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CAPA News Briefs

CAPA publishes more than 1,000 global News Briefs every week, covering all aspects of the aviation and travel industry. It’s the most comprehensive source of market intelligence in the world, with around 50 per cent of content translated from non-English sources. The breadth of our coverage means you won’t need any other news sources to monitor competitors and stay informed about the latest developments in the wider aviation sector.

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Below is a sample of the latest news headlines. 313 news briefs have been published for CAPA Members in the past 2 days.

easyJet opened (18-Mar-2024) its ninth UK base at Birmingham Airport. As previously reported by CAPA, the three aircraft base will facilitate the launch of 16 new routes during summer 2024 and increased frequencies, resulting in 50% more flights per week. The base will create 140 jobs and support approximately 1200 total jobs. The announcement marks easyJet's first base opening in over a decade. [more - original PR - easyJet] [more - original PR - easyJet - II] [more - original PR - Birmingham Airport]

Capital A announced (18-Mar-2024) AirAsia Cambodia will launch operations with twice daily Phnom Penh-Siem Reap and Siem Reap-Sihanoukville services from 02-May-2024. The LCC will operate the services with two A320 aircraft to be based at Phnom Penh International Airport. AirAsia Cambodia CEO Vissoth Nam stated: "The timing could not be better for AirAsia Cambodia's debut, considering the significant growth witnessed in Cambodian air travel and tourism". [more - original PR]

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) partnered (18-Mar-2024) with New Terminal One (NTO) and URW Airports to launch the commercial programme associated with the USD9.5 billion new international terminal at New York John F Kennedy International Airport. URW will promote concessions business opportunities at the facility, with a focus on diverse entry points for local, women and minority owned businesses. URW also issued its first prime operator RFP and is seeking a global duty free partner to occupy five outlets in the project's initial phase, with additional space to be provided in future phases. As previously reported by CAPA, the new terminal forms part of the USD19 billion transformation programme at the airport and is scheduled to open in 2026. [more - original PR]

US Government released (11-Mar-2024) the FY2025 Budget request to Congress, requesting USD21.8 billion for the US FAA. Details include:

  • USD1.8 billion for the Office of Aviation Safety to support production oversight and continued operational safety, boosting the FAA's resources for continuous safety improvement;
  • A new Facility Replacement and Radar Modernisation proposal dedicating USD8 billion towards replacing or modernising ageing air traffic control (ATC) facilities over the next five years, beginning with USD1 billion in 2025. The proposal includes modernising 377 critical radar systems and more than 20 ATC facilities;
  • USD43 million to accelerate the hiring and training of air traffic controllers to meet the FAA's goal of hiring 2000 new controllers in 2025.

US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated: "President Biden's Budget allows us to continue advancing vital work underway across the country - making travel safer on every mode of transportation, strengthening supply chains to keep costs down, and modernizing our infrastructure to serve Americans for generations". [more - original PR - DoT] [more - original PR - FAA]

IATA announced (08-Mar-2024) the aviation industry's commitment to improving gender balance is "starting to deliver results". Details include:

  • The percentage of active pilot licences held by women in the US increased from 6.6% in 2013 to 10.3% in 2023. IATA said the share has been "rising steadily", by up to almost 1pp p/a. The overall number of female pilots doubled from around 39,000 to around 83,000 between 2013 and 2023;
  • The female proportion of the total number of pilots is greatest in the early age cohorts of 14 to 15 years and 16 to 19 years, representing nearly one quarter of the mostly trainee pilots in 2023. IATA noted the female share of the total "steadily declines" thereafter, particularly in "prime working" years. This includes a "significant" 6.1pp decline in the share in the 20 to 24 age cohort to 16.8%. The share falls to 8.9% for the 40 to 44 years cohort, 3.5% for the 75 to 79 range and 2.7% for 80 and over;
  • Gender representation in other aviation professions lags "even further behind". In 2023, only 3% of all aircraft mechanics certified in the US were female and only 6% of repair staff and 4% of flight engineers. IATA said a "slightly better" gender balance has already been achieved within the dispatcher category, where 20% were female in 2023.

IATA stated while the progress is encouraging, the airline industry remains a "heavily male dominated sector". IATA added: "More needs to be done to make it an attractive and viable career option for women throughout their working life. Although there is no simple solution to this issue, any such initiatives must span the industry and be undertaken in a conscious and coordinated manner". [more - original PR]

iGA Istanbul Airport chief planning officer Ismail Polat, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition 2024, stated (08-Mar-2024) "We are seeing different behaviours in passengers, whether it be when they come to the airport or how they spend their money when they are at the airport".

Finavia SVP route development Petri Vuori, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition 2024, stated (08-Mar-2024) "after COVID-19, leisure traffic has been increasing and business has been going down". Mr Vuori said the company has noticed food and beverage revenue has been increasing and tax free sales has been decreasing. He added the leisure traveller is arriving earlier and spending at the airport, just not spending on the "luxury items".

TUI director of airline operations Brendan Kelly, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition 2024, stated (08-Mar-2024) "people want really clear communication" labelling this a "huge focus area for us". Mr Kelly noted "passengers managed properly in a delay scenario "give us a much better net promoter score". He added "given the ticket price at the moment, the expectation is really high when it comes to delivery".

Aena operations and network services director Rafael Fernández Villasante, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition 2024, stated (08-Mar-2024) the group is "fully recovered from COVID-19", with it reaching "3% over 2019 passenger numbers in 2023". Mr Villasante noted that while the Madrid and Barcelona hubs didn't reach previous figures, the group had an "impressive growth" in terms of destinations across the network.

Munich Airport International MD Lorenzo Di Loreto, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition 2024, stated (08-Mar-2024) airports realised during COVID-19 that 'ACI was not sufficiently strong to talk on behalf of all airports". Mr Di Loreto said: "This is something that eventually we airports need to strengthen… if we want to be ready for the next shock… It is about having someone who can talk and negotiate on our behalf". He added: "We need to be more supportive of ACI, so it can have the same weight as IATA".

iGA Istanbul Airport chief planning officer Ismail Polat, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition 2024, stated (08-Mar-2024) "The relationship with airports and airlines is like a marriage, we love each other and need each other and sometimes we don't want to be in the same room".

TUI director of airline operations Brendan Kelly, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition 2024, stated (08-Mar-2024) that in terms of AI "the biggest use case" for the company "is currently in co-piloting and decision making". Mr Kelly said the challenge moving forward is "trusting an AI system in making decisions that are high risk".