general

The first US State Department-organized charter flight taking Americans out of Israel during the conflict in Gaza landed in Athens, the Biden administration confirmed on Friday, as US airlines ramped up connecting flights to help people get home. White House spokesman John Kirby said the government is exploring departure options by sea as well to help Americans in Israel. "We're just trying to add to the options," Kirby told reporters, adding that the flights will continue. Reuters reported the first flight on a US-based charter company from flight records, and was first to confirm it had landed. Additional charter flights are scheduled between Athens and Tel Aviv through at least Oct. 19, a separate source said. More than 400 Americans were signed up for the first flight but that figure includes an assumption that some would not turn up for it, a different source said. On Friday, United said it would add a fifth roundtrip flight between Newark, New Jersey, and Athens through Oct. 19, to help Americans trying to return home from Israel, and Delta Air said it would add three flights from Athens to New York starting on Monday. American Airlines on Friday said it would fly larger planes from Athens to New York beginning Saturday to accommodate more Americans looking for a way home. United, American and Delta all temporarily halted direct flights to Israel. More than 30 US lawmakers on Friday wrote the three airline CEOs urging them to resume flights to Tel Aviv "as quickly as possible." The letter called on the carriers "to prioritize resuming flight operations" to Tel Aviv, and said the Congress members "stand ready to assist you in any way necessary to get the job done." American declined comment, while United did not immediately comment. Delta, which has suspended flights through Oct. 31, said it was continuously monitoring the rapidly evolving security environment.<br/>

Demand for charter flights including private jets costing up to $50,000 a trip is mounting as people rush to get out of Israel, the CEO of Switzerland-based LunaJets told Reuters on Friday. Deadly attacks on Israel by Hamas militants have been followed by Israeli retaliatory bombardment on Gaza and a build-up of tanks around its border. Some governments such as the United States, France and Germany are evacuating citizens by charter flights but some planes are full and others have been cancelled as airlines wrestle with the risks. "They are all immediate requests. We need to go, we need to get out. It's not about, you know, I'm ready to fly at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It's how soon can we go?" Eymeric Segard, CEO and founder of private jet broker LunaJets, told Reuters. Often passengers are not worried about any particular destination, saying only somewhere in central Europe. "They just say: ‘Take me out’," he said. In a typical week, the Geneva-based firm would operate one or possibly two Tel Aviv charter flights but it plans 10 this week carrying some 500 passengers, he said, including to destinations like Paris, Dubai and Geneva. The firm has also had flight requests out of Amman, Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon.<br/>

Operations at Syria's Aleppo airport will resume on Monday morning after an Israeli air strike put it out of service, the country's transport ministry said. According to Syria's state news agency, the transport ministry said on Sunday operations will restart on Monday at 8 am local time (0500 GMT).<br/>

Global air travel is on the rise after waves of pandemic-related disruptions in the last few years. Most airlines worldwide have completely recovered from the downturn and are looking ahead for further growth. Low-cost carriers play a major role in providing an efficient and economical way of travel for those who wish or need to. Globally, low-cost carriers have not only attracted leisure travelers but also made their mark in the business and vacation sectors. With the strong aviation recovery, particularly with the low-cost carriers, the global low-cost airline market will hit $189.1b in 2022. The number will only grow in the next five years, with an expected $315.4b low-cost market by 2028. Low-cost airlines, as the term suggests, are budget carriers that make affordable travel options possible for those who wish to choose one. These airlines offer fewer amenities while committing to safe travel between point A and point B. Such airlines rely on ancillary revenues by offering food for purchase onboard, selling carry-on baggage separately, early boarding fees, and seat selection fees. Low-cost carriers generally fly to secondary airports, where they enjoy cheaper airport fees compared to larger hub airports. Low-cost carriers are also known to operate only one or two aircraft types, thereby minimizing their operating cost. For example, the world’s largest low-cost carrier by fleet size, Southwest Airlines, operates a fleet of over 950 Boeing 737 family aircraft. Having a single type across its entire fleet minimizes operational costs such as training, flight operations, and maintenance.<br/>

Seven prominent aviation groups have expressed opposition to changing US government rules governing “public charter” airlines like JSX – changes that may threaten such carriers’ ability to operate. The groups – representing airlines, aircraft manufacturers and others – sent a letter to the US government on 13 October warning that rule changes “could have unintended negative consequences” and be “detrimental to competition, innovation and aviation emerging technologies”. The signatories include the Airline Passenger Experience Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Helicopter Association International, International Flight Services Association, National Air Transportation Association, National Association of State Aviation Officials and National Business Aviation Association. Earlier this year, the FAA issued a Notice of Intent asking for public comment about potential revisions to the regulatory definitions of “on-demand operation,” “supplemental operation” and “scheduled operation” under rules governing aviation in the USA. FAA regulations govern the operations of air carriers, while Department of Transportation (DOT) Part 380 regulations address economic authority for those companies. The current rules allow a part 380 operator to work with any air carrier, including on-demand carriers operating under the FAA’s Part 135. “For more than 45 years, Part 135 carriers have operated aircraft safely and reliably on behalf of public charter operators under DOT Part 380, unlocking substantial public benefits and providing valuable air transportation to many communities that otherwise would not have commercial air service,” the aviation groups said in their filing with the government. “Changing regulations could eliminate well-paying jobs at all levels of the industry while hurting economic competition, carbon emissions reduction, emerging technologies, aviation innovation and service to small communities,” they say.<br/>

Honeywell predicts that business jet manufacturers will deliver 8,500 aircraft worth almost $300b over the next 10 years, a figure unchanged since its last forecast in 2022. However, the 2023 edition of its Global Business Aviation Outlook provides new insight into the dynamics shaping the sector. Business jet operators are expanding their fleets rapidly and aircraft manufacturers are making progress in hiking production and delivery rates to match demand, the report notes. But it also highlights a slowing of new orders, a post-pandemic reduction in business aircraft flight activity and a “positive shift toward sustainability”. “We have seen fleet-expansion rates increase for the third year in a row,” says Honeywell strategy manager Javier Jimenez-Serrano. He says the trend reflects the surge of orders that came during the pandemic, driven partly by demand from first-time buyers. Honeywell expects manufacturers will deliver 8,500 new business jets, worth an estimated $278b, between 2024 and 2033, based on surveys of operators, manufacturers’ production plans and economic analyses. Of the 8,500 expected deliveries, about 500 will go to new business jet users and 4,000 will take place within five years, Honeywell anticipates. North American operators will likely receive 64% of jets to be delivered within five years, while those in Europe will take 14%, Asia-Pacific 11%, Middle East 6% and Latin America 5%. Large-cabin, long-range business jets will account for 69% of all business-jet sales over five years, Honeywell predicts. “Our industry is on the upswing. Operators are showing confidence with plans to expand their fleets at a faster rate than any time in the previous decade,” says Honeywell president of aftermarket Heath Patrick. The Covid-19 pandemic prompted aerospace suppliers to slash staff and production, but also triggered a spike in demand for private aircraft.<br/>

The Biden administration has announced that seven proposed "hydrogen hubs" in 16 states will share $7b in federal grants to jump-start the emerging industry, which officials hope will clean up some of the biggest carbon-emitting industrial sectors. The regional hubs are networks of hydrogen producers and consumers that will be linked with new and existing infrastructure. The Biden administration wants to scale up clean hydrogen output to 10m metric tons of the fuel by 2030 and 50m tons by 2050, a fivefold increase from today. Story lists the winning hydrogen hub proposals, including one for sustainable aviation fuel.<br/>

Australia’s biggest pilots’ union has alleged that an arrangement by Brisbane airport for three major international airlines to change takeoff and landing procedures to reduce noise pollution is “potentially unsafe” and “highly unusual”. The Australian Federation of Airline Pilots (AFAP) alleges that the airport’s move to encourage Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Cathay Pacific planes to consider taking off or landing with tailwinds of two knots above the limit imposed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Casa) “falls well outside international standards and conventions”. Aircraft noise has become a hot button topic in Brisbane, with the federal Greens pushing for a curfew and flight cap. Last week the Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO, Gert-Jan de Graaff, wrote to MPs seeking to “update you on the actions taken by BAC to help improve amenity for impacted residents”. In the letter, seen by Guardian Australia, he detailed how the airline had approached three international airlines, who often fly in and out at night, “to explore ways to minimise noise”. Casa’s maximum tailwind allowance prevents air traffic controllers from allocating runways to planes when there are tailwinds of more than five knots. Under the rules, however, pilots maintain discretion to operate with a higher tailwind. Graaff’s letter said after discussions with the airport, the three airlines had asked crews to consider taking off and landing over the water and, if the pilot considers it safe, to request the change from air traffic control. “This will mean there is a higher probability of achieving more departures and arrivals over the water, weather permitting,” Graaff wrote. “These airlines believe they can modify their operations in certain circumstances that will enable fewer flights over the populated areas of the city without any reduction in safety.”<br/>

You may not have to fumble with your cellphone in the boarding area very much longer. As the travel industry embraces facial recognition technology, phones are beginning to go the way of paper tickets at airports, cruise terminals and theme parks, making checking in more convenient, but raising privacy and security concerns, too. “Before Covid it felt like a future thing,” said Hicham Jaddoud, a professor of hospitality and tourism at the University of Southern California, describing the way contactless transactions have become common since the pandemic. That includes facial recognition, which is “now making its way into daily operations” in the travel industry, Dr. Jaddoud said. Facial recognition systems are already being expanded at some airports. At Miami International, for example, cameras at 12 gates serving international flights match passengers’ faces to the passport photographs they have on file with the airlines, letting passengers at those gates board without showing physical passports or boarding passes. The company installing the systems, SITA, has been contracted to do the same for a number of international gates in 10 other U.S. airports, including Boston Logan International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport. (Passengers can opt out and still present physical documents instead, SITA says.) The technology is also speeding up the wait for some passengers at immigration. Members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry program can now bypass lines at the kiosks at seven U.S. airports, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, by taking a selfie on arrival using its new phone app. The selfie is matched with the agency’s facial biometrics database. As the use of facial recognition technology spreads, some experts worry about the risks to travelers’ privacy and security. Unlike a password, which can be reset, biometric data cannot easily be changed without significantly altering your appearance, said Phil Siegel, co-founder of the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation, a nonprofit group.<br/>