UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) reported (26-Sep-2022) international tourist arrivals "almost tripled" in the first seven months of 2022, increasing 172% year-on-year to 474 million and recovering to 60% of pre-pandemic levels. An estimated 207 million international tourists were recorded in Jun-2022 and Jul-2022 combined, more than twice the number recorded in Jun/Jul-2021. These months represent 44% of the total arrivals recorded in the first seven months of 2022. Europe welcomed 309 million of these arrivals, 65% of the total. UNWTO stated the "steady" recovery reflects "strong" pent up demand and easing restrictions, with no COVID-19 travel restrictions in 86 countries as of 19-Sep-2022. UNWTO secretary general Zurab Pololikashvili stated: "Tourism continues to recover steadily, yet several challenges remain, from geopolitical to economic. The sector is bringing back hope and opportunity for people everywhere". Mr Pololikashvili added: "Now is also the time to rethink tourism, where it is going and how it impacts people and planet". [more - original PR]
Hong Kong ‘loses its status as an international hub’ as a reaction to China’s zero-COVID policy
Long before individual Chinese mainland airports began their rapid growth in the late 1990s, Hong Kong International (HKIA) was like a beacon for the entire region as a gateway to China and indeed, to much of North and Southeast Asia.
But the prolonged pandemic in China and Hong Kong, and the vain attempts there to achieve ‘zero COVID’ by locking people up for months on end, have dealt the airport and Cathay Pacific a body blow such that neither appears to have the wherewithal to bounce back from the canvas, according to IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh.
This report adds some statistical meat to Mr Walsh’s concerns and concludes that he is right.
Air travel in Australia and New Zealand has been recovering well in 2022. Domestic capacity has returned particularly strongly, and while the international rebound started later, it has followed a sustained growth trend. This is an encouraging picture after the volatility and false starts of the past few years.
The following presentation was made at the CAPA Australasia-Pacific Aviation Summit in Adelaide on 13-Sep-2022 by Adrian Schofield, who is Aviation Week’s senior air transport editor for Asia-Pacific and also a CAPA analyst.
Charts and data help illustrate the extent to which demand has recovered in Australasia, and what this has meant for international and domestic market dynamics and aircraft fleets.
While the market revival is very promising for airlines, they still face some challenges. The most immediate is ensuring that a recent spike in service disruptions does not return to derail progress.
In the West Nordic region in the Atlantic Ocean (Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands) Iceland has become the go-to destination for many people over the last 10 years. The other two countries are coming up on the rails in the way of attracting tourists but still have some way to go.
Under a new initiative Icelandair and Air Greenland are better coordinating their schedules by way of Keflavik Airport, which becomes the de facto international gateway for both countries. It should make all manner of travel easier between Iceland and Greenland and beyond, although not having flights directly into the downtown Reykjavik Airport may have a downside.
But the bigger issue here is whether this is a one-off decision or whether it will lead to wider airline and tourism cooperation within what is a definable region – one that offers visitors experiences they would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
This regular CAPA report provides a summary of recent aviation sustainability and environment news. This latest issue features:
Air Canada to acquire 30 ES-30 electric aircraft
Virgin Australia Group CEO: 'foundational investments' needed for SAF journey to commence
Fiji requires aviation industry to collaborate on sustainability: Fiji Airways executive manager
Air New Zealand to receive first shipment of SAF into New Zealand
Rockton confirms LoI for up to 40 Heart Aerospace ES-30 aircraft
South Africa rejects offer for ACSA stake: part two – president ‘values’ public-private partnerships
ACSA, the state airport operator in South Africa, is the subject of an unsolicited offer from investors for a stake. That stake would only be in six regional airports, according to the entrepreneur involved.
The South African air transport industry has seen better days.
Both ACSA and South African Airways (SAA) were heavily impacted by the pandemic and SAA, which has recently been part-privatised, had long since become a loss maker.
Even so, there is a possibility that others might be prepared to make a counter bid.
This is part two of a two-part report.
Upcoming Event
Singapore: CAPA Asia Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence
The CAPA Asia Aviation Summit is the region’s pre-eminent gathering of aviation and travel industry executives, offering a unique blend of high level aviation content and management insights.
Upcoming Event
Sydney: CTC Australasia Corporate Travel Summit & Sustainability Awards
CTC Australasia Corporate Travel Summit returns to Sydney, Australia on 22-23 November 2022 and will feature CTCs Sustainability Awards.
Airline CEO Keynote with Virgin Australia Group CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka
Virgin Australia Group, CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka
British Airways and Qatar Airways complete expansion of joint business partnership
British Airways and Qatar Airways completed (26-Sep-2022) the last phase in the expansion of their partnership, stating they now offer "connectivity between more countries than any other airline joint business". The airlines added 42 countries to their shared network, including Italy, Maldives, Norway, Singapore and Sweden, expanding access between destinations in Europe and the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The expansion will enable connecting journeys on single tickets through Doha and London, bringing the number of destinations served by the two airlines to 185 across more than 60 countries. Customers can engage with both airlines' loyalty programmes, earning and spending the common Avios currency. Cooperation on "a small number of routes" remains subject to pending regulatory clearances. [more - original PR - British Airways] [more - original PR - Qatar Airways]
Qantas Group appointed (26-Sep-2022) Stephanie Tully as Jetstar CEO. Ms Tully joined the Qantas Group 2004 and has worked across operational, commercial, marketing and customer loyalty functions in progressively more senior roles. She has been a group executive and chief customer officer since 2019. As a result of this appointment, Markus Svensson will be promoted to chief customer officer and become a member of the group executive committee reporting to the group CEO. Mr Svensson is currently executive manager of network, revenue management and alliances. Ms Tully and Mr Svensson will commence transitioning to their new roles shortly, ahead of a formal handover in Nov-2022. Current Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans will leave the role by the end of 2022. [more - original PR]
Ethiopian Airlines led consortium selected as preferred bidder for Nigeria Air shares
Nigeria's Ministry of Aviation selected (22-Sep-2022) an Ethiopian Airlines led consortium as the preferred bidder for shares in Nigeria Air. Under the public private partnership model, Ethiopian Airlines will own 49% of the carrier, with the Nigerian Sovereign Fund owning 46% and the Federal Government owning 5%. A contract for three 166 seat (16 business and 150 economy) Boeing 737-800s has been finalised with Ethiopian Airlines. The government aims to finish procedures including due diligence, contract negotiation and issuance of a compliance certificate by mid Nov-2022, with a view to launching the carrier by the end of 2022. The airline is expected to launch operations with Lagos-Abuja service. [more - original PR]
US DoT and DoE release SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap outlining strategy to scale SAF production
US' Department of Transportation (DoT) and Department of Energy (DoE) released (23-Sep-2022) the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge Roadmap, outlining the US Government's strategy to scale SAF production nationwide. The plan details actions to promote technological innovation to produce SAF, reduce emissions, enable the achievement of domestic climate goals and position the US as a global leader in the emerging SAF market. The roadmap aims to achieve the goals of the SAF Grand Challenge signed in 2021, which consists of three major goals:
- Achieve a minimum of a 50% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fuel;
- Produce three billion gallons of SAF annually by 2030;
- Supply sufficient SAF to meet 100% of domestic aviation fuel demand by 2050.
The roadmap was produced by DoE in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, DoT and US FAA. [more - original PR]
Wizz Air announced (22-Sep-2022) plans to further expand its bases in Italy. The carrier will allocate two A321neo aircraft to Rome Fiumicino Airport and one to Milan Malpensa Airport. The allocation of the aircraft will enable the launch of the following 12 new routes:
- Milan Malpensa:
- Cardiff: Twice weekly from 30-Oct-2022;
- Yerevan: Twice weekly from 10-Jan-2023;
- Marsa Alam: Twice weekly from 11-Jan-2023;
- Jeddah: Twice weekly from 03-Dec-2022;
- Riyadh: Twice weekly from 20-Apr-2023;
- Rome Fiumicino:
- Barcelona: Daily from 12-Dec-2022;
- Valencia: Three times weekly from 13-Dec-2022;
- Porto: Three times weekly from 13-Dec-2022;
- Paris Orly: Five times weekly from 12-Dec-2022;
- Seville: Three times weekly from 29-Apr-2023;
- Malaga: Four times weekly from 28-Apr-2023;
- Gothenburg: Twice weekly from 30-Apr-2023.
Frequencies will increase from Rome Fiumicino to Eindhoven, Hurghada, Paris Orly, Tel Aviv and Yerevan, and from Milan Malpensa to Tel Aviv, Catania and Athens. The allocation of two more aircraft to Rome Fiumicino will expand the base to seven aircraft. The move brings the number of routes from the base to 65. Milan Malpensa Airport's additional aircraft will be the sixth aircraft at the base. The carrier's Milan Malpensa's network will expand to 43 destinations. [more - original PR]
Want More News Like This?
This report, jointly prepared by CAPA - Centre for Aviation (CAPA) and Envest Global (Envest), is designed to highlight some of the core elements of sustainable aviation, methods of quantifying individual airline sustainability credentials, and emissions.