Global airlines are grappling with a double whammy from the rare combination of a strong US dollar and high oil prices at a time when broad inflationary pressures and worker shortages are also placing pressure on the pandemic-hit industry's recovery. The oil price and the US dollar typically have an inverse relationship so that when one is high, the other is low, helping to even out the financial impact on airlines that operate in other currencies. That correlation, however, has broken down in recent months with the war in Ukraine causing a spike in oil prices at a time when the United States is a net oil exporter and the US dollar receiving a boost from interest rate rises designed to temper inflation. Airlines gathering at the International Air Transport Association annual meeting in Doha this week expressed concern about the oil price and U.S. dollar rising in tandem. "For airlines, it is not good at all. It is the perfect storm," Tony Webber, a former chief economist at Australia's Qantas Airways. The US trade-weighted real exchange rate index, established in 2006, is at a record high and the benchmark Brent oil price is around $115 a barrel. Non-US airlines have dollar exposure in the form of oil prices, aircraft purchase and leasing charges, maintenance costs and sometimes debt, all of which become higher in their local currency when the dollar is stronger. "It's painful, buying fuel, buying everything," Korean Air Lines CE Walter Cho said of the strong US dollar, trading at the highest level against the won in more than a decade. "We have a lot of US dollar debt and we have to pay interest on that. Interest is low but at this exchange rate it might as well be 10%," he said on the sidelines of an airline industry gathering in Doha.<br/>
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Global airlines wrapped up an annual summit on Tuesday by pledging to overcome operational problems that have marred the industry's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic such as labour shortages in airports. The IATA comprising almost 300 airlines sought to put into perspective the furore over recent airport and holiday chaos and tempered plans to boost capacity as the battered sector tries to solve staff shortages since air travel collapsed during the pandemic. "Let's relax a little; yes, we have challenges, but it is not everywhere," IATA DG Willie Walsh said, adding that the industry would be able to see its way through recent problems. He was speaking to reporters as airlines concluded a three-day Doha meeting marked by a sharper than expected recovery of air travel that caught airports and many planners by surprise. Walsh suggested that labour shortages can be managed and had not affected the entire industry. "There are certain airlines and airports. It's not widespread across the world. It's not every airport. It's not every day of the week. It's not every week of the year," Walsh said. "I think that some of the airlines have decided to adjust capacity going forward to reflect the fact that they may not be able to recruit people as fast."<br/>
Some airlines may have to adjust capacity plans to cope with staff shortages, but not all carriers and airports are facing the chaos recently seen in Europe, the head of a global airlines body said on Tuesday. “Let’s relax a little; yes we have challenges but it is not everywhere,” Willie Walsh, DG of the IATA said, adding that the industry would see its way through recent problems. He was speaking to reporters as global airlines wrapped up a three-day meeting marked by a sharper-than-expected recovery of air travel, overshadowed by concerns about inflation and the conflict in Ukraine. <br/>
Major oil companies must speed up the development of alternative fuels crucial to the aviation industry meeting its 2050 net-zero emissions target or risk losing out to businesses that will, airlines warned on Tuesday. The airline industry requires huge investments in so-called sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which are currently in short supply and far more expensive than conventional jet fuels. “We are not going to accept excuses. Bottom line is if they are not going to do it, others will,” said Willie Walsh, the head of the IATA. “This is a business opportunity. You no longer need to have oil in the ground to produce fuel. There are many feedstocks available to produce sustainable fuels,” he told reporters at the end of a three-day airline industry meeting in Doha. Commercial aviation contributes about 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The development of SAF, made from feedstocks such as cooking oils and animal waste, is expected to make the biggest contribution to airlines achieving net-zero. Future technologies such as electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft are still unproven and will likely take decades to replace existing aircraft if developed.<br/>
Travellers, experts and now Canada's transport minister are casting an increasingly wary eye on airlines' role in the travel turbulence playing out at airports across the country, with many calling for carriers to take more ownership of the issue. The federal government has been scrambling to respond to scenes of endless lines, flight delays and daily turmoil at airports - particularly Toronto's Pearson airport - a problem the aviation industry has blamed on a shortage of federal security and customs officers. “Airlines have a duty as well. We're hearing some stories about luggage issues and flights cancelling. So cancellation - we want to make sure that the airlines as well do their part,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra told reporters Tuesday in Ottawa. “We're making sure that the airlines keep up their end of the bargain.” John Gradek, head of McGill University's aviation management program, says airlines have used Ottawa as a “scapegoat” while scheduling more flights than they have staff or planes to provide, resulting in delays and cancellations. “The airlines basically have shot themselves in the foot by really throwing a lot more capacity at the world than they have resources to be able to handle,” he said. “They're being very aggressive in the marketplace, getting lots of traffic - airplanes are often at 90% load factor - and don't have any idle assets hanging around just in case things go wrong. And then that's a formula for disaster when things do start to go wrong.” Passengers receive last-minute emails informing them of repeated delays, aircraft changes or rebookings scheduled days after the original departure time. Reasons cited run the gamut from absent pilots and occupied baggage handlers to unplanned mechanical maintenance.<br/>
Europe's low-cost airlines face a summer of discontent as staff in Spain and France announced new strikes over labour conditions on Tuesday. Trade unions representing Ryanair cabin crew in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain have called for strikes this coming weekend, while easyJet's operations in Spain face a nine-day strike next month. Damien Mourgues, a representative of the SNPNC trade union at Ryanair in France, said the airline did not respect rest-time laws. The union was also calling for a raise for cabin crew, still paid at the minimum wage. Cabin crew will walk out on Saturday and Sunday. Strike action on the weekend of June 12-13 already prompted the cancellation of about 40 Ryanair flights in France - about a quarter of the total. Ryanair's low-cost rival easyJet also faces nine days of strikes through July at the Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca airports. The union saidTuesday that Spanish easyJet cabin crew, with a base pay of 950 euros (S$1,385) per month, have the lowest wages of the airline's European bases. An easyJet spokesman said: "Should the industrial action go ahead we would expect some disruption to our flying programme... (and)... we would like to reassure customers that we will do everything possible to minimise any disruption." The strikes come as air travel has rebounded since Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted. But many airlines, which laid off staff during the pandemic, are having trouble rehiring enough workers, forcing them to cancel flights. That includes easyJet, which has been particularly hard hit by employee shortages.<br/>
EU states may only gather the airline passenger data strictly necessary to combat serious crime and terrorism, Europe’s top court said on Tuesday, and banned the use of machine learning to harvest the data. The Passenger Name Record Directive (PNR), adopted in 2016, allows police and justice officials to access passenger data on flights to and from the EU to combat serious crimes and maintain security in the 27-country bloc. Rights groups however said data retention even by law enforcement and other authorities is an invasive and unjustified encroachment on fundamental rights to privacy and data protection. In 2017, Belgium’s Human Rights League (LDH) and other rights groups challenged the PNR at a Belgian court, saying it allows the collection of too much data and could lead to mass surveillance, discrimination and profiling. The court subsequently sought advice from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). “The Court considers that respect for fundamental rights requires that the powers provided for by the PNR Directive be limited to what is strictly necessary,” the CJEU said. Judges said the PNR must be limited to terrorist offences and serious crime having an objective link, even if only an indirect one, with the carriage of passengers by air. The CJEU said the extension of the PNR to intra-EU flights should only be allowed only if it is strictly necessary and open to review by a court or independent administrative body.<br/>
The UK will give airlines a waiver from rules requiring them to use airport slots or lose them, allowing them to pull some capacity in a bid to stem the recent travel chaos. The Department for Transport said it would offer an amnesty on takeoff and landing slot regulations, which mandate airlines use them or forfeit them in the next season, in order for them to “make sensible decisions” about schedules. Airlines and airports across Europe and particularly the UK have seen hours-long lines and last-minute cancellations as they struggle to build up staffing numbers after workforces were slashed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. <br/>
Pilot training schools in the UK are actively looking for instructors who can teach on electric-powered aeroplanes, as the surging price of fuel gives a boost to the country’s emerging zero-emissions market. The global electric aviation industry remains in its infancy, with the Slovenian-made Pipistrel Velis Electro, a two-seater training aircraft powered by lithium-ion batteries, only certified in the UK last year. But Deepak Mahajan, who runs a training centre and is director at the UK and Ireland distributor for Pipistrel, Fly About Aviation, said his school and three others were recruiting instructors to meet the demand for more sustainable and cheaper training. Mahajan says seven Velis Electros are currently flying in the UK, with an eighth arriving soon. His school at Damyns Hall Aerodrome, Essex, was the first in the country to offer the full private pilot’s licence on electric planes. The RAF also has them as trainers, he said. Pipistrel says its 57.6kW liquid-cooled electric engine has significant advantages over the combustion equivalent, which include lower operating costs and being much quieter – a major issue for flying schools based near residential areas. The aircraft battery takes about 90 minutes to charge and lasts about an hour, making it useful for most lessons but not ideal for cross-country flights. Mahajan hopes to change this by encouraging aerodromes to buy electric chargers. Ten airports have already installed them, with at least one powered by solar panels, further decreasing the impact on the climate. “We’re slowly building up that network of chargers across the country,” he said.<br/>
A deal to open up Saudi airspace to all flights operating into and out of Tel Aviv is being discussed ahead of US President Joe Biden’s trip to the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter. Dubai’s Emirates Airline, Bahrain’s Gulf Air and Israeli airlines including flag carrier El Al are currently permitted to use Saudi airspace for Dubai-Tel Aviv and Manama-Tel Aviv routes, but Israel is restricted from using Saudi airspace for any other commercial flights. With the exception of Air India, other foreign airlines aren’t authorized to cross over Saudi airspace when operating to Tel Aviv, even though they can utilize Saudi airspace for other routes. Airlines have been lobbying for such permission, one of the people said. Israel and Saudi Arabia have no formal diplomatic ties. Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment for this story but Yair Lapid, the minister, said at a press conference last week that talk of a deal to expand Israeli access to Saudi airspace was “not without some basis.” The Saudi government’s media office did not respond to a request for comment. <br/>