Spanish airlines see tough winter after disastrous summer

Photo Albert Gea / Reuters

Spanish airlines are expecting a tough autumn and winter ahead, even if some traffic is resuming after a summer that has seen passenger traffic nosedive 80% due to the Coronaavirus COVID-19 pandemic, according to the head of Spain’s airlines' industry group said on Tuesday.

The capacity in September and October will likely be 40% of what it was last year, Asociacion de Lineas Aereas (ALA) chief Javier Gandara told a news conference.

“The actual number of passengers is much lower than the capacity as planes are flying less full,” Gandara said, adding that given occupancy ratios, the number of passengers in September and October was set to be close to 20%-30% of what it was one year ago.

Following months are also expected to be tough, with less visibility at this time, he said, forecasting that passenger traffic during the winter season will not be much higher than 30% of last years traffic, reports Reuters. 

American Express plans to expand two Centurion lounges......

Photo Business Wire/Amex

American Express has announced plans to expand two of its signature Centurion Lounges and introduced The Centurion Lounge Commitment, a set of new health and safety protocols and practices, which will be implemented in all Centurion Lounges as they reopen (some starting in early October). 

The Centurion Lounge at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) will relocate to a larger location in the brand new Terminal B, and as previously announced, the current Centurion Lounge at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport (LAS), will be expanded and redesigned.

“The health, safety and comfort of our Card Members and colleagues remains our top priority as we look to expand and reopen our iconic Centurion Lounges around the world,” said Alexander Lee, Vice President Travel Experiences & Benefits. “We believe travel is core to our Card Members’ lifestyles, and like them, we look forward to the day when we can travel the world again - we’re excited to welcome them back into our Centurion Lounges soon.”

Delta named 'Best Airline for Business Travelers – Routes to Americas' by Italian Mission magazine

Italy’s Mission magazine has named Delta “Best Airline for Business Travelers – Routes to Americas” at the magazine’s annual Italian Mission Awards event held in Milan.  The award is Delta’s fourth IMA accolade, having scooped the same title in 2018, as well as wins for “Best Long-Haul Airline for Business Travelers” in 2014 and 2016.

The judging panel – comprising leading Italian travel journalists and travel managers – cited Delta’s network and investments in innovative products and services as the reasons behind their decision. This year’s IMA awards had been due to take place in March but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Italy is an important market for Delta and with another prestigious IMA win behind us, we look forward to welcoming back more business customers as we gradually return to the market,” said Frederick Schenk, Delta’s Regional Sales Manager-Southern Europe. “The pandemic has reduced our network, but our commitment to customers is stronger than ever. Ensuring a safer, more sanitized service through the Delta CareStandard will set us apart in Italy by offering customers greater peace of mind and more flexibility when they start to fly with us again.”

Delta restarted its operations to Italy last month and is currently operating nonstop service between New York-JFK and Rome and Milan.

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The UK's Ministry of Defence is seeking new ways to assist military drone operators in urban environments in a new funding competition.

The Ministry of Defence is seeking new ways to assist military drone operators in urban environments in a new funding competition.

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) are seeking innovative and novel solutions to assist military drone operators to improve usability in challenging and complex urban operations.

This cross-departmental requirement between DASA and DE&S is designed for the rapid exploitation of technology and is the first of its kind.

Up to £900,000 is available for successful proposals that can help the Ministry of Defence overcome three challenges.

The first challenge is the development of an optimised Unmanned Air System suitable for use in urban environments.

The second challenge is to develop a human-controlled lethal payload that could integrate with a platform outlined in the first challenge.

Qantas looking to move HQ to cut costs

Image  Qantas

The Qantas Group is reviewing the location of its key facilities as part of its recovery plan and efforts to cut overheads – which may result in bringing together several facilities, currently spread across Australia, in one state.

The review will focus chiefly on non-aviation facilities – including the national carrier’s leased 49,000 square metre head office in Mascot (Sydney) and Jetstar’s leased head office in Collingwood (Melbourne).

Group-wide property review of its rented space, particularly corporate offices.

Some aviation facilities may move if opportunities to consolidate on-shore.

Part of the Group’s overall ‘reset’ and recovery plan in response to COVID crisis.

Expression of interest process for state governments

Some aviation facilities will be considered for possible relocation, such as flight simulator centres currently in Sydney and Melbourne as well as Qantas’ heavy maintenance facilities in Brisbane – particularly if there was an opportunity to bring some or all of these facilities together elsewhere within Australia.

There are no intentions to offshore facilities as a result of this review and it is not expected to have any impact on customers. Rather, the review flows from job losses already announced, (about 25 per cent of which were corporate and head office employees) the need for more efficiencies and setting the Group up for the future.

Lockdown lifestyles drive significant cargo growth at London Stansted

MAG Cargo records year-on-year increase of goods handled at London Stansted and East Midlands Airports

Changes to consumer habits is driving up demand for specialist dedicated air cargo integrators

Significant demand for extra cargo flights to the US due to lack of belly hold capacity on passenger routes

Photo MAG

People’s increasing reliance on ecommerce during the pandemic, coupled with a reduction in passenger flights, has driven significant growth in air cargo at the Manchester Airports Group (MAG) owned East Midlands and London Stansted airports.

The current climate has turbo-charged the shift to online shopping, the impact of which is been felt at both London Stansted and East Midlands Airports (EMA). Earlier in the year, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the proportion of UK shopping carried out online rose from 19% in February to almost 33% in April as lockdown restrictions took hold.

Over the summer months, traditionally the quieter time of year for air cargo, volumes at both EMA, home to the UK’s largest dedicated air cargo operation, and London Stansted were significantly up on the same time last year. In July and August, EMA saw an increase of 21.2% and 18.5% respectively, while volumes at London Stansted increased by 43.6% and 25% in the same period.

The shift towards dedicated air cargo operations is also being driven by the lack of traditional belly-hold operations, where goods are transported in the baggage hold of passenger aircraft. With many airlines scaling back long-haul passenger operations in recent months, the availability of belly-hold capacity has reduced significantly to key markets, especially on popular routes to the US. For example, during June, July and August there has been an average of 60 additional cargo flights to and from East Midlands Airport and the US and, most notably, a 120% increase in the volume of goods travelling between EMA and JFK airport in New York. In addition, there are extra weekly flights between London Stansted and the US.

These volumes are eclipsing what would normally be expected during the weeks leading up to Christmas, which is traditionally the busiest time of year for dedicated air cargo and express freight airlines. It comes after the airports played a central role in transporting essential goods during the pandemic, with shipments of vital medical supplies and PPE helping add to the increase in volume.

"The last few months have seen a seismic shift in the way we live our lives. While much has been made of the changes to the way people travel, behind the scenes our airports have been leading the charge in helping the logistics sector adapt to rising demand for dedicated air cargo and changes in the way goods are transported. This underlines the vital role MAG airports play in supporting the UK economy as it gets back on its feet, and the critical role of air cargo in moving essential products quickly across the globe. We look forward to continuing our work with this important sector as it prepares itself for ever-increasing demand in the months ahead." Said.Group Aviation Director for MAG, Aboudy Nasser

Denise Rossiter, Chief Executive of Essex Chambers of Commerce commented, "Stansted is generally thought of as somewhere to start your holiday or perhaps a business trip to an ever growing number of destinations across the globe. These figures show its importance for exporters and importers too and how it is increasingly a major contributor to not just the Essex economy but that of the UK generally and why it is so important to businesses in Essex. I congratulate MAG and all at the airport on this achievement and look forward to seeing continuing growth in the future."

Dr Ann Limb, Chair of the UK Innovation Corridor said: "These figures clearly demonstrate the importance of aviation to the UK and regional economy. Airports like Stansted are playing a huge role in the economic fight against COVID19 and during these difficult times this news is a major boost for the London - Cambridge Innovation Corridor."

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New Air Canada Infinite Canada Flight Pass Offers Customers Unrivalled Flexibility and Certainty for Domestic Travel

Photo Air Canada

Air Canada today introduced its new Infinite Canada Flight Pass, designed to give customers the ultimate in flexibility and certainty for booking travel within Canada. For one flat fee, pass holders will be able to book travel without blackout or booking restrictions, make changes or cancellations without penalty, and fly as often as desired for up to three months, depending on the duration of pass purchased.

"Air Canada recognizes that as air travel begins to return to normal customers want flexibility and certainty. Our new Infinite Canada Flight Pass provides both by enabling customers to easily book and change their travel plans without any blackout restrictions or change or cancellation fees, while locking in the price of their flights for up to three months with one flat fee. The pass also gives customers the option to choose which class of fare they desire -- Standard, Flex and Latitude -- and allows them to earn Altitude Qualifying Miles," said Lucie Guillemette, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada.

Airbus-built Copernicus satellite Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is readied to fly to Vandenberg for launch...................California, here we come!

Photo Airbus 

Airbus space engineers are preparing the European ocean satellite "Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich" for its journey to the Vandenberg launch site in California. Next week, the satellite will be loaded into a cargo plane at Munich Airport and flown to the US.  The Airbus-built satellite is scheduled for launch on 10 November 2020.

 

The Copernicus Sentinel-6 will carry out high-precision measurements of ocean surface topography. The satellite will measure its distance to the ocean surface with an accuracy of a few centimetres and use this data to map it, repeating the cycle every 10 days, with the mission lasting up to seven years. It will document changes in sea-surface height, record and analyse variations in sea levels and observe ocean currents. Exact observations of changes in sea-surface height provide insights into global sea levels, ocean sea state, ocean wind speed, the speed and direction of ocean geostrophic currents, and ocean heat storage. These measurements are vital for modelling the oceans and monitoring/predicting rises in sea levels. In addition, Sentinel-6 will provide measurements over large rivers and lakes in support of water management applications.

 

AIA Releases 2020 Facts & Figures Analysis

Facing one of the most challenging years on record, decade-long growth underscores the aerospace and defence industry’s vital role in the U.S. economy, innovation, and national security

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent dramatic decrease in global air traffic has presented the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry with an extraordinary challenge. Building on the success of 2019, it is a challenge our industry is poised to meet, according to “2020 Facts and Figures: U.S. Aerospace & Defense.” This in-depth analysis, developed by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) with the support of IHS Markit, provides a snapshot of the industry’s global leadership and its strong contributions to the U.S. economy, national security, and innovation in 2019 and considers the impact of the pandemic on our industry in the first half of 2020.

Corporación América Airports S.A. Reports August 2020 Passenger Traffic

Corporación América Airports  the largest private-sector airport operator in the world by number of airports, reported today an 88.8% decline year-over-year passenger traffic in August 2020.

Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Highlights
Statistics	Ago'20	Ago'19(1)(3)	% Var.		YTD'20(1)(2)	YTD'19(1)(2)(3)	% Var.
Domestic Passengers (thousands)	421	4,265	-90.1%		10,854	31,484	-65.5%
International Passengers (thousands)	276	2,683	-89.7%		5,922	19,100	-69.0%
Transit Passengers (thousands)	156	644	-75.8%		2,197	5,546	-60.4%
Total Passengers (thousands)	853	7,592	-88.8%		18,973	56,130	-66.2%
Cargo Volume (thousand tons)	17.6	32.4	-45.8%		164.7	278.3	-40.8%
Total Aircraft Movements (thousands)	20.3	77.1	-73.7%		244.3	574.3	-57.5%

Sheremetyevo Airport Executives Included in the Kommersant Rating of Best Managers in the Country

Photo Sheremetyevo International Airport

Three senior executives of Sheremetyevo International Airport have been named to Kommersant's 21st annual list of the Top-1000 Russian Managers. The list was developed by Kommersant Publishing House, which engaged the Association of Managers to make the selections. 

Alexander Ponomarenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC SIA, was named as one of the 46 top business leaders of Russia. Director General of JSC SIA Mikhail Vasilenko was ranked first among top managers in the transport category, and Public Relations Director Anna Zakharenkova was ranked second among directors of public and corporate relations in the transport sector.

Boeing's ‘culture of concealment’ and a 'horrific' string of 'faulty technical assumptions' lead to the two fatal crashes of 737 MAX aircraft, report finds.

Grounded 737 MAX aircraft

The U.S. House of Representatives' Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has finally released its report on The Design, Development & Certification of the Boeing 737 MAX, following two crashes that caused the death of 346 people.

The report took 18 months to investigate and produce and has been damming on both the manufacture, Boeing and the US regulator, the FAA  citing a "horrific culmination" of failures which culminated in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes.

The Committee’s investigation has revealed multiple missed opportunities that could have turned the trajectory of the MAX’s design and development toward a safer course due to flawed technical design criteria, faulty assumptions about pilot response times, and production pressures. The FAA also missed its own opportunities to change the direction of the 737 MAX based on its aviation safety mission. Boeing failed in its design and development of the MAX, and the FAA failed in its oversight of Boeing and its certification of the aircraft. 

The full report details that the two fatal crashes were not a result of "a singular failure, technical mistake, or mismanaged event," but on a "horrific" culmination of "faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers", a lack of transparency across Boeing’s management, and "grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA."

Boeing was engaged in a massive cost-cutting exercise at the time of the MAX's introduction to operational service with airlines,  mainly so the model could compete with European rival Airbus over its latest incantation of the A320 and ensure more profit for shareholders. 

Volocopter offers reservations for commercial flights

 At Greentech Festival in Berlin today, Volocopter, the pioneer of Urban Air Mobility (UAM), announced that the world's first public sale for electrical air taxi flight reservations has started. Effective immediately, Volocopter fans world-wide can reserve their tickets online and be amongst the very first to take this new form of mobility. The VoloFirst ticket costs €300 and can be reserved with a 10% deposit. There are only 1000 presale reservations available for a limited time.