general

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 failed to knock the air travel industry off its pandemic recovery path, according to global airline association IATA, with passenger numbers still expected to exceed pre-crisis levels in 2024. “There is a long way to go to reach a normal state of affairs, but the forecast for the evolution in passenger numbers gives good reason to be optimistic,” said IATA DG Willie Walsh on 1 March as the association gave an update on its long-term demand forecast. IATA cautions, however, that its forecast does not incorporate the downside risks associated with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “In general, air transport is resilient against shocks and this conflict is unlikely to impact the long-term growth of air transport,” IATA says. “It is too early to estimate what the near-term consequences will be for aviation, but it is clear that there are downside risks, in particular in markets with exposure to the conflict. Sensitivity factors will include the geographic extent, severity and time period for sanctions and/or airspace closures,” it continues, adding: “These impacts would be felt most severely in Russia, Ukraine and neighbouring areas.” The airlines body further highlights rising energy prices and the avoidance of Russian airspace as potentially having “broader implications” for the industry, as would any harm to “consumer confidence and economic activity”. It notes that Russia was the 11th largest market for air passenger numbers globally pre-Covid, partly driven by a large domestic market, with Ukraine ranked 48th. Nevertheless, IATA is still forecasting that global air traveller numbers will reach 4b in 2024 – a figure that would represent 103% of the 2019 total.<br/>

The US DoT and FAA said orders blocking Russian aircraft and airlines from entering and using all US airspace will be fully in effect by the end of Wednesday. The orders suspend operations of all aircraft owned, certified, operated, registered, chartered, leased, or controlled by, for, or for the benefit of, any Russia citizen. This includes passenger and cargo flights, and scheduled as well as charter flights that will "effectively closing US air space to all Russian commercial air carriers and other Russian civil aircraft," the department said.<br/>

European Union officials are speaking with their United States counterparts about extending the current airspace bans imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. Airlines are bracing for potentially lengthy blockages of key east-west flight corridors after the European Union and Moscow issued tit-for-tat airspace bans. Washington has not ruled out similar action in response to what Russian President Vladimir Putin has called "a special military operation." "Yes, there are discussions with the US on what measures they will adopt," the official told reporters, adding that it was too early to assess the impact of the bloc's airspace ban. Global supply chains, already hit hard by the pandemic, face increasing disruption and cost pressure by the closure of the skies which will affect over a fifth of air freight. Hardest hit are likely to be Russian carriers, which make up approximately 70% of the flights between Russia and the EU, the official said.<br/>

Two major US manufacturers, Boeing and Ford Motor, suspended their business activities in Russia as the country escalated its war in Ukraine. Boeing said on Tuesday that it had halted major operations in its Moscow office and temporarily closed another office in Kyiv, Ukraine. The company also said that it had ceased providing parts, maintenance and technical support services to Russian airlines. In recent days, countries around the world have imposed sanctions on Russian carriers, limiting their ability to use leased planes; fly over Western Europe; or buy spare parts. Boeing employs several thousand people in Russia, Ukraine and a handful of former Soviet states, an operation that includes a major design center in Moscow. The company also runs a flight training campus and research and technology center in the city and has a joint venture in Russia with VSMPO-AVISMA, Boeing’s largest titanium supplier. Boeing has also been trying to diversify its titanium supply in recent years and it said it had enough of the metal on hand to keep making commercial aircraft in the near term.<br/>

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sidelined a fleet of massive air freighters that oil companies and engineering firms rely on to carry oversize items such as helicopters, power turbines and are even used for spacecraft. The Antonov An-124 was once a symbol of cooperation between the two countries -- designed in Ukraine and used by Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Group for missions ranging from transporting Boeing Co. aircraft parts to providing disaster aid in Puerto Rico. Volga-Dnepr’s fleet of 12 An-124s is now hemmed in by sanctions, while others in Ukraine are caught up in the war itself. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sidelined a fleet of massive air freighters that oil companies and engineering firms rely on to carry oversize items such as helicopters, power turbines and are even used for spacecraft. The Antonov An-124 was once a symbol of cooperation between the two countries -- designed in Ukraine and used by Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Group for missions ranging from transporting Boeing Co. aircraft parts to providing disaster aid in Puerto Rico. Volga-Dnepr’s fleet of 12 An-124s is now hemmed in by sanctions, while others in Ukraine are caught up in the war itself. The sole Antonov An-225, a larger six-engine variant designed to carry the Soviet Union’s abortive space shuttle, is already reported damaged beyond repair in a battle for Hostomel airport outside Kyiv. It ranked as the biggest plane flying. Morgan-Evans said that managers at Antonov Airlines, which operated the An-225 and has seven An-124s, told him the Ukrainian company’s commercial premises have been destroyed. An unknown number of the planes were on missions elsewhere and appear to have escaped the conflict. <br/>

Dutch researchers have concluded that the operation of small sub-regional electric aircraft on short routes in the Netherlands should be possible by 2026. Airports consultancy NACO – part of Royal HaskoningDHV – and the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) were commissioned by the Dutch infrastructure ministry to draw up a roadmap for the introduction of electric flight in the Netherlands and its overseas territories. Basing their study on flight and passenger data from the so-called “ABC islands” – the Dutch Caribbean territories of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao – the researchers were able to model the potential introduction and cost of electrification. Their calculations suggest that operations using a three-strong fleet of nine-seat electric aircraft would be feasible on the islands from 2026. Three 19-seaters would be added from 2030, followed by three more of each type by 2035. Initially, each island’s airport would have a single charging station, but by 2035 that would rise to four per airport, the study’s scenario suggests, at a total cost per facility of E4.7m. By 2030, the six aircraft fleet would be able to handle 50% of inter-island movements, using 2019 data as a baseline, with that figure growing in line with the fleet. “Ultimately, in 2035, the aviation sector will have learned from operating electric aircraft for almost 10 years. Therefore in 2035, it is expected that scaling up will be possible. The aircraft pool will be doubled compared to 2030. This number of electric aircraft will be able to cover all air movements between the islands [based on] 2019,” says the report.<br/>