A slow post-pandemic recovery in passenger numbers in Asia has weighed on global air travel somewhat, but demand in general remains strong and airlines are upbeat about the outlook for this year, International Air Transport Association head Willie Walsh said. “That recovery (in Asia) is gathering pace, but there are some issues that will have an impact on whether it can return back to the 2019 levels,” he told an event in Lisbon on Wednesday. “I think the demand is strong,” he said, adding that most markets were close to where they were in 2019.<br/>
general
The Biden administration offered new warnings on Wednesday that a government shutdown could disrupt the nation’s air travel system, part of an effort to lay blame at the feet of House Republicans ahead of a possible funding lapse this weekend. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that a shutdown would jeopardize the work the administration has done to address a shortage in air traffic controllers, modernize aviation technology and reduce flight delays and cancellations that have plagued travelers. “There is no good time for a government shutdown, but this is a particularly bad time for a government shutdown, especially when it comes to transportation,” Mr. Buttigieg said at a news conference at the Transportation Department’s headquarters. “The consequences would be disruptive and dangerous.” Government funding will expire at midnight on Saturday if Congress does not agree on a stopgap spending measure by then. House Republicans have been unable to resolve a standoff with far-right lawmakers in their ranks, and Mr. Buttigieg assailed those lawmakers for bringing the government within days of a shutdown. If funding lapses, federal workers will be furloughed or forced to work without pay. Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers would continue to work, but they would not be paid until the shutdown ends. Hours before Buttigieg spoke, the White House issued a news release with a state-by-state breakdown of the roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA officers who would have to work without pay. The news release warned that an “extreme Republican shutdown,” as the White House has taken to describing it, risked causing delays for travelers. A shutdown could also disrupt the government’s efforts to address an existing shortage of air traffic controllers, which has already resulted in cutbacks to flight schedules at airports in the New York City area. The coronavirus pandemic forced a pause in training for new controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration’s academy in Oklahoma City, drying up the pipeline of new workers, and a shutdown would put a halt to training once again.<br/>
The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s review into a technical issue that saw hundreds of flights delayed and canceled in late August will take “months rather than weeks,” Chairman Stephen Hillier said. “We are currently just finishing our consultation on the terms of reference and in the process of appointing the members of that independent review,” said Hillier, who was in Singapore Wednesday for the Global Urban & Advanced Air Summit. “We haven’t fixed a timeline for when it’s going to report. This is going to be, I imagine, months rather than weeks. I want it to be thorough, I want it to be timely as well.” NATS, the country’s air-traffic management provider, said earlier this month that the extensive disruption, which left hundreds of passengers stranded, was the result of an issue with a flight plan filed in its system that included “two identically named, but separate way point markers outside of UK airspace.” It occurred on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Air traffic control has emerged as a persistent pinch-point for the aviation industry amid a surge in demand for travel, with air-traffic control strikes in France and staffing shortages from the US to the UK. Hillier said the incident responsible for last month’s chaos was “fortunately extremely rare.” “The last time we had a failing of this magnitude was in 2014, a different issue,” he said. “So they are rare but that’s no comfort if you are a passenger and you find yourself stuck on the ground for days.”<br/>
The ruling military junta in Niger has banned all French airlines and France-registered aircraft from operating in its airspace as a dispute with its former coloniser escalates. France has since pulled its ambassador from the Sahel state. NOTAM A1096/23, issued on September 23, 2023, bans "French aircraft or aircraft chartered by France, including those of the airline of Air France" from entering Nigerien airspace, including for overflights. All other commercial flights are permitted, while military and special flights need prior authorisation. Air France suspended service to Niamey in early August, shortly after the coup d'êtat in Niger. It simultaneously halted flights to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali, two countries which support the Nigerien junta. All three routes remain on hold. Nigerien airspace was closed to all airlines until September 3. Air France confirmed that its flights to Accra and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo will be most affected by the need to, once again, bypass the Niamey Flight Information Region.<br/>
A fire caused by a powerful explosion at a warehouse near Tashkent's airport had been contained and the situation was under control, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Emergency Situations (FVV) said on Thursday. The cause of the explosion was unclear, with one report of "strong lightning" and there had been no reports of injuries or deaths. The ministry said a "special laboratory" had been set up at the scene to investigate the explosion. "As a result of the quick actions of FVV employees, the area of the fire is being reduced," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. "The situation is completely under control". Video and photographs on social media showed flames soaring into the night sky and a huge cloud of smoke. Flights at Tashkent International Airport appeared to be taking off and landing as normal, data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed.<br/>
After 3½ years of engineering and expansion works, Changi Airport will start operations at the northern wing of Terminal 2 (T2) on Thursday. The refurbished terminal, which has 15,500 sq m of added space, is expected to reopen fully by the end of October, with stores and restaurants opening progressively in the coming weeks. The amenities and facilities at T2’s northern wing are now available for passengers’ use. Airport operator Changi Airport Group said German flag carrier Lufthansa, SIA flights to South-east Asia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as Swiss International Air Lines will begin operating from T2’s northern wing on Thursday. Air Japan, All Nippon Airways, Etihad Airways, IndiGo and SIA’s flights to the Maldives and Nepal will follow suit in October, taking the total number of airlines operating at T2 from 12 to 16. In addition, SIA’s first-class check-in reception and the Sats premier check-in lounge have opened in the terminal, said CAG. With the reopening of T2’s northern wing, Changi’s overall yearly capacity will climb to 90m passengers. T2’s handling capacity will go up from five to 28m passengers yearly. As of August, Changi’s passenger traffic was at 87% of pre-Covid-19 levels, CAG said.<br/>
A total of 19 personnel of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS), an attached agency of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), have been fired since July 2022 after they were caught stealing from airline passengers, according to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista. “Actually, we have investigated 60 cases [of theft incidents] at the airports [involving OTS employees],” Bautista said on Tuesday during the Senate deliberations on the DOTr’s budget request of P214b for 2024. The cases included the Sept 8 incident at Ninoy Aquino International Airport where an OTS screener was spotted on a security camera allegedly swallowing US$300 in bills that she supposedly stole from a Chinese tourist. The viral video was yet another black eye on the country’s main international gateway, which had been tagged before by a vacation rental management firm as among the world’s worst airports.<br/>
Sustainable aviation fuel is likely to stay more expensive than kerosene even when large-scale production kicks in and the cost won't deter airlines from their carbon emission targets, IATA head Willie Walsh said. IATA previously estimated that SAF could contribute around 65% of the reduction in emissions needed by aviation to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. "I truly believe SAF will always be priced at a premium to kerosene," Walsh told a conference in Lisbon. "I believe the industry is ready to embrace that. The industry recognises the problem, is doing everything it can to address it and we will achieve the targets because...there isn't an option here." He expected the price of SAF to come down when deliveries reach a large scale, compared to "tiny volumes" now, though it will remain at a premium to kerosene. The CEO of British Airways and Iberia owner IAG, Luis Gallego, said travel would become more expensive as a result of the decarbonisation effort, but the sector was hopeful it could maintain affordable ticket prices. "That's the challenge, but we don't have any alternative but to meet the targets," he told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the event. "What we need is production of SAF. It doesn't make sense to bring SAF from the United States and put it in our planes in Europe." Asked about the rising price of oil and regular aviation fuel, he said the company's hedging policy covered about 70% of fuel costs this year. Walsh also said that a slow post-pandemic recovery in passenger numbers in Asia has weighed on global air travel, but demand in general remained strong and airlines were upbeat about the outlook for this year. "That recovery (in Asia) is gathering pace, but there are some issues that will have an impact on whether it can return back to the 2019 levels," he told the event. "I think the demand is strong," he said, adding that most markets were close to where they were in 2019, but in Asia they were 30-35% below.<br/>