Analysis: Aviation nurses a nasty headache as travel recovers from COVID

Aerospace has turned the page on an unprecedented pandemic demand shock with dozens new orders at its largest air show in three years - only to face mounting worries over supply chains and reminders that its future hinges on decarbonisation. From rural Farnborough to nearby Heathrow, this week brought stark evidence of the supply crunch now entangling manufacturers and airlines alike, with shortages of both labour and parts. It comes as airlines - whose expansion had propelled the industry to record profits in the past decade, only to collapse during the pandemic - are desperate to cash in on a nascent recovery in international travel. Even the Farnborough Airshow struggled to find enough hospitality staff despite downsizing from a seven-day aviation festival to a five-day trade show with no weekend aerobatics. "We have to accept that a lot of people left the aviation industry and the aerospace industry during 2020 and it is difficult to bring them back," Emirates president Tim Clark told delegates after clashing with Heathrow over capacity curbs. Departing Farnborough attendees got a personal taste of the resulting travel chaos after discussing their own shortages of labour, parts and materials at the July 18-22 aerospace event. Long lines formed at Britain's airports, Eurostar train terminal and the port of Dover on Friday - the start of the busiest travel weekend since 2019. For years, the alternating Farnborough and Paris air shows fed a fast-growing ecosystem as airlines lavished new orders on manufacturers, who served that demand in part by encouraging their supply chains to set up facilities in purchasing nations.<br/>