Safety regulators are advising airlines to pay close attention to the impact of airport operational disruption when planning monthly crew rosters, to take into account potential delays and consequent impact on flight-duty time. Exercising of captain’s discretion should be considered “exceptional”, says the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, because delays experienced at airport with a known operational problem cannot be considered “unforeseen circumstances”. “Extension of flight-duty period when operating to and from [such airports] should be kept to a minimum,” it states in a safety information bulletin. “Any crew scheduling which includes the [captain’s] discretion is not acceptable and the planning with extensions should be limited.” It adds that this discretion ought to be avoided at the carrier’s home base and hubs, where standby or reserve crews should be available. National civil aviation regulators should check how airlines are ensuring crews remain sufficiently free from fatigue. The guidance follows concerns that the rapid recovery of air transport demand is creating pressures on ground-handling services and leading to substantial disruptions. “While the root cause for those difficulties could be linked to the availability of a sufficient, qualified workforce, EASA is concerned about potential safety risks emerging from, or amplified by, [these] challenges,” the safety authority states. “Difficulties regarding the provision of services at [airports] may result in prolonged flight delays and cancelations. These in turn may lead to increased levels of crew fatigue.” Although the concerns do not warrant a safety directive, says EASA, it has outlined a series of recommendations to airports and carriers. <br/>
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Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe) has revealed that passenger numbers at airports across the continent jumped 247% year-on-year (YOY) in H1 2022, which is an additional 660m passengers. The surge was largely due to international traffic which recorded a 381.2% growth while domestic traffic increased 88.5%. Passenger volume particularly soared in Q2 as Omicron-related curbs in Europe and other external markets were relaxed. European airport traffic in June this year was 17.4% lower than the pre-pandemic levels in June 2019. However, it is still said to be the strongest monthly performance since February 2020. Overall, airports across the EU+ market reported a 348.9% surge in H1 2022 traffic to 635m from 140m in the prior year. The UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Hungary and Denmark recorded a significant rise in passenger footfall.<br/>
French airport operator ADP on Thursday raised its financial guidance as it returned to profit for the first time since 2019, boosted by a recovery in traffic in the first half of the year, in particular at Paris Aeroport. ADP, operator of the French capital’s Orly and Roissy Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airports, now expects an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin of between 32% and 37% of revenue in 2022 and 2023, against its previous forecast of between 30% and 35%. Last week, ADP raised its traffic outlook for the year, saying it expected total traffic of 74%-84% of 2019 levels across its whole network of operated airports, and 72%-82% of 2019 levels for Paris Aeroport. ADP, which around the start of July was hit by strikes at its CDG airport, said it estimates a “tiny” material impact of two salary increase agreements for its employees at E13m in the second half of the year. “We should have increased salaries without any strikes so it doesn’t have a lot of incidence,” CE Augustin de Romanet said in a call. Several European airlines and airports have experienced strikes in recent weeks as workers push for higher wages and better working conditions. In Paris alone, traffic in the first half of the year was up by 249.2% year-on-year to 37.5m passengers, at 71.6% of its 2019 level. A total of 118.2m passengers passed through all of ADP-operated airports from January to June, a 134.4% rise year-on-year, or 71.9% of pre-pandemic levels. That lifted ADP’s net result to E160m in the six months to June, more than double the 78 million euros expected by the analysts in a company-complied consensus. <br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and the Airports of Thailand (AoT) are being told to prepare for a surge of up to 19m air passengers in the last quarter of this year, Thailand's high tourist season. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, in his capacity as chairman of the Civil Aviation Commission (CAC), said the two agencies have been instructed to prepare for a surge currently being experienced in the United States and Europe after the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions. Peak season is in Q4 when the number of international visitors will rise to up to 19 million, according to a projection by the Bank of Thailand, he said. According to the CAAT and the AoT, Thailand welcomed about 1.08m international visitors from Jan 1 to May 20, and the number of new visitors was expected to rise to 6m in Q2, he said. The number of tourists was projected to slowly grow in the third quarter, a low tourist season, before picking up again and rapidly rising in the fourth quarter, he said, citing forecasts by the two agencies. Thailand should learn from what is happening in the US and Europe to better prepare for a similar situation, he said. Massive flight delays and close to 100,000 flight cancellations have occurred in Europe since April, while at least 20,000 cancellations happened in the US in the past two to three months, he said.<br/>