general

Austria may be willing to relax its veto on expanding the European Union’s passport-control-free Schengen zone to Romania and Bulgaria, proposing access for air travel to and from the two countries. The government in Vienna had been the main impediment to an expansion as Chancellor Karl Nehammer puts immigration at the top of his policy agenda ahead of elections next year. His position has drawn criticism at home and abroad. The plan — which would need the approval of all EU member states — foresees continued strict border controls for road traffic, the Austrian Interior Ministry said in an emailed statement. Looser rules for air traffic would be conditional on the two eastern European nations accepting extradited asylum seekers, as well as the EU tripling funds allocated to controlling immigration. Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu welcomed what he called a “breakthrough” as a sign of flexibility from Austria, and mandated his interior minister to complete negotiations on the matter, according to a post on Facebook. “Austria’s position is a step in the right direction, but Bulgaria won’t accept additional conditions,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov told reporters. Interior ministers from the so-called Salzburg Forum of central and eastern European nations will discuss the plan at a meeting next week in Slovenia. The EU approved Croatia’s entry into the Schengen area last year, but similar efforts for Romania and Bulgaria have stalled on opposition from Austria and the Netherlands. Austria says it won’t support the expansion of what it calls a broken border policy, and has called out its eastern neighbors for failing to register tens of thousands of immigrants illegally crossing their borders. The political stance comes as surveys show Nehammer’s People’s Party trailing the far-right Freedom Party by about ten percentage points ahead of elections expected in the second half of 2024. While full Schengen access for Romania and Bulgaria would deepen economic ties with other EU member states, it wouldn’t automatically mean frictionless travel. Since a first major wave of immigration in 2015, and during the coronavirus pandemic, Schengen member states, including Austria and Germany, have regularly installed temporary border controls within the bloc.<br/>

Heathrow airport is exploring options for a new expansion plan that would prioritise smaller improvements before construction of a controversial third runway is considered. CE Thomas Woldbye, who joined in October, has launched an internal review into the airport’s options to increase its capacity, according to people familiar with the matter. The review by the UK’s largest airport is still in its early stages and no decisions have yet been made, the people added. One option under consideration is a new plan to initially focus on easier and cheaper improvements within the airport boundary before potentially moving to a third runway. The review comes against a backdrop of concern over the feasibility of major expansion. The airport is assessing the shape of post-Covid demand for travel as well as the political and regulatory environment, the people said, noting that construction and financing costs had risen sharply. Heathrow is also on the cusp of a change in ownership, after long-term owners Ferrovial agreed a deal last week to sell its 25% stake to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and French private equity group Ardian. It has been attempting to expand its operations for the past two decades and appeared to be on the verge of applying for planning permission to build a third runway before the pandemic hit. The government had backed proposals to increase London’s airport capacity through a new runway at Heathrow. In 2019 the airport set out plans for a GBP14b project, including demolishing local houses and moving the M25 motorway into a tunnel to build a new airstrip to the north-west of the current airfield. Under the 2019 plan, the third runway would have been built first followed by extensions and upgrades to terminals and the airfield. It aimed to eventually raise passenger numbers to 142m a year compared with 81mn in 2019. But some of the airport’s shareholders are increasing sceptical that a third runway is possible in the near future. Heathrow runs under an annual cap of 480,000 flights per year, and its two runways operate at close to maximum capacity.<br/>

As Heathrow prepares for its rush of Christmas travellers, Europe’s busiest airport is embarking on a big shake-up of its ownership as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and private equity firm Ardian take control of a chunk of the business. At the end of last month, Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial announced it would sell its remaining 25% stake in Heathrow to Saudi Arabia’s PIF and French buyout group Ardian for GBP2.4b. But the deal has also raised the prospect that the two new shareholders could increase their stakes further. As part of the terms of Heathrow’s ownership structure, the other shareholders, including Canadian and Australian pension funds, the Qatar Investment Authority and the China Investment Corporation, have the right to sell their stakes to the PIF and Ardian at the same price. The price Ferrovial achieved — which valued the airport’s equity at GBP9.5b, with an enterprise value of just under GBP26b — was seen as “very attractive” by some of the other shareholders and at least one of them would consider selling, according to a person familiar with their thinking. But the person added there was no guarantee that the PIF or Ardian would agree to up their stakes. The two new investors are focused on the current deal — which will require approval from UK competition authorities — and there have been no talks with other shareholders yet, according to another person familiar with the deal. The PIF, which has more than $700bn of assets, is focused on generating a return from the 10% stake it is buying, according to a person familiar with the fund’s decision. But at the same time, Saudi Arabia is making a concerted push into aviation and tourism to try to reduce its reliance on oil revenues. The PIF is planning, for example, to launch a new airline Riyadh Air, with a goal to fly to 100 destinations by 2030. A new six runway airport is also in the works and Saudi Arabia wants to attract 100mn visitors a year by the end of the decade. Its Heathrow stake would give it a measure of influence over one of the world’s biggest airports.<br/>

Passengers have faced hours of delays at Gatwick airport after an air traffic control outage grounded dozens of flights. A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “There was an outage to a local NATS system earlier this morning which has now been rectified. No cancellations have resulted from this, but some passengers may experience delays. We apologise for any inconvenience.” Several passengers took to social media to share their frustration, with many reporting being stuck on the runway for over an hour. No planes were allowed to depart while the airport attempted to reset the system, while other aircraft was sent back to their stands. The airport said the air traffic control outage had since been fixed, but apologised for ongoing delays. Dozens of departures and arrivals appeared to be affected, with football fans travelling to Premier League matches among those experiencing issues. Danny Bellringer, 45, was travelling from Dublin with fellow Brighton fans for the game against Burnley when the group was told their Aer Lingus flight would be delayed by at least two hours. The oil rig worker said: “There’s not a huge amount we can do – we’re kind of used to it when travelling over from Ireland to the UK for games, (it) very rarely goes completely smoothly.” Padraic Mac Aonghusa, 24, said fellow passengers on his Ryanair flight from Dublin were “angry” when the pilot announced there would be a delay due to the issues at Gatwick. Mac Aonghusa, who works in finance in Ireland, was travelling for the game between Crystal Palace and Liverpool and was delayed for an hour and 15 minutes. It is believed that delays could be ongoing throughout the day.<br/>

A deal over the post-Brexit status of the British territory of Gibraltar depends on agreement over use of the airport, Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said in an interview published on Sunday. The status of Gibraltar and how to police the border with Spain have been points of contention since Britain voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. The UK, Spain and the EU are due to hold further talks on the matter on Wednesday. Albares said that Spain has presented the UK with a proposal that includes free movement of people and goods, the removal of the physical border between Gibraltar and Spain and use of the airport. "It is up to the United Kingdom to decide whether it wants this or the simple application of European legislation," Albares told Spain's El Pais newspaper. "To me it seems like progress that flights can come from Spanish airports and other European countries, promoting tourism and relations. The airport has to be in the agreement." Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment on Sunday. Gibraltar, an enclave at the southern tip of Spain, has been under British rule since the 18th century but was excluded from the Brexit deal reached between Britain and the EU. Spain, Britain and the European Union agreed on Dec. 31, 2020, hours before Britain's full exit from the bloc, that Gibraltar would remain part of EU agreements, such as the Schengen Area, and Spain would police the port and the airport, pending a lasting solution. Spain ceded the outpost, famed for its towering rock, to Britain in 1713 but has long called for its return. <br/>

Iran’s government is set to enter discussions for establishing air services to Saudi Arabian destinations, according to Iranian civil aviation authority chief Mohammad Mohammadi Bakhsh. He told the Iranian Labour News Agency that discussions would centre on scheduled services – notably on the Tehran-Riyadh trunk route – as well as pilgrimage flights, in order to expand air transport co-operation. Air services would mark a step towards improved relations between the two Middle Eastern states whose geopolitical relations have been strained. Saudi Arabia took part in the 2017 blockade of Iranian ally Qatar, which included a ban on Qatar Airways access. Riyadh hosted an ICAO air services negotiation event – ICAN 2023 – over the first week of December, in which an Iranian delegation participated. Bakhsh, who is also a senior figure in the Iranian roads and urban development ministry, says there are “no restrictions” regarding the launch of direct flights to Riyadh, and potentially between other city pairs in the two countries. He told ILNA that a specialised working group will be set up to conduct talks, and address the various aspects, and will begin its tasks within a few days.<br/>

Global travel demand to and from mainland China is recovering at a “strong” pace, an international airline association head has said, but analysts have warned that the country’s economic slowdown and geopolitical tensions could hinder a return to pre-pandemic levels next year. IATA) director general Willie Walsh also told the Post the trade lobby had predicted that the mainland’s international travel demand would recover next year. “The pace of recovery since the market reopened earlier this year has been quite strong, so I think that is the reason we are optimistic about it going forward,” he said last week while on the sidelines of a media event at the association’s headquarters in Geneva. According to the association, international travel demand to and from the mainland remained 40% below pre-pandemic levels. The mainland accounted for 9% of all international air passenger demand before the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, it said. Figures from consultant McKinsey showed mainland travellers made more than 150m international trips in 2019, spending about US$1t. International travel to and from the mainland ground to a halt for about three years under Beijing’s stringent coronavirus curbs, before authorities lifted restrictions in January and resumed issuing tourist visas from March. The revival of the mainland’s international flight capacity from unprecedented lows is is taking time.<br/>

China's aviation regulator's deputy head on Friday told a Boeing executive in Beijing the airplane maker was welcome to deepen its development in the Chinese market. Boeing was welcome to continue to strengthen exchanges and co-operation with the regulator and the aviation industry in China, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) quoted Hu Zhenjiang as saying in meeting with Mike Fleming, Boeing's senior vice president for development programs and customer support. The meeting comes as China was reportedly considering resuming purchases of its bestselling 737 Max aircraft to Chinese airlines more than four years after they were halted following two deadly crashes. Hu said that China's civil aviation and Boeing have experienced 50 years of "friendly exchanges and cooperation", and the two sides have established a "close" working relationship in a range of fields. "In the future, China's air transport market has broad prospects for development, and the size of China's civil aviation fleet will continue to grow rapidly," he said. Fleming told Hu that Boeing attached great importance to the Chinese market, and remains optimistic about the company's future development, according to the CAAC statement. Boeing is willing to "actively deepen cooperation with China, work together to promote the development of the aviation industry, and continue to provide better products for the benefit of the people of China, the United States and the world," Fleming said. China and the US have been pushing for a further substantial increase of flights between them, as their relations showed signs of thawing after months of tensions.<br/>

It will be unwelcome news to those who already dread the weary trudge from queue to queue that defines the experience at many airports, but the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association for the world’s airlines, has forecast that air passenger numbers around the world will double by 2040. So it seems likely that our current plod through check-in, security, boarding gate and eventually immigration will come to appear speedy in hindsight, as queues lengthen and progress slows to an ooze. Unless, perhaps, technology comes to the rescue. Many pundits predict the rather obvious application of existing web-based booking processes to various airport procedures. At some airports in the United States, for instance, it is already possible to book a time slot for passing through security. Others predict the widespread adoption of new technologies already under trial, such as the addition of artificial intelligence (AI) to carry-on baggage scanning, speeding up the process while making it more accurate. But some descriptions of the future of airports, in which they become fun palaces offering endless entertainment, where we will be pleased to pass the time serviced by robots capable of answering any question in any language, and of whipping up a latte or a Negroni on the spot, seem as utopian as 1989’s Back to the Future II.<br/>