Commercial aircraft are generally expensive to manufacture, operate, maintain and fly, but not many think about the cost that goes into painting one. Dean Baldwin Painting is a 57-year-old aircraft painting company based in Macon, Georgia. It owns and operates five facilities across the US. Its clients are some of the largest airlines in the world, including United, Delta and JetBlue. The average cost to paint a plane falls between $175,000 and $200,000, according to the company. “The safety, the compliance, the environment, the manpower, the training — it’s not as easy as most people think,” says Barbara Baldwin-McNulty, CEO and owner of the company. “I think between the cost of having a facility with all these licenses and all these parameters, I think it’s also the time it takes to get a good team to provide the quality that the airlines do expect from you.” The FAA sets the safety standards for aircraft paint, and throughout the entire painting process, the plane is continually inspected to ensure those standards are being met. Beginning to end, the process involves multiple engineers, painters and inspectors. Painting typically involves four to five layers but only tends to be as thick as a fraction of a millimeter. Those layers include an anti-corrosion primer, protective intermediate layers and a final outer layer, which is typically white. The color white is commonly used because it reflects light most effectively. The global commercial aviation aircraft paint market was estimated at nearly $18.5bi in 2020 and is expected to grow to a $65b market by 2027.<br/>
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When United Airlines gate agents call the first boarding group, Ted Cohen notices something he never saw in his decades crossing the globe as a music industry executive: crowds. The “preboarding” group includes members of United Global Services, an invitation-only status for top customers, and United Premier 1K, an upper-level tier in the airline’s Mileage Plus frequent flyer program. “It used to be two or three people, and you used to say, ‘Who is that?’ And now it’s a small army,” said Cohen, who leads a digital entertainment consulting firm and has lifetime elite status on United and American Airlines Welcome to air travel’s era of mass luxury. Travelers willing to shell out more for tickets and popular rewards credit cards are swelling ranks in front cabins and airport lounges. Now airlines are trying to handle the surge of big spenders — without compromising the appeal of their lucrative loyalty programs and most expensive seats. This year, not everyone will make the cut. The largest U.S. carriers — Delta, American and United — are raising spending requirements to earn some elite frequent flyer tiers that grant free upgrades, early boarding, discounted or complimentary lounge memberships and other perks. Executives say the richer requirements are the product of the pandemic. Airlines had extended frequent flyer status without requiring travelers to meet the usual annual thresholds because would-be passengers were sidelined. In the meantime, customers kept spending on their rewards credit cards, racking up points and perks along the way. “We feel like we’re royals even though we’re not rich at all,” said Damaris Osorio, a 27-year-old based in New York who runs a vintage clothing business. Osorio frequents airport lounges on trips booked with rewards points that she earned through strategic credit card use and sign-up bonuses. Last year she and her fiance traveled to Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Italy, all on flights she paid for with points. Story has more.<br/>
The Mexican government signed a deal with several aviation unions Friday to purchase the brand of the defunct Mexicana airline for 811.1m Mexican pesos ($42.41m), a union spokesman told Reuters. The deal includes rights to use the airline's brand and the purchase of two buildings, a technical training center and a flight simulator, pilots' union spokesman Jose Alonso said in an interview. A time-frame for the payment has yet to be agreed upon, he added. Mexico's transportation ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said the government intends to use Mexicana to launch a military-run commercial airline. In December, Lopez Obrador said the airline was set to launch operations in 2023. The government is also in talks with Boeing on renting aircraft, he said. On Monday, the government will lift any legal actions in place against Mexicana, which was declared bankrupt in 2014, Alonso said.<br/>
After three long years, Chinese are finally able to travel in and out of their country without facing draconian restrictions. China's self-imposed isolation hurt economic growth and stirred a public backlash. This prompted Beijing to abruptly drop its zero-COVID policy in December, and join the rest of the world that has decided to coexist with the virus. From Sunday, people flying into China will be allowed to go straight at home, or visit restaurants and other venues for the first time since March 2020. Scores of people were due to cross the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border on the day without mandatory testing or quarantine. The border reopening with Hong Kong will be done "gradually and orderly," according to China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. Authorities will allow more flights from Hong Kong to mainland China and lift caps on passenger totals. PCR testing after crossing into Shenzhen is no longer required for the 60,000 people allowed to travel between Hong Kong and mainland China each day. A system will be implemented from Jan. 8 to March 4 for people to book a border-crossing time slot for the seven entry points. More than 250,000 people have registered to travel in the coming weeks. Those entering the mainland from Hong Kong are required to have a negative PCR test result within 48 hours of departure. The Hong Kong government said it aims to resume high-speed rail by Jan. 15 after a nearly three-year hiatus. Some Hong Kong residents are waiting for the Lunar New Year to return to the mainland to see relatives. Hong Kong residents have been rushing to get foreign mRNA jabs in anticipation of travelers inoculated with Chinese vaccines pouring into the city. Mainland Chinese residents have flocked to Macao to get vaccinated with BioNTech vaccines, which are perceived to be more effective than domestically produced versions available on the mainland.<br/>
China's aviation regulator wants passenger traffic to reach around 75% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023, up from 38% last year when the since-abandoned zero-COVID policy led to domestic lockdowns and kept the border closed, state media reported on Friday. The Chinese airline industry should also strive to break even this year, said the regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, according to broadcaster CCTV. China's major state-owned airlines have reported billions of dollars of losses for the first three quarters of 2022. Q4 results have not been released yet but they are also expected to be poor, according to analysts, as the dismantling of the zero-COVID regime did not occur until the end of the quarter. The outlook for 2023 is brighter, with Chinese airlines expected to be the early winners from its Jan. 8 international opening, because they kept most employees and widebody aircraft ready. Foreign carriers have been struggling with capacity constraints since other countries opened borders.<br/>
Airlines have boosted January international seat capacity to and from China by 9.5% over the last week as they ramp up flights after its border opening, according to aviation data provider Cirium, though flights remain at a fraction of pre-pandemic levels. Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd added more than 52,000 seats as its border with the mainland opened, putting it ahead of China's Xiamen Airlines, Juneyao Airlines Co Ltd and others in the 160,000 round-trip seat additions, schedules data from Cirium analysed by Reuters showed. The extra capacity comes from a low base, with airlines running only 11% of pre-pandemic capacity in January, according to Cirium, in a move that has led to high air fares ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday beginning Jan. 21. Chinese airlines are expected to be the early winners of the country's international reopening, analysts said, having kept most widebody planes and staff ready while foreign carriers struggle with capacity constraints after previous border openings. International capacity to and from China scheduled for the month of February has risen by 23% over the last week and for March by 13% over the same period, Cirium data showed. A major jump in capacity is expected in April, after the start of the summer airline schedule season that begins on March 26. Seats to and from China will rise to 4.3m a month in April, up from about 1.85m in January, 2m in February and 2.7m in March, according to Cirium data. The April figure would represent around 25% of the capacity seen in 2019.<br/>
Portugal will require air travellers from China to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test done no more than two days before departure, the health ministry said on Friday, following other nations that have implemented such restrictions. The requirements take effect at 12 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Sunday and "airlines are responsible for complying with the measure on boarding," it said in a statement. It said that passengers on flights from China could be subject to random testing on Saturday "for genomic sequencing of the variants in circulation, in order to contribute to an adequate assessment of the epidemiological situation".<br/>
Thailand will require international travelers to show proof they are fully vaccinated for COVID before flying to Thailand, according to the country's aviation regulator, as it prepares for more tourists after China reopened its border on Sunday. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said Saturday that starting early Monday, all foreign arrivals starting early on Monday must prove they are vaccinated or provide a letter certifying that they have recovered from COVID within six months. Unvaccinated travelers must show a medical certificate explaining why they have not received the vaccine.CAAT said airlines would be responsible for checking documents before passengers board and has released a list of how many doses are required for various types of COVID-19 vaccines on its website. The new measure will remain in effect at least until the end of January, CAAT said. The vaccination requirement was scrapped by Thailand last October but has been revived as China reopens its border following the easing of its zero-COVID policy. <br/>
Heavy fog in Delhi on Monday delayed flights, and a cold wave forced authorities to defer school reopenings a week, as visibility fell and cars drove with their hazard lights on. The Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Indian capital asked flyers to contact their airlines for updates on flights. "Due to dense fog, flight operations at Delhi Airport may get affected," it said on Twitter. Data from private flight trackers showed several flights had been delayed. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast "dense to very dense fog conditions" over many parts of Delhi and northern and eastern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, until Tuesday. It warned that air, road and train traffic could be affected in the two days and people could suffer from lung-related health problems. It also said power lines could trip in areas with dense fog.<br/>
Vladimir Maraktaev celebrated the first day of 2023 in the departures hall at Incheon International Airport, some 2,000 kilometers away from his home in the Republic of Buryatia, Russia. It was the first time for the 23-year-old to spend New Year's Eve alone without family and friends. Instead of family gatherings and holiday feasts, he bought himself a cup of coffee for 5,000 won ($4) ― a luxury for Maraktaev who now has only a few dollars left in his pocket, having spent almost all of his savings traveling across three countries before arriving in Korea. The sophomore at Buryatia State University majoring in linguistics is among the tens of thousands of young Russian men to escape the country following President Vladimir Putin's mass mobilization order at the end of September to draft men into combat in the war with Ukraine. "I left home the night of Sept. 24, a few hours after I received the conscription notice. I decided to leave as soon as possible because they might come to get me in the morning," he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times at the airport. "I find it nothing to be ashamed of to defend my country. I would volunteer (to fight) if someone attacks us and put my loved ones in danger," said Maraktaev, adding that he already completed the compulsory one-year of military service in 2019. "But it's a totally different story when my own country is the aggressor. I will never take weapons to go and kill innocent people in Ukraine." Story has more. <br/>
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked his Transport chief to fast-track talks with suppliers of equipment needed in the upgrade of the nation’s main airport after a New Year’s Day power-supply problem disrupted flights. At a televised briefing, Marcos said he wants the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila to have a reliable power backup system. The airport’s operations have normalized, added the president who met with officials and inspected the gateway Friday. Tens of thousands of passengers were affected earlier this week after the Manila airport suffered a loss of communication, radio, radar, and internet for several hours on Jan. 1 due to a power problem. The government is planning to privatize the gateway.<br/>