Source: ACI Airports Council International (ACI) World has announced today the appointment of Véronique Demers as its new Vice President of Communications and Marketing. Véronique joins at a critical point for the airport industry as it looks to forge the path to sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. Véronique has over 15 years of multi-sector experience in corporate communications, public relations, digital marketing, and branding. She has held leadership roles in strategic communications and marketing for the hospitality/travel industry including two brands of the Accor hotel group. While working in the hospitality sector, she was integral in establishing partnerships and building communications and marketing strategies that helped hotel properties reach top status on the global stage. Véronique brings international experience [...]

Source: ICAO The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has appointed Mr. Padhraic Kelleher to a one-year renewable term as President of the ICAO Air Navigation Commission (ANC), the UN civil aviation organization's main technical review body. Mr. Kelleher's mandate begins on 1 January 2022. As President of the ANC, he will lead the Commission's work on the development of ICAO's global plans for safety and for air navigation capacity and efficiency as well as the Standards and Recommended Practices annexed to the Chicago Convention. The management of the ANC's preparations for ICAO's 2022 Assembly will also be among his first key responsibilities. Following his nomination by the United Kingdom, Mr. Kelleher joined the Commission in September 2018. [...]

Source: FAA The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award $2.89 billion made available by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 3,075 airports around the nation. The money can be invested in runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, as well as terminal, airport-transit connections and roadway projects. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build safer and more sustainable airports that connect individuals to jobs and communities to the world,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the country now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America.” For an interactive map and listing of [...]

Source: IATA IATA thanks the European Commission for providing confirmation of the slot rules for next summer in good time, resisting calls to fully switch the pre-pandemic slot rules back on. The extended slot alleviation provides certainty of the rules when the demand environment remains unpredictable, allowing airlines to build sustainable schedules that respond to demand. IATA particularly appreciated the Commission’s openness to discuss technical aspects of the proposal, which led to the choice of a slot use threshold that can be practicably implemented by airlines in terms of schedules and slot planning. We hope that as soon as possible, governments restore travel rules that allow for the industry to return to growth again. Until demand growth stabilizes, it is [...]

Source: ACI Despite the pandemic, the most constrained airports are already effectively saturated at peak times, and slots at these airports will remain scarce.An additional complexity is that recovery is likely to be uneven as regions face different conditions from each other. ACI World projects that worldwide passenger traffic by the end of next year will reach 6.6 billion, up from 4.6 billion in 2021. Despite the pandemic, the most constrained airports are already effectively saturated at peak times, and slots at these airports will remain scarce. An additional complexity is that recovery is likely to be uneven as regions face different conditions from each other. Moreover, there is still no uniform and consistent approach to passenger testing, vaccine recognition, [...]

Source: ACI-LAC The pandemic has impacted all our lives to some extent. We are social beings, yet had to face social distancing, “the box” instead of handshakes and hugs, working from home with endless Zoom or Teams meetings, and in some parts of the world, terribly long and painful lockdowns... Let us start with stating the obvious. The pandemic has impacted all our lives to some extent. We are social beings, yet had to face social distancing, “the box” instead of handshakes and hugs, working from home with endless Zoom or Teams meetings, and in some parts of the world, terribly long and painful lockdowns. And although we are soon two years down the pandemic road, it seems we are [...]

Source: A4A As U.S. airlines prepare to reunite families, friends and loved ones over the holiday travel season, we want to applaud the Administration and federal agencies – including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – for their efforts to prioritize a safe, seamless air travel experience for all travelers. We appreciate the initiatives in today’s Executive Order, “Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government,” that will make the passport renewal process more efficient for travelers. In addition, advanced security technologies will help relieve congestion at TSA checkpoints and provide for a smoother journey. We are encouraged that Americans have been returning to the skies at a rapid pace [...]

Source: ICAO ICAO’s 2021 Air Services Negotiation (ICAN) event took place last week in Bogota, Colombia, from 6–10 December, providing both an in-person and virtual platform for countries finalizing new international air transport agreements. The Bogota ICAN was the first to be hosted in South America since the unique global negotiation events were established by ICAO, in 2008. Over 300 in-person and 170 virtual participants, representing 70 countries, took advantage of the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of this year’s hybrid gathering. In his opening remarks to the international negotiators, ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar highlighted that the work they were undertaking was “critical to all aspects of ICAO’s current air transport recovery objectives, as well as to the future sustainable [...]