Air New Zealand announced (11-Aug-2022) it is taking measures to protect the travel plans of its customers as sickness levels continue to cause disruption. Over the next six months, the carrier will operate a reduced schedule of 1.5% fewer seats than originally planned. Most customers who experience a service change will be transferred to another flight on the same day for domestic travel, and for international travel, on the same day or a day either side of their original booking. Where customers cannot be accommodated within these timeframes, they may change their booking online, opt into credit or request a refund. Customers with changes will start to see them from 11-Aug-2022 and will be automatically transferred to another service. Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran stated: "We're pulling out all the stops to minimise disruption and provide surety for our customers over the next six months. We have rehired or brought on more than 2000 pilots, airport staff, cabin crew, contact centre and engineers, and we're going as fast as we can with recruitment and training". Mr Foran added: "We're also exploring options to lease a crewed widebody aircraft for the busy summer period… at the moment we're stretched to capacity and making sure our customers are able to travel is our top priority. The lease of an additional crewed aircraft may help us achieve that". Air New Zealand's domestic and international schedule will be operating at 90% of pre-Covid capacity for the next six months. [more - original PR]
Europe's capacity recovery as a percentage of 2019 levels remains on the plateau it has occupied since the last week of May-2022. This appears to be helping an improving load factor trend.
Europe's total seat capacity is at 87.1% in the week commencing 8-Aug-2022, which is a shortfall of -12.9% against the equivalent week 2019.
Europe remains fourth in the regional ranking, above Asia Pacific, where capacity is down -21.6% versus 2019, and the Middle East, where capacity is down -14.0%.
IATA data show that European airline load factor was 86.0% in Jun-2022, only 1.5ppts short of the Jun-2019 level. The gap to 2019 load factors has narrowed every month since Apr-2022 and the trend has been broadly improving for more than a year.
The capacity recovery may have lost momentum, but load factor gains show that supply is now more closely balanced with demand.
EASA has ended its approval of transporting cargo in passenger cabins. The European safety regulator had authorised this, in addition to belly space, in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. It concluded that the logistical challenges that arose due to the pandemic no longer exist to the same extent.
Before COVID-19 'preighters' (passenger aircraft used to carry freight) did not really exist, but they accounted for 25% of global air cargo traffic in 2Q2020. Their use supplied essential freight capacity, but did not fully replace the belly space in grounded passenger aircraft during the crisis.
Nevertheless, global air cargo traffic comfortably exceeded constrained capacity throughout 2021, while capacity shortages benefitted cargo yield and load factor. Demand has softened more recently, but Jun-2022 CTKs were still +0.8% up on Jun-2019 (while RPKs were -29.2%).
Air cargo increased its share of airline revenue from 12% in 2019 to 40% in 2021. IATA forecasts that this will ease back to 24% in 2022, but air cargo could well emerge from the pandemic with its position structurally enhanced.
Poland’s Rzeszów Airport responds to refugee challenge while solidifying its customary business base
One consequence of the war in Ukraine that impacts on nearby countries is the handling of the many refugees.
Poland alone has taken well over 100,000 refugees already, some opting to stay close by for a swift return when they can, others moving on elsewhere.
The small city of Rzeszów, in the southeast of Poland, is one of the closest to Ukraine, and with the Lviv Airport in that country closed, its airport has taken on a significant role in the evacuation of refugees, as well as that of a reception point for incoming aid and associated workers.
At the same time, the airport is trying to behave as ‘normally’ as possible, increasing its route network and benefitting from the established presence of LOT Polish Airlines, Ryanair and Wizz Air in particular.
Whatever the outcome of the war, the airport and the cultured small city it serves have found themselves thrust into the international spotlight, which may well turn out to be to their benefit.
For many US airlines 2Q2022 was a study in contrasts. Leisure demand came roaring back, which resulted in the country’s airline operators posting record revenue. But high fuel costs, staffing and operational challenges cast dark clouds over the robust revenue environment.
Southwest Airlines was among the US operators posting record revenues, and although there are some shifts occurring in consumer and business sentiments, the airline believes that demand trends will remain strong.
But in addition to the challenges US airlines face with labour and operations, Southwest is now bracing for a dramatic decrease in the number of aircraft that Boeing will deliver to the airline in 2022.
For now, Southwest believes it can manage the delays; but if the airframer cannot catch up on those aircraft deliveries over time, it could create more headwinds for the airline.
Australia’s domestic airline market is well on the way to recovery, but the competitive landscape has been transformed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shifting strategies from incumbents and the impending entry of a new airline are set to produce what could be the most dramatic and lasting transformation for the market since the start of the century.
After the start-stop recovery of 2020 and 2021, the rebound of domestic travel demand in 2022 has run ahead of expectations, mostly on the back of strong leisure/VFR demand.
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Air New Zealand announces plans to reactivate first Boeing 777-300 from Victorville
Air New Zealand announced (09-Aug-2022) it is bringing its first Victorville based Boeing 777-300 aircraft out of the desert, after 696 days in deep storage. In 2020, the airline sent four 777-300s to the Victorville storage facility in the Mojave Desert due to the impacts of coronavirus, limiting the airline's flying schedule to the bare minimum. The first Boeing 777-300 aircraft, registration ZK-OKP, is due to leave Victorville in late Aug-2022 for Auckland where it will have scheduled maintenance before re-joining the Boeing 777-300 operating fleet from late Sep-2022. ZK-OKP is the first of four Victorville based Boeing 777-300 aircraft to be reanimated and the airline is working through a programme to bring back the three remaining aircraft over the next year. The airline also has three Boeing 777-300 aircraft that were stored in Auckland for the last two years. Two of these aircraft are back in service, with Boeing 777-300 ZK-OKO due to re-enter service in the coming weeks. [more - original PR]
EUROCONTROL director general Eamonn Brennan, via his official Twitter account, reported (08-Aug-2022) the following European network traffic highlights, for the period between 25-Jul-2022 and 31-Jul-2022:
- The top 20 operators, based on the average number of daily flights:
- Ryanair: 3011 flights, unchanged week to week;
- easyJet: 1640, +3%;
- Turkish Airlines: 1506, unchanged week to week;
- Lufthansa: 1202, +18%, recovering from the strike in the week prior;
- Air France: 1065, -3%;
- Wizz Air: 814, +2%;
- KLM: 783, +1%;
- Vueling: 717: +2%;
- British Airways: 698, +2%;
- TUI Group: 563, +1%
- SAS Group: 559, -1%;
- Eurowings: 546, +2%;
- Pegasus Airlines: 507, unchanged week to week;
- Norwegian Group: 421, unchanged week to week;
- Aegean Airlines Group: 412, +1%;
- SWISS: 408, +1%;
- Jet2.com: 391, unchanged week to week;
- Iberia: 352, -2%;
- TAP Group: 338, -1%;
- ITA Airways: 333, -3%.
Hong Kong to reduce hotel quarantine to three days plus four days of medical surveillance
Hong Kong's Government announced (08-Aug-2022) inbound travellers will be subject to quarantine under the '3+4' model, effective 12-Aug-2022. The model involves compulsory quarantine in designated quarantine hotels for three days, followed by medical surveillance at home for four days. The new regime will be a reduction from the current seven day hotel quarantine. [more - original PR]
Avianca submitted (08-Aug-2022) a request to Colombia Aerocivil to integrate Viva into the Abra Group. The carriers stated the integration request is due to Viva's "complex financial situation that requires immediate intervention". Avianca CEO Adrian Neuhauser said: "The integration request with Viva seeks to fight for its survival in the market, as well as to maintain the competitiveness it has built during 10 years of operation... Avianca has a solid financial position... which would allow it to achieve synergies and take advantage of economies of scale with Viva, provide financial support and participate in its management". As previously reported by CAPA, Avianca and GOL created the Abra Group holding company in May-2022, with the organisation initially proposing a non-controlling 100% economic interest in Viva's operations in Colombia and Peru. [more - original PR]
LATAM Airlines Chile resumed (05-Aug-2022) twice weekly Santiago-Easter Island passenger service on 04-Aug-2022, following a temporary suspension since early 2020. The airline operates the service with Boeing 787-9 equipment. [more - original PR - Spanish]
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