When the Olympic Games kick off on July 26, expect to see mostly French spectators in the stands. According to data from Paris je t’aime, the city’s tourism board, the capital is expecting 11.3m visitors during the Olympics weeks—of which only 1.5m will be international. While that’s enough to keep stadiums busy, hotels, airlines and travel agencies are feeling a pinch where they had hoped to see a boom. Alan Bachand, owner of sports travel firm 14sb, has built his business in the past on pre-buying blocks of hotel inventory for major events—the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, the Olympics—and packaging it up with tickets at competitive prices for superfans. But this year, he tells Bloomberg that sales have fallen 80% short of his expectations based on previous Olympic games. “This is the first time in 25 years that we will accept less money than we paid for hotel rooms that we contracted 30 months ago,” he says. Normally, he says, his sales begin a year before the event. “But the prices were crazy high—we had to spend $1,000 per night on hotels that would normally cost $400—and if we pay a lot of money, we have to mark ‘em up and sell ‘em for a lot of money,” he explains. “Once everyone realized the phones weren’t ringing, around 100 days out, people started to cut prices in half—and we’ve had to do the same.” At this point, Bachand hopes to break even, rather than lose money on the event. But he isn’t sure it will be possible. Airlines are in similar predicaments. On July 11, Delta Air Lines Inc. estimated it would take $100 million in losses as travelers opted to skip France during the Olympics, leaving too many unsold seats. In a similar situation is AirFrance, which expanded its flight capacity from US cities to Paris by 15% during the games. Its parent company Air France-KLM has so far reported revenue loss of at least E180m in July and August, which it attributes to the Olympics. With many of its added seats still unsold, it too is slashing prices—particularly for people booking with points, where the discounts are more opaque. “Cities with non-stop flights to Paris like New York, Chicago, Atlanta and L.A. still have jaw-dropping reward flight availability for late July and into August during the Paris Olympics,” said Gilbert Ott, a spokesman for point.me, a reward travel search engine. “In recent days, I’ve found flights on Air France from New York for 20,000 points one-way, Atlanta for 15,000 one-way, or even further afield like Los Angeles for 30,000 one-way.” That’s as little as around $200 worth, using the typical exchange rate of a penny per point.<br/>
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Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates reached an agreement allowing for the resumption of travel between the two countries, Nigeria's information minister said on Monday. The UAE stopped issuing visas to Nigerians in 2022 after Dubai's Emirates Airline suspended flights between the countries due to an inability to repatriate funds from Nigeria. Nigeria's central bank has since cleared a backlog of around $137m in foreign exchange owed to international airlines. Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the deal includes the resumption of visa issuance to Nigerian passport holders for travel to the UAE, effective from Monday. "This agreement includes updated controls and conditions to facilitate obtaining a UAE visa," Idris said in a statement. In May, Emirates said it would resume flight schedules to Nigeria in October, ending a nearly two-year halt to flights.<br/>
India will tax all imports of aircraft components and aircraft engine parts at 5%, the civil aviation minister said on Monday, unifying the tax rate which earlier varied between 5% and 28%. The uniform rate, effective from Monday itself, was recommended by India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council in June and will apply to imports of "parts, components, testing equipment, tools and tool-kits of aircrafts". It was deemed necessary because of "challenges" created by varying tax rates and will be a boost for local maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) businesses, Civil Aviation Minister Kinijrapu Rammohan Naidu said, at a time when Indian airlines have placed record orders for jets. "This new policy eliminates... disparities, simplifies the tax structure, and fosters growth in the MRO sector," the minister said.<br/>India is among the fastest growing major aviation markets, with an aircraft fleet that is expected to increase from the current 700 to over 1,500 by 2030.<br/>
A U.S. judge on Monday set a fast schedule to consider the objections of relatives of those killed in two fatal 737 MAX crashes to the Justice Department's plea deal with Boeing. The planemaker on July 7 agreed in principle to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay a fine of $243.6 million. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas said after the Justice Department files the plea agreement, relatives of those killed will have a week to file objections and then the government and Boeing will have two weeks to respond. The families will then have five days to file a response. A U.S. judge on Monday set a fast schedule to consider the objections of relatives of those killed in two fatal 737 MAX crashes to the Justice Department's plea deal with Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab. The planemaker on July 7 agreed in principle to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay a fine of $243.6 million. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas said after the Justice Department files the plea agreement, relatives of those killed will have a week to file objections and then the government and Boeing will have two weeks to respond. The families will then have five days to file a response. O'Connor previously criticized Boeing, saying in 2023: "Boeing’s crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history." Boeing 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 killed a total of 346 people and led to a 20-month grounding of the best-selling plane. The Justice Department said last week it hoped to file the plea agreement by July 19 but said it may need a few additional days. The department will file a factual statement supporting the government's breach determination.<br/>
Airbus predicted China and India will be key growth drivers for the aviation industry in the next two decades as the planemaker expects the global commercial fleet will double in the period. The company anticipates the world will have 48,230 aircraft in 2043, compared with 24,240 planes at the start of this year, according to Airbus’s annual Global Market Forecast. About 45% of all new plane deliveries will be to replace older, less fuel efficient aircraft, according to the forecast. “The Indian carriers are expanding their international and their widebody operations that had historically been served by foreign carriers,” Joost Van Der Heijden, Airbus’s head of marketing, said on a call. Carriers in India have loaded up on new plane orders as demand for flying soars with a growing middle class. Market leader IndiGo has more than 1,000 aircraft on order, including a recent agreement for its first long-haul jets, while recently privatized Air India is looking to shore up its fleet and ramp up services across its network. Airbus also projected demand for widebody jets to be 8,920 planes, about 9% higher compared with the 2023 forecast. This includes 940 freighters, a 2% increase from last year’s prediction. The increase in twin-aisle demand was driven by North and South America, while forecasting a slight reduction in the Middle East, where hub carriers have made it the biggest market for the type. <br/>
Lessor Aviation Capital Group (ACG) has ordered 35 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, including 16 Max 8s and 19 of the larger but as-yet uncertificated Max 10s. Boeing and ACG, which has offices in California but is owned by financial firm Tokyo Century, disclosed the order on 15 July. No delivery timeline was disclosed and neither company responded to requests for more information. “This firm order for additional 737 Max aircraft enhances the strategic value of ACG’s orderbook, supports a key pillar of our growth strategy and reinforces our commitment to invest in modern and fuel-efficient aircraft technology,” says the lessor’s CE Thomas Baker. “We look forward to supporting our airline customers throughout the world with these highly versatile and fuel-efficient aircraft.” ACG is a repeat 737 customer, having most recently ordered 13 737 Max in September of last year. It now holds outstanding orders for 82 of the narrowbodies, including for Max 8s, 9s and 10s, and already owns 14 737 Max, according to Cirium data. Its fleet also includes 53 737NGs, 11 757s, five 787s, four Airbus A220s, 120 A320-family aircraft and two A350s. Boeing’s Max 10 remains hung up in certification. The company said in January that it needed to redesign the Max’s engine anti-ice system, a process that would take about one year.<br/>