Global airlines on Monday raised their profit forecast for 2024 and projected industry wide revenues just shy of $1t as a record number of travellers board flights. The IATA said it expected the worldwide industry to generate $30.5b of profit this year, higher than an upwardly revised $27.4b in 2023 as carriers keep a lid on underlying labour costs despite recent strikes. That comes just four years after the industry collapsed to a $140b loss in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and is above the $25.7b forecast for 2024 issued in December. "The environment is better than we had expected, particularly in Asia," Director General Willie Walsh told Reuters on the sidelines of an annual meeting of IATA's more than 300 members, which account for more than 80% of global air traffic. However, the airline industry warned its ability to serve a strong rebound in travel demand is being hampered by disruption to global supply chains, including deliveries of its own fleets. Passenger yields - or the average amount paid by a passenger to fly one mile - are expected to strengthen by 3.2% compared with 2023, IATA said in a twice-yearly economic outlook. In part, that is because capacity growth is constrained, driving up average fares.<br/>
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Airlines are expressing a greater interest in IATA’s turbulence awareness program, a data collection system that helps pilots navigate tricky weather in real time, after last month’s Singapore Airlines Ltd. incident that left one dead and scores injured. Turbulence Aware was launched by IATA in 2018 to help airlines mitigate the impact of turbulence, the No. 1 cause of passenger and crew injuries in the air. The program currently has 21 airlines feeding data into the system and IATA has a goal of collecting turbulence reports from 150m flights by the end of 2024, Nick Careen, who leads the airline body’s work on safety, security and operations, said. “There are conversations with quite a few airlines. There’s been an increased interest,” Careen said. “More information and more data will definitely improve the situation.” Flight SQ321 was en route from London to Singapore on May 21 when it encountered severe turbulence as it entered Thai airspace. The giant Boeing Co. 777 jet made an emergency landing in Bangkok. One passenger died and many were hospitalized with serious head, neck and spinal injuries. As of Monday, 21 passengers who were on board are still receiving medical treatment at clinics in Bangkok, Singapore Air said in an update. Days later, a Qatar Airways flight struck severe turbulence over Turkey, injuring 12 people on board.<br/>
The head of the global airline body IATA said there was no need to reduce growth in global aviation in order to meet an industry target to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The IATA Director General Willie Walsh said the costs of the transition to net zero would have to be passed on to passengers. Delays in deliveries of new, more efficient aircraft to airlines were hindering decarbonisation plans and frustrating airlines, he added.<br/>
The United Nations should not change a convention on how global airlines are taxed, the IATA said on Monday, cautioning that doing so would add complexity and cost, and might cause routes to be scrapped. A UN committee on tax is considering taxing airlines in the countries where they generate revenue, rather than the current system, which taxes airlines where they are headquartered. Some countries proposed that change - to "source-based" rather than "exclusive residence-based" taxation - out of concern that developing countries do not sufficiently benefit from revenue created by air travel and shipping in their territories. "The proposals would be incredibly complex, would not necessarily lead to taxes in the developing countries that have been highlighted, because the complexity associated with the tax environment may well lead to airlines stopping services to those areas," IATA Director General Willie Walsh told an annual gathering of the industry body, which represents more than 80% of global air traffic. "For governments it would just mean collecting less from their national airlines and spending huge effort and money collecting taxes from foreign operators. Only the battalions of accountants needed to manage the reporting mess will be happy if the change is made," Walsh said. The UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters has been discussing potential changes to Article 8 of the United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries, most recently at a session in March.<br/>
A U.S. senator overseeing aviation issues on Monday urged the head of the Federal Aviation Administration to require transparency and accountability in Boeing's quality turnaround effort. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat who chairs a subcommittee on aviation, said "Boeing's safety and quality assurances will be meaningless without appropriate transparency and accountability." Boeing on Thursday submitted a comprehensive quality improvement plan after FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker in late February gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address "systemic quality-control issues." Whitaker spoke with Duckworth by phone Monday. He will be on Capitol Hill Tuesday to brief members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The FAA and Boeing did not immediately comment. "Regardless of how many planes Boeing builds, we need to see a strong and unwavering commitment to safety and quality that endures over time," Whitaker said last week. "This is about systemic change, and there's a lot of work to be done." Whitaker in February barred Boeing from boosting production of its best-selling plane after a door panel blew out during a Jan. 5 flight on a new 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines. He said last week he did not expect Boeing to win approval to increase production of the MAX "in the next few months" and has had no discussions with Boeing yet about the issue. Boeing disclosed six critical, safety-focused production areas it will address. Key performance measures include employee proficiency, the number of hours to address issues, including the total number of rework hours per airplane, and supplier shortages.<br/>
Brazil’s government has presented its aid plan for the airline industry to the three largest players in the country with an announcement expected in the second half of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. After setbacks and delays, talks with Azul SA, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA and Santiago-based Latam Airlines Group are progressing but sticking points remain, the people said on condition they not be named discussing private matters. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s team wants something back from the airlines in return for the rescue package. Some sort of compensation makes sense, Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron said in an interview, given the companies would receive a form of “structural aid” to alleviate their financial burdens. Azul’s top executive acknowledged progress is being made. “We are working with the government on possibilities. We will have some news on the agreement in two weeks,” CEO John Peter Rodgerson said Monday by phone, adding that there’s no scheduled date for a full announcement of the rescue plan. Lula, who campaigned on a pledge to restore prosperity in Brazil, wants to cut fares enough to allow the poor to fly regularly. In exchange for aid, it’s possible the government will demand more flight offerings. But that would run up against production delays on new aircraft and supply chain bottlenecks, according to Carolina Chimenti, an analyst at Moody’s Ratings. “It’s hard to picture a scenario where supply goes up significantly and fares go down” she said.<br/>
Nigeria's main labour unions on Monday shut down the national grid and disrupted flights across the country as they began an indefinite strike over the government's failure to agree a new minimum wage. The strike began after talks broke down between the government and the country's two biggest union federations, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), over increasing the minimum wage. It is the fourth since President Bola Tinubu took office last year. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said union members drove operators away at the country's power control rooms and shut down at least six substations, eventually shutting the national grid at 02:19 am (0119 GMT). Nigerian airline Ibom Air said it was suspending flights until further notice due to the strike, while another, United Nigeria, said airports across the country had been shut down and striking workers had permitted none of its flights to operate. Electricity and aviation unions said in a statement on Monday they had directed members to withdraw their services in compliance with the indefinite strike.<br/>
China's civil aviation sector recorded substantial recovery in 2023, with the air passenger trips more than double that of 2022, according to an official statistical communique. The country reported about 619.58m air passenger trips last year, a spike of 146.1% year on year, according to a communique released on the Civil Aviation Administration of China's website. The sector's total transport volume of cargo and mail topped 7.35m tonnes in 2023, up 21% from the previous year. In 2023, China had 5,206 regular domestic air routes, linking 255 mainland cities or regions. The country's international airlines linked China with 127 cities in 57 countries, according to the communique. By the end of 2023, there were 259 domestic transport airports, up 5 from the end of 2022. Among them, 38 airports had an annual passenger throughput of 10m or above, the report noted. China's civil aviation authorities have committed to boosting the frequency of international passenger flights as a primary goal for this year, aiming to revive international air travel further.<br/>
The alert level has been raised at a volcano in the central Philippines after it erupted, sending a 5-kilometre high ash cloud into the sky, the country's seismology agency said, indicating further eruptions were possible. The alert level was now at 2 on a scale of 5 in Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano straddling the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental, but residents were not advised yet to evacuate, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in an advisory. "Reports of coarse ashfall and sulfurous odors have been reported in communities on western slopes of the volcano," the agency said.<br/>Two weak volcanic tremors were also recorded, Phivolcs added. In raising the alert level, Phivolcs said the volcano could erupt further, there could be a magmatic eruption. The seismology agency had recommended that aviation regulators advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano's summit. Communities have also been advised to wear masks or cover their mouths with damp cloth to protect them from ash in the atmosphere.<br/>
Boeing says its jet deliveries to China remain halted as regulators there scrutinize the design of a new, 25-hour cockpit voice recorder used in aircraft including the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner. The planemaker provided a statement clarifying the status of its aircraft exports to China after Shenzhen TV reported that jet deliveries had resumed, citing Boeing China President Liu Qing. Boeing shares rose as much as 3.9% during Monday’s trading session as investors cheered the prospect of the latest delivery freeze ending. “We are working with our Chinese customers on the timing of their deliveries as the Civil Aviation Administration of China completes its review of batteries contained within the 25-hour cockpit voice recorder assembly unit,” Boeing said Monday. The US FAA has certified the new cockpit voice recorder system, which is powered by lithium-ion batteries. The design has also been accepted by Europe’s main aviation regulator, Boeing said, declining to comment about the issue further, deferring to regulators.<br/>
European multinational aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE is confident of capturing the market with its A330neo as more carriers seek to upgrade their fleets in the coming years. Airbus widebody market development director Rodrigo Lezama said airlines needed to renew their fleet to meet the industry challenges which include economic and environmental concerns. “We’ve seen a renewal of 4% each year of new aircraft entering their respective fleets. At the moment, only 28% of aircraft flying globally are new generation, which means there is plenty of space and room for the purchase of new aircraft of which Airbus aims to leverage on,” he told reporters during a media visit to the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France recently. He also said as an aircraft manufacturer, it is vital to deal with challenges head-on, rather than wait for instructions and industry standards from the authorities. In 2017, the International Air Transport Association adopted new standards for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which means that after 2028, any aircraft that does not meet the standards cannot be produced. Lezama said Airbus wanted to act proactively and decided to apply and certify the new standards ahead of the 2028 requirements. Story has more.<br/>
The “fasten seat belt” sign is off, and the time for a nap on your flight is on. You grab your neck pillow, eye mask and a glass of wine to make sure you are well-rested on the other side. That tactic isn’t such a good idea, according to new research. Airplanes flying at altitudes around 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) are hypobaric, meaning the air pressure and oxygen levels are lower than typical conditions on Earth. Combine that with alcohol consumption and sleep, and it’s more likely a person will experience an intensified drop in oxygen saturation in their blood, according to a study published Monday in the journal Thorax. “Please don’t drink alcohol on board of airplanes,” said lead study author Dr. Eva-Maria Elmenhorst, deputy of the department of sleep and human factors and leader of the Working Group on Performance and Sleep at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne, Germany, in an email. To investigate, researchers created an atmospheric environment similar to an airplane cabin in flight. Over two nights, 48 healthy adults slept for four hours in two different environments — once without alcohol and once after drinking the equivalent of two glasses of wine or cans of beer, according to the study. On the nights with alcohol, researchers saw a lowered amount of oxygen and an increased heart rate, the study showed. “The combination of alcohol intake with sleeping under hypobaric conditions poses a considerable strain on the cardiac system and might lead to exacerbation of symptoms in patients with cardiac or pulmonary diseases,” the researchers said.<br/>