US airlines are projected to carry a record 167.1m passengers in March and April, up 6.2% over 2023 levels as travel continues to be robust after the COVID pandemic. Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others, projects daily travel will top 2.7m daily over the two-month period as flights grow by 4.1% and the number of seats per flight increases by 1.1% on average to 137. <br/>
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A U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday said it was stepping up its investigation into billions of dollars in annual airline fees for baggage, seat selection, ticket changes and other services, demanding airline responses by next month.<br/>Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, first wrote CEOs of American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines in November seeking answers. In new letters, Blumenthal said the limited responses to date from the air carriers "raise serious questions" about the willingness of carriers to cooperate. He demanded airlines provide outstanding information and records sought by April 2 or the committee will "consider alternate means to obtain information needed to conduct its inquiry." The airlines declined to comment or did not comment on the letter. Blumenthal noted that between 2018 and 2022, total revenue across major US airlines from baggage fees increased from $4.9b to $6.8b. He cited a report by a travel consultancy that found that eight leading US airlines in 2022 collected an estimated $4.2b in fees for seat selection. Last month, United, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways all hiked checked baggage fees for customers traveling in North America, the first time in four years.<br/>
Spanish airport operator Aena said on Tuesday the airlines in its network have scheduled nearly 8% more seats for this summer than last year, as a rebound in tourism continues since pandemic-related curbs ended. Airlines have planned 243m seats at Aena airports, including for both departures and arrivals, for the summer season from March 31 through Oct. 26, Aena said. European airlines have so far reported strong summer forward bookings, keeping a positive outlook for 2024 as they benefit from a continuing post-pandemic travel boom. Aena increased its seating schedule by more than 10% in the European market from the past summer, boosted by the UK, Germany and Italy. The Spanish market saw a rise of about 3%. Aena's passenger numbers are recovering more rapidly from the pandemic slump than those of other European operators. It expects to manage around 1m passengers each day at its airports by 2026.<br/>
Fraport expects passenger numbers at Frankfurt airport to increase to be between 61 and 65m this year, still leaving the Lufthansa hub airport some way short of the nearly 71m high it handled before the pandemic in 2019. Passenger traffic at the company’s flagship airport in Frankfurt rose to 59.4m, up 21% on 2022. While Fraport, which invests, owns and operates airports on five continents, says Frankfurt experienced the strongest recovery of all major German airports in 2023, it still left total passenger levels 16% lower than in 2019. “Traffic continued to develop dynamically throughout 2023,” Fraport CE Stefan Schulte said during a full-year earnings call on 19 March. “Fraport benefited from this trend particularly because of its broad international portfolio. Our airports in the Greek and Turkish markets even achieved new passenger records in 2023. Our home-base, Frankfurt airport, continued to experience the strongest recovery of all major German airports. However, with passenger levels at 84% of pre-crisis levels, Frankfurt still lagged clearly behind other European competitors.”<br/>
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects at least 1.5m tourists from North and South America this year, the same level recorded in 2019, with an increase in tourism receipts by combining the Easter holiday with the Songkran celebration in April. Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, TAT deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, said this year travel demand from the Americas has been robust. He said the trend should continue in April, which includes a portion of the Easter holiday, a popular travel period in the US. "As the Songkran celebration this year starts early [from April 1], it could attract foreign tourists to stay longer than usual during the Easter holiday to take part in the water festival or other cultural activities," said Siripakorn. Thailand has welcomed around 100,000 arrivals per month from the US since January. The TAT also proposed the government extend the eligible period of stay from 30 days for US nationals, as long-haul visitors have tended to stay longer post-pandemic.<br/>
A wheelchair user wrote to the Lawyers Council of Thailand, calling for legal action against an unnamed airline for not letting him board a flight to Chiang Rai. Krisana Lalai, chairman of the Civilisation Foundation for All People, called on the council on Monday (March 18) to take steps to prevent discrimination against people with disability or those whose mobility is impaired. He said that an airline flying out of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport had not let him board its 6.30am flight to Chiang Rai on February 1. He said he had to fly to Chiang Rai and then travel by car to Phayao to meet the provincial governor there. He said this was the first time ever he has faced this problem with an airline. “An official told me that the airline does not have a policy to take care of wheelchair users who cannot walk,” he said. He added that the airline staff refused to let him board the flight even though he assured them that he had five colleagues with him, who were ready to help him. Krisana said he was shocked by this behaviour, saying that discrimination against persons with disabilities should not take place in Thailand.<br/>
Australia is losing its appeal as a destination for international business events, and even high-profile rock stars, because of the carbon that’s emitted flying there, according to the head of the Tourism & Transport Forum Australia. Overseas businesses and conference companies have become more reluctant to let Australia host events because it’s a long-haul destination, Margy Osmond, the industry group’s CEO, said at a renewable aviation fuels event in Canberra on Tuesday. “Many businesses don’t want to take part in a conference that is going to damage their own carbon targets, nor do they want to send a whole lot of delegates to a conference that far away,” Osmond said. “So we are already seeing really significant impacts on our attractiveness as a business events destination.” The aviation industry is assessing the potential cost of inaction as it attempts to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Sustainable fuel, which can cut emissions by as much as 80%, is key to the plan but current supply is less than 1% of airlines’ global requirements. Business events currently inject around A$17b ($11b) into Australia’s tourism economy, Osmond said. Osmond also said visits from superstars like Taylor Swift, who performed in Melbourne and Sydney last month, will become rarer due to the carbon footprint of flying to Australia. “That will be an increasing trend,” she said. “It will change the map.” Osmond said she has lobbied the Australian government to spend at least A$300m over the next four years to kick-start a domestic sustainable fuels industry.<br/>
Boeing is looking at how Spirit AeroSystems could shed or sharply reduce its ties to Airbus, as the supply-chain giant's work for the European planemaker poses complications in rival Boeing's attempt to acquire its former subsidiary. The US planemaker is exploring offloading or redeploying specific Spirit businesses that supply key Airbus components if it reaches a deal, according to sources familiar with the matter. Boeing and Airbus are the world's only major commercial aircraft makers, and both are trying to solve quality problems and hold down costs as the former deals with a crisis caused by a mid-air cabin panel blowout on a 737 MAX 9 in January. While Boeing had previously weighed bringing Spirit back in to the fold, the Jan. 5 incident accelerated efforts as Boeing revisits the two-decade-old decision to separate a critical part of its manufacturing business to save money. Boeing is also fine-tuning a defensive strategy in case European regulators take issue with Airbus relying on its main rival for key components in its supply chain, some of which are custom-made using proprietary design and technology. The Airbus business generated a fifth of Spirit Aero's revenue in 2023, making it sizeable enough to factor in to a potential deal, though Boeing could complete a Spirit purchase without a sale of those businesses.<br/>
The head of the US FAA said Boeing must improve safety culture and address quality issues before the agency will allow the planemaker to boost 737 MAX production. The FAA in late January took the unprecedented step of telling Boeing it would not allow the company to expand 737 MAX production in the wake of a mid-air emergency on an Alaska Airlines jet earlier in the month. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that the agency has not begun discussions yet with Boeing about hiking 737 production, and said the agency will only permit an increase when Boeing is "running a quality system safely." Whitaker said he has the tools to hold Boeing "accountable and fully intend to use them." Boeing did not immediately comment. Whitaker said Boeing is allowed to produce 38 of the 737 planes per month, but actual current production "is lower than that"; he did not elaborate. Boeing's CFO, Brian West, said last month that the planemaker's first-half output of 737 planes would be less than 38 per month, but in the second half said he expected it would "move toward that 38 per month, but it will be dictated" by the FAA. The FAA's Whitaker said the timeline on when Boeing will be allowed to boost the 737 MAX production rate will depend on "how effectively they can implement these changes in the safety culture and bring their quality levels up to where they need to be."<br/>
Airbus takes no pleasure in the technical problems plaguing US rival Boeing as they damage the image of the entire aerospace industry, the CEO of the European planemaker said on Tuesday. "I am not happy with the problems of my competitor. They are not good for the industry a whole," Guillaume Faury told the "Europe 2024" conference in Berlin, when asked about technical problems at Boeing. "We are in an industry where quality and safety is top priority," he added.<br/>Boeing was rocked in January by a door plug blowout on one of its 737 MAX 9 jets during an Alaska Airlines flight. Earlier this month, Boeing also told airlines operating 787 Dreamliners to check flight deck switches after a sudden mid-air dive by a LATAM Airlines 787 plane left more than 50 people injured. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the same event in Berlin that Airbus was currently in better shape than Boeing.<br/>
There's a global energy crisis and onshore wind farms are a potential growth option. Larger wind turbines produce more power than standard ones, but the components are too big to be transported by road. What's the solution? A Colorado-based energy startup named Radia has an idea. It's developing the biggest aircraft in aviation history. Meet the WindRunner airplane, whose mission will be to deliver gigantic 300-foot-long blades directly to wind farms. To help the world meet its decarbonisation targets, it'll use sustainable aviation fuel and needs only a simple packed-dirt or gravel runway to land on. It'll operate from regional hubs, says Radia, delivering where needed - and "can land on airstrips as short as 1800m, something no other large commercial aircraft can achieve." When it comes to carrying the largest payloads ever moved by air, dainty just isn't going to cut it. So WindRunner will have a cargo bay volume of 272,000 cubic feet, enough to hold three Olympic swimming pools. That's 12 times the volume of a Boeing 747-400 and - at 356 feet in length, it's 127 feet longer too. As for the wingspan, that's 261 feet - imagine four bowling lanes laid end to end. It will also dwarf the Antonov An-225, the heaviest aircraft ever built, which was destroyed at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The aircraft's scale might be groundbreaking, but the engineering is not - and that's by design. Radia says it's focusing "on existing technology and safety by using, where applicable, tried-and-true aviation materials, components and fabrication techniques that have FAA [US Federal Aviation Administration] approval, are already in mass production and are lowest-risk."<br/>