general

IATA has released analysis of new and ceasing airlines last year, with 2024 seeing the lowest number of new entrants and exits in a decade. The association’s data shows a total of 28 new airlines started operations last year – the annual figure has been declining for the last three years and now stands at less than half the peak of 2021, a year that was boosted by post-Covid reorganisations. New airlines in 2024 included KM Malta Airlines (effectively a replacement of its predecessor Air Malta), FlyGabon and AirJapan (a low-cost subsidiary of ANA). Meanwhile 19 airlines ceased flying in 2024, with examples including Canada Jetlines, Air Malta (see above) and Australian low-cost carrier Bonza. IATA said the low number of new entrants last year “can be attributed to a combination of economic, supply chain, and geopolitical challenges”, while the majority of airlines which ceased operations did so “due to financial difficulties and intense competition”.<br/>

A small plane veered off the runway at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona on Monday afternoon after part of its landing gear failed, causing it to crash into a parked business jet on a tarmac, killing one person and injuring three others, the authorities said. The crash happened at about 2:45 p.m., when a Learjet 35A that had taken off from Austin, Tex., landed and then collided with a larger Gulfstream 200 business jet that was parked on private property near the runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Learjet’s left main gear failed as it landed, said Kelli Kuester, the aviation planning and outreach coordinator for the Scottsdale Airport. One person was dead at the scene, two others were taken to local trauma centers in critical condition and another was taken to a hospital in stable condition Capt. Dave Folio of the Scottsdale Fire Department said at a news conference. One person refused treatment. All flights were paused and runways were shut down. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the episode.<br/>

The FAA said on Monday it is reversing a four-year-old decision to rename safety messages to pilots and reinstating the prior "Notice to Airmen" term. In December 2021, the FAA under former President Joe Biden renamed the messages "Notices to Air Missions," commonly known as NOTAMs, saying it was "inclusive of all aviators and missions." The FAA referred questions to the notice disclosing the name change that did not offer a rationale for the change. NOTAMs contain essential information for pilots and others involved in flight operations but not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means. The FAA is also renaming on aeronautical charts the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" and Denali, Alaska natives' name for North America's tallest mountain, as "Mount McKinley" after a Trump order. The FAA said in a notice Monday it is in the process of updating its charts and data to reflect the name change.<br/>

Canadian travelers are allegedly rethinking and canceling their travel to the United States, which could majorly impact multiple industries. According to a US Travel Association press release, a 10% drop in Canadian travelers could cut US spending by $2.1b. Thousands of jobs would also be lost, and America’s retail and hospitality industries would be negatively impacted. The source notes that Canadians are America’s largest source of international visitors, with 20.4m visits in 2024, “generating $20.5b in spending.” The hotspot states Canadians visit the most are Florida, California, Nevada, New York, and Texas. Additionally, Canada’s largest travel agency, Flight Centre, is quoted in Forbes saying that “a surge of customers” are canceling their U.S. vacations, opting to rebook other destinations. Those rebookings reportedly include “bucket-list and milestone experiences valued at over $10,000 CAD.”<br/>

Canada’s largest pensions have collectively invested billions of dollars in airports around the world and could ultimately do the same in Canada, says Stephen Poloz, the former Bank of Canada governor appointed to help the federal government get such funds to deploy more of their investment dollars inside the country. “I do think there’s a path,” he said, adding he believes pension involvement in Canadian airports could start almost immediately with investments in “adjacent” assets such as parking garages and freight services as well as new developments like sustainable aviation fuel facilities that aren’t core to the business of an airport. Under existing rules, Poloz said such standalone ancillary assets and services could be put in special purpose vehicles (SPVs), with the pension funds as “obvious” investors. “It could be something new on a vacant piece of land,” he said. “And all they need then … is a deal for how much rent goes to the government and how much remains for the equity holders of that SPV.” If the government agrees with Poloz’s assumptions, it could pave the way for a second phase that would require rule changes and legislation to allow direct investments in the country’s airports by pensions, replicating the type of investments large funds such as the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan have made in Europe and the United Kingdom. Teachers’ in 2020 boasted it was the largest private investor in European airports, with stakes in airports in London, Bristol and Birmingham, U.K., Brussels and Copenhagen, though its stake in the latter was sold this year.<br/>

Brussels Airport said on Monday it had cancelled all flights departing on February 13 due to a nationwide strike. The airport said arrivals would also be impacted as ground crews and security staff join the walkout scheduled for Thursday in protest at the new government's plans to reform pensions and the labour market.<br/>

Airlines using Heathrow Airport are calling for “urgent and fundamental” reform of its charges as they expect passengers to be hit by a further rise in costs to pay for a third runway. The bosses of British Airways’ parent company IAG and Virgin Atlantic urged regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to prevent passengers and airlines being “locked into higher charges for decades to come”. Their plea was also supported by Surinder Arora, who owns a number of hotels serving the west London airport, and Heathrow AOC, which represents airlines using the hub. The group claim record-breaking passenger numbers and the prospect of expansion “mask the fundamental problem with Heathrow”. They wrote: “For too long the regulatory model’s failure to constrain the monopoly has harmed consumers, led to squandered spending and diminished Heathrow’s hub status and competitiveness. With the prospect of expansion, which would be paid for by passengers, it is now time for the regulator to take action. This is why we have come together to submit our joint proposal to the Civil Aviation Authority for an urgent and fundamental review of Heathrow. This collective call is born out of the spiralling costs at the airport, which are being shouldered by customers and airlines alike.”<br/>

Aircraft engine supplier GE Aerospace is boosting its operations in the Middle East with an additional $10m of investment, aiming to support the region's manufacturing push. It is part of GE Aerospace’s global and multiyear $1 billion maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) spending commitment it announced in 2024, which aims to ensure that its facilities in the Middle East have the capacity to meet growing demand for services across the installed base of GE Aerospace and CFM, its joint venture with France's Safran Aircraft Engines. As well as investing in its hubs in Dubai and Doha, plans are afoot to increase the US company's workforce by 30%, in addition to providing funding for other potential investment opportunities in the region, GE Aerospace announced on the sidelines of the MRO Middle East aviation summit in Dubai on Monday. “Airlines in the region have ambitious growth plans that depend on keeping engines on wing and operating efficiently,” Aziz Koleilat, GE Aerospace's president and CE for the Middle East, Turkey and the CIS, said in a statement. “Expanding our MRO capacity means we can work on more engines and there is more we can do to those engines. It is part of our commitment to meeting our local customers’ needs and expectations during a critical period for the industry.” Regional airlines, particularly in the Gulf, had a strong year of profitability amid consistent strong demand for air travel, a push to increase international tourist arrivals, investment in airport upgrades and government policies designed to boost the aviation sector's contribution to the GDP.<br/>

Boeing signalled on Monday it would need more orders from India before it considers setting up a final civil aircraft assembly line there, potentially throwing cold water on the government's hopes of the U.S. planemaker assembling commercial jets in the country. "The business case in order to have final assembly in any region has to be far larger than what the Indian market is. It requires many more airplanes than are being bought in India today," Boeing India and South Asia president Salil Gupte told Reuters. "We'll have to see how it evolves as the markets in India and around India go. In the meantime, it is all about building stepwise capability to get up to that point," Gupte said in an interview on the sidelines of the Aero India show in the city of Bengaluru. Boeing said in an emailed statement it has a "strong commitment" to India's aerospace sector. The company has in the past offered to assemble defense aircraft, such as its F/A-18 jets, in India. But the volume required for final assembly of commercial airplanes is far greater than that required for defense, and a viable business case would require a large regional market, the company added. Early last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will not have to wait too long for a Boeing that is designed and manufactured in the subcontinent. The country's civil aviation minister told Reuters in 2023 that the time had come for Boeing and Airbus to make civil aircraft in India.<br/>

Air traffic is booming in India, even though only a tiny fraction of its people fly each year, and manufacturers are seeking lucrative deals at the flagship Aero India exhibition from Monday. The IATA will also hold its annual general meeting in June in New Delhi, the capital of the world's fifth-largest economy, another clear sign of India's market punch. The sustained growth of its economy and middle class have made India and its 1.4 billion people the third-largest air market in the world, after the United States and China. "India is the rising star of global aerospace," said Remi Maillard, Airbus India and South Asia chief. "It is the fastest-growing commercial aviation market in the world -- and it will remain so for the next 20 years." Airbus rival Boeing, which will also take part in the five-day Aero India show in Bengaluru for global aero vendors organised by the defence ministry, is equally enthusiastic. "It's the most dynamic market on the planet -- and certainly the most exciting," Boeing India head Salil Gupte told AFP. India's civil aviation ministry boasts of "soaring skies" in a sector "experiencing a meteoric rise".<br/>

India is committed to boosting manufacturing and exports of defence equipment in the coming years, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday at the opening of the country's biggest air show, where its military ambitions will be in focus. India, the world's largest arms importer, has stressed the need to modernise its military and boost domestic defence production to counter rival China's growing military strength and influence in South Asia. India's domestic defence manufacturing value will reach more than 1.25t rupees ($14.24b) in the fiscal year ending in March, while its defence exports will cross a record 210 billion rupees for the first time over the same period, Singh said. "We are fully committed to significantly increase these numbers in the coming years," he said at the show, which kicked off with the country's fighter jets flying past in formations across a clear sky. New Delhi aims to explore possible joint production of defence equipment and to scout for billions of dollars worth of military deals at the biennial Aero India aerospace exhibition that began on Monday in the southern city of Bengaluru. More than 150 foreign companies are participating in the event that runs through Friday, while defence ministers or representatives from about 30 countries were expected to arrive, according to India's defence ministry.<br/>