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Google has been accused of airbrushing aviation emissions, after the company changed its flight search engine to halve the CO2 emissions attributed to any given trip. The change, first noted by the BBC, affects a feature on Google Flights that shows the estimated carbon emissions of each route. The company flags routes with higher or lower than typical emissions, and also reports the total CO2 emitted per passenger on any given journey. But in July this year, Google pushed through a change that halved the total emission figures it reported. The company had previously reported emissions in kilograms of “carbon dioxide equivalent” (CO2e), a measure that includes the damage to the climate from other aviation emissions, such as water vapour emitted at high altitudes as part of the plane’s contrails, which can have a significantly higher warming effect per tonne than pure CO2. After the change, Google began reporting just the CO2 emitted on each journey, effectively halving the stated environmental impact of any given flight. The company argues that it is impossible to precisely estimate CO2e for a given flight, since the effect of water vapour on warming differs depending on time of day and location of emissions, and that until its models improve, it would be more accurate to simply report CO2. In a statement, the company said: “We strongly believe that non-CO2 effects should be included in the model, but not at the expense of accuracy for individual flight estimates. To address this issue, we’re working closely with leading academics on soon-to-be-published research to better understand how the impact of contrails varies based on critical factors like time of day and region, which will in turn help us more accurately reflect that information to consumers.” Story has more.<br/>

Dubai’s Emirates airline in August announced an investment of over $2b to improve its inflight customer experience, including cabin interior upgrades and new menus — with unlimited caviar. The world’s biggest long-haul carrier will be retrofitting over 120 aircraft with new interiors, as well as dishing up menus with new vegan options and cinema snacks like popcorn, Emirates said in a statement. Other new perks for the carrier’s first-class travelers include unlimited portions of Persian caviar, paired with Dom Perignon vintage champagne. Those investments come just as Emirates posted a $1.1b loss for the year ended March 31. “While others respond to industry pressures with cost cuts, Emirates is flying against the grain and investing to deliver ever better experiences to our customers,” said the president of Emirates airline, Tim Clark. Emirates is not the only airline pulling out all the stops to ride the tailwinds of “revenge travel” — the idea that people are making up for time “lost” during the pandemic to travel again. Earlier this year, Finnair launched a new line of premium economy cabins, featuring seats that provide around 50% more space than their economy seats. Air France, likewise, announced new long-haul business seats in May, complete with sliding dividers for passengers who want their own private space. Emirates said that it has seen “a lot of interest” in these luxury upgrades, though it said it does not have the full numbers yet. The upgrades come on the heels of an industry report predicting that business travel spending will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2026 rather than 2024, as previously forecast. Though spending by business travelers has been on the upswing, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) annual report stated that the 2021 figure was still less than half of the over $1.4t that was generated by in business travel in 2019.<br/>

The US government said on Thursday it will suspend 26 China-bound flights from the United States by four Chinese carriers in response to the Chinese government’s decision to suspend some US carrier flights over Covid-19 cases. The decision will affect flights by Xiamen, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines from Sept. 5 to Sept. 28. The USDOT cited the recent cancellation of 26 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines flights over Covid-19 cases. The suspensions include 19 China-bound flights from Los Angeles and 7 China Eastern flights from New York. The Chinese Embassy in Washington’s spokesperson Liu Pengyu said the USDOT action was “extremely irresponsible” and “groundlessly suspended Chinese airline flights.” The embassy said China’s Covid-19 “circuit breaker” measures were fair and transparent, applied both to Chinese and foreign airlines and were consistent with bilateral air transportation agreements. USDOT said as of Aug. 7 Chinese authorities had revised their policies so if the number of passengers on a flight to China testing positive for Covid-19 reached 4% of the total, one flight would be suspended. If it reached 8%, two flights would be suspended. USDOT said the US has repeatedly raised objections with China, saying the rules place “undue culpability on carriers” when travelers test negative before boarding their flight from the United States only to “test positive for Covid-19 after their arrival in China.”<br/>

With millions of travelers expected to rush airports over the Labor Day holiday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is telling major airlines that this summer's thousands of flight cancellations are not acceptable. The Department of Transportation plans to better inform passengers of their recourse when facing a significant flight disruption, the secretary said in a letter sent to executives of all US carriers. Buttigieg says in the letter that while it is not reasonable to expect perfect reliability from airlines, "the level of disruption Americans have experienced this summer is unacceptable." Buttigieg says the Department of Transportation will publish a new online dashboard by Labor Day weekend where passengers can find "easy-to-read, comparative summary information" on what each of the large US airlines provides to passengers when delays or cancellations are caused by factors within the airline's control. Buttigieg said the dashboard will be displayed by September 2 on the DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection site. "When passengers do experience cancelations and delays, they deserve clear and transparent information on the services that your airline will provide, to address the expenses and inconveniences resulting from these disruptions," Buttigieg wrote. He is urging airlines to review their customer service commitments to passengers.<br/>

Airlines using the Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City have agreed to temporarily reduce flights at the hub from 61 per hour to 52, starting Oct. 31, the country’s transportation ministry said in a statement Thursday. The cut, which is almost a 15% reduction and still pending final approval, follows previous flight caps at the airport announced earlier this year, as the country alters the capital’s airspace in an attempt to reduce flight saturation at the hub. The ministry said the measure would be implemented for the winter season, without specifying a closing date. In May, authorities announced a measure in which some flights would be moved to the newly constructed Felipe Angeles Airport (AIFA) on the outskirts of Mexico City, while commercial flight slots at the Benito Juarez Airport would be capped. The move came after a video showing two planes belonging to Mexican carrier Volaris almost crashing at the Benito Juarez Airport (AICM) went viral in May. In recent months, some airlines have increased their flight offerings at the AIFA and the Toluca International Airport to the west of Mexico City. A majority of the airlines using the AICM were present at the meeting in which the agreement was reached, the ministry said. Mexican airline Viva Aerobus was among those present and agreed to reduce flights, a spokesperson said.<br/>

Germany’s embattled Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt International airport will offer reserved timed slots for security clearance as it struggles with passenger throughput and other operations issues. The airport, which opened in October 2020 after a decade of construction delays, said on 25 August that the timed slots will “optimise” the flow of air travellers through its facility. The programme, called “BER Runway”, will be free and allow passengers with reservations to skip security lines. “Passengers can plan the duration of their stay at the airport more reliably and thus make their journey less stressful,” says Thomas Hoff Andersson, chief operations officer of Flughafen Berlin-Brandenburg (FBB). “BER Runway is also an important step on the way to further digitising the processes at our airport. This will enable us to further optimise all processes in the interests of our passengers.” Starting 72h before flights, passengers can reserve 15min slots within 1-6h of departures. Reservations are good between 10min before and 10min after reserved times. The programme is only available to passengers departing from Terminal 1, which serves all airlines except Ryanair. “With BER Runway, the necessary time can be shortened and the stay in the terminal can be better calculated,” the airport says. Even with the security slot system, the airport still recommends travellers arrive at the airport at least 2.5h before departures.<br/>

As France reels from a summer of extreme temperatures and soaring energy prices, prompting increasingly urgent calls to rein in polluters contributing to global warming, one high-flying culprit is finding itself in the cross hairs: the private jet. In recent days, France’s transportation minister called for flights by such planes to be restricted because of their outsize contribution to climate change, while a prominent lawmaker for the Green Party said he would soon introduce a bill to ban them altogether. The announcements have struck a chord in France, where weeks of severe drought and wildfires have brought home the realities of global warming, stoking a larger debate about consumer responsibility for addressing climate change. Calls for better conservation of energy are also growing in France, like in much of Europe, as the war in Ukraine squeezes supplies of gas and oil. “Without resorting to demagogy or launching ad hominem attacks, there is certain behavior that is no longer acceptable,” Clément Beaune, the transportation minister, told Le Parisien newspaper on Saturday, as he announced his plan to regulate private jets. Beaune’s advisers said he was considering several options, including requiring companies to disclose trips taken on private planes, or expanding the European Union’s emissions trading program — which caps how much carbon companies are allowed to emit — to the jets. Beaune said he would consult with bloc partners on the issue. The aviation sector is already considered one of the world’s top carbon emitters. And private jets are estimated to cause five to 14 times as much pollution as commercial planes per passenger, and 50 times as much as trains, according to a study published last year by Transport & Environment, a group campaigning for cleaner transportation. <br/>

IBA published its monthly Aviation Industry Barometer for July 2022, showing that whilst Asia-Pacific lags behind, it does show healthy signals with a 20% growth year-on-year. Intelligence from IBA Insight indicates that the recovery in monthly global passenger flights grew by 3% in July 2022 compared to June 2022, with flight capacity now at 83% relative to pre-pandemic levels. IBA’s Aviation Industry Barometer for July 2022 also reveals that overall, there were approximately 2.64m commercial passenger flights in July 2022 compared to 2.41m in June 2022 and 2.14m in July 2021. There were 79 commercial aircraft deliveries in July 2022, representing a month-on-month decrease of 35% compared to June 2022, and a year-on-year gain of 4% compared to July 2021. Deliveries in the narrowbody category were led by the A320neo family, while the A350 led deliveries in the widebody segment. Freighter deliveries remain exclusive to Boeing, with three aircraft delivered in July – one 777F and two 767-300F aircraft to a mixture of operators. Latin America is leading global recovery, and has been surpassing pre-pandemic capacitylevels since May this year. Flight capacity in the Middle East, Europe and North America are all trending at +85%compared to pre-pandemic levels. Asia Pacific flight capacity continues to lag, although the region is starting to show healthy signals with +20% year-on-year growth as restrictions relax further.<br/>

Asia-Pacific airlines carried 11.3m international passengers in July, surpassing the 10m figure for the first time since February 2020, just prior to the collapse of travel amid the coronavirus pandemic. July’s international passenger number is also a sevenfold improvement on July 2021, when travel restrictions remained large in place, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). International RPKs for Asia-Pacific carriers grew sixfold year on year, as ASKs more than doubled. Load factors also showed a major improvement, jumping 48.2 percentage points to 80%. International FTKs declined 11.6%, and FATKs were down 0.4%. Freight load factors fell 8.6 percentage points to 67.8%. AAPA’s traffic results are derived from 40 Asia-Pacific carriers. “Growth in travel markets continued to accelerate in July, bringing the total number of international passengers carried to 43 million in the first seven months of the year, almost five-fold more than the 9 million recorded during the same period in 2021,” says AAPA director general Subhas Menon.<br/>

Passengers aren’t the only ones paying more to fly this year. A tight supply of aircraft is driving up the price airlines pay to rent planes, just as travel demand returns. The rent on a new Boeing 737 Max rose more than 20% between April 2020 and this July to $316,000 a month, estimates aviation advisory firm IBA Group. The competing Airbus A320neo climbed to $324,000 a month, up more than 14% from April 2020, and the highest price since before the Covid pandemic. The larger version, the A321neo, was going for $375,000 per month in July. The world’s largest aircraft leasing firms, like Air Lease, Avolon and AerCap, which acquired GE’s airplane leasing business last year, are reaping the benefits. More than 51% of the world’s nearly 23,000 single- and double-aisle jetliners are owned or managed by leasing firms, according to aviation consulting firm Cirium. While many airlines do own their aircraft, some carriers choose to rent planes instead, or combine the two. Reasons for leasing vary and include weak credit ratings that drive up borrowing costs, and the desire, or need, to conserve cash, rather than shelling out to buy new planes, which can run more than $100m apiece at list prices. The higher costs come as airlines are already facing high inflation, resulting in expenses that usually get passed along in fares. Aircraft rents are approaching or in some cases surpassing 2019 prices, and they’re set to go even higher. This year’s surge in oil prices make newer, fuel-efficient planes more attractive than older ones, and higher interest rates could also drive up lease rates. “You have the rising interest rates and higher cost of capital,” said Mike Yeomans, director of valuations and consulting at IBA. “That will push lease rates higher through the rest of the year.”<br/>