addresses a series of tiny imperfections on the carbon-fiber jet frames. Costs soared after Boeing determined that it needed to perform a labor-intensive fix involving the doors of the more than 110 aircraft in its system.<br/>
Airbus voiced optimism on Monday about sales of a new A350 freighter after Boeing launched a competing cargo version of its future 777X jetliner and said it was doing everything possible to shore up fragile global supply chains. Airbus launched the freighter version of its A350 wide-body jet last year to address rising air cargo demand and penetrate a profitable part of the jet market dominated by Boeing, which hit back with a 777X freighter launch order from Qatar Airways. "Yes, you can expect to see more orders for the A350 freighter," Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer said ahead of the Singapore Airshow which runs from Feb. 15-18, but declined to elaborate. Provisional customers for the A350 freighter include Singapore Airlines which could confirm a provisional order to coincide with this week's air show, delegates said. The airline signed a tentative deal in December to buy seven A350 freighters and become its first major airline operator. But the deal also involves dropping previous orders for 15 A320neo jets and two A350-900 passenger versions. Both Airbus and Boeing have agreed to convert some passenger plane orders in order to secure wins for their new twin-engined freighters. Scherer declined comment on a dispute with Qatar Airways which has led the Gulf carrier to refuse to consider buying the A350 freighter and back Boeing's 777X cargo version.<br/>
Rolls-Royce Holdings, the enginemaker known for powering Airbus and Boeing workhorse jets, expects a fully-electric small aircraft in three to five years, a top executive said. The first commercial application of P-Volt, a battery electric system developed by Rolls-Royce, will have about 600 kilowatt hours of power, which will enable flying six to eight people as far as 80 nautical miles, Rob Watson, president of the company’s electrical division, said in an interview in Singapore on Monday. That range will keep improving with better battery technology, and may eventually be able to fly as much as 400 kilometers in the 2030s, London-based Watson, who’s attending the biennial Singapore Airshow this week, said. “We are confident in the technology. Now we need to scale it so it can have a meaningful economic influence,” said Watson, who was promoted to an executive role this year. “I think that’s where you see urban air mobility and regional air mobility, aircraft with 8-18 seats, becoming a real possibility in the next three to five years.” A slew of companies around the world, from startups to established aerospace giants, as well as some automobile manufacturers, are at different stages of developing aircraft that are powered by an alternative source of power, as pressure builds on the industry to cut back on emissions. The options being worked on include sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, hydrogen, fully electric, and hybrid-electric. <br/>