general

In Baku, Azerbaijan, this week, the travel industry will have its first official day ever at the annual United Nations climate talks. At COP29, as this year’s conference is known, Wednesday has been set as a “thematic day on tourism,” and there will be high-level meetings and roundtables devoted to the tourism industry’s effects on the environment and climate change and how they might be mitigated. Helping to frame the discussion will be the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, which was introduced by the U.N.’s World Tourism Organization at the 2021 conference to nudge the travel industry toward a more environmentally friendly future. The declaration, originally signed by more than 300 travel companies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies, and now counting more than 900 signatories, was supposed to “secure strong actions and commitment from the tourism sector” and “accelerate climate action.” Participating travel organizations would disclose greenhouse gas emissions; take steps to decarbonize; restore and protect natural ecosystems; and collaborate to ensure best practices. There were two core commitments. Within 12 months of signing the accord, entities would create and submit a public “climate action plan” that outlined specific actions they would take to reduce emissions. And second, signatories would halve their emissions before 2030, in order to get on track to reach net zero emissions by 2050. How have they done? Well, it’s a start. While many experts agree that the Glasgow Declaration was an important and necessary first step, few tourism organizations have signed on and those that did haven’t always followed through with their promises. Global emissions, meanwhile, are still on the rise. “The Glasgow Declaration sparked a tremendous response across travel and tourism,” said Julia Simpson, the president and CE of the World Travel and Tourism Council, a nonprofit organization of travel businesses and a signatory of the declaration. “What the world needs now is measurable action — and there’s no time to lose.”<br/>

Upcoming holiday air travel is likely to break records in the USA as major airlines prepare for the operationally challenging winter season. The US Transportation Security Administration says it expects to screen more than 18m airline passengers from 26 November to 2 December, a 6% increase over the same period of last year. The roughly week-long Thanksgiving travel period is historically the year’s busiest for US airlines. This year, more airline customers are booking international flights over the holidays – particularly to European cities. Booking data from the American Automobile Association (AAA) indicates international reservations are up by 23% “in part because the cost to fly internationally is down” about 5%, AAA says. United Airlines says it is gearing up for its “busiest holiday travel season on record” – which includes the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays – as it expects to move some 25m passengers. The Chicago-headquartered carrier notes surging demand for air travel to Europe during the Christmas period, with bookings to cities such as London, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris and Brussels up nearly 10% over last year – and 30% over pre-pandemic 2019 levels. “The European Christmas markets have become even more popular in recent years,” says Darren Scott, United’s director of Atlantic and Hawaii planning. Compared with last year, American Airlines expects to fly an extra 500,000 passengers during the Thanksgiving holiday period, which it broadly defines as 21 November-3 December. American expects to fly a total of 8.3m passengers via 77,000 flights during that operational window. Its busiest day during the Thanksgiving period is set to come on 1 December, with more than 1,000 aircraft simultaneously en route during its highest peak. The surge is extending to US regional airlines, as well. St Louis-based GoJet Airlines, which flies regional jets under the United Express brand on behalf of United, says its number of scheduled flights during the holidays is expected to increase about 40%, year on year. <br/>

Passengers flying to India from Canada are being subject to enhanced security measures in recent days. In a statement issued on Monday evening, Canada’s Transport Minister Anita Anand said her department “has implemented temporary additional security screening measures” for those travelling to India out of “an abundance of caution”. Air Canada sent out notifications over the weekend to passengers bound for Indian destinations, which stated, “Due to heightened security mandates by Transport Canada for all passengers travelling to India, security wait times are expected to be longer than anticipated for your upcoming flight.” “To minimise any disruption to your travel plans, we recommend you arrive 4 hours prior to your flight’s departure. We appreciate your patience and understanding,” the notification, a copy of which was shared with the Hindustan Times, stated. On Monday, a spokesperson for Air Canada confirmed this development in an emailed response, stating, “Transport Canada has introduced additional requirements for travellers to India and Air Canada, like other carriers is complying with these.”<br/>

Air traffic control audio shows a Boeing 767 cargo jet reported a "flight control problem" involving a mechanism on its wings used to slow the aircraft just before it skidded off a runway at Vancouver's airport at high speed. Conversations between the pilots on the Amazon Prime Air jet and air traffic control reveal that the plane was experiencing a problem with its "leading edge slats," and was carrying about 10,000 kilograms of fuel. In other recordings the tower tells awaiting emergency responders that the jet was "coming in fast," while data from the Flightradar24 database shows the plane was travelling at a ground speed of about 200 km/h when it left the runway. The Transportation Safety Board said it's investigating after the flight went off the end of the north runway at about 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday. None of the three-person crew was hurt, but the airport said the north runway will remain closed for about two days as the jet sits in a grass field, nose down, with engines on each of the mud-splattered wings touching the ground. Vancouver airport CEO Tamara Vrooman says there was "no risk" at any point of the plane breaching the runway's "secure" perimeter, which separates it from the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet shopping mall and its parking lot.<br/>

Wheelchair users should be able to sue airports and airlines which fail to accommodate them, according to an MP who has chosen not to fly “for many years”. Daniel Francis, whose daughter has cerebral palsy, said the prospect of damaged equipment on or after a holiday is “too upsetting to consider”. The Labour MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford laid the Aviation (Accessibility) Bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday, as he called for tighter regulations which airlines and airports must follow to support mobility or visually impaired passengers. Paralympic wheelchair racing champion Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who is in charge of a Department for Transport aviation accessibility expert group, has vowed to work with Francis to develop new policy. “My family has taken the decision for many years that flying would simply be too much hassle, and the distress of a damaged or lost wheelchair at the end of a flight is too upsetting to consider,” Francis told the Commons, around a decade after the last flight he took with his family – to Spain in 2014. He had earlier said: “All to often, we all hear stories and see videos of wheelchair users being forced to crawl through or off an airplane due to a lack of equipment, knowledge or space on board.” On wheelchair damage, Francis said: “For those that are able to get on a plane in the first place, they are often left with the worry of their wheelchair being damaged in transit or from a lack of knowledge by airport staff. It’s therefore paramount that a single set of rules and regulations are applied to all airlines to promote better knowledge among airline and airport staff to minimise the risk of damages to wheelchair and mobility scooters.”<br/>

Bangkok and Singapore have long been the leading aviation hubs in Southeast Asia, with the Thai capital being the main entry point for one of the world’s most visited countries and the city-state a hub for global businesses with regional investments. But Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a rival, particularly when it comes to international travel within Southeast Asia, with AirAsia, the region’s ubiquitous budget airline, having its headquarters in Malaysia’s biggest city and commercial capital. The carrier recently launched or resumed flights from KL, as it is often called, to Chiang Rai, the northern Thai town and site of the White Temple; and Vietnam's Dalat, a mountain town known for its temperate climate and mountain scenery. Malaysia’s official tourism body said the routes showed "the ongoing collaboration between AirAsia and Tourism Malaysia in promoting Malaysia as a prime travel destination within the ASEAN region," referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an intergovernmental body made up 10 of the region’s 11 countries, with East Timor waiting its turn to join. Aviation industry analysis business OAG said in August that Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was the world’s second most connected after London Heathrow, with Tokyo Haneda, Amsterdam Schiphol and Seoul Incheon making up the rest of the top five.<br/>

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury on Tuesday voiced increasing confidence over engine supplies that have been hampering jet deliveries, telling Reuters that CFM International should be able to supply enough units but it would be "very tight". A shortfall in supplies from the world's largest engine maker by units sold, co-owned by GE Aerospace and Safran, has been partly blamed for sluggish Airbus jet deliveries and helped trigger a cut in annual targets in July. Airbus faces a hurdle of delivering around 200 jets in the last two months to reach a 2024 goal of "around" 770 jets - a task some analysts say looks increasingly out of reach. Asked whether he believed CFM would be able to release enough engines to Airbus to support the planemaker's end-year goals, Faury said: "In the short term it is very tight ... I will only know for sure at the end of November". He added: "It should be ok; I don't know yet. It will be within a few engines - not tens of engines - if any." CFM had no immediate comment. The comments by the head of the world's largest planemaker - although carefully calibrated - convey a more relaxed tone over engine supplies since the summer and follow negotiations behind the scenes over allocations, according to industry sources. Founded 50 years ago, CFM is one of two suppliers for the narrowbody A320neo family, Airbus's best-selling jet, competing with RTX unit Pratt & Whitney. It is also the sole engine supplier for the Boeing 737 MAX.<br/>

The head of European planemaker Airbus said talks to finalise the takeover of part of troubled U.S. aerostructures supplier Spirit Aerosystems were going smoothly but that bringing it into Airbus would "not be a walk in the park". Airbus plans to take over the running of four Spirit plants associated with its A350 and A220 jetliner programmes as part of a loosely coordinated plan to carve up the company with Boeing, which is buying back almost all the rest of its former unit.<br/>The rare act of cooperation between business foes reflects concerns that the rapid decline of one of the industry's key suppliers, spun off from Boeing almost 20 years ago, could have spread havoc through the world's largest planemakers. Because the plants lose money, Spirit has agreed to pay $559m to Airbus subject to due diligence and the shape of the deal, which could also include a fifth Scottish plant. "My teams say the finalisation is going reasonably well...so I am quite optimistic on Spirit," Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told Reuters in an interview. But the French CEO said tough tasks still lay ahead. "We will have to go from signing to closing and then we will have to get our hands on it, and will have to do the ramp-up," Faury said on the sidelines of a European industry event. "There are plenty of problems to be solved. It is not a walk in the park but it seems that we are ticking the boxes one by one."<br/>

Brazilian development bank BNDES signed a deal with Paraguay's government on Monday to provide 600m reais ($103.9m) in financing for the export of six Embraer's Super Tucano fighter planes to the South American nation. Brazilian planemaker Embraer, the world's third-largest planemaker behind Airbus and Boeing, had confirmed the sale of six Super Tucano A-29 fighter planes to Paraguay in July. The BNDES deal, signed during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, "strengthens the strategic partnership between Brazil and Paraguay and helps the neighboring country strengthen its technological capacity in the fight against narco-terrorism," the development bank said in a statement. According to the development bank, the deal was its first approved financing operation for exports of defense products in more than 13 years.<br/>