general

As a string of Covid-19 vaccines near approval, Frankfurt Airport staff are gearing up to handle the unprecedented logistical challenge of transporting millions of life-saving doses worldwide. Frankfurt is Europe's largest hub for transporting pharmaceutical goods, and will be key to the success of inoculating millions of people against the deadly coronavirus. "The stress is increasing now that we're entering the 'hot' phase," Karin Krestan, Lufthansa Cargo's director of operations, said during a tour of the temperature-controlled "Cargo Cool Center" terminal. Krestan, who uses her skills as a former nurse, is sure her team is ready for the task. "The processes have been established, we're very confident and we feel well prepared," she said. In fact, Max Philipp Conrady, head of freight infrastructure at Fraport, said: "We've been ready since August". Frankfurt's cargo terminal has been working around the clock since the pandemic began, delivering medicine, surgical gowns and masks and supporting global supply chains as passenger numbers collapsed and airlines grounded planes. The vast temperature-controlled hangar, a few kilometres from the main passenger terminal, handled 120,000 tons of vaccines, drugs and other pharmaceutical products in 2019, airport operator Fraport said. It has 12,000 square metres (129,000 square feet) of temperature-controlled warehouses, essential for storing medicines. Fraport recently boosted investment in high-tech refrigerated "dollies" that transport vaccines from cold-storage hangars to planes, and now have 20 so several freighters can be loaded at the same time. Story has more.<br/>

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated airlines’ digital uptake as carriers look for ways to reduce human touchpoints. But that push has had another impact, too. It’s reduced cabin weight, and that can mean big cost savings. Singapore Airlines’ low-cost carrier Scoot on Thursday said it’s introducing an inflight system called ScootHub that customers can access via their mobile devices to order food, drinks, duty-free and other services. It estimates the move will not only reduce paper consumption by more than 156 metric tons but cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by over 41 tons and save more than 13 tons of fuel. Covid-19 has also prompted BA to remove printed copies of its signature inflight magazine, in circulation for more than half a century. Now, the magazine is available as a free download on passengers’ personal devices, helping BA trim a significant amount of weight, according to Inmarsat Aviation. “The pandemic has given airlines an impetus to leverage digital solutions more extensively as a means to reduce common passenger touchpoints, with weight reduction being an additional benefit,” Inmarsat Aviation Vice President Asia Pacific, David Coiley, said. And anything that reduces costs in aviation right now is a good thing. Fuel is one of the largest and most variable expenses for airlines, accounting for almost a quarter of operating costs, and cabin weight is known to have a notable impact on reducing those charges. In 2018, United saved $290,000 in annual fuel costs merely by using a lighter weight of paper for its inflight magazine. In another well-documented example, American Airlines Group removed just one olive from each salad plate to save $40,000. Story has more.<br/>

The US DoT Friday said it would add new procedural hurdles before the government could bar most additional unfair or deceptive practices by airlines, in a move sought by the carriers. The department is codifying a definition of what constitutes unfair or deceptive practices. It will requires a three-pronged analysis before adopting new rules deeming airline practices unfair or deceptive and require evidentiary hearings before most new rules are adopted. Representative Katie Porter said in July that the rule would “weaken enforcement of airline passenger protections.” Four senators including Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, said “industry groups could exploit these new procedural hoops — which the airlines themselves appear to be driving — to delay any DOT action to protect consumers.” The Transportation Department said Friday the new rules that apply to airlines and ticket agents provide “greater transparency and predictability on how the department conducts its aviation consumer protection rulemaking and enforcement activities.” The IATA and Airlines for America, a trade group that had sought the rules representing major airlines including American Airlines, Delta and United, said earlier the proposed rules would “benefit the public by further enhancing the transparency, predictability, and consistency of DOT’s rulemaking and enforcement procedures.”<br/>

Gatwick Airport, Britain’s second-biggest aviation hub, wants to see normal airport slot rules restored by next summer, CE Stewart Wingate said on Friday. Global aviation heavyweights led by airline body IATA are pushing for airport slot relief to continue until October 2021. Under their proposal the “use it or lose it” principle would be restored for airport slots, but the utilisation rate required to keep them would be set at 50%, compared to the 80% threshold that governed slot use before the pandemic. Gatwick’s CEO called the IATA proposal “a step in the right direction” but said he wanted a return to normal rules so that competition can resume and consumers benefit from a greater choice of flights. “From a slot waiver perspective, what normally happens is that airlines are expected to fly their slots 80% of the time or lose them,” Wingate said. “So at the earliest opportunity, preferably next summer, certainly next winter, we’d like to see that reinstituted,” he said.<br/>

The boss of Britain's Gatwick Airport said the introduction of shorter quarantine times from mid-December was boosting travel, and that the combination of testing and a COVID-19 vaccine means he is optimistic holidays can restart next year. Gatwick, Britain's second busiest airport, is opening a new COVID-19 testing facility on Monday, offering passengers discounted tests. CEO Stewart Wingate hopes by making it easier and cheaper to get a test, more people will travel. From mid-December, travellers arriving in England will have to quarantine for five days instead of 14 if they have a negative test, a rule change which Wingate said is helping. "We are seeing already an uptick in flights, so we should expect to see about 100 flights per day by the time we get to the middle of December, and across the Christmas period," he said. The pandemic has battered the aviation industry, leaving Gatwick particularly exposed. During England's latest lockdown in November, Gatwick, easyJet's biggest base, had about four flights a day, a startling drop from 600 flights a day this time last year. Some of Gatwick's airlines, such as Norwegian, are fighting for survival. Wingate, who has had to axe 45% of Gatwick's staff during the pandemic, forecast a travel recovery next summer, when he expected the airport's airlines to be flying between 60% and 70% of their 2019 capacity. "I expect once the vaccinations roll out and the testing is rolled out, we should expect to see quite a strong performance in the market next summer," he said.<br/>

British travellers who have been inoculated against coronavirus could have their passports stamped to show they have had the vaccine in a boost for the tourism industry. The new 'vaccine stamps' would allow tourists to avoid being held up at borders if the international travel industry starts to pick up in the middle of next year as the pandemic subsides. The stamps are being considered by ministers at the Department for Transport (DfT) as a significant way to boost the aviation industry by giving a degree of certainty to travellers planning overseas holidays next summer. The news came as the Government secured an additional 2 million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, which is due to be available early next year and has been shown in trials to be 95% effective. The deal means the UK now has access to a total of 357m doses of vaccines from seven different developers. Airlines are likely to demand that passengers are vaccinated against coronavirus before they are allowed to board their planes.<br/>

Indonesia’s Mount Ili Lewotolok erupted on Sunday, releasing a column of smoke and ash 4km into the sky, triggering a flight warning and the closure of the local airport. There were no reports of injuries or damage from the eruption in a remote part of the south-east Asian archipelago. But authorities raised the volcano’s alert status to its second-highest level as they warned of possible lava flows. A 1.2-mile no-go zone around the crater was also expanded to 2.5 miles, while flights were advised to steer clear of the area as volcanic ash rained down on Wunopitu airport in East Nusa Tenggara, which was temporarily closed. “People are advised to not carry out any activities within a 4km radius from the crater,” Indonesia’s geological agency said.<br/>

Airbus is confident in its plan to increase production of the best-selling A320 family of jets to a rate of 47 a month next year, even as the slump in air travel puts pressure on customers, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has extensively stress-tested its backlog of orders for the model, and remains comfortable with the strategy, said the people, who asked for anonymity discussing confidential plans. The exact timing or level of the ramp-up could change but the need to increase production is clear, they said. Airbus told suppliers last month to be prepared to support a monthly rate of 47 A320-family planes in the second half of 2021. The move came as some analysts were warning the production outlook for both the European planemaker and its rival Boeing may not be sustainable. Airbus’s confidence in the ability of the market to absorb more jets comes against a backdrop of virus flareups in Europe and elsewhere, while main rival Boeing is preparing for the return of its 737 Max following a global grounding after two fatal crashes. Airbus has made inroads into a jet backlog that built up after the start of the crisis, and delivered 72 aircraft last month. The company has largely been able to avoid major order cancellations so far.<br/>

Airbus has found buyers for six aircraft from the A320neo family rejected by one of its main customers, Malaysia’s AirAsia, as it works off a surplus left by the coronavirus crisis, industry sources said. Unwanted jets have become an emblem of pandemic-induced problems in the aerospace industry that have come on top of a chill in ties between two of its major players. Tensions became unusually public when Airbus in April invited tenders for six jets that AirAsia had failed to take delivery of. It has now found homes for all six, the last of which is being delivered this month, a European industry source said. Airbus provided no comment. Airbus has been steadily increasing deliveries as it strikes deals with airlines to reschedule deliveries or store jets. It said last month it had reduced an overhang that it had been unable to deliver during the crisis by 10 units to 135 jets. The redeployment of AirAsia orders is expected to trim the surplus further as deliveries top output in November.<br/>

Comac has received the type inspection authorisation for its C919 narrowbody programme, paving the way for final flight testing and certification. The authorisation — issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on 27 November — means that the aircraft design has been finalised and verified, and that no major changes can be made to its structure. The Chinese airframer also hopes to receive the C919’s airworthiness certificate from the CAAC by next year, allowing it to commence deliveries to Chinese carriers. The launch customer for the type will be Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines. Comac states that its fleet of six C919 prototypes are currently in various parts of China — including in Nanchang in Jiangxi province, Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia, as well as in Yanliang in Shaanxi province — conducting certification test flights. Moving forward, it notes that the test fleet will carry out “more intensive flight test missions” on its path towards certification. The authorisation marks a new chapter for the narrowbody programme, which Comac hopes will compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family. FlightGlobal previously reported in 2019 that the programme timeline had moved to the right by about a year, from an original service entry timeframe of 2020-2021, to 2021-2022. <br/>

Berlin’s airport operator estimates that it will require more than E550m in additional funding to support the German capital’s recently opened gateway if air traffic in 2021 does not rise significantly above this year’s level. Noting that it already had a deficit before the long-delayed Brandenburg airport opened on 31 October, operator FBB says it pre-crisis plan was based on the assumption that growing air traffic at the new airport would facilitate an improvement in the company’s finances. CE Engelbert Lutke Daldrup predicts that 2021 will be “one of the most difficult years in the history of FBB”. “No airport in Germany will be able to cover its operating costs with the predicted passenger numbers. FBB has been hit by the second corona wave in a situation in which we could have made our way out of the red.” He adds: “Now only two things will help: the willingness of our shareholders to support us during the crisis and the company’s commitment to work as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.” FBB estimates it will require up to E660m in funding if its management’s current outlook – that next year’s air traffic will not grow significantly – is confirmed.<br/>