Plane ticket purchases to Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon have plummeted since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to travel analysis firm ForwardKeys, as the conflict's effects spill into the wider region. The violence between Israel and Hamas triggered a wave of flight cancellations to Israel, with a number of global carriers saying they would no longer fly to the country for security reasons. Tour operators cancelled trips to Israel and many hotels emptied soon after. But the instability has triggered a drop in travel across the region, data shows. Tickets to travel to Egypt have decreased by 26% year-on-year, to Jordan by 49%, and to Lebanon by 74%, said Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys. Some airlines, including Lufthansa, Eurowings and Swiss Air, suspended flights to Lebanon in mid-October. Destinations like Petra in Jordan and Egypt's Red Sea resorts have long been popular with tourists, who at times travel to Israel and these locations as part of packaged tours. Tickets for future trips to Israel dropped by 187% between Oct. 7 and Oct. 19 compared to the same period last year, the data showed. "Such a drastic reduction in travel demand is entirely anticipated, given the scale of the conflict and the ongoing humanitarian crisis," Ponti added.<br/>
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IATA DG Willie Walsh is urging other regions not to repeat what he calls the mistakes policy-makers in Europe have made in tackling aviation’s impact on environment. Speaking during the ALTA AGM and Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun on 23 October, Walsh said that policies should be based on “science, facts and data” rather than ”on emotion”. ”I think in Europe the debate is driven by what appears to be popular politically, rather than what is right for the environment longer term,” he says. ”I just hope that other regions look at mistakes Europe is making – and I think they are making a lot of mistakes – and recognise some of these decisions would be completely wrong for their region. So I’m hoping we have a more informed debate.” While referencing moves to cut capacity at airports – IATA and airlines are challenging a Dutch move to reduce movements at Amsterdam Schiphol airport – and environmental taxes, Walsh reserves much of his ire for the French ban on short-haul flights. He believes this policy, which has prompted the outlawing of just a handful of domestic routes out of Paris Orly, does not address the key challenge. ”It is seen as politically very popular. And the reality of that is the environmental benefit of that decision of France is zero,” Walsh says. Citing data from a Eurocontrol report, he adds: ”If you look at short-haul flying in Europe – and I think this will typically apply to other parts of the world – if you were to stop all flying of less than 500km, you would reduce the number of flights by 24%, but you would reduce the CO2 from the industry by 3.8%. ”Politically, stopping short-haul flying looks very popular, but it’s not addressing the environmental issue – because the environmental challenge we face is from long-haul flying. 80% of CO2 produced by the industry comes from flights greater than 1,500km where there is no alternative means of transport.”<br/>
French airport group ADP reported forecast-beating 9-months revenue on Wednesday as traffic returned close to pre-pandemic levels but a senior executive said he did not expect a full recovery in Chinese traffic in 2024. J.P. Morgan analysts say the French company is best-positioned to benefit from the return of Chinese travellers in 2024 with final travel restrictions lifted. During Q3, Chinese traffic at Paris airports was at 37.3% of 2019 levels. Philippe Pascal, ADP deputy executive officer for finance, strategy and administration, said on a call he did not expect full recovery in traffic from China in 2024 due to "massive disruptions" in the Chinese tourism industry and inflation. ADP generated E4.12b in the nine months to September, against an average analyst estimate of E4.07b in a company-compiled consensus. Traffic at group level returned to 97.9% of 2019 levels, before COVID-19-related travel restrictions, over the last nine months, and 91.4% of pre-pandemic levels for the group's Paris-region airports. ADP expects group traffic to reach 95 to 105% of 2019 levels for the full-year. The ACI Europe body, which represents the region's airports, says it expects full passenger traffic recovery in 2024. ADP, which operates Paris' two main airports, has faced a series of headwinds this year including strike-induced flight cancellations and a government plan for a transport sector tax in 2024.<br/>
India's GMR Airports and its affiliates will buy an additional 11% stake in GMR Hyderabad International Airport from Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad's unit, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. GMR Aiports holds a 63% stake in GMR Hyderabad International Airport. The acquisition will raise its stake to 74%. Airports Authority of India and the government of Telangana state each holds 13% stake in GHIAL. GMR Airport entered into a share purchase agreement with Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad and its unit MAHB (Mauritius). The deal is likely to be completed within a maximum of 135 days from the date of execution of the agreement. The acquisition would be for a negotiated aggregate consideration of $100m, the company added.<br/>
Slower recovery in international markets and lower demand in domestic air travel are hindering the recovery of Vietnam’s airline industry, say industry insiders and policymakers. “Economic downturn, inflation and exchange rate fluctuation are all contributing factors to consumers’ tightening spending, which has resulted in lower demand in key markets including Japan, South Korea and China,” said Dinh Viet Thang, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). According to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in the first nine months of 2023, air travel between Vietnam and Japan, and Vietnam and South Korea, had only recovered to 80% of pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, economic slowdown and visa policies have also been significantly hindering the recovery of the Chinese market at just 17% of pre-pandemic levels. This had a much bigger-than-expected impact on Vietnam’s airline industry as China has become one of the largest tourism markets in recent years. In addition, according to a report by domestic airlines, the first three quarters of 2023 saw a drop in revenue generated from chartered flights to just under 10% of the same period in 2019.<br/>
Ireland's offshore wind power plans could see it produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from around 2030 but "significant progress" is needed to develop SAF at scale, a study showed on Wednesday. Securing enough SAF supply is the aviation industry's biggest challenge in its push for net-zero emissions, as traditional jet fuel is a major polluter and sustainable alternatives remain costly and in scarce supply. The feasibility study carried out by SAF producer SkyNRG and the SFS Ireland research group found Ireland's main opportunity lies in synthetic e-fuels or eSAFs, which are made with captured carbon and green hydrogen and currently produced in even lower quantities than other alternative fuels. Neither feedstock is available in Ireland right now but the recent awarding of offshore wind project contracts with more than enough capacity to power every Irish home could produce enough green hydrogen "in principle" to fill the 10 SAF plants required to meet Ireland's share of EU mandated SAF volumes. "With the potential for offshore wind in Ireland and the ability to have that abundantly available, there is an opportunity to use that pathway to produce SAF," SkyNRG's head of future fuels Oskar Meijerink told Reuters. "But to get there we still need quite a bit of development in the country in terms of policy incentives and clear road maps." Meijerink said captured carbon would not be in as plentiful supply, meaning Ireland would have to import the feedstock if it wanted to become a SAF exporter.<br/>
Boeing said Wednesday it will deliver fewer 737 Max aircraft than it previously expected this year as it works through production flaws detected on the fuselages of some of the bestselling aircraft. The company expects to hand over between 375 and 400 of its workhorse plane this year, down from a previous estimate of 400 to 450, which Boeing’s CFO reaffirmed during a conference last month. It marks a headwind for Boeing and for airline customers eager to receive new, more fuel-efficient jetliners. Boeing maintained its expectations for 2023 free cash flow of $3b to $5b, despite the production problems. The company’s shares fell 2.5% on Wednesday to $177.73. “I have heard those outside our company wondering if we’ve lost a step. I view it as quite the opposite,” CEO Dave Calhoun said in an employee note Wednesday, as the company reported Q3 results. “Most importantly, we’ve worked hard to instill a culture of speaking up and transparently bringing forward any issue, no matter the size, so we can get things right for the future.” He said the company now can fix those issues “once and for all.” The 737 problems stem from misdrilled holes in the fuselages, which are produced by Spirit AeroSystems, which replaced its CEO earlier this month. Boeing and Spirit reached a new pricing agreement in October aimed at shoring up the key supplier. Boeing has been working to increase output of new planes to meet demand for a recovery in air travel after the Covid pandemic. Budget carrier Ryanair, for one, recently cut its winter schedule, blaming delivery delays from Boeing. Sales in the manufacturer’s commercial aircraft unit rose 25% to $7.88b from Q3 2022, boosted by deliveries of wide-body 787 Dreamliner planes, though lower 737 deliveries and abnormal production costs led to a negative operating margin of 8.6%. Boeing said it plans to ramp up output of the 737 to 38 planes per month by year’s end and said it is transitioning to Dreamliner production of five per month. It reaffirmed its estimate to hand over 70 to 80 Dreamliners this year.<br/>
FedEx Corp on Wednesday said its US Express deliveries could be delayed due to an overnight FAA information technology system outage that the regulatory agency said has been resolved. FedEx's signature Express service uses planes to provide overnight deliveries. The company said shipments delayed due to the outage are not eligible for a refund or credit. "Potential delays are possible for package deliveries across the U.S. with a delivery commitment of October 25, 2023," FedEx said in a service alert. In an email to Reuters, FedEx said the IT outage at its Memphis, Tennessee, air hub was an "FAA issue." FAA told Reuters that departures were stopped briefly on Tuesday night due to an equipment issue that occurred during a scheduled software update. It added that operations in Memphis-area air traffic facilities have returned to normal. FedEx competitor United Parcel Service, whose air hub is located in Louisville, Kentucky, told Reuters that its flights "have been operating as expected with nothing to report regarding delays."<br/>