Investors are pouring money into global airline stocks, with an index for the sector reaching its highest level in two years as post-pandemic travel demand recovers and fuel prices stabilize. The MSCI All World Stock Index for airlines rose to 97.44 points on Wednesday, the highest since June 2021. At the end of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic devastated the industry, the index was around 120 points. Recovery has been slow, with the index dipping below 70 at times in fall 2022, but the current rebound appears stable. Wednesday's figure is a 19% improvement from the end of 2022, as airlines have outperformed the overall 14% rise in global stocks. The upward trend began in June, and the pace increased rapidly. Individual carriers also are hitting new highs one after another. Shares of US-based Delta Air Lines climbed to $49.04 on Wednesday, the highest in about 27 months. Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo's operator InterGlobe hit its highest price since going public in 2015. In late June, Japanese national carrier Japan Airlines posted its highest price since February 2020. China's major airlines are an exception, sinking to negative territory compared with the end of 2022 as the country's economy has stagnated even after pandemic travel restrictions were lifted. An increase in passengers for many carriers has helped airline stocks surpass global stock average growth. Japan's ANA Holdings told investors that domestic passenger demand during the summer period has nearly recovered to the pre-pandemic 2019 level. Reservations for international routes like Hawaii also have rebounded to about 80% to 90% of the 2019 level. Germany's Lufthansa sees a similar trend.<br/>
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Flights are getting cheaper as airlines boost service during what’s shaping up to be a busy summer. U.S. inflation data this week showed airfares dropped 8.1% in June from a month earlier, the biggest decline in nearly a year and the second biggest since April 2020, when the Covid pandemic suddenly sapped demand for air travel. Airlines are enjoying cheaper fuel and a lasting boom in travel. Daily airport screenings by the Transportation Security Administration have recently surpassed 2019 levels, before the pandemic. Delta Air Lines on Thursday reported its highest-ever quarterly earnings, estimated more record revenue through the start of fall and hiked its full-year forecast. Delta’s revenue per available seat mile, which measures how much airlines are generating for every seat they fly one mile, rose 1% in the last quarter from a year ago with capacity up 17%. It’s a sign that fares and revenue are holding up despite added service. International fares appear to be doing better as customers opt for trips abroad, a shift from previous years when travelers favored domestic destinations during pandemic travel restrictions. Delta’s domestic revenue unit revenues fell 1% in the quarter from the same period of 2019, but trans-Atlantic unit revenues rose 22% and the smaller trans-Pacific segment climbed 29% and Latin American service unit revenues were up 16%. Airlines have been especially aggressive in adding record amounts of service to Europe this summer and higher unit revenues are showing that fares there continue to hold up.<br/>
Canadian airlines saw fewer flight cancellations and more land on time in June compared to last year, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, as the busy summer travel season kicked off. The latest data from Cirium showed that 4.1% of scheduled flights – or more than 2,000 – were cancelled by Canadian airlines in the month of June. That's down from last June, when Canadian carriers cancelled 6.4% of scheduled flights, or more than 3,100. Canada's two biggest airlines reported fewer cancellations this year. Of the more than 25,000 flights Air Canada flew in June, about 1,600 were cancelled, representing a cancellation rate of 6.4%. That's an improvement from last June, when the Montreal-based airline flew roughly the same number of flights but cancelled more than 2,400 of them for a cancellation rate of 9.3%. Operations have also improved for WestJet, Canada's second-largest airline. The Calgary-based carrier flew more than 14,000 flights in June and cancelled more than 200, for a cancellation rate of 1.7%. Last year, it flew roughly the same number of flights but cancelled more than 500, for a cancellation rate of 4%. Porter Airlines, which has expanded operations and started flying out of Toronto's Pearson International Airport earlier this year, was the lone airline of those tracked by Cirium that reported more cancellations this year than in 2022. In June, the airline cancelled 175 of its 4,600 flights, for a cancellation rate of 3.8%. Last year, it flew more than 3,500 flights and cancelled 50, for a cancellation rate of 1.4%. Last year's summer travel season was marred by chaos at Canadian airports across the country, as a surge in post-pandemic travel demand and labour shortages led to a wave of delays and cancellations. While on-time performance has also broadly improved at Canadian airlines this year, they still lag behind carriers around the world.<br/>
To money managers, bonds tied to a failed airport project in Mexico increasingly look like a sure thing. The Mexico City Airport Trust bonds raised money starting in 2016 to build a new airport serving the nation’s capital, a project that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador canceled in 2018. But the securities are backed by passenger fees from the existing Benito Juarez International Airport. Those fees have been rising as international air travel rebounds, helping the so-called Mexcat 30-year bonds surge by around 50% since late September. That makes them the best-performing Mexican corporate notes over that period, accounting for both price changes and interest payments. The spread on the bonds due 2047 relative to comparable dollar-denominated Mexican government debt has narrowed to its lowest since issuance. The bonds have jumped further over the past month, after AMLO said he wants the navy to take over operation of the airport. The comment has made investors hopeful that Mexico will start to buy back some of the $4.2b total of bonds tied to the project, or offer a full guarantee to replace the payments based on passenger fees, said Aaron Gifford, an emerging-market sovereign debt analyst at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore. A guarantee could be riskier for the government, since it could lead to holdouts, while an early repurchase would be more promising, he said. <br/>
Europe’s safety regulator is stressing the need to strengthen operators’ systematic reporting to aircraft manufacturers, or other design approval holders, regarding occurrences involving human intervention. Airframers make assumptions about expected crew behaviour in order to demonstrate compliance with certification criteria, says the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. But in order for airframers – or other design approval holders – to identify and analyse any deviation from these assumptions, EASA says aircraft operators need to provide them with “systematic and comprehensive” information on occurrences or trends which might reveal “shortcomings” in cockpit design, procedures, or training. EASA is emphasising the need to reinforce such reporting of events involving actions taken by crews, and has issued guidance on the type of events for which reporting is expected. These include late, inaccurate or absent detection of visual, aural or kinaesthetic warning signals, or a crew’s inability to develop an action plan. EASA also highlights response and execution errors such as timing, sequencing, mismatched actions or lack of co-ordination, as well as communication problems. In a newly-issued safety information bulletin, the regulator details supporting information which operators ought to provide to design approval holders. EASA is further recommending that operators also report events detected by instructors and examiners during simulator training and checks.<br/>
Climate activists protesting against the use of fossil fuels like kerosene disrupted operations at the airports in Hamburg and Dusseldorf on Thursday morning, causing chaos just as school vacation get underway in Germany. Videos posted by members of the “Last Generation” group showed activists blocking the runway in Hamburg as well as airfield taxi ways in Dusseldorf since about 6 am local time, forcing a temporary halt to operations. Police are on site, and Hamburg suspended takeoffs and landings. German school summer vacation started on Wednesday in some parts of the country, kicking off the high season for air travel in Europe’s largest economy. The protest disruptions add to uneven operations at airports amid strikes and a lack of personnel in areas like baggage handling. Airports have become targets of climate activists who seek to highlight the aviation industry’s contribution to global warning. Berlin’s airport security perimeter was compromised late last year when protesters cut their way through the main fence and gained access to the runway. Hamburg and Dusseldorf are among the country’s largest airports, serving both short and long-haul routes. Emirates, the world’s biggest international airline, serves both cities. <br/>
Tokyo International Airport at Haneda will reopen the facility for international flights at Terminal 2 on Wednesday after over three years, allowing flights connecting Japan with Taipei and three other locations. Ahead of the reopening, All Nippon Airways on Thursday took the press for a tour of its check-in counters and lounges in the Terminal 2 facility. The carrier will operate five passenger flights on the four routes, also including the Haneda-London route, from Terminal 2, moving them from Terminal 3. Terminal 2 had been reserved for domestic flights until the facility opened in late March 2020 to accommodate the airport’s increased international flight slots. The facility, however, was closed down in just two weeks due to a worldwide plunge in travel demand brought on by the spread of COVID-19.<br/>
Four Korean airlines are assigning their emergency exit seats first to uniformed personnel, including police officers and firefighters, in an effort to prevent the reoccurrence of an incident in which a passenger opened an emergency exit door before landing. Representative Park Dae-chul, of the ruling People Power Party, said the new seating scheme, as approved by the government, will be implemented starting July 31. He said the scheme would apply to 94 seats in 38 aircraft operated by Asiana Airlines, Air Seoul, Air Busan and Aero K Airlines. Firefighters, police officers, soldiers and airline employees will have priority to take these seats, he said. The idea was floated after a couple of incidents involving unauthorised access to the emergency door. In May, one passenger opened the emergency door minutes before landing. The door was reportedly open for eight minutes until the plane landed.<br/>
Boeing Executive Vice President Stan Deal has met the head of China’s civil aviation regulator in Beijing, the regulator said on Thursday. Deal and Song Zhiyong met on Wednesday and exchanged views on Boeing’s business development in China and the strengthening of China-US civil aviation cooperation. <br/>