Within just a few decades, the commercial aviation industry has gone from using computers only for flight bookings to operating an end-to-end digital air travel journey across multiple connected systems. Ticketing, passports, payment information, even airport security processes are linked — but these technological advances create security vulnerabilities. In 2022, there were 38 “successful” cyber attacks on the aviation industry, according to KonBriefing Research. Then, in April this year, pro-Russian hackers claimed responsibility for a five-day attack on Europe’s air traffic control authority — disrupting its website but not European aviation. These attacks have become possible because aviation technology is now a “sea of complexity”, says Frank Dickson, a cyber security analyst at IDC, a research company. “You took a system that was incredibly secure and connected it — [which creates] an attack surface,” he says. “It’s surprising that it hasn’t had more significant cyber security breaches.” How, then, does the industry protect itself and customers from cyber attacks? Is disconnecting an option? Most experts doubt whether a large-scale disconnecting of systems to the internet, or from each other, is feasible, given the disruption this would probably cause passengers. In fact, the direction of travel is towards more automation and technology. However, some airports and airlines — including American Airlines and Spain’s Iberia — have begun exploring new techniques, such as encrypted, single-use digital tokens and facial recognition technology, to verify passengers’ identity. These technologies aim to make journeys through airports faster and more secure and, post-pandemic, with less physical contact. Aviation is “moving to a more digital version of identity management”, says Philippe Vallée, executive vice-president of digital identity and security at Thales, a technology company that supplies the aviation industry. <br/>
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General Electric Co. and Safran said thousands of jet-engine parts with falsified documents were sold to global aircraft fleets at the hands of a UK supplier, potentially wreaking havoc among airlines now racing to identify the components on their jets. The allegations came Wednesday at a London court after the companies — who are partners in the CFM International engine consortium — had asked a London judge to force AOG Technics Ltd. to hand over documents relating to “every single sale of products.” A London judge ordered the little-known spare parts firm that’s at the heart of a bogus components scandal to hand over the paperwork. There is documentary evidence that “thousands of jet engine parts” were sold by AOG to airlines and to aircraft maintenance and repair organizations, lawyers for the engine makers said in court filings. AOG was set up in 2015 by Jose Zamora Yrala, who hasn’t responded to calls or e-mails since Bloomberg first reported on the fallout last month. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has said that it suspects “numerous” certifications for parts supplied by the company were forged. Suppliers and airlines are racing to assess the fallout from the scandal involving parts with unclear origin. So far, several airlines have said they’ve identified components on their older single-aisle jets and have switched out the parts, causing further strain on an already tight spare-parts market. “The apparent large-scale falsification of documentation uncovered by the claimants gives rise to the risk that evidence relevant to these proceedings will be destroyed by the defendants,” lawyers for CFM said in the filings. As many as 96 engines impacted by parts supplied by AOG were identified as of Monday, General Electric’s lawyer said in the court. The disclosure features a wealth of requested detail including background information such as the identity of the manufacturer and of any entity that ever performed maintenance or repair service on the relevant parts, AOG’s lawyer said in court filings.<br/>
Air traffic control shortages in New York "unacceptable," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday, vowing the government would work to boost hiring. On Friday, the FAA said it would again extend cuts to minimum flight requirements at congested New York City-area airports through October 2024, citing staffing shortages. New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (N90) staffing is just at 54% of recommended staffing. Under minimum flight requirements, airlines can lose their takeoff and landing slots at congested airports if they do not use them at least 80% of the time. The waiver allows airlines to not fly some flights and still retain slots. "There clearly needs to be a swift path," Buttigieg said at a US House hearing to addressing the New York shortage. He said the air traffic control staffing levels are putting pressure on employees and impacting smooth operations. The FAA said Friday the number of New York controllers "is still not sufficient to allow the FAA to handle normal traffic levels." In the summer of 2022, there were 41,498 flights from New York airports in which controller staffing was a contributing factor in delays. US airlines have expressed growing frustration with air traffic staff shortages. Due to staffing shortages, the FAA previously in August extended temporary cuts to minimum flight requirements through Oct. 28 after first issuing the waivers in March following requests from Delta and United Airlines to not fly up to 10% of flights.<br/>
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has told lawmakers that a looming government shutdown could derail training for thousands of desperately needed air traffic controllers. Buttigieg on 20 September said during a House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing that a federal shutdown would halt training of 2,600 air traffic controllers as the FAA faces continued staffing shortages that have disrupted air travel in recent months. Earlier this year, numerous airlines blamed the FAA’s controller shortage for mass delays and cancellations at some of the country’s busiest airports during the summer travel season. “I’m pleased to say that we hit our [hiring] target of 1,500 this year… and we have about 2,600 air traffic controllers in the pipeline,” Buttigieg says. “But I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that a government shutdown would stop us in our tracks when it comes to hiring at exactly the wrong moment, while those who are qualified controllers in the tower would be permitted to continue working. It would stop training at just a moment when we’re finally trending positive again, in terms of the number of people ready to take their seats.” Even a short shutdown “could set us back by months or more” due to the complexity of fully training new controllers, he adds. “We cannot afford that kind of politically driven disruption at the very moment when we finally have those air traffic control report numbers headed in the right direction,” he says. Lawmakers have been negotiating the FAA’s next reauthorisation bill, which would fund the agency for the next fiscal year, starting on 1 October. Lawmakers are also wrangling over broader government spending bills. But an impasse between the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House of Representatives may block that timeline. The government could face a shutdown at the end of this month if a spending package is not approved by both houses of the legislature. Air traffic controllers have expressed concern about a possible shutdown. Controllers’ union National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) says Congress is playing “political brinkmanship” and urged Congress to find a bipartisan solution before the FAA’s funding runs out at the end of the fiscal year.<br/>
Sky-high passenger volumes. A shortage of pilots. Weather delays and cancellations. Sounds like a recipe for disgruntled air travelers. But an “amazing thing” happened at North American airports over the last year, according to a news release from consumer insights and analytics firm J.D. Power: passenger satisfaction improved. That’s the big takeaway of the J.D. Power 2023 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, which was released Wednesday. The study evaluates three airport categories – mega-airports, large airports and medium-sized airports – based on more than 27,000 traveler surveys collected from August 2022 through July 2023. The improvement is “not totally unexpected,” says Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power. “Crowds at the airport have leveled off for the most part, if not dropping slightly at some airports. The ‘slowing’ of crowding will have a positive effect on scores,” he told CNN Travel. Passenger volume has largely stopped rising by double digits, Taylor said. The gradual recovery of food, beverage and retail services – “more staffing, more hours” – has also had a positive effect on airports’ scores. Overall customer satisfaction with North American airports improved by 3 points this year – bringing the overall score to 780 on a 1,000-point scale. The airports were evaluated by looking at six factors, listed in order of importance: terminal facilities; airport arrival/departure; baggage claim; security check; check-in/baggage check; and food, beverage and retail. This year’s uptick in satisfaction was driven by three factors – terminal facilities; food and beverage and retail service; and baggage claim. “Terminal facilities” refers to the cleanliness, comfort and ease of navigating areas including concourses, restrooms and gates as well as the quality of Wi-Fi service. Story has details.<br/>
There is still work to be done with Mexican authorities to smooth over hiccups caused by the government-mandated move of cargo flights from the nation's busiest airport to a farther-away airport, a UPS executive said on Wednesday. UPS kicked off cargo flights at the Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) - a year-old, military-run airport backed by the country's president - last month, said Francisco Ricaurte, the firm's Mexico and Latin America head, in an interview with Reuters at the hub. Mexico earlier this year ordered cargo carriers stop operating at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM), pushing them to use AIFA instead in a bid to reduce oversaturation at AICM. Now that the move is complete, "we have to keep working with authorities and every member of the value chain" to make imports at AIFA more agile, Ricaurte said. The military heads customs throughout the country, including at AIFA. "If we have to work under these conditions, we need to come to an understanding so that military authorities can be clear about what our operation needs, and if that means making certain processes more flexible, then doing so," Ricaurte said. The decree requiring the move was decried by cargo carriers when first published. "They gave us such a short timeline," said Ricaurte. "As an industry, we told the government what was feasible and not feasible... and we were able to get an extension."<br/>
Regional UK government officials are to initiate a formal process to secure an investor and operator for Doncaster Sheffield airport, believing that there is a case for re-opening the facility which closed last year. City of Doncaster mayor Ros Jones says the plan was given unanimous backing during a council and cabinet meeting on 20 September, which examined the case for a procurement through competitive tender. “Re-opening Doncaster Sheffield airport is my number one priority,” says Jones. “We have already initially tested the market for those industry experts who can partner with us to get the airport re-opened as soon as we can.” Reinstating the airport is part of a programme designated South Yorkshire Airport City and would also feature development of an economic cluster of high-value activity. The council engaged Ernst & Young to conduct a financial viability assessment for the airport, and this indicated that it had the potential to achieve positive earnings by its fifth year across three scenarios spanning optimistic to pessimistic outlooks. But it warns that the South Yorkshire Airport City programme is in a start-up phase and, given that the airport had been operating at a loss, there is a risk associated with future operating assumptions. “It is unlikely that external debt financing will be accessible to any private investor,” states an update being presented at the meeting. “Therefore, the re-opening of the airport will require significant investment to support the up-front capital.” Reinstatement costs are likely to be “very significant” since the airport was fully closed with the cessation of all aviation operations, it adds, and this would be an “impediment” to attracting an investor. A strategic outline business case suggests net benefits to re-opening of GBP800m to GBP1.5b over a 30-year period.<br/>
Air connectivity in the Middle East stands out with a 26% growth in total connectivity in 2022 vs 2019, with direct links to destinations in North America, Asia-Pacific and Africa, says a report. Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific and Middle East (ACI APAC & MID) launched the Airport Connectivity Report at the opening of its Middle East office in Riyadh. The report, developed in partnership with PwC, said air connectivity witnessed the strongest recovery post Covid 19, with low-cost carriers (LCCs) driving the growth. On the contrary, Asia-Pacific has seen a decline in air connectivity by -38% in the same period. The report measures passengers’ ability to access the global air transport network, capturing both direct and indirect routes, and also factoring in the quality of service of each connection, such as destination choice, service frequency, onward connectivity and price, contributing to the passenger experience. It covers a sample of 100 airports that accounts for almost 60% of the combined passenger traffic in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East in 2019. Several key factors contribute to the decline in air connectivity, including extended travel restrictions due to Covid-19, limitations on air traffic rights, constraints on airport slots, rising airfares, economic downturns, and geopolitical tensions.<br/>
More than 40% of travel and leisure companies surveyed by Nikkei do not expect Chinese visitors to Japan to return to pre-coronavirus levels until at least next year, as a cooling economy and lack of flights offset the revival of group tours. Of the 24 hotel, leisure, air travel and other companies that responded to the poll early this month, 10 said they anticipate a full recovery in 2024 at the earliest. Only one sees a rebound this year. The number of Chinese travelers to Japan between January and August came to only 19% of the 2019 figure for the same period, according to Japan National Tourism Organization data released Wednesday. "We had had hopes for the National Day holiday in October, but we can't expect a dramatic rebound," said the operator of a Tokyo hotel. Ten companies said they did not know when Chinese travelers would return to pre-COVID levels. Japan Airlines raised concerns about the risk that the slowdown in the Chinese economy will delay the recovery in visitors to Japan. The reduced number of flights between the two countries is a factor. Though ANA Holdings' All Nippon Airways is expanding service to and from China, it will be at only 35% of pre-pandemic levels at the end of this month, and less than 50% at the end of October. With air travel capacity still not back to normal, "returning to where we were before the coronavirus will take a some time," said Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide. The lack of flights is even worse for regions beyond Japan's biggest cities. "Kyoto and Osaka are recovering, but flights to regional destinations have been slow to return, so the pace of recovery is sluggish," said JR-West Hotels. Asked about the impact of the release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant -- which the Chinese government has condemned -- 46% of respondents said it has had no effect on their business.<br/>
Travelling through one of the world’s best airports is set to get even smoother next year. Starting in 2024, officials say Singapore’s Changi Airport will introduce automated immigration clearance, which will allow passengers to depart the city-state without passports, using only biometric data. “Singapore will be one of the first few countries in the world to introduce automated, passport-free immigration clearance,” Communications Minister Josephine Teo announced during a parliament session on Monday, during which several changes to the country’s Immigration Act were passed. Biometric technology, along with facial recognition software, is already in use to some extent in Changi Airport at automated lanes at immigration checkpoints. But the upcoming changes will “reduce the need for passengers to repeatedly present their travel documents at touch points and allow for more seamless and convenient processing,” Teo said. Biometrics will be used to create a “single token of authentication” that will be employed at various automated touch points – from bag drops to immigration clearance and boarding – eliminating the need for physical travel documents like boarding passes and passports. But passports will still be required for many countries outside of Singapore that do not offer passport-free clearance, Teo stressed. Often ranked the world’s best airport and also one of the busiest, Singapore’s Changi Airport serves more than 100 airlines that fly to 400 cities in around 100 countries and territories worldwide. It handled 5.12m passenger movements in June, crossing the 5m mark for the first time since January 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. The airport is a destination in itself and currently has four terminals. It is set to expand, adding a fifth to cater to the growing number of travellers. Changi Airport is projecting a return to pre-pandemic levels of passenger and air traffic and expressed hopes that the upcoming biometric system will help make passenger flows smoother.<br/>
Textron Aviation and NetJets on Wednesday signed an agreement which would give the private jet firm owned by Berkshire Hathaway an option to buy up to 1,500 additional Cessna Citation business jets over the next 15 years. The deal for Cessna Citation business jets, which are designed, produced and delivered by Textron, could be valued at approximately $30b, according to analysts at Jefferies. Demand for private flying remains healthy despite having tempered from the highs reached during the pandemic when the wealthy took control of their travel. While continued supply chain and labor issues have hit Textron's most profitable aviation segment, the impact is countered by stronger pricing of its jets. The deal extends NetJets' existing fleet agreement and includes options for an increasing number of aircraft each year, allowing it to expand its fleet with Cessna Citation Ascend, Citation Latitude and Citation Longitude aircraft. Deliveries of the Citation Ascend are expected to begin in 2025 when the aircraft, currently under development, is expected to enter into service.<br/>