general

The global airline fleet has reached 98% of its pre-pandemic size and is projected to grow by one-third more by 2033. The total number of commercial jets is expected to expand from about 27,400 to more than 36,000 aircraft in 10 years, a growth rate of 33%, according to consulting firm Oliver Wyman’s 2023-2033 Global Fleet and MRO Market Forecast. “We anticipate a record number of aircraft deliveries over the next 10 years, despite current supply chain constraints that may make it hard to meet this year’s targets,” notes the analysis, which was published on 12 April. Some 20,600 new production aircraft are projected to be delivered worldwide by 2033, easily outpacing the retirement of older jets. But the report’s authors acknowledge that higher production targets from Boeing and Airbus “would be difficult to meet even if supply chains were functioning well”. India is currently the fastest-growing market for commercial jets, with the study’sauthors pointing to Air India’s recent orders for hundreds of Boeing and Airbus aircraft as evidence of sky-high demand in the country. By 2033, the global fleet of narrowbody jets is expected to grow to about 23,400 from 16,400, and the total number of widebodies will increase to about 6,900 from 5,500 jets. Notably, the global fleet of regional jets is projected to grow only modestly during the same period, with deliveries of regional jets (1,400) barely outpacing retirements (1,200). The number of regional jets in North America and Western Europe is expected to decrease to roughly 1,700 from 2,100 over the forecast period, with countries such as France recently moving away from air travel as a means of regional transportation – which could become a trend in Western Europe, Oliver Wyman says. Regional airline service has already suffered most acutely from the labour market shortfalls, the report notes: “The gap between the number of pilots needed and those available has already led to reductions in service to less popular and more rural destinations and has hit regional airlines hardest.” Indeed, shortages of qualified mechanics and pilots are expected to continue to hinder the entire industry throughout the next decade.<br/>

Norway’s air navigation service has completed the installation of an antenna array intended to replace half of the country’s conventional radars. Some 200 antennas have been positioned in various locations, including airports and mountain peaks, in order to provide wide-area multilateration coverage. Multilateration enables aircraft positions to be calculated through the detection of transponder emissions. Air navigation service Avinor – which is co-ordinating the roll-out with technology provider Saab – says the programme is “one of the world’s largest and most complex”. The Norwegian landscape features valleys and fjords which can escape radar coverage. “While conventional radars look outwards and upwards, the [multilateration] antennas also give a picture downwards,” says director of new technology development Ellen Lystad. Multilateration antennas have been installed on peaks and in other strategic locations Modernisation of the surveillance network is “crucial”, she says, given that the country handles 600,000 flights annually. Lystad adds that the multilateration network can provide additional assistance to search-and-rescue operations. Saab air traffic management safety and efficiency programme manager Jeff Thompson says the Norwegian topography is “challenging”, and has led to a “large number” of antenna installations in order to provide adequate coverage.<br/>

An active volcano on Russia's remote Kamchatka Peninsula kept erupting on Wednesday, a scientific institute reported, sending a 10-km-high plume of ash into the sky, and a hazard warning remains in place for airlines. Shiveluch, one of Russia's most active volcanoes, first began erupting just after midnight on Tuesday and at its peak, six hours later, sent out an ash cloud over an area of 108,000 sq km. Ash from the initial eruption reached 20 km into the sky, covered villages in drifts of grey volcanic dust and triggered an aviation warning. The nearest village, Klyuchi, lies 50 km away. The latest bulletin from the Kamchatka Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Geophysical Survey, issued at 1 a.m. Moscow time said: "The eruption of Shiveluch volcano is continuing. According to satellite data, the ash emission reached about 10,000 metres above sea level." There were no immediate reports of casualties. Lava flows tumbled from the volcano on Monday, melting snow and prompting a warning of mud flows along a nearby highway. As much as 8.5 cm of ash carpeted villages, the deepest in 60 years. Kamchatka extends far into the Pacific Ocean northwest of Japan. About 300,000 people live on the peninsula. A red notice issued by the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), remained in force. It said the volcano "constitutes a potential hazard to international and local airlines".<br/>

China’s tourism city Sanya plans to build a third airport terminal for the Sanya Phoenix International Airport, the local government said in a statement on its official Weibo account. The Sanya government showed land alloted for the third terminal next to the existing two terminals on Hainan island.<br/>

A US startup has won permission to fly drones over people and beyond the view of their operators in New Zealand, a key regulatory step that could help open the skies over the EU, Australia and Canada to broader commercial use of unmanned aircraft. SkyDrop, based in Reno, Nevada, and previously called Flirtey, received approval from New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority to operate a drone delivery hub in Huntly, a small town south of Auckland. Permission to operate more freely could eventually vault drone delivery from the experimental phase to an economically viable business. “This is a major milestone for the industry and could make New Zealand the drone delivery capital of the world,” said Matt Sweeny, SkyDrop’s co-founder and chief executive officer. New Zealand regulators used a risk assessment model similar to ones in the EU, Australia and Canada, Sweeny said, adding that he’s confident additional countries will also grant his company approval.<br/>

It’s a long-haul traveler’s dream: Tired and facing a flight of 10-plus hours in the back of the plane, you watch as, one by one, passengers walk by and no one sits next to you. The cabin doors close, and that’s when it hits you: You’ve got the row to yourself. Jackpot! Now, some airlines are giving passengers the chance to pay for that form of traveler’s ecstasy, by offering a sleeper-seat option in the main cabin. The blueprints vary, but the basic concept is that passengers who book what is often called a sky couch get a whole row of seats for themselves. After takeoff, they can stretch out like a king, even in the heart of coach. “No frills. No hot towels or Champagne,” said Dr. Amanda Meltzer, 44 and from Dallas, who has flown from the United States to New Zealand for work many times and often books Air New Zealand’s Economy Skycouch. “But you can sleep and avoid two weeks of horrendous jet lag when you get there. I honestly would never fly there again without it,” she said. Some airlines keep the idea fairly rudimentary. On Lufthansa, either at check-in or at the gate — once it’s evident the flight is uncrowded enough to allow for it — you can book a Sleeper’s Row, where for around $200 you get what the company describes on its website as a “thin mattress plus a Business Class-quality blanket and pillow” to turn the row into a more comfortable mini-bed. But the carriers that have really leaned into the couch idea — like Air New Zealand, Vietnam Airlines (Sky Sofa), Brazil’s Azul Airlines (SkySofa) and Kazakhstan’s Air Astana (Economy Sleeper) — are the ones that have fitted their aircraft with seats designed to be transformed. On these, the leg rests can be raised up to the same height as the seats, creating a flat surface that extends nearly to the seatbacks in front. Do this to three or four seats in a row and it starts to resemble a twin bed.<br/>