Memorial Day air travel surpassed pre-Covid pandemic levels, showing how consumers continue to shell out for trips despite persistent inflation. The TSA screened 9.79m people from Friday through Monday, up slightly from the holiday weekend in 2019. Friday’s screening total of more than 2.7m people was a post-pandemic record, the agency said. The start of the peak travel season is crucial for airlines as they test travelers’ appetite to continue paying for vacations and other trips, while higher interest rates and lofty food and housing costs weigh on household budgets. Last year, bad weather coupled with staffing shortages and other strains led to an increase in flight disruptions over the peak period. Airline executives have been upbeat about their carriers’ ability to operate reliably this summer. Relatively clear weather helped air travel over the weekend, and 16% of flights arrived late from Friday through Monday, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site. Delays fell from the holiday weekend last year.<br/>
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The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) remains optimistic that passenger travel demand will continue to hold steady in the coming months, even as cargo demand continues to slump. In traffic figures released for April, association director general Subhas Menon says traffic recovery in Asian travel markets is still strong, with traffic within and from the region “experiencing robust growth”. Asia Pacific carriers flew about 20.3m international passengers in April, a three-fold jump year on year. International traffic and capacity doubled year on year, with traffic recovering to about 63% that of pre-pandemic 2019. As for cargo, freight-tonne kilometres fell 5.5% year on year, while capacity rose 10.4%, leading to a slump in overall freight load factors. “[Export] activity remained relatively muted, held back by declines in new business orders and trade barriers due to geopolitical tensions. The easing of supply chain pressures globally also encouraged a shift to maritime shipping,” states the AAPA. On the near-term outlook, Menon is buoyant about travel demand: “Growth prospects for international passenger markets remain healthy, supported by positive trends in forward bookings over the coming months.” He adds: “To meet strong recovery in demand, Asian airlines are working with aviation stakeholders to restore flights to various destinations, while prioritising safety, sustainability, and travel convenience.”<br/>
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) remained in the black after posting a net profit of RM58.19m for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to a RM104.76m loss from the previous corresponding quarter. This came after the airport operator returned to profitability in 4Q FY2022, ending 11 straight quarters of losses. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, MAHB said that its revenue increased to RM1.03b for the quarter under review, compared to RM570.85m last year, an increase of 81.2%. "The group registered a profit before tax of RM63.3m in the current quarter under review driven by higher revenue, other income and lower finance cost for the period. Revenue increased is in tandem with the significant increase in passenger volumes for the group, driven by further easing of travel protocols and further resumption of airline services and connectivity with traffic recovery with total passenger traffic of 26.8m passengers as compared to 14.7m passengers in the corresponding quarter in the prior year.” <br/>
Australian international air fares have surged by more than 50% above pre-pandemic levels, new data shows, even as the cost of jet fuel plunges, creating a tailwind for airline profits and source of frustration for travellers. Analysts link the apparent discrepancy between high fares and falling costs to profit maximisation, with airlines including Australia’s national carrier Qantas, in no hurry to give up the extra income. Data from flight search company Kayak shows the average return economy international fare from Australia is now $1,827, compared with $1,213 in 2019. The most popular routes include flights to London, Bali, Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles, according to analysis conducted for Guardian Australia. Average domestic ticket prices are up a more modest 10% over the same period. Tony Webber, an aviation analyst and former chief economist at Qantas, said that air fares were only indirectly driven by an airline’s operating costs, with pricing primarily driven by customer demand and capacity. “Airlines have still not returned to flying internationally at their pre-Covid capacities, and they’re aware of how strong demand is,” Webber said. “They’re recovering capacity and bringing down air fares, but they’re doing it passively and slowly because they know they’re making money.”<br/>
FedEx Corp has reached a tentative agreement with pilots of its air delivery unit who had voted in favor of a strike earlier this month seeking higher pay, the package delivery company said Tuesday. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) had voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of a strike if needed, when it had entered the final stages of a contract negotiation with the company. FedEx did not provide any further details on the agreement. ALPA did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment. The development comes at a time when aviators enjoy higher negotiating power with strong demand and a tight labor market in the sector, motivating them to push for better contracts with airlines and parcel firms. The agreement prevents a possible strike after 99% of about 6,000 FedEx Express pilots that ALPA represents voted in favor of one, as they asked the company to meet recently improved industry standards for pilot pay.<br/>
Boeing has increased production of its widebody 787 Dreamliner from three to four planes per month as it gets ready to ramp to five a month by the end of the year, a company official said on Tuesday. The US planemaker also plans to add a second production line to the company's facilities in Charleston, South Carolina, as it completes work this year on inventory 787s that are being modified at the site to meet US FAA standards, said Lane Ballard, Boeing's vice president and general manager for the 787 program. The modification involves fixing miniscule gaps in the forward pressure bulkhead that exceed specifications. Boeing's plant in Everett, Washington, where 787s also are being modified to meet FAA standards, will continue doing that work, Ballard added. Ballard announced the rate increase as reporters toured the company's Charleston production facility two months after Boeing announced a large order for almost 200 Dreamliners.<br/>
Airbus has unveiled the central pillars for shaping future aircraft cabin interiors from 2035, focusing on achieving sustainability through smart systems and biomimicry, while not compromising on passenger comfort. The airframer says its Cabin Vision 2035+ aims to use biomimicry to design lightweight internal structures, and harness traceability to recycle and re-use materials including polymers. It has proposed new concepts such as pre-ordered catering – either collected by passengers before boarding or, for long flights, stored on board – to offer greater choice to travellers, and reduce food waste, while enabling galley structures and trolleys to be removed from aircraft. Airbus says decarbonisation and circularity lie at the “heart” of the vision, which it has developed through co-operation with industry representatives including 10 airlines and eight technology firms. Cabins contribute some 10-20% of aircraft environmental impact, depending on whether the airframe is single-aisle or twin-aisle, said Airbus head of cabin marketing Ingo Wuggetzer, speaking during a 30 May briefing. He says the industry needs sustainable cabin design but points out that passengers also want comfort. Wuggetzer adds that transparency for passengers regarding their individual environmental footprint is important, stating that they can be sceptical about carbon offsetting in their fares. “People don’t trust what happens to their money,” he says. Airbus’s vision is founded on technological cores. Wuggetzer says there needs to be a “paradigm shift” to optimise product decision across their entire lifecycle, and that this requires digitalisation and end-to-end data. Lightweight interior structures, capitalising on bionic design and biomimicry, could achieve a 40% weight saving on current equivalents and contribute significantly to decarbonisation. <br/>
Embraer will not rush to a decision on whether to launch its planned regional turboprop, after failing to secure sufficient buy-in from engine suppliers to bring the product to market later this decade, its commercial aviation chief says. “We are disappointed,” says Arjan Meijer, following the Brazilian airframer’s decision to put its development effort on hold. “When we paused the programme a few months ago, there were some airlines that were disappointed,” he says. “To have an aircraft in this segment in a two-and-two configuration with a much better and quieter cabin and better performance is really something that the market is looking for.” However, he notes: “We had been very clear with the market that we would only launch this product if we can get the performance, cost, reliability and the fuel burn together in the right box. “Unfortunately, with the engine technology available today, and the options that we had on the table from the OEMs, we’ve not been able to get to that point.” Pratt & Whitney Canada and Rolls-Royce both offered existing engine products, which Meijer says “didn’t do it for us”. The UK propulsion supplier subsequently withdrew its interest, as part of a focus on business reform under new CE Tufan Erginbilgic. “We don’t want to bring an aircraft to the market with very low fuel-burn but higher maintenance costs,” Meijer said during Embraer’s pre-Paris air show media tour in Lisbon, Portugal on 26 May. The company has for the last several years explored the potential for a turboprop family with capacities of 70 and 90 seats. Embraer CFO Antonio Carlos Garcia says the project would represent an investment of around $1.4b. “We are still very eager to push this forward down the line, but we will be looking at newer technologies,” says Meijer, with these potentially including the use of hybrid propulsion. “We will take a bit more time with the engine manufacturers – we are talking to all of them,” he adds.<br/>
As China's first indigenously developed large jetliner has entered commercial service, the country's aviation industry and its supporting sectors will see tremendous market opportunities in the coming decades, analysts and industry experts have said. The C919, a single-aisle aircraft designed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), completed its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing on Sunday, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market. "The successful commercial debut of the C919 means that China's homegrown jet has gained access to the mainstream 150-to-200-seat, single-aisle trunk aircraft market, one of the most competitive markets in civil aviation," aviation expert Han Tao told Securities Daily. Launched in 2007, the C919 project saw its first aircraft roll off the production line in 2015. In 2017, the model had its successful maiden flight. The C919 plane was put into regular service by China Eastern Airlines on Monday, flying between Shanghai and Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The airline said that with new planes arriving, the model will gradually operate on more routes.<br/>
The fat of dead pigs, cattle and chickens is being used to make greener jet fuel, but a new study warns it will end up being worse for the planet. Animal fats are considered waste, so aviation fuel made from the material has a much lower carbon footprint. Demand for fuel made from animal by-products is expected to triple by 2030, with airlines leading the charge. But experts fear scarcity will force other industries to use more palm oil - a huge generator of carbon emissions. Airlines are under pressure to rein in their huge carbon emissions, which mainly come from burning fossil-based kerosene in aircraft engines. But the study by Brussels-based Transport & Environment, a clean transport campaign group, points out there are simply not enough animals slaughtered each year to meet airlines' growing demand for animal fats. "There's not a never ending supply of animals, or animal fat," said Matt Finch from Transport & Environment. "So if you put on a massive extra demand source from anywhere from aviation, in this case, the industries where fat is currently being used, will have to look for alternatives. And that alternative is palm oil. So aviation indirectly, will be responsible for increasing the amount of palm oil being pulled through the European systems." The increased use of palm oil is linked to rising emissions as older forests which store vast amounts of carbon are cleared for new plantations.<br/>