general

Global air travel continued its recovery from the pandemic in September as passenger traffic surged 57% compared with 2021, trade association figures have shown. Passenger traffic reached 74% of pre-pandemic levels in September as people rushed back to travel following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, data from the IATA has also shown on Monday. The Asia Pacific, which was slower than other regions to lift border restrictions, recorded by far the biggest jump in travel, with passenger traffic soaring 465% compared with last year. Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan recently lifted border restrictions in an effort to revive their pandemic-battered travel industries. China, the region’s biggest economy by far, continues to restrict non-essential travel by its citizens and subject all arrivals to 10 days of quarantine under its ultra-strict “dynamic zero COVID” policy. Middle Eastern airlines recorded the next biggest rise in passenger traffic, up 150%, followed by North American and Latin American airlines, which saw traffic rise 129% and 99%, respectively. IATA DGWillie Walsh welcomed the figures as a positive sign for global aviation in the face of economic and geopolitical uncertainties. “The outlier is still China with its pursuit of a zero-COVID strategy keeping borders largely closed and creating a demand roller coaster ride for its domestic market, with September being down 46.4% on the previous year,” Walsh said.<br/>

As the aviation industry looks towards a future with more videoconferencing and fewer business travelers filling business class seats, it's wooing upmarket leisure passengers to fill the gap. Airlines are hoping that more business travelers will bring along their partners for "blended" or business-leisure -- "bleisure" -- travel. Yet most business class cabins were designed with the goal of privacy rather than being able to cuddle up next to Pat from accounting. Enter a new generation of design that allows two business class seats to be converted into a double bed better suited to couples. "Covid was an epic reset button," explains Daniel Baron, a cabin designer and the managing director of airline design house LIFT Aero Design in Tokyo. "It shifted the priorities for many travelers. More people now long for things that might have seemed less important before the world turned upside down. They want a slightly slower pace, with creature comforts along the way, and meaningful experiences on the other side. Ditto for business travelers. Yes, career is still important, but time with loved ones need not be sacrificed. The trend to mix business with pleasure lends itself to an increase in demand in the premium leisure category." In ultra-swanky international first class, double beds have been the norm since the mid-2000s, with perhaps the most famous being Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380 first class, and later the Etihad Residence one-bedroom suite in the mid-2010s, with a small double bed in its own room.<br/>

The aviation industry requires more carrot and less stick going forward to become more sustainable, according to the director general of the IATA. Willie Walsh was asked Friday if subsidies and tax breaks to encourage investments into cleaner energy were more effective than firms or consumers being taxed for emitting higher levels of carbon. “Quite honestly, all of the evidence that we have available shows that the carrot is far more effective than the stick,” Walsh replied. Expanding on his point, Walsh went on to describe taxation as being “a very blunt instrument — in many cases, actually, it would make our industry less efficient.” “I don’t think it would stop the number of planes flying, it would definitely reduce the number of people flying on the planes,” he added. “And that would be a silly thing to do. What we need to do is to ensure that our planes are more full rather than less full, and to provide incentives to produce sustainable aviation fuels which will make a genuine impact on the environmental footprint of aviation.” The European Union is currently looking to revise its energy taxation directive. Among other things, this would see both maritime and aviation fuels taxed. In Oct. 2021, IATA member airlines passed a resolution “committing them to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from their operations by 2050.” Given the fact it’s a crucial cog in the global economy, conversations about aviation and its effect on the environment will undoubtedly take place at the COP27 climate change conference being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. This is because despite its importance, aviation has been described by the World Wildlife Fund as “one of the fastest-growing sources of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change.”<br/>

Twelve minutes. That’s all the time it took for the board of directors of Avianca, the second largest airline in Latin America, to set the fate of the carrier and begin a series of sweeping changes to the airline industry in the region. The date was May 10, 2020. It was a partly cloudy spring Wednesday in Bogotá, where Avianca is headquartered. The weather, however, was likely of little consequence to the board that met via teleconference to decide the airline’s fate at 8:03 a.m. local time. Dialing, or Zooming possibly, in were its 10 directors, including then chief financial officer and now CEO Adrian Neuhauser. In front of them was a momentous decision: Whether or not to take Avianca into bankruptcy given, as minutes from the meeting show, the airline’s cash flows were “severely impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.” If they voted yes, it would be the largest airline bankruptcy to that point in the crisis. All of the facts in front of the board pointed to a yes vote. Global air travel was a month off its pandemic nadir in April 2020. Airspace in Colombia, Avianca’s largest market, had been closed since March 20, and the airline’s flights suspended since March 25. And then there was the “uncertainty caused by the limited visibility that the industry [had] with respect to the demand recovery.” Just over a month earlier, then director general of industry trade group the IATA, Alexandre de Juniac, had warned that, without government aid to get through the liquidity crisis facing airlines, the industry would “run out of cash and over half the [airlines] die.” And the Colombian government, as well as every other government in Latin America, had to that May morning declined to provide any aid to the region’s airlines.<br/>

Russia’s aviation industry has defied predictions it would slowly grind to a halt after western sanctions barred access to vital spare parts and maintenance expertise. Domestic air travel has rebounded close to levels last seen before the Covid-19 pandemic, triggering concerns among western executives that safety may eventually be put at risk. Since Russia lifted all pandemic-related travel restrictions in the summer, the number of domestic flights has surged and was up 4 per cent on 2019 levels in October this year, according to data from IBA, the aviation consultancy. International travel remains far below 2019 levels as most western countries banned Russian airlines from their airspace following its invasion of Ukraine. Travel has continued to certain countries, such as China, Turkey and former Soviet Union states. The domestic rebound, however, has triggered fears over the long-term safety of the fleet. Airbus and Boeing in March suspended the supply of spare parts and services and removed their regular maintenance support. Engine makers, including Rolls-Royce, also stopped support. Before the start of the war, the two aerospace groups accounted for 70% of Russia’s commercial fleet of roughly 880 aircraft, according to data from consultancy Cirium.<br/>

Britain will struggle to create an industry producing sustainable aviation fuel unless the government provides regular subsidies to manufacturers, leading airlines and airports have warned. The government has set a 2050 “Jet Zero” target for the airline industry to eliminate net carbon emissions, mainly through the use of green fuel produced by household waste such as cooking oil, known as “SAF”. The government has promised GBP165mn as seed capital to encourage manufacturers to open at least five plants producing the new fuel and hopes they will be under construction by 2025. It has also set a target under which 10 per cent of aviation fuel must be SAF by 2030. But leading airports and airlines, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester Airports Group, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have written to Mark Harper, the new transport secretary, calling for more state intervention to get the fledgling industry off the ground. The letter is also signed by some of the manufacturers with plans for SAF plants in the UK, including Fulcrum, Velocys and Alfanar. “We believe UK SAF production has the chance to become a domestic success story, but the government needs to act now to ensure manufacturers get the price certainty needed to unlock private investment into this sector,” the groups wrote. They want the government to create “contracts for difference” (CFDs) to agree a set price for SAF, similar to those the state has used to underwrite nuclear and offshore wind projects.<br/>

The daily number of passengers traveling via Incheon International Airport has hit 90,000, the highest point in two years and eight months, the airport's operator said Monday. According to the Incheon International Airport, a total of 93,251 people traveled via the airport, the main gateway to Korea, on Sunday, the first number above 90,000 since Feb. 24, 2020. The latest figure represents an over tenfold leap from the corresponding number of 9,093 posted on Jan. 1 this year. Officials said the growth is attributable to lessened COVID-19 travel controls in Japan and Taiwan, which together accounted for a major share in demand for flight services via Incheon International Airport before the onset of COVID-19. The two countries resumed visa-free tourism programs for foreigners over the past two months amid the receding pandemic. As of October, flight services at Incheon International Airport had recovered to 39.2% of the level recorded in October of 2019, when the pandemic had not yet been identified. <br/>

Brazilian planemaker Embraer Monday reported a 10% increase in third-quarter aircraft deliveries from a year earlier and reaffirmed its full-year forecast, but the deliveries came below some projections, pushing its shares down. Embraer delivered 33 jets in the three months to September, up from 30 in the year-ago period. That, however, fell below some projections. JPMorgan analysts, who were expecting a delivery of 51 aircraft, said Embraer had "another weak quarter." Santander had a more conservative forecast of 36 aircraft and noted some improvement in volumes, though it said supply chain constraints might still pose a challenge ahead. Embraer's Sao Paulo-traded sharer dropped more than 3.5% in early trade, making it one of the top losers on Brazil's Bovespa stock index (.BVSP), which was down 1.7%. Embraer said in a securities filing that quarterly deliveries included 10 commercial aircraft and 23 executive jets, up from nine and 21, respectively, in the same period of 2021. At the end of the quarter, the company's firm order backlog stood at $17.8 billion, up 6% on the year and unchanged from the previous quarter, which was its highest in four years. The latest backlog data included a firm order for six E195-E2 jets signed with Oman's low-cost carrier SalamAir in October. Embraer had also agreed on a deal with Canada's Porter Airlines for 20 aircraft earlier this year. The Brazilian company reaffirmed its full-year deliveries forecast of 100 to 110 executive jets and 60 to 70 commercial jets.<br/>

US aviation regulators proposed standards for an air taxi made by Joby Aviation, paving the way for the first official certification of the novel electric aircraft. The FAA on Monday revealed “airworthiness criteria” for Joby’s JAS4-1, a four-passenger craft designed to lift off like a helicopter and then fly horizontally like a plane. The action, which gives the public and industry 30 days to comment, lays out the steps Joby would take to get agency approval. The announcement is a significant milestone for Joby and could become a template for other air-taxi manufacturers trying to create a new form of urban transportation. Multiple hurdles remain before Joby can begin carrying passengers for hire as it attempts to become an airline and the government creates new regulations to oversee such operations. The FAA, which was criticized by some companies earlier this year after changing how it planned to review new flight technologies, said the Joby action shows it is “using existing regulations” to assess the new designs.<br/>