The global aviation industry is relying on a massive ramp-up in production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) over the next three decades to meet its target of "net zero" carbon emissions by 2050. However many airlines lament the lack of supply on the market and the prohibitive price - SAF costs around three to five times more than traditional jet fuel. There is also concern about how to sustainably meet supplies as demand grows. A growing number of companies are making bulk purchases of SAF from producers, airlines and corporate travel agencies as they look to reduce carbon emissions to meet environmental targets and encourage mass production of cleaner fuels. Airlines like Virgin Atlantic are also trying to highlight the issue, with a 100% SAF-powered flight taking off from London's Heathrow airport on a flight to New York on Tuesday to underline the fuel's importance. Story has more background and details.<br/>
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Republican Senator John Thune said on Tuesday a deal is in the works to resolve a months-long standoff over pilot training requirements that has stalled a major aviation reform bill. The US House of Representatives in July voted to pass legislation to raise the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age to 67 from 65 and make other aviation reforms as part of a five-year reauthorization of the FAA. Thune said talks had produced an "acceptable deal" on the pilot training issue but it was not final. He said the agreement "deals with the pilot shortage, pilot supply issue and incorporates some of the best and greatest technology" for pilot training. The Senate bill has been held up by a dispute over whether to change pilot training requirements that were imposed after the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 near Buffalo that killed 50 people, the last major U.S. passenger airline fatal crash. The House bill initially would have allowed allow pilots to complete 150 hours of required training in a flight simulator, but that was rejected by lawmakers. Pilots currently can count 100 hours toward their required 1,500 training hours in a flight simulator. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said Tuesday she needed to review the language of the proposed agreement. "There was a breakthrough from that hearing that we had before we left... I am hopeful that we will be able to do something." She said it is possible the committee could take up the FAA bill next week.<br/>
The Mexican government said on Tuesday that a company controlled by the defense ministry officially takes over four local airports as part of a strategy that gives the military greater control of infrastructure. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has entrusted the military with several key infrastructure projects, including a passenger train and two airports. Documents published in the official gazette showed the transport ministry granted Grupogreate Aeropuertario Ferroviario Olmeca-Maya-Mexica rights for administration of airports in Palenque, Puebla, Puerto Escondido and Uruapan. The company is already in charge of seven other airports across the country.<br/>
A new airport currently under construction in Greenland’s capital Nuuk will welcome its first international flights a year from today, operator Kalaallit Airports has confirmed. The opening of Nuuk International Airport will take place in two stages: The terminal building will be operational from May 2024, with final completion and a formal opening slated for Nov. 28, 2024. “We are confident that the airport will be a gamechanger, not only for Nuuk but for the entire country,” Kalaallit Airports Managing Director Jens Lauridsen says. Kalaallit Airports, set up by the country’s government in 2016, is behind new airports in Nuuk and tourism center Ilulissat. The airports will be equipped with runways that are 2,200 m in length and 45 m wide, allowing for direct flights to and from North America and Europe. In addition, a new airport is being built in Qaqortoq, a town in southern Greenland set within a system of fjords. This work will include a new 1,500-m runway. Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen said the new airport in Nuuk would be transformative for the flag-carrier, but explained that readying for the arrival of the new infrastructure was proving to be its biggest challenge. “It is preparing for the new infrastructure, both geographically—as we need to change the hub—and physically, as we need to relocate people and equipment,” Sørensen said. “Additionally, it is getting ready with new equipment, processes, routines, procedures, products and schedules—essentially everything.”<br/>
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is taking a GBP1b stake in London’s Heathrow airport as the infrastructure group Ferrovial offloads shares in the UK travel hub it has owned for 17 years. Ferrovial, which shifted its head office from Madrid to Amsterdam this year, late on Tuesday said it was selling its 25% stake in the airport’s parent company for GBP2.4b. In the transaction, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will acquire 10% of the shares in the company and Ardian, one of Europe’s largest private equity groups, will purchase 15%. The deal marks the end of a chapter for Heathrow that began amid drama and controversy in 2006 when Ferrovial launched a successful hostile bid for BAA, the UK airports operator. More recently Ferrovial executives had privately grown frustrated at the regulatory landscape after Heathrow was forced to cut its landing charges by almost a fifth following a bitter dispute with its airline customers. The airport has remained lossmaking this year partly because of the higher cost of servicing its significant debt burden following rises in interest rates. Luke Bugeja, CE of Ferrovial Airports, said the company had helped to transform Heathrow, “overseeing an investment of £12bn, expanding its capacity with the construction of Terminal 2, and improving its operational performance”. The group’s initial Heathrow stake was 56% but it had reduced it to 25% by 2013.<br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said on Tuesday there was nothing unusual about airlines cancelling their flight slots during periods of low travel demand after a number of Chinese airlines decided to return their take-off and landing rights at the nation's main aviation gateways. CAAT director Suttipong Kongpool made the remark after a report found over 40% of flight slot cancellations across Thailand's airports were requested by Chinese airlines. He said airlines regularly do so to ensure profitability and that, so far, the requests were made in line with existing regulations. Under IATA regulations, airlines that wish to return their assigned slot at an airport must inform the relevant authorities at least seven days before the intended date. Airlines which fail to operate services while holding a flight slot may face fines or even be barred from flying to the destination airport. Suttipong said the airlines are returning their take-off and landing rights at Thai airports because the demand from Thailand's main tourism markets has yet to recover. China, as one of the largest contributors of foreign tourists to Thailand, is also experiencing sluggish economic growth, he said. There are 21,923 flight slots available between December and January 2024, 13,278 of which have been taken up by airlines, according to the CAAT.<br/>
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) recorded 10.17m passenger movement in October 2023, up 21.6% year-on-year, despite October being generally a low season month for travelling. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the airport operator said international and domestic passenger movements for its network of airports registered 5.1m and 5.0m passengers, an increase of 40.3% and 7.0%, respectively, over the same month last year. It said the October figures had reached more than 87% of the pre-pandemic levels for both international and domestic sectors. “Passenger movements in Malaysia continued to show steady traffic recovery in tandem with the gradual increase in airline seat capacity as airlines progressively overcome the shortage in fleets due to challenges in the supply chain, and maintenance, repair and overhaul (sector). “International airlines seat capacity offered in October 2023 increased by 3.3%, which was higher compared with the month before, bringing the international passenger movements to 3.4m, a growth of 3.6% over September 2023,” it said.<br/>
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recommended extending the bid submission deadline for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) until January next year. In a document obtained by reporters, the bank said the proposal is meant to give potential bidders more time to prepare and submit their bids, which it said would result in “more competition and a better financial outcome for the Philippine government.” “It would also provide concrete evidence of the government’s commitment to encourage new players, and foreign investment in Philippine public-private partnerships (PPP), without causing undue delay to NAIA’s modernization and the PPP program,” said ADB, the project’s transaction advisor. To date, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said NAIA’s rehabilitation had attracted eight potential bidders. The department initially set the deadline for bid submission on Dec. 27. It earlier said that it expects to announce the winning bidder by Q1 2024.<br/>
Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc backed away from electric powered aircraft, with plans to put a business making such engines up for sale and said conventional propulsion will remain the mainstay possibly for the two decades as hydrogen takes time to mature as an alternative. “I don’t believe in the next 15, 20 years hydrogen will play a role,” CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said on a media call on Tuesday. While the company is working on hydrogen technology with discount carrier EasyJet Plc, Erginbilgic said he believes sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, will be the sole pathway for large jets to achieve net zero climate targets. Erginbilgic, a former BP Plc executive, is looking to quadruple operating profit and generate higher cash flow over the medium term. The aviation industry has come under pressure to decarbonize and Airbus SE, the world’s biggest planemaker, is betting on hydrogen powered planes entering into service by 2035. In a separate statement adding on to the CEO’s comments, Rolls-Royce said it remains “committed to developing our hydrogen capability in partnership with EasyJet,” adding that it has “ambitions to take this technology to flight test in the long term.” Rolls-Royce said on Tuesday that it planned to dispose of its electrical business that develops propulsion systems for aircraft such as flying taxis. Erginbilgic said the company needed to make “choices on resource allocation” and that the unit would offer “better value to a third party.”<br/>
Airbus has shown off an A321neo for Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines, the first of the type to roll off the airframer’s new Toulouse production line. The aircraft (TC-RDK) is a CFM International Leap-1A-powered twinjet. “It is the first A321neo fully assembled from our Toulouse final assembly line,” the airframer states. Airbus formally inaugurated the line earlier this year. It was established in the former A380 assembly hall after the company discontinued production of the double-deck aircraft. The new line is intended to support the ramp-up of single-aisle output. Airbus is aiming to build 75 A320neo-family aircraft per month in 2026. There is particular focus on the A321neo, orders for which exceed 5,500. To reach the production target Airbus is expanding the number of A320neo-family assembly lines to 10 – comprising six in Europe, two in China, and two in the USA.<br/>