general

Global airline capacity will be lower than expected this year and stay constrained until 2025 at the earliest, warned IATA director general Willie Walsh, due to delays in new aircraft deliveries and a lack of availability of spare parts. "I can't see anything really improving or significantly improving probably until 2025 at the earliest and it may even go beyond that," Walsh told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Dublin on Wednesday. Airlines, hoping to put years of pandemic restrictions behind them, expect travel demand to recover to 2019 levels and above this year, but the lack of planes to meet demand could put a brake on growth. Aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus are feeling widespread pressure from bottlenecks in supply chains and that is leading to delivery delays, while Walsh said that airline bosses were also telling him there were not enough spare parts, particularly for engines. "It means capacity will be slightly lower than the industry had forecast," Walsh said, adding that he would expect the reduction for this year to be in the low single digits range. Last week, Boeing announced a fresh supplier-related halt to 737 deliveries while industry sources have said Airbus has started notifying airlines about delivery delays in 2024 for its best-selling A320neo family of jets. Walsh said he did not expect chaos at airports this summer. <br/>

Developing more sustainable aviation fuel is key to reducing the airline industry’s carbon footprint — but customers will end up footing the bill in airfare prices, according to Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association. Walsh said that widespread adoption of sustainable fuels will account for about 65% of the reduction needed for the industry to reach its stated goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Yet as the fuels cost many multiples more than the standard kerosene now used to power jets, very little is being produced, and it’s not clear who will pay. The IATA estimates that the worldwide tab for decarbonizing aviation will top $1. “That will have to be borne by consumers, there’s just no way around it,” Walsh said. At the same time, “getting the right policy in place is important,” he added. Walsh lauded the US approach of using incentives to stimulate production, and criticized the European strategy of using a regulatory “stick.” Higher ticket prices will be required to fund the new initiatives, Walsh added. The International Council on Clean Transportation predicts sustainability measures will drive up ticket prices by 22% by 2050 compared to where they would otherwise stand, said Rachel Muncrief, deputy director of the group, which provides technical analysis to environmental regulators. UK industry group Sustainable Aviation has cautioned that although the number of airline travelers will rise to almost 250m by 2050, the cost of decarbonizing aviation will “inevitably reduce passenger demand.” The group calculated that about 14% of an anticipated reduction in emissions will come from fewer fliers. The transition to sustainable fuels also brings other challenges. While SAFs have the advantage of being usable by current-generation aircraft engines and existing airport infrastructure, biomass-based fuels are the only ones being produced now, and in limited quantities. There is also a lack of agricultural land for growing the ingredients. <br/>

The US airline industry is about to be hit with a “tsunami of pilot retirements” that will further the nation’s pilot shortage, limiting flight availability for passengers and putting upward pressure on fares, an industry group told Congress Wednesday. “The pilot shortage has resulted in a collapse in air service,” Faye Malarkey Black, president and CEO of the Regional Airline Association, told a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing in prepared remarks. More than half of pilots working today hit the mandatory retirement age of 65 in the next 15 years and younger pilots are not making up for those aging out. The “severe and ongoing pilot shortage” is nationwide, Black noted: 42 states have less airline service now than before the pandemic, 136 airports have lost at least a quarter of their service, and airlines have completely cut off flights to 11 airports in smaller cities that connect to larger hubs. More than 500 planes belonging to regional airlines are sitting idle without enough pilots to fly them, and those that do fly are used as much as 40% less than in the past. Most airlines have yet to fully restore the service cuts they made during the pandemic, even in the face of record bookings at some carriers. That combination of limited capacity and strong demand is leading to fares that are significantly above pre-pandemic levels.<br/>

Neighbors of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Wednesday sued the airport's operator and two airlines over jet pollution they said is making them sick and damaging their properties. In a proposed class action lawsuit filed in Washington state court, residents who live within five miles of the airport claimed pollution including benzene and lead from jets taking off and landing has caused a spike in cancer and heart disease rates, and contaminated their homes. The residents asked for an order forcing the Port of Seattle, Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines to establish a fund for medical monitoring to help screen for diseases. They also want the court to order the defendants to pay to clean up their properties, which an attorney representing them estimated could cost over $1b. “Businesses and government agencies should not shower harmful pollutants on people’s homes with impunity,” the lawsuit said. A representative for the Port of Seattle said the airport and its tenants follow strict federal, state and local requirements that address environmental issues like air quality and noise. The representative also said they voluntarily “go above and beyond” those requirements. Representatives for the airlines didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. The Seattle-Tacoma airport is located south of the city of Seattle, and is the primary commercial air hub for the region. The lawsuit claims that as many as 300,000 people live within five miles of the airport, including 60,000 children. The majority of those residents are of Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American or Pacific islander heritage, despite those groups only making up one-third of the overall county’s population, according to the complaint.<br/>

After three years of shocks including the coronavirus pandemic and soaring fuel prices following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, airline bosses are facing a more welcome puzzle: why is demand booming even as concerns mount over a deepening economic downturn? The UK’s easyJet on Tuesday became the latest carrier to predict a strong summer as it raised its earnings forecasts for a second time this year, boasting not only strong sales but also a willingness among passengers to pay high prices. European rivals have reported similar trends and many are already back in profit despite rising inflation and economic headwinds. Michael O’Leary, CE of Ryanair, has predicted that an expected rise in airfares of up to 15 per cent this summer will have no impact on bookings. Industry executives put the resilience in demand down to peoples’ desire to return to normality and resume travelling following pandemic restrictions. Johan Lundgren, CE of easyJet, said it had become increasingly clear this year that consumers were “prioritising” travel after border restrictions and Covid testing rules hampered tourism between 2020 and 2022. “We see strong momentum for bookings which is being driven by customers continuing to prioritise spending on their holidays,” he said. “Consumer research has said for some time that travel has risen in importance for consumer spending and this is clearly coming through in our bookings.” He pointed to recent research from the European Travel Commission, an industry association, which found that travel was the only discretionary expense that people were willing to maintain despite the economic conditions. A KPMG survey of UK consumers in December came to a similar conclusion, with travel moving to the top spot for non-essential spending over the next 12 months.<br/>

People with disabilities in Europe still face disproportionate obstacles when flying, with denial of boarding common due to purported safety reasons often related to equipment such as wheelchairs or assistance dogs, a report said on Wednesday. The Brussels-based European Disability Forum (EDF) report urged the European Union to put in place strong regulation to ensure air travel is accessible for all. The rules, which vary significantly from airline to airline, are often difficult to find or interpret, a situation that can result in passengers with disabilities being denied boarding, EDF said. "Our report clearly shows the waking nightmares lived by persons with disabilities when they simply try to do what millions do daily," EDF president Gunta Anca said. "We are people – we travel for work, love, family, and fun – airlines need to start recognising this." It gave the example of young British man, Brandon Aughton, who was denied boarding at East Midlands airport to the Spanish city of Malaga in November 2021 because ground handlers claimed his wheelchair was "too heavy". EDF said the EC should revise regulation to eradicate cases of denial of boarding. It should also introduce the right to a swift and fair compensation if a carrier still denies boarding. Destruction and damage to passengers' mobility equipment is widespread, EDF said, not only costing a lot of money to repair but also posing life-threatening risk. Nadia Hadad, EDF executive committee member, said the back of her wheelchair was broken on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to Brussels.<br/>

At least 100,000 people are to face disruptions at four German airports on Thursday and Friday after the Verdi union called on aviation security workers to go on strike over stalled wage negotiations. According to airport association ADV, nearly 100,000 people will be affected by the strikes at Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne Bonn airports, with around 700 departing flights to be cancelled as a result. Verdi has also called on security staff to walk off the job at Stuttgart airport on Friday. It is unclear how many cancellations will ensue. The union said it has been negotiating with the BDLS aviation security association to push for pay increases for night, weekend and public holiday shifts, with no breakthrough in sight. High inflation in Europe's largest economy has prompted a wave of strikes in recent months as workers demand higher pay to offset the rising cost of living.<br/>

Heathrow airport and two of the UK’s biggest airlines have launched separate appeals against the level of landing charges at the hub airport, extending a bitter confrontation as the industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Civil Aviation Authority, the industry regulator, ruled in March that landing fees paid by airlines to land at the main international airport that serves London should fall from GBP31.57 a passenger to GBP25.43 from next year. The appeals against the CAA’s decision, which will be considered by the Competition and Markets Authority watchdog, extend a feud between Heathrow and its biggest airlines that has gripped the UK aviation industry for more than a year. Heathrow launched its appeal on Wednesday, arguing that the rates, which are typically passed to customers through ticket prices, should be higher to encourage greater investment into the airport. “We believe the CAA has once again focused on driving down charges to airlines, which will not be passed on to passengers, and is undermining the investment needed to deliver the airport service and resilience consumers want,” the airport said in a statement. The airport says that its owners, a group of international investors including Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, will see low returns under the current fee structure, leaving Heathrow less attractive than other regulated assets. In contrast, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways owner IAG said they had appealed to try to lower the charges further, given that they were some of the highest in the world. Virgin said the regulator’s decision “contained multiple errors of fact and judgment, including pessimistic passenger forecasts that ignore the strength of recovering demand”.<br/>

Thailand will delay imposing an entry fee on tourists from June to September because of problems with implementing the levy. The Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday that there were issues with collecting the 300 baht (S$12) fee from travellers flying into one of South-east Asia’s most popular tourist destinations as airlines refuse to take a selective approach with foreign tourists, Thais and expatriates. Tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn told the Thai daily that airlines are insisting on giving all passengers the same treatment, based on their regulations. It was previously announced that the levy would be added to air ticket prices. The Thai government said earlier that it expects to use a part of the tourist fees to provide health and accidental insurance cover for travellers during their stay in the country. It will also use it to fund the development of local tourist attractions. According to the data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Thailand has been receiving more than 2m foreign tourists each month between December 2022 and February 2023 since it lifted all border restrictions in October 2022 and ended its requirement for international travellers to be vaccinated or show a negative Covid-19 test in order to enter the country. This is a far cry from the 133,000 foreign tourists who entered Thailand in January 2022.<br/>

China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., known as CATL, unveiled its strongest battery to date Wednesday, saying that it could one day be used to power electric aircraft. The battery, which loads more power into a smaller package, has an energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram, CATL’s Chief Scientist Wu Kai said during a presentation at the Shanghai auto show. CATL’s most recent battery, called Qilin, has an energy density of 255 Wh/kg and can power an electric vehicle for 1,000 km on one charge. The technology, which CATL calls a condensed state battery, is potentially a breakthrough that will help electrify sectors wed to fossil fuels because existing batteries are either too heavy or unsafe. Still, questions remain about the materials it will use, its cost and ultimate market impact. CATL, the world’s biggest maker of EV batteries, plans to start mass production of the new cell, which will mainly be used initially for cars, this year, and critically at a lower energy density than the 500 Wh/kg it claims it can reach for aircraft. CATL is collaborating on developing a civilian electric aircraft using the technology, Wu said. The company declined to say whom it was working with, citing confidentiality agreements. Research from BloombergNEF shows a clear trend to increase energy density in battery packs — which also brings lower cost, better safety and durability — according to data compiled in May last year, but no battery companies or startups have set as high a target as CATL, BNEF analyst Jiayan Shi said. Shi said CATL’s newest battery was a type of solid-state battery technology, and could be “very significant” as CATL advances its R&D. Solid-state cells overall, however, while considered next-generation are still several years away from maturity and mass-production. While CATL didn’t specify what the condensed state battery will cost for electric cars, it said it will be 10 times that figure for aircraft.<br/>