general

Never before have airlines placed such outsize orders as they did this year, breaking one record after another. Indian airlines alone made close to 1,000 purchases, but the action was spread across the industry. From Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings Plc to newcomer Riyadh Air and stalwarts like United Airlines Holdings Inc., buyers from around the globe raced to get their hands on as many planes as they could before delivery slots run out. There’s more to come. The Dubai Air Show kicks off next week, promising to send 2023 off with a flurry of orders for Airbus SE and Boeing Co. The planemaking duopoly has already racked up commitments that stand at the highest since 2014 as they head into the biennial event, where some of aviation’s biggest deals have been signed in the past. Local champion Emirates is set to make the biggest splash, with President Tim Clark saying he’s in the market for more widebody jets. Back in June, Clark said he’d order as many as 100 to 150 aircraft, looking at both Airbus and Boeing’s largest models. Joining the action will likely be Riyadh Air, the new Saudi airline building a fleet from scratch. The company, run by former Etihad Airways CEO Tony Douglas, is putting the final touches on what it called a “sizable” order involving narrowbody planes, after previously buying 787 Dreamliners from Boeing for its long-distance routes. Riyadh Air is likely to order Boeing’s 737 Max, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because talks are ongoing and haven’t been finalized. In an interview this week, Douglas declined to identify the winner. Other carriers from the region are also in the market for new aircraft. Turkish Airlines has said that it wants to almost double its fleet to 800 aircraft within a decade, while Etihad recently moved into a new, larger terminal at Abu Dhabi’s airport, a good hour’s drive north of Dubai — showing how the airline is back on an expansion course after years of scaling back.<br/>

An increase in serious near-miss aviation incidents is a "clear warning sign that the US aviation system is sharply strained," National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy will tell a US Senate panel on Thursday. Homendy, who will testify at a Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee hearing with the Federal Aviation Administration and aviation unions, will tell senators in testimony seen by Reuters that the aviation system has a lack of sufficient technology to prevent runway incursions. The hearing comes as Congress, airlines and regulators grapple with an increase in serious aviation close calls and look for ways to reduce them. "We cannot ignore or avoid the warning signs of strain from all these recent events," Homendy's written testimony says calling for "more technology for runway and cockpit alerting... We cannot wait until a fatal accident forces action." FAA official Tim Arel will say even though overall runway incursions have fallen slightly "we recognize that any number is an unacceptable safety risk." The NTSB has opened seven investigations into near-miss incidents since January, including some potentially catastrophic. Air Line Pilots Association President Jason Ambrosi will tell senators it "is clear the system is under strain, and we need to aggressively pursue solutions to stop these events." A government watchdog report said air traffic facilities face significant staffing challenges, posing risks.<br/>

Air travel is getting worse, judging from the number of consumer complaints. Consumer complaints about airlines nearly doubled in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year and kept soaring in April and May, the US Transportation Department said Wednesday. Those are the latest figures from the government. The Transportation Department said information about complaints has been delayed because there are so many of them to process. The department said it received 24,965 complaints about airline service in the first three months of the year, up 88% from the first quarter of 2022. Consumers filed another 6,712 complaints in April, up 32% from a year earlier, and 6,465 in May, an increase of 49%. The Transportation Department said that disability-related complaints, such as delaying or damaging wheelchairs, are also up from last year. There were 636 such complaints in Q1, nearly double the 380 filed during the same period of 2022. The agency says it investigates each of those disability complaints. The department is investigating "several domestic airlines" for possibly offering flight schedules that they are unlikely to be able to perform, it said. Southwest Airlines has publicly disclosed that it is being investigated after a service meltdown that led to nearly 17,000 cancelled flights last December. For all the thousands of complaints lodged with the government, it is likely that consumers file many more complaints directly with the airlines.<br/>

Direct passenger flights between China and the United States will rise to 70 flights per week from 48 previously, state broadcaster China Central Television quoted China’s civil aviation authority as saying on Thursday.<br/>

Some insurers are excluding Israel, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries from their event cancellation policies after the Israel-Hamas war resulted in some activities being pulled. European Aquatics last week called off the continental water polo championships, which was scheduled to take place in Israel in January, because of the ongoing conflict. "Insurers in the cancellation contingency space are beginning to err on the side of caution," said Edel Ryan, a senior executive at broker Marsh. Organisers of large events often buy cancellation insurance one to two years in advance. Such policies typically exclude war or terror attacks. Many organisers choose to buy that cover through an add-on political violence and terrorism policy. "Some (insurers) have stated that they will not be looking at writing new business in certain territories or are having very clear specific exclusions around those territories, particularly in the Middle East -- but of course Israel and Lebanon were quoted," Ryan said. Insurers cannot change policy wordings of existing policies, so any event organisers who bought political violence cover and cancelled after the conflict started on Oct 7 should be covered. But new policies are likely to exclude Israel, Lebanon and countries neighbouring Israel such as Egypt and Jordan, three sources told Reuters, standard practice after a war breaks out. Insurers are also considering restricting cover for event cancellations outside the region, the sources added.<br/>

Two new holiday routes are set to take off from Southampton Airport now it has a longer runway. EasyJet will start weekly flights to Spanish city, Alicante in March and Faro, southern Portugal in July. The airport has added a 164m (538ft) extension between its existing runway and its northern boundary fence. The airport's extended tarmac, completed in September, means larger planes, including the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 can use the airport. The airport faced local opposition concerned about the noise and disturbance caused by larger planes. Matt Hazelwood, CCO at AGS Airports, which owns Southampton Airport said: "We embarked on our recently completed runway extension project to ensure the future viability of the airport. Attracting more routes and services to Southampton is key to the airport's future success and I am pleased to see that our plans are beginning to bear fruit."<br/>

Airbus said it will significantly increase aircraft output next year as the European planemaker ramps up production across its model range to meet surging demand. The company didn’t provide a new target for output, while saying it’s confident of meeting its goal of 720 deliveries in 2023. The planemaker will increase production of its A350 widebody aircraft, adding to previously announced higher rates on its best-selling A321neo and smaller A220 models. “By definition, by nature, the 2024 output will be significantly higher than 2023, and we’ll be more specific at the beginning of next year,” CEO Guillaume Faury said on a call with reporters after the planemaker reported quarterly earnings. Planemakers are trying to strike a balance between customers buying planes in record numbers and suppliers struggling to keep up with the faster pace of production. Both Airbus and rival Boeing Co. have encountered roadblocks with manufacturing faults at some parts companies, making their ambitious output goals more challenging. The European company still has 161 deliveries to go in the final two months if it wants to meet its target. Airbus made the announcements as it reported third quarter earnings, with adjusted profit before interest and tax of E1.01b. That was short of the E1.17b in an analyst estimates, largely because of charges at the defense and space unit. Airbus said Wednesday that it plans to raise output on the A350 to 10 a month in 2026, after previously saying it would reach 9 by the end of 2025. The aircraft has been a major seller for the company this year, particularly the larger A350-1000 variant that can ply the longest routes, with Airbus approaching an unprecedented 100 individual orders for the plane. While the recovery in long-haul travel took more time after the pandemic than shorter routes, demand for trans-Atlantic flights and trips between Europe and Asia has surged in the last six months. More airlines are also ordering planes that can fly extended routes, in part because closed air spaces over Russia, Ukraine and certain sections of the Middle East have made detour journeys more common.<br/>

Airbus has formally emerged from a three-year probation period imposed after corruption investigations conducted by three national jurisdictions. The airframer reached a deferred-prosecution arrangement with US, French and UK authorities in 2020 as part of a E3.6b settlement of the inquiry into fraud allegations. This settlement included a E2.1b payment under the French agreement, nearly E1b to UK authorities, and a further payment of more than E500m to US regulators. The arrangement resulted in a conditional suspension of prosecution of the organisation for a fixed period. Airbus states, in its Q3 financial briefing, that it received notice in late October from the US State Department that a consent agreement “had been closed”, based on “fulfilment of its terms”. The deferred-prosecution agreements with the UK Serious Fraud Office, the French Parquet National Financier, and the US Department of Justice had also previously been discontinued. Airbus says the State Department notice concludes a three-year probation, adding that the airframer demonstrated to authorities its “commitment to compliance and integrity”.<br/>

Russia’s leading aircraft manufacturer says it’s completed a successful test flight of a new widebody passenger airplane that it claims could replace Western aircraft in the country’s skies. The United Aircraft Corporation said a prototype of its IL-96-400M long-haul airplane has taken off for the first time on a flight that lasted 26 minutes and reached altitudes of up to 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) and speeds of up to 390 kilometers per hour (242 mph), according to a news release posted by the company last week. UAC, which oversees Russian aviation brands including Tupolev, Ilyushin and Sukhoi, said the plane will be capable of carrying up to 370 passengers, a capacity that would put it alongside the likes of Airbus’ A340 or Boeing’s 777. It said the airplane marked a step up from the previous IL-96-300 aircraft, production of which reportedly halted more than a decade ago because it was unable to compete with Western models. “The first and successful flight of the modernized IL-96-400M is a demonstration of the highest level of competence of domestic aircraft manufacturers,” Russia’s deputy prime minister, Denis Manturov, said in the release. According to UAC, the IL-96-400M can be configured in up to three passenger classes and will be installed with a “modern infotainment system” offering internet, TV and satellite communications. It will also be equipped with a “modern” kitchen.<br/>

IATA has released data for global air cargo performance in September that shows that the industry enjoyed a continued moderate recovery in the month. Global demand, as measured in cargo tonne km, increased by 1.9% compared to September 2022 levels (and was up by 1.6% specifically for international operations). Capacity, as measured in available cargo tonne km, rose by 12.1% compared to September 2022 (and was up by 11.0% specifically for international operations). Growth was largely attributable to the increase in available international bellyhold capacity, which rose 31.5% year on year as airlines scaled up operations to meet peak-northern summer travel season demand, IATA said. There are concerns that should be noted, however, IATA said. One is the fact that global cross-border trade contracted for the fifth month in a row in August, falling by 3.8% year on year. This, IATA opined, reflected the cooling global macroeconomic environment. In September, the average price of jet fuel was $131 per barrel, representing a 43.1% increase from the May 2023 price. Recouping some of this added cost from surcharges in September contributed to the first increase in air cargo yields since November 2022. Willie Walsh, IATA’s DG, remarked: “Air cargo eked out modest growth (1.9%) in September despite falling trade volumes and high jet fuel prices. That clearly shows the strength of air cargo’s value proposition. With the key export order and manufacturing PMIs hovering near positive territory, we can be cautiously optimistic for a strong year-end peak season.”<br/>