Rising airline traffic is expected to trigger global emissions-related requirements for some carriers as early as next year, according to a top airline trade group, even as debate broadens on the effectiveness of that approach. A UN-led scheme seeks to cap emissions from international flights at 85% of 2019 levels under the first phase of its Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) beginning next year. That threshold is expected to be crossed sometime in 2024 based on current traffic recovery, trade group IATA told Reuters. Carriers in the first phase could purchase offsets as early as that year, with international travel expected to rebound to near 2019 levels. Combating aviation pollution is key for the fight against climate change as the industry generates roughly 3% of global emissions. As traffic rebounds from a COVID-19 pandemic-induced slump, some travelers are reviving "flight shaming" pressure to seek lower carbon alternatives. With technologies like electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft still unproven, and SAF in short supply and exorbitantly costly, airlines are buying credits in pollution-lowering projects like planting trees to offset their emissions. However, while offsets cost less than SAF, critics say they do not lower actual airline emissions.<br/>
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A group of relatives of those killed in a fatal 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash endorsed US President Joe Biden's nominee to head the FAA. The nominee, Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington, has come under fire from Republicans who question if he has the required aviation experience needed for the job, while the Transportation Department says Washington is fully qualified. The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote on Wednesday on Washington to serve as top US aviation regulator as the agency faces questions after a series of close-call safety incidents. "FAA needs an outsider who can step into leadership vacuums, transform complex organizations, and resist the aviation swamp pressures toward mediocrity and malaise," said a letter on Monday signed by eight relatives of those killed in the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines MAX crash. Two MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people, cost Boeing more than $20 billion, led to a 20-month grounding for the best-selling plane and prompted Congress to pass sweeping legislation reforming airplane certification. "The next FAA administrator must lead the effort to fully implement these key safety reforms," the letter said. Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, said it is imperative that the next FAA administrator commit to fully implementing safety reforms and hold Boeing accountable.<br/>
Two aircraft narrowly avoided a collision over the weekend at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, just days after holding a safety summit to address the rising concerns in aviation. A Boeing 737 Southwest flight was approaching the runway at the Burbank airport on Saturday when an air traffic controller noticed that a Bell 505 helicopter was on the same runway practicing touch-and-go landings. The air traffic controller then instructed the Boeing 737 to stop its approach and go around. The incident is now being investigated by the FAA. FAA Administrator Billy Nolen told “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt that they have begun “to see things that we don’t expect to see.” “We expect every flight to operate as it should,” Nolen added. “And so we’ve had these events over the past few weeks. That gives us a moment to say, ‘Let’s stop. Let’s reflect. Let’s ask ourselves the question: Are we missing anything?’” <br/>
The number of air passenger complaints to Canada's transport regulator has more than tripled over the past year, soaring past 42,000 as of this month. The ballooning backlog means each case now needs more than a year and a half to handle, spurring advocates and politicians to question the efficacy of the process, even as hiring and funding ramp up. The complaint tally shot up after travel chaos erupted over the summer and again during the winter holidays as flight demand surged and poor weather conditions disrupted flight schedules. Complaints totalled about 13,400 as of March 31, 2022, before skyrocketing to unprecedented highs in the ensuing 12 months, according to Canadian Transportation Agency reports. They hit 36,000 in late January, and rose by another 17% since then. The growing number of grievances comes despite an $11m funding top-up for the regulator in the federal budget last April, and $76m more announced last week, with the aim of boosting staff numbers and expediting complaints processing. The agency head count currently stands at 343, compared with 298 on March 31, 2022, it said in an email. The chair of the Canadian Transportation Agency says processing complaints remains its main focus and enforcement comes second. But critics say the backlog owes to major gaps in the air passenger rights charter and inaction on the part of the regulator. New Democrat transport critic Taylor Bachrach tabled a private member's bill Monday afternoon that seeks to close loopholes, increase fines and make compensation automatic for travellers whose flights are delayed or cancelled. The Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which took effect in 2019, allow airlines to reject compensation claims by citing safety-related reasons. The proposed legislation would end that exception.<br/>
France’s civil aviation authority has asked airlines to cut flights on Tuesday and Wednesday by 20% at Paris-Orly airport, the second airport serving the country’s capital and a hub for Air France-KLM’s French arm. Flights at Marseille-Provence airport in the south of France will also be cut as strikes against the government’s pension reform plan continue. Despite these measures, the DGAC expects disruption and delays, it said in a statement on Monday. It recommends travelers postpone their trip if possible. Nationwide protests are planned for Thursday after president Emmanuel Macron forced through his plan to raise the retirement age.<br/>
Aéroports de Paris and GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd. agreed to fold their joint-venture company into GMR, giving ADP a liquid stake in a business that owns airfields in India. ADP and GMR Airports Infrastructure own 49% and 51%, respectively, of the unlisted GMR Airports Ltd., according to a statement Sunday from the French company, which operates Paris’s Charles de Gaulle and Orly. Combining GMR Airports Infrastructure and GMR Airports will simplify the capital structure of the unlisted company, allowing the combined entity to more easily capture new business, the companies said. The merger will take place in the first half of 2024, the companies said. ADP would hold a 45.7% stake in the combined GMR Airports Infrastructure and GMR Airports. “Demand for air travel has picked up substantially, which will speed up airport privatization initiatives of the respective governments across the world,” GMR said in a separate statement. The merged company, “with an improved balance sheet, will be in a much stronger position to further scale up the airport business by judiciously participating in profitable opportunities mainly in India, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Middle East.” GMR’s portfolio includes airports in Delhi and Hyderabad. ADP will invest E331m in foreign currency convertible bonds issued by GMR Airports Infrastructure, with the proceeds used by the Indian company to clear its balance sheet by repaying corporate debt and also settling a major part of its liabilities. The investment will lead to a cash expense of the same amount in the coming weeks, ADP said.<br/>
The boss of London’s Gatwick airport expects passenger volumes to return close to pre-pandemic levels over the peak summer season but is confident passengers will not face a repeat of last year’s disruptions. Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Britain’s second-busiest airport, said he expected passenger volumes in the third quarter of 2023, which includes the peak summer school holiday period, to reach 94% of the levels recorded in the same period in 2019. “We expect in 2023 Gatwick will certainly be busier over the summer period and perhaps a bit more peaky than it was before the pandemic,” Wingate said. Resurgent demand for short-haul travel has led the recovery in passenger numbers. Wingate said he expected easyJet, the airport’s biggest airline, to have 80 aircraft based at Gatwick over the peak of the summer, compared with 63 in 2019. The airport had to restrict its maximum number of daily flights in July and August last year after a wave of last-minute cancellations and delays because of staff shortages at airlines and ground handling operators that provide services from check-in to baggage handling. Gatwick, said Wingate, had worked hard over the past year to ensure it would not have to take the same approach. “We are going to be busier. We are working really hard to make sure that the airport is ready and that the airlines and their ground handlers are ready. We don’t anticipate any issues over the coming Easter weekend or for the peak summer seasons. We don’t anticipate limiting any growth in July or August time,” he said. The airlines, said Wingate, were “assuring us they have enough staff”. “All the signs are encouraging that we should be in a good position.” Gatwick also reappointed NATS, the UK’s air traffic control service, as its service provider at the airport in October last year to make the system more resilient. Despite the bullish forecast for the peak summer season, Gatwick does not expect passenger numbers to recover fully until 2025. The airport is forecasting passenger numbers at 40.5mn over the course of 2023, equivalent to 87% of pre-pandemic levels. Last year, 32.8mn people used the airport, returning the business to profitability in 2022.<br/>
China’s air passenger numbers rose 38% in February from a year earlier, the aviation regulator said on Monday. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said a total of 43.2m air passenger trips were recorded last month.<br/>
India has taken steps to allow airlines to lease more aircraft to fill a gap in capacity as travel rebounds from the pandemic, the country’s civil aviation minister said on Monday. Airline traffic is recovering quickly from coronavirus restrictions that led to jets being grounded worldwide in 2020, with manufacturers now struggling to keep pace with aircraft demand and engine shortages grounding some planes. “Surprisingly and shockingly, the situation has turned the other way... Now we do not have enough airplanes to fly our passengers,” Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia told the CAPA India Aviation Summit. Air India last month announced a record order for 470 jets and is due to take another 25 leased aircraft as it reinvents itself under new owners Tata Group. Scindia said India had tweaked its airplane leasing programme to enable airlines to add more aircraft to meet passenger demand, including more “wet leasing”, or renting of planes with crew, for domestic and international routes. He outlined ambitious investments and tax reforms in infrastructure and maintenance facilities and called for more manufacturing of aerospace products in India.<br/>