Chinese passenger airlines will be allowed to boost their weekly round-trip US flights to 50 starting on March 31, up from the current 35, the USDOT said on Monday, returning the market to about one-third of pre-pandemic levels. The approval “is a significant step forward in further normalization of the U.S.-China market in anticipation of the Summer 2024 traffic season,” the USDOT said. More than 150 weekly round-trip passenger flights were allowed by each side before restrictions were imposed in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but until August 2023, Chinese and US carriers could each fly only 12 a week between the two countries. The number rose on Sept. 1 to 18 weekly round-trips and then to 24 per week starting Oct. 29. The USDOT approved 35 for Chinese carriers in November. A group representing major US airlines did not immediately comment. Reuters reported last June that newly approved Chinese flights to the United States were not overflying Russia, which would have given them a shorter flight time and fuel advantage over US rivals blocked from Russian airspace. The USDOT said it was engaged in a productive dialogue with China’s aviation regulator towards the “implementation of a roadmap to provide for a gradual, broader reopening of the U.S.-China air services market and a phased and predictable return to the capacity entitlements” specified under a US-China agreement. On a trip to China last year, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she wanted to boost travel and tourism between the two countries. If China returned to 2019 US tourism levels, it would add $30b to the US economy and 50,000 US jobs, Raimondo said in August. China last month simplified visa applications for tourists from the United States, cutting the number of documents required. The move was the latest by China to revive tourism and boost the world’s second-largest economy following a slump during the pandemic.<br/>
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Airline lobby group IATA met with Brazilian government officials this week to discuss the high costs faced by carriers in the country, which they say have hindered President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's efforts to bring down airfares.<br/>Demand for air travel in Latin America's largest economy has been strong, but airlines complain about operating costs, such as high kerosene prices and excessive litigation, while struggling to increase capacity and deal with supply chain issues. The government has been keen to find ways to make airfares more affordable as ticket prices hit Brazil's main consumer inflation index. Measures so far have included credit lines to fund engine maintenance plans, and the government has previously said it was working to structure a fund of up to 6b reais ($1.21b) to help finance carriers. "We need this government to assist the industry," IATA's regional vice president for the Americas, Peter Cerda, told Reuters before meeting Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and other cabinet ministers. "It is critical," he said, noting that carriers in the United States and Europe have received government support. Brazil's main airlines have struggled financially in recent years following the COVID pandemic crisis. LATAM Airlines exited bankruptcy in 2022, while Gol filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. last month. Azul restructured its debt in 2023. IATA had previously urged Brazil's government and oil firm Petrobras to tweak the way jet fuel is priced in the country to bring down costs, but the state-run oil company has resisted the proposal.<br/>
A new report from Alton Aviation Consultancy suggests that 2024 will see the fortunes of Asia-Pacific airlines continue to improve, albeit with challenging headwinds. The report observes that the industry’s emergence from the coronavirus pandemic in 2023 was mixed. While domestic seat capacity surpassed 2019 levels, international capacity was 31% lower. Of major markets, only India saw both domestic and international capacity rise above 2019 levels. China’s performance was far more lopsided, with domestic capacity 13% higher than in 2019, but international capacity 49% lower - this hit Japan particularly hard. Indonesia’s recovery was also slower than in other regions. “The slower-than-expected Chinese travel rebound has forced Japanese airlines and other carriers in the region to pivot to other markets including Hong Kong and Europe,” says Alton. Still, visa-free agreements between China and countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore could see a rebound in Chinese international travellers to Southeast Asia. Alton suggests that these measures could boost tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia, requiring the region’s airlines and airports to scale up capacity. While Alton believes 2024 will see improved airline profitability in the region, it lists several factors that will hurt growth. Risks include higher fuel prices stemming from geopolitical conflicts, elevated lending rates, and the strength of the US dollar. “The US Dollar is the transactional currency for many major cost items like maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) and spare parts, jet fuel, and aircraft financing,” says Alton. “Revenues, on the other hand, are largely denominated in local currencies, resulting in airlines facing tighter operating margins due to currency translation effect.”<br/>
Christchurch Airport has released a half-year result which will deliver to the city a higher interim dividend than forecast, from a total operating revenue of NZ$115.5m for the six months to 31 December 2023. Chair of Christchurch International Airport Limited (CIAL) Sarah Ottrey says strong visitor numbers, coupled with the strength of the airport’s commercial tenant portfolio, means the airport can give the city a higher than forecast interim dividend of NZ$19m. She says Christchurch Airport continues to deliver for the city in these challenging economic times through growing dividend returns and the doubling of its value over the past 10 years. ”The return of the airport’s international airlines plus the addition of United Airlines brought hundreds of thousands of visitors, and resulting economic benefit, to the city over summer,” she says. “Our airline partners have shown great confidence in Christchurch, as does United Airlines starting the first direct service between our city and San Francisco. The airline services are a direct result of passengers wanting to come here and it is clear Christchurch as a city is more attractive than ever to visitors.”<br/>
Boeing’s safety culture remains flawed, despite improvements made after two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max 8 jet in 2018 and 2019, a FAA report released on Monday found. The report, written by a group of experts convened a year ago at Congress’s behest, found that there was a “disconnect” between senior management and other employees at Boeing, which makes commercial airplanes as well military aircraft and technology. The company, the panel found, has at times been “inadequate and confusing” in the way it has administered its safety culture. In a statement, the F.A.A. said it would “immediately begin a thorough review of the report” and take action on its recommendations as appropriate. “We will continue to hold Boeing to the highest standard of safety and will work to ensure the company comprehensively addresses these recommendations,” the agency said. Boeing said in a statement that it supported the panel’s work and acknowledged that, while it had taken “important steps” to improve its safety culture, “there is more work to do.” Since 2019, the company has made changes to emphasize safety, from its board of directors on down. New concerns about the company’s safety culture emerged last month after a panel blew open on a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane during an Alaska Airlines flight. The F.A.A. report does not refer to that incident, but the National Transportation Safety Board has said the panel, known as a door plug, on the Alaska plane may have left Boeing’s factory without critical bolts to hold it in place. After the incident, Boeing management has encouraged employees to share concerns about safety. “Our people on the factory floor know what we must do to improve better than anyone,” Boeing’s CE, David Calhoun, said in a message to employees on Jan. 31. “We should all seek their feedback, understand how to help and always encourage any team member who raises issues that need to be addressed. We will go slow, we will not rush the system, and we will take our time to do it right.”<br/>
Chinese state-owned planemaker COMAC will conduct flying displays of its C919 and ARJ21 jets in five Southeast Asian countries, it said on Tuesday, as it looks to lay the groundwork for future international sales. Over the next two weeks, the C919 and ARJ21 jets will conduct showcase flights in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia, the Shanghai-headquartered aircraft manufacturer said in a statement. It follows the arrival of the C919 passenger jet in Vietnam to participate in an air show there on Monday, after the Singapore Airshow concluded on Sunday. The two planes were showcased at the Singapore Airshow last week, marking the first display outside Chinese territory of the C919 jet, a narrow-body plane touted as a competitor to Boeing's 737 MAX and Airbus' A320neo. The ARJ21 regional jet is its smaller predecessor that mainly flies in China but also is operated by an Indonesian airline. The jet with 78 to 97 seats will take off from Van Don International Airport in northern Vietnam on Tuesday afternoon to conduct a demonstration flight, according to COMAC. "The primary purpose of these flights is to ... showcase the aircrafts' good performance and lay the groundwork for future market expansion in Southeast Asia," the company added. China has said it wants to secure broader international recognition for the C919 this year including pursuing European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification. The jet has so far gained more than 1,000 orders, but mostly from Chinese airlines and aircraft lessors.<br/>
Among displays of defense jets, passenger airliners and high-tech aviation equipment at the Singapore Airshow were electric air transport vehicles — touted as the future of urban transportation. Electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles, or eVTOLs, which can land and take off vertically can be used as air taxis, for cargo delivery, medical and emergency response transportation and as private vehicles. CNBC spoke to three of the biggest names backing eVTOLs at the airshow — Hyundai Motor Group-owned Supernal, Boeing-backed Wisk and Embraer-owned Eve Air Mobility, which seek to commercialize their vehicles by the end of this decade. They highlighted air taxi services for short-distance travel over cities as one of the first potential uses of eVTOLs. “So it’s just going to be another way to travel instead of just going from the airport to downtown and you get stuck in your car for two hours ... well, they’ll have an alternative that could be fully electrical,” said Johann Bordais, CEO of Eve Air Mobility. Eve is currently testing an air taxi prototype and aims to bring its concept to service by 2026. “We can use similar infrastructure that helicopter operators currently have,” Supernal’s CEO Jaiwon Shin said, noting that while the operations may start in urban areas, they will gradually spread to routes serving satellite cities as well. “We are open to all possible use cases because there is no existing market out there,” Shin said. Supernal’s S-A2 eVTOL prototype, unveiled earlier this year, which is designed to carry four passengers and a pilot, aims to hit the market by 2028. Boeing-backed Wisk is currently working on its self-flying aircraft, with similar capabilities to that of Supernal. German eVTOL developer Lilium, backed by Tencent, announced at the Singapore Airshow that it has launched a customer service organization for eVTOL industry with offerings such as battery management, maintenance and flight support.<br/>