Thousands of holidaymakers have seen their Easter getaways disrupted or cancelled because airlines and airports do not have enough staff to meet the recovery in demand as pandemic restrictions are eased in Europe. High rates of COVID-19 in Britain have caused staff absences for airlines and airports that were already struggling to recruit after workers deserted the industry during the pandemic. Low-cost carrier easyJet was one of the worst affected, saying it cancelled around 60 UK flights on Tuesday and expected to pull a similar number in the coming days. It cancelled more than 200 at the weekend and another 62 on Monday. Paul Charles, head of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said it could take at least two or three months to get through a nasty cocktail of staff shortages, COVID illness and a backlog in approving security passes for airport and airline workers. "It's ironic that the very desire to get people booking again, post-pandemic, is causing more difficult transport issues than those created by COVID itself," he said. EasyJet said it was rostering additional standby crew, but it had cancelled some flights on routes where it runs frequent services so passengers had options to rebook. British Airways cancelled 662 flights in the week to Sunday, aviation analytics firm Cirium said, though that includes long-haul flights suspended due to sanctions and restrictions, such as on Russia and COVID-affected parts of Asia respectively. BA declined to provide a figure for cancellations.<br/>
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The price of New York Harbor jet fuel has more than doubled in the past two weeks, reaching an all-time high for any US-traded transportation fuel in at least the past 41 years, according to the Oil Price Information Service. The wholesale price for NY jet fuel spiked to $7.57 a gallon on Tuesday, up from $3.63 a gallon two weeks ago, data provided by OPIS showed. "This is the most parabolic move I've seen in decades, and it cannot be credited to simple supply and demand economics," said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS. "I've never seen anything like it." Kloza predicted prices will "drop like a rock" very soon, but cautioned that travelers may still see at least a near-term bump in airfares if they didn't book ahead. "The consumer will see an impact in fares. There's no question about it. Or they will see airlines cut back on flights," Kloza said. The jet fuel spike is a reversal of fortunes after the collapse in air travel during the onset of Covid. NY jet fuel plunged below $1 and stayed there for much of 2020, before rebounding to end last year below $2.30 a gallon, according to OPIS. Even when oil prices skyrocketed to record highs in 2008, NY jet fuel topped out at $4.36 a gallon.<br/>
The skies have gotten a tiny bit friendlier so far in 2022. Last year, the rate of unruly passengers came in at 6.9 incidents per 10,000 flights, with flight attendants and other airline employees facing historic levels of harassment. So far in 2022, the rate has dropped to 3.8, according to the FAA. It’s better but it’s still not enough, says Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He oversees the FAA and has vowed a continued crackdown on unruly passengers. “We're pleased to see improvement, but it hasn't gone far enough in terms of ending the disruptive behavior that we've seen in our skies. And that's just one example of a source of pressure and strain on our flying workforce,” he said in a Yahoo Finance Live interview on Monday. “It's unacceptable,” he added. The data on unruly passenger airline incidents in 2021 is striking and is largely linked to mask mandates. Last year, over 70% of the 5,981 unruly passenger reports were mask related, leading to over 1,000 formal investigations. So far this year, about 64% of the 1,035 reports so far have related to masks. The TSA recently extended the mask mandate on planes until April 18 and is due to review the issue soon. The mandate's recent extension, as people in many other settings have been allowed to removed masks, has led to protests from conservative voices and even a lawsuit from Texas.<br/>
Train travel in Europe is on the upswing, thanks to growing interest from travelers, a renaissance in sleeper trains, and new investments in high-speed rail lines across the continent. But to see major growth in passenger traffic — which is one of the goals of the European Green Deal — the continent’s railways will have to overcome a number of challenges, including booking difficulties and competition with short-haul flights, which remain the cheaper option on many multicountry routes. In France and Austria, the pandemic brought the planes-versus-trains question to the forefront. The French government’s Covid bailout package of Air France required the airline to eliminate domestic flights when there was a rail option that took under two and a half hours to complete; the measure was later written into law. The Austrian government placed a similar condition on its support to Austrian Airlines, demanding that the company end its 50-minute flight between Vienna and Salzburg, a journey that passengers can make by train in about three hours. The European Commission also designated 2021 as the “Year of European Rail,” seizing the opportunity to spread the word about train travel, particularly to a younger audience. While passenger traffic was growing steadily through 2019, it was starting from a low base: Before the pandemic, only 8% of all passenger travel in the European Union was by train. But in addition to the public relations campaign, European leaders are also working to reduce practical barriers to cross-border train travel by introducing new data-sharing systems, replacing outdated infrastructure, and building new high-speed routes, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. “The idea is that for train trips of less than four hours, no businesspeople will choose to fly, and for trips below six hours, normal people — tourists — will take the train,” said Alberto Mazzola, the executive director of the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Companies. Mazzola added that government leaders are throwing their weight behind railway infrastructure, particularly high-speed lines. “We heard this 20 years ago,” he added. “The difference today is that we are seeing the investments.”<br/>
Manchester Airport's managing director is to stand down amid criticism of long security queues which have led to passengers missing flights. Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said Karen Smart had decided to leave the business after eight years. Earlier, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said police and fire and rescue service staff could be drafted in to help tackle the chaos. Ian Costigan will take on the role of interim managing director. Travellers at the airport, which is owned by Greater Manchester's 10 councils and an investment firm, have faced long queues for check-in and security over the past month. The problems first came to light in mid-March when passengers were left waiting for hours, with some forced to queue outside in the car park while others missed their flights. MAG previously apologised and said the industry was "facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges at present, after the most damaging two years in its history".<br/>
Police and fire and rescue service staff could be drafted in to help tackle the chaos at Manchester Airport, the region's mayor has said. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is meeting airport bosses to discuss the "concerning" current situation. Travellers have criticised long delays and missed flights over the weekend. Burnham said he would be seeking reassurance about what is being done to bring the situation under control, but will also offer his support. Travellers at the airport have faced long queues for check-in and security over the past month, with some missing flights at the start of the Easter school holidays. Manchester Airport has previously apologised and said the industry was "facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges". "I have been in touch with colleagues at Greater Manchester Police at the weekend to see what we can do to support the airport," Mr Burnham said. "It's a difficult moment for airports around the world having laid low for the pandemic, they've had to scale up very quickly. But at the same time, we don't want to see the scenes that we saw at the weekend and we obviously need to work with them to work through those issues and make sure we're managing those things and giving the right information to the public and being clear about the plan to get things to an acceptable level."<br/>
The number of journeys taken over China's three-day Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday tumbled by nearly two-thirds from last year, state media said, citing data from the transport ministry, as authorities battle outbreaks of COVID-19 across the country. The decline was worse than expected and comes as analysts warn that the economic cost of keeping infections to a minimum is likely to soar, with sectors like tourism bearing the biggest brunt. Total trips - including rail, air, waterway and road - reached an estimated 53.78m over the three-day period beginning on Apr 3, down 63%, the official Economic Daily reported late on Tuesday. The figure was also about 10% lower than 2020 when parts of China were still recovering from the first coronavirus outbreak that began in central China's Wuhan. Air travel was the worst hit, with the total number of flights falling to an estimated 562,000, down 87% from a year ago and 54% down in 2020. Road journeys fell 53% on the year and were also slightly lower than 2020. China's transport ministry had said on Sunday that it expected road traffic to drop 20% and flights to fall 55% during the three-day holiday.<br/>
Airbus’ plans to aggressively ramp up aircraft production are on track, despite new constraints on the global supply of Russian titanium, a critical metal for aerospace manufacturing. The European airframer quashed rumors that its A320 and A350 production increases will be delayed by titanium-supply issues. “We continue to assess the impact of the current situation in detail, but we do not see any issue in the short to medium term,” an Airbus spokesperson said. “Regardless, we are accelerating our efforts to secure alternative sources of supply.” Airbus previously indicated that it sourced as much as half of its titanium needs from Russia. It continues to buy the metal from the country. “Airbus is directly sourcing titanium from Russia as well as from other countries, and indirectly sourcing it from Tier 1 suppliers,” the spokesperson said. “This is done in accordance with all sanctions and applicable export control regulations in place.” Airbus plans to increase production of its A320 family to 65 aircraft per month by the middle of next year, an aggressive target that analysts and even Air Lease Corp. Executive Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy have questioned. Last year, analysts pointed to other supply chain problems, not least of which were staffing issues at the airframer’s suppliers. But CEO Guillaume Faury stood by the company’s targets and said Airbus can deliver 20 percent more aircraft this year compared with last year. “We are ready,” he said in February before the conflict began. Before the war in Ukraine, Russia provided up to 20% of the world’s raw titanium, and VSMPO-AVISMA is the world’s largest producer of the metal for the aerospace industry. Before the conflict, Boeing and VSMPO-AVISMA were in a joint venture to provide part of the US airframer’s titanium requirements. But European, Japanese, and US sanctions have prompted aerospace firms to avoid Russian supplies of the metal in order to comply with broader sanctions. China, Japan, Kazakstan, and the US produce the balance of the world’s supply of titanium.<br/>