general

U.S. airlines and airports are gearing up for the busiest Labor Day weekend, as a record number of travelers pack their bags and prepare to jet off to squeeze one last summer trip before the season ends. The summer travel season, typically one of the busiest periods for airlines and airports, recorded robust passenger volumes this year, despite harsh weather conditions, including unprecedented heatwaves and hurricanes. The Labor Day weekend, Thursday, Aug. 29 to Wednesday, Sept. 4, is expected to see 17m people go through airport security, the busiest on record for the travel period, according to government agency Transport Security Administration (TSA), which guards U.S. transportation systems. The agency anticipates an 8.5% jump in passenger volumes during the weekend compared to a year earlier. It has already screened 239.8m people since the Memorial Day weekend in May, which is an average of 2.7m per day.<br/>"People are traveling more than ever this summer and TSA along with our airline and airport partners stand ready to close the busiest summer travel period on record during this upcoming Labor Day weekend," TSA Administrator David Pekoske said.<br/>

Brazilian lawmakers approved a long-awaited financial aid plan for the airline sector that is expected to provide 5b reais ($914m) in credit for troubled carriers. The program, already passed by the Senate, was cleared in the lower house on Wednesday. It now needs to be signed by president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who campaigned on a pledge to restore prosperity in Brazil and wants to cut fares enough to allow the poor to fly regularly. The government expects airlines to use the funds to purchase and maintain aircraft as well as invest in training their workforces. Government aid has been under discussion since late 2023, when sharp fare increases prompted Lula to order his cabinet to seek solutions to help companies that have been struggling since the pandemic. A plane crash this month outside Sao Paulo, which killed all 62 people aboard, brought renewed attention to the issue. Lula’s program will use funds from Brazil’s national civil aviation fund to back loans from the country’s development bank, BNDES. Airlines in Latin America have been facing significant financial turbulence. Santiago-based Latam Airlines Group SA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 and has since emerged from the process. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, meanwhile, filed for protection from creditors in January after a dozen attempts to restructure its debt. In April, it started talks with rival Azul SA on a possible deal.<br/>

The Calgary Airport Authority says it will take at least a year and a half to fix part of its domestic terminal that was hammered by hail earlier this month. It says Concourse B and its gates — 31 to 40 — will be closed while restoration work is done. In a statement, Chris Dinsdale, the authority's president and CEO, said there should be no impact to travellers while the work is ongoing. "We have been able to accommodate all flights through other parts of the terminal," he said. The airport authority says it doesn't know how much the repairs will cost. A swath of north Calgary was pummelled by hail on Aug. 5, with chunks shattering car windows and scraping siding off homes. Chris Miles, COO of the airport authority, says golf ball-sized hail punched through the membrane of the terminal's roof, and then heavy rain poured in. "Early investigations have shown that Concourse B, located in the Domestic Terminal Building, sustained very significant damage," he said in a statement.<br/>

IT outages at the Dutch defence ministry grounded flights at Eindhoven Airport, the Netherlands' second largest, until late afternoon on Wednesday, though there was no indication that the system had been hacked, the ministry said. Eindhoven Airport shares its facilities with the defence ministry as a civilian co-user of its military section. The disruption grounded all flights on Wednesday until around 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), the airport said, resulting in the cancellation of over 20 flights. Additionally, several flights were diverted to depart from Germany's Weeze Airport, 90 km east of Eindhoven. Others were rerouted to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and Belgium's Brussels Airport, both 125 km from Eindhoven. A defence ministry spokesperson said all services in the Netherlands dependent on its network might be affected, but did not say how many or which, citing security concerns.<br/>

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has found a “significant” rise in leisure travel demand in July, helped by a relaxation of visa policies, and despite ongoing supply chain challenges. According to the association, Chinese carriers are seeing “solid growth” on their international routes, which has pushed July’s Asia-Pacific interational traffic results closer to pre-pandemic levels. AAPA director general Subhas Menon says: “Despite ongoing supply chain disruptions, the outlook for travel markets remains positive, as Asia Pacific airlines continue to benefit from resilient business and leisure demand. In particular, China-based airlines are experiencing solid growth in passenger demand as traffic in China recovers, driving overall expansion.” For the month, Asia-Pacific airlines carried 31.9m passengers, up 22.6% year on year, and about 95.5% that of pre-pandemic 2019. Capacity grew 21%, marginally outpacing a 20.5% increase in traffic, which led to a 0.6 percentage point dip in passenger load factor to 82.6%. On the cargo front, demand grew about 12% year on year, while freight capacity rose 11%. The air cargo segment benefitted from strong e-commerce demand as well as the ongoing maritime shipping disruptions. Adds Menon: “In response to passenger demand in a dynamic marketplace, Asian airlines are pursuing new revenue opportunities by launching innovative products and services.” <br/>

At least three people were killed in southwestern Japan on Thursday as Typhoon Shanshan made landfall in Kagoshima prefecture, bringing heavy rain and very strong winds as well as snarling air traffic and knocking out power to over a quarter million households. Major automakers including Toyota and Nissan suspended operations in some or all of their domestic factories due to the storm. The typhoon, with gusts of up to 55 metres per second, made landfall near Satsumasendai city located in the country's southwestern island of Kyushu on Thursday morning, the weather agency said. Authorities warned the storm could be one of the strongest ever to hit the region, and local governments have issued evacuation orders for millions of residents in several prefectures. Airlines, including ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines, have already announced cancellations of more than 600 domestic flights. Train services have been suspended in many areas of Kyushu.<br/>

Airlines will soon have to provide mandatory full refunds to passengers of flights delayed for at least five hours or more, said Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke. He said the move, which comes into force on Sept 2, follows amendments to the Malaysian Aviation Commission’s (Mavcom) Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code (MACPC) 2016. He explained that this applies to passengers who choose not to proceed with the delayed flight and opt to purchase a different flight altogether. “This is an improvement for consumers. There was no such provision previously where airlines only had to provide food and so on. Now, if passengers have an alternative flight, they can get a refund if their initial flight is delayed for five hours or more,” he said during a press conference on Aug 28. He said refunds also had to be offered through the passengers’ initial payment method. Other amendments to the MACPC will also see refunds applicable for flights disrupted due to extraordinary circumstances like changing weather patterns. “Here, airlines can also offer refunds in alternative forms like travel vouchers or credit shells. Consumers, however, have the choice to decide on their preferred refund method,” Loke said.<br/>

Boeing and its largest union remain at odds on major issues in contract talks as a possible strike looms that could cripple production of its cash-cow 737 Max jetliner next month. The two sides are “really far apart” on wages, job security and other matters, said Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers district that represents roughly 33,000 Boeing factory workers. “It’s a tough slog,” Holden said in an interview. “We’re very aggressive in our proposals on wages, retirement, health care, job security, paid time-off. We’re not close on the big issues. Negotiators for the planemaker and the IAM District 751 are holed up in a Seattle hotel to hash out their first comprehensive contract in 16 years before the current deal expires at midnight local time on Sept. 12. Without a new agreement, Boeing faces a walkout that could shut down its Puget Sound factories, jeopardizing efforts to boost jetliner output following a near-catastrophe that exposed lax quality controls and manufacturing shortfalls. Holden’s team wants Boeing to commit to building its next jet in the Seattle area and has demanded a 40% pay raise over three years. The union is also pushing to have more say in safety and quality. It’s been emboldened by a resurgent US labor movement, a scarcity of skilled aerospace mechanics and pressure on Boeing to stabilize work in its factories. There have been “slight” improvements in the company’s offers over wages during the past week, but more is needed, Holden said.<br/>

Air cargo demand continued to soar in July with the latest IATA statistics showing a year-on-year increase of 13.6% on the back of issues on the ocean and the continued e-commerce boom. The airline association said that cargo tonne kms had now registered a double-digit percentage increase for eight months in a row, with overall levels reaching heights not see since the Covid-fuelled surge of 2021. Meanwhile, capacity in July increased at the lower level of 8.3% on last year helping to push load factors up by 2.1 percentage points to 44.4%. IATA said the capacity increase was led by a 12.8% improvement in international bellyhold capacity and a 6.9% growth in international freighter capacity. The association’s director general Willie Walsh said: “Air cargo demand hit record highs year-to-date in July with strong growth across all regions. The air cargo business continues to benefit from growth in global trade, booming e-commerce and capacity constraints on maritime shipping. “With the peak season still to come, it is shaping to be a very strong year for air cargo. And airlines have proven adept at navigating political and economic uncertainties to flexibly meet emerging demand trends.”<br/>