Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) publication with performance figures for 2020 demonstrating the devastating effects on global air transport during that year of the COVID-19 crisis: 1.8 billion passengers flew in 2020, a decrease of 60.2% compared to the 4.5 billion who flew in 2019 Industry-wide air travel demand (measured in revenue passenger-kilometers, or RPKs) dropped by 65.9% year-on-year International passenger demand (RPKs) decreased by 75.6% compared to the year prior Domestic air passenger demand (RPKs) dropped by 48.8% compared to 2019 Air connectivity declined by more than half in 2020 with the number of routes connecting airports falling dramatically at the outset of the crisis and was down more than [...]

Source: ACI Airports Council International (ACI) World has today published updated guidance for airports to aid in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on their operations. As the industry prepares to sustain a long-term recovery, the third edition of Airport Operations Business Restart and Recovery has been retitled to Airport Operations and COVID-19: Business Recovery. ACI has not only updated its guidance on the practical and efficient health and operational measures that can be introduced to support safe travel, but has also expanded the guidance to include information on health passes and vaccinations, as well as risk management when returning to operations, with a particular focus on human factors during recovery. “Over the last 15 months, ACI has [...]

Source: ICAO Juan Carlos Salazar of Colombia begins mandate as ICAO Secretary General Montréal, 1 August 2021 - Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar of Colombia officially assumed the office of ICAO Secretary General today, succeeding Dr. Fang Liu of China. He assumes this role as CEO of the UN’s specialized agency for civil aviation as the international flight network continues to assure the efficient global movement of food, vaccines, e-commerce, and other essential supplies and personnel, despite the air transport industry still being severely confronted by COVID-19, greatly diminished routes, and slowly rebounding international air travel and tourism. “It is a great honour to be assuming this role at this time, and to have the opportunity to help governments and ICAO play an [...]

Source: ALPA Starting August 12, the FAA will implement the second phase of the South Central Florida metroplex airspace and procedures redesign, which optimizes airspace and modifies 76 procedures including 38 standard instrument departures (SIDs) and 31 standard terminal arrivals (STARs). The redesign improves traffic flow for Orlando International Airport (MCO), Tampa International (TPA), Palm Beach International (PBI), Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International (FLL), and Miami International (MIA) as well as air traffic control facilities (ATC) that manage airspace servicing the southeast United States, Caribbean, and Atlantic Oceanic regions. The FAA has invited ALPA Air Safety Organization representatives to monitor the implementation process, systematically evaluating the Metroplex design for four days. During this period, ATC facilities may use traffic management initiatives (TMI), [...]

Source: ALPA The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), the world’s largest pilots union, applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for advancing legislation that would ensure a fair opportunity for U.S. airlines to compete globally and protect American jobs by enfranchising rights of U.S. workers within our aviation trade agreements and putting an end to unfair “flag of convenience” business practices by foreign airlines intending to serve U.S. markets. Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill, which contained a bipartisan amendment introduced by representatives Kai Kahele (D-HI), Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Jack Bergman (R-MI) that instructs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to assess whether [...]

Source: A4A We commend Senate negotiators and the Administration for their unwavering determination to reach consensus on a bipartisan infrastructure package. They demonstrated a strong commitment to constructive debate and robust dialogue which ultimately fostered meaningful compromise. We encourage Congress to continue setting aside differences and identify common ground that results in effective policy and smart investment for our country.

Source: ACI NA Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, today released the following statement from President and CEO Kevin M. Burke in support of the bipartisan infrastructure deal in the Senate. The package is set to include $25 billion for American airports and air traffic control towers – with $20 billion allocated for U.S. airports – as the industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to invest in measures to limit the spread of the virus. “Airports across the U.S. support this bipartisan infrastructure agreement because it makes a much-needed down payment to upgrade aging facilities,” Burke said. “Chronically underfunded, airports have struggled to make necessary terminal, [...]

Source: GOV.UK The UK government has today (28 July 2021) announced that passengers arriving from amber countries who have been fully vaccinated in Europe (EUMember States, European Free Trade Association countries and the European microstate countries of Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City) and the USA will not have to quarantine when entering England, as part of a range of new measures designed to continue to drive forward the reopening of international travel, set out as part of the second Global Travel Taskforce checkpoint review. From 4am 2 August 2021, passengers who are fully vaccinated in the EU with vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or in the USAwith vaccines authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air cargo markets for June showing a 9.9% improvement on pre-COVID-19 performance (June 2019). This pushed first half-year air cargo growth to 8%, its strongest first half performance since 2017 (when the industry posted 10.2% year-on-year growth). As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons to follow are to June 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. Global demand for June 2021, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 9.9% compared to June 2019. Regional variations in performance are significant. North American carriers contributed 5.9 percentage points (ppts) to the 9.9% growth rate in June. [...]