Airline passengers in Europe face the prospect of higher ticket prices following a rally in the price of oil which has threatened carriers’ booming profits. Crude oil has risen to $95 per barrel this week, its highest levels of the year, following production and export cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. The rise in prices has triggered a wave of profit warnings from US airlines and a fall in share prices on both sides of the Atlantic, even as the industry completes a strong summer of flying which has seen many carriers report record profits. Air fares have already risen sharply this year, as carriers cash in on high demand for travel at a time of constrained supply of aircraft, following retirements during the pandemic and supply chain shortages. Topi Manner, the CE of Finnair, said he expected ticket prices to rise further in response to airlines facing historically “very high levels” of fuel costs. “In a high fuel environment fares obviously would need to reflect that . . . short term volatility points towards increasing fares,” he said. Andrew Lobbenberg, aviation analyst at Barclays, also said he expected ticket prices to rise in Europe as airlines trim their flying schedules in response to rising costs. To make matters worse, airlines are paying a significant premium for jet fuel, which has risen to $130 per barrel. Francesco Di Salvo, an executive at S&P Global Platts, a commodity price reporting agency, said jet fuel prices have rallied because of strong demand for travel and a “structural deficit of jet fuel” in Europe amid OPEC cuts, sanctions on Russia and high demand for other refined products, including diesel.<br/>
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French aerospace supplier Safran SA said it can’t quantify the magnitude of a widening scandal involving suspect unapproved parts on one of its engines, potentially complicating the investigation into components with falsified certificates that found their way onto the world’s most widely flown power plant. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Safran CEO Olivier Andries said the aircraft parts industry is an “open market.” His company had no prior relationship with London-based AOG Technics Ltd., the supplier at the heart of the case, until it was alerted by an airline, the CEO said, adding that about 100 engines have been identified as having questionable parts. “We don’t know who they sold those parts to and whether all airlines have done their checks,” Andries said in Paris. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know.” Andries’s comments come shortly after the US Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines and other industry players that AOG improperly sold parts for a longstanding type of jet engine from CFM International Inc., the joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran that makes engines for many older-generation Airbus SE A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft. The alert, known as an Unapproved Parts Notification, is the first formal warning to the US aviation sector over potential risks posed by thousands of spare jet-engine parts sold with forged airworthiness documentation by AOG. European regulators had previously warned about forged parts from the UK company. The Safran CEO said they were alerted a few weeks ago by an aircraft operator, who inquired about a part that looked to have a suspect origin. AOG Technics also improperly sold bushings for GE’s CF6 engine family without the jet-engine manufacturer’s approval, distributing parts with falsified documents, according to the FAA notice. The engine has been used on a number of wide-body jets, including older versions of Boeing Co.’s 747 jumbo jet.<br/>
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai will be temporarily shut for six hours, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 17, in order to conduct post-monsoon runway maintenance, according to an official's statement on September 22. Both runways, 09/27 and 14/32, will be temporarily non-operational for all flight operations during this period for comprehensive runway repairs. An advance Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) regarding the closure had been issued six months in advance to facilitate post-monsoon preventive maintenance activities. The temporary closure will allow for necessary repairs and maintenance to uphold the airport's infrastructure standards. The official stated, "This yearly practice of runway maintenance post monsoons is part of the series of activities undertaken with precision and meticulous efforts ensuring operational continuity and passenger safety, thus bringing to life the vision of imbibing passenger first approach at the core of our operations." This annual practice is part of a series of activities aimed at ensuring operational continuity and passenger safety.<br/>
Tourism during South Korea’s Thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok is expected to rebound to pre-COVID-19 levels, industry sources said Sunday. According to Incheon Airport, the number of passengers who will be using the country's main gateway between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3 is expected to reach 1.2m, an average of about 170,000 each day. The number has also recovered to 96.6% of the corresponding figure in 2019. The figure is also up by 186.7% compared to the previous year’s figure, it added. The country's leading travel agency Hana Tour said that the number of people who booked tickets for flights that leave here increased by 43% compared to 2019. In comparison with 2022, when travel restrictions and concerns over COVID-19 still existed, it was an increase of 1,535%, the agency added. The latest increase came as the government last month decided to designate Oct. 2 as a one-off temporary holiday, which bridged the three-day Chuseok holiday and the country’s National Foundation Day on Oct. 3. Some people have taken a few more days off to extend the Chuseok holiday to 12 days for their overseas trip. By destination, more than a majority of travelers have planned their trips to countries in Southeast Asia and Japan, according to local travel agencies.<br/>
The ethanol and corn industries on Thursday slammed an advisory board to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a draft report that found there could be little climate benefit to using corn-starch ethanol as a fuel, compared with gasoline. The question of exactly how much ethanol cuts emissions over gasoline has divided academics and has created a split in the administration of President Joe Biden over implementation of a tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel. A working group of the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) concluded in an August draft report that there is "a reasonable chance there are minimal or no climate benefits from substituting corn ethanol for gasoline or diesel." At a public meeting in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the full SAB discussed the report and took public comments, including from industry groups. "We adamantly disagree," said Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, citing findings by the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory that ethanol is 44% lower in emissions than gasoline. "We encourage the SAB to conduct a more expansive and inclusive examination." Chris Bliley, senior vice president of regulatory affairs at Growth Energy, a biofuels lobby group, said the draft comment "cherry picks certain data from a few anti-ethanol critics." Neil Caskey, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association, said the science showing ethanol's climate benefits over gasoline is settled.<br/>
Global aerospace supply chains will remain under pressure throughout 2024, Safran CEO Olivier Andries said on Friday. "We remain in a difficult situation with the supply chain. (The) problems are not solved and will broadly last throughout 2024," he told the AJPAE French aerospace media association. Safran co-produces with General Electric the widely used LEAP engine for medium-haul jetliners and is also one of the world's largest suppliers of other aeronautical equipment. Pressure is particularly severe on titanium and steel supplies, contributing to inflation in the sector, Andries added. He also singled out castings and forgings but said a recent worldwide shortage of computer chips had eased considerably. He also noted difficulties in recruitment following a wave of early retirements during the pandemic. Andries said supply chain shortages had complicated efforts to increase airliner production. He told reporters CFM was "fully aligned" with manufacturers on production planes through the end of 2024 but was still discussing quantities of engine supplies for 2025. CFM is the sole engine supplier for the Boeing 737 and has a 60% share of the backlog for the Airbus A320, for which airlines can choose between engines from CFM or Pratt & Whitney.<br/>