general

When British regional airline Flybe went bust on January 28, its clients could have been forgiven for wondering if they had deja vu. It was the second time in three years that the airline had folded. Flybe first went under in March 2020, but relaunched two years later with UK domestic and international routes, before folding again after just 10 months. Just three days later, another airline went bankrupt. Flyr – a Norwegian airline – had launched only last year. “If you look at the number of airlines that have gone out of business, it’s staggering – and there have been major impacts across a massive number of airlines,” says Steve Ehrlich, chairman of Pilots Together, a charity founded during the pandemic to help pilots who had been laid off. “The pandemic exposed some of the weaknesses [in airlines] that we might not have seen for some time.” 2023 has been touted as the year travel finally returns to normal after three years that saw the industry on its knees. But just when you thought it was safe to get back in the air, the airline bankruptcies have returned. At the same time, prices are up. Economy fares have increased by an average of 36% for 2023, according to data from Flight Centre, a UK-based booking agency. Flying to certain destinations has become impossible if you’re on a budget. Fares to New Zealand, for example, have increased 81% year on year, they say, while flights to South Africa from the UK are up by 42% in economy and 70% in business. Of course, there’s context for both destinations. In February 2022, New Zealand was closed and while South Africa was at the center of the Omicron variant.<br/>

A group representing major US airlines "strongly urged" the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to extend a proposed deadline to June 2024 to retrofit airplane altimeters to ensure they are not susceptible to 5G wireless interference. Airlines for America (A4A), which represents American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines and others also asked the FAA to revise a proposed 5G safety directive "to reflect technical realities and the continued safe operation of many aircraft." The group warned a "material number of aircraft" in U.S. fleets will not be modified by July and without changes it could "severely limit operations" and lead to flight delays and cancellations. In January, the FAA proposed requiring passenger and cargo aircraft in the United States to have 5G C-Band-tolerant radio altimeters or approved filters by February 2024. The agency reiterated on Friday it will evaluate all comments. Concerns that 5G service could interfere with airplane altimeters, which give data on a plane's altitude and are crucial for bad-weather landing, led to disruptions at some US airports last year involving international carriers. <br/>

A US judge in Texas on Thursday denied a legal bid by families of the victims of two Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX crashes to reopen or reject a January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. Boeing won immunity from criminal prosecution as part of the $2.5b Justice Department agreement over a 737 MAX fraud conspiracy charge related to the plane's flawed design. The families had asked the court to strip Boeing of immunity from prosecution, toss out, revise or supervise the agreement and order disclosure of information about Boeing's conduct. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled he did not have legal authority to grant the relatives' requests despite what he called "Boeing’s egregious criminal conduct." O'Connor ruled in October the 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 are legally "crime victims" and said the Justice Department had not complied with its obligations under the law. O'Connor ordered Boeing arraigned on the 2021 felony fraud conspiracy charge. Boeing, which pleaded not guilty last month and had argued against reopening the plea deal, did not immediately comment. Boeing says it has fully complied with the agreement and made significant reforms. "This court has immense sympathy for the victims and loved ones of those who died in the tragic plane crashes resulting from Boeing’s criminal conspiracy," O'Connor said in his ruling. "Had Congress vested this court with sweeping authority to ensure that justice is done in a case like this one, it would not hesitate."<br/>

Airline passengers are facing higher fares under newly strengthened EU rules designed to tackle aviation emissions to combat climate change, in a sign that the era of super low-cost air travel may be about to end. The threat of higher fares comes as carriers put up prices to help them recover from the coronavirus pandemic after renewed demand for flights with the end of travel restrictions. The EU wants to require carbon-intensive industries to pay more for their pollution with ticket prices likely to rise up to E10 per return flight due to increased levies on aviation emissions, according to analysts. EU lawmakers have given initial approval to an update of the bloc’s carbon pricing rules, which forces industries including aviation to buy enough allowances to cover their pollution under the emissions trading system. The rules phase out the current practice of allowing airlines to obtain a significant proportion of the permits they need for free by 2026. The total number of allowances in the system will also fall over time, which analysts expect to drive up the cost of polluting. Olivier Jankovec, DG of airports industry body ACI Europe, told an industry conference that the EU was going through “a major policy reset” that would change “the economics of the sector”. “It is going to result in increasing costs for airlines, increasing fares and lower demand.”  Airlines for Europe, the industry lobby group, said that “sustainability legislation such as the EU’s . . . could see flying via EU hubs like Amsterdam, Paris or Frankfurt becoming about 23-29% more expensive in 2035”. It said this could lead to up to 17% fewer passengers travelling through EU hubs. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has previously said that rising environmental taxes, alongside higher oil prices, meant that the era of “absurd[ly]” cheap fares is over. The cost of complying with the EU ETS would rise to E5b in 2027 for the six largest intra-EU carriers, up from E0.5b in 2019, Bernstein analyst Alex Irving estimated. “Airlines cannot absorb that . . . and will need to increase prices,” he said. Passengers would end up paying between E8 and E10 more per return flight, he estimated. Deutsche Bank analyst Jaime Rowbotham forecast that Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air would spend a cumulative €785mn on carbon allowances in their 2023 fiscal years, equivalent to about E2.60 per passenger journey. That could rise to E2.25b by the middle of the decade, he said. <br/>

European Union representatives are seeking proposals to receive a new round of funding in the Clean Aviation initiative intended to advance decarbonisation technology for air transport. This second round of funding will be worth over E350m ($375m), including EU contributions of E137m and private investment. The call for proposals will run to 11 May. Nine aspects are covered by the invitation, eight of which focus on technological developments with the ninth concentrating on methodology for monitoring aviation innovation’s impact on the climate. Some E65m of the EU funding will be allocated to hydrogen-powered aircraft projects, including fuel-cell propulsion, direct-burn fuel distribution, and engine testing. Among the objectives are development of fuel system test-rig equipment and finalisation of flight-test demonstrator components. Another E32m is assigned to advancing hybrid-electrical regional aircraft development. These will address such matters as fuselage and empennage design, and open digital platforms. The Clean Aviation programme will also provide E40m in EU contributions for short- and medium-range aircraft schemes, looking at wing technologies and flight demonstration for “ultra-efficient” propulsion systems. Wing design work would examine aerodynamic optimisation, including solutions for unducted engine integration. These initiatives will “accelerate aviation’s trajectory towards climate neutrality”, in line with the 2050 target timeline, says the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking. Executive director Axel Krein says the second call for proposals will advance “disruptive research” and help support progress towards entry-into-service of new highly-efficient aircraft by 2035.<br/>

The Netherlands sets new nitrogen reduction targets for its transport, industry, and energy sectors in a bid to safeguard biodiversity and accelerate the country’s climate transition. The industry and energy sectors must emit 38% less nitrogen by 2030 compared to 2019 and the mobility sector, which includes traffic and aviation, must commit to a 25% reduction target, the Dutch cabinet announced on Friday. The government said it will discuss the targets with 3,000 top nitrogen emitters, including companies and farms. “These businesses will have the opportunity to significantly reduce nitrogen emissions by making their operations more sustainable, relocating or shutting down,” it said. Last year, the Dutch cabinet said it aims to halve all nitrogen emissions by 2030, a target designed to comply with European Union rules. The realization of this goal requires a “substantial” reduction of 41% in ammonia emissions by the agricultural sector, the government said. The Netherlands’s initial focus was on farms, which represent the biggest chuck of emissions. This sparked months-long protests from farmers who argued that their sector was being unfairly targeted and warned the measures will force them out of business. Now industrial manufacturing and the transport sector have come into play as well and will be asked for a significant overhaul of production processes to reach the targets.<br/>

Heathrow Airport’s security, engineering and firefighting staff represented by the Unite Union will next week begin balloting for strikes, adding pressure to UK’s transport network which has been hit by a wave of industrial action. More than 3,000 members of UK’s Unite Union will start voting on Feb. 17, with the ballot closing on March 17. These workers had rejected a 10% pay increase, the union said in an emailed statement on Sunday. “If the workers vote for industrial action, strikes could coincide with the Easter getaway,” according to the Unite statement. On Friday, the RMT union behind rail strikes across Britain since last summer rejected another set of pay offers. It threatened to stage more strikes “for as long as it takes.” As many as half a million workers walked out in the UK earlier this month, affecting operations across airports, ports, mainline stations and schools. <br/>

India is scouting for billions of dollars worth of military planes, completing jetliner deals to meet civilian demand and pressing global aircraft manufacturers to produce more locally at a major air show this week. Flanked by nuclear-armed rivals China and Pakistan, India has the world's fourth-largest air force but its largely Soviet-era fleet is in desperate need of modernising. It also wants planes for aircraft carriers to balance China's growing power in the Indian Ocean. As the country prepares to host the Aero India show in Bengaluru from Monday, its airlines are expanding, with Air India expected to announce a potentially record deal to buy nearly 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing, worth more than $100b at list prices. IndiGo, the country's biggest carrier and a top Airbus client, could be next, with aviation consultant CAPA India predicting it will make a blockbuster order of a similar scale as Air India's. Indian carriers may buy 1,500 to 1,700 aircraft in coming years, CAPA said, including Air India and IndiGo. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to open the air show, which runs through Friday. It will be military-dominated but also feature India's efforts to accommodate a domestic travel boom and rebuild its brand abroad. Modi has made "Make-in-India" a centrepiece of his economic policy, insisting that manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing and Airbus share technology or make more than parts in the country.<br/>

Heavy snow across much of Japan on Friday grounded 100 flights, blocked dozens of roads and disrupted train services, government authorities and operators said. Domestic airlines including ANA, Japan Airlines and others cancelled a total of 100 flights due to the snow as of noon, according to the land ministry. Parts of 31 highways were closed in central and eastern Japan, while 54 central Tokyo expressway exits were blocked, the ministry said. Services on more than a dozen train routes in central and eastern Japan had suspended operations or were planning to do so, the land ministry said.<br/>