Source: ALTA In February 2023, 27.5 million passengers were carried, representing 98% of passengers for the same month in 2019. This figure reflects a slight advance compared to January this year, when the region reached 96% of its pre-pandemic levels, but a setback vs. December 2022 when 100% of passengers carried in 2019 were reached, report data from the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association's (ALTA) February 2023 Traffic Report. Africa again led the global recovery with a 101% growth in passengers carried and, for the first time, the Middle East practically reached its pre-pandemic levels, exceeding Latin America and Caribbean, which was, until December, the region with the strongest recovery. Data from our region In February 2023, international [...]

Source: FAA New ASCENT Grants Total $19 Million for Work on Noise and Other Environmental Issues America's best aviation minds will look for new ways to reduce aviation noise this year. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $19 million to 14 universities across the country as part of the Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT). "Research is the gateway to breakthroughs. With the best minds, we can reduce noise and fly with net-zero emissions by 2050," said Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen. The noise-related projects include: Noise Reduction for New Aircraft Examine the potential noise reduction benefits of an over-wing jet engine design concept: $300,000 to Georgia Institute of Technology. Simulate sonic booms in realistic environments to inform the development of noise [...]

Source: US DOT The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ February 2023 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.307 billion gallons of fuel, 7.5% less fuel than in January 2023 (1.413 billion gallons) and 1.3% more than in pre-pandemic February 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in February 2023 ($3.23) was down 5 cents (1.7%) from January 2023 ($3.28) and up $1.25 (63.1%) from February 2019. Total February 2023 fuel expenditure ($4.22B) was down 9.0% from January 2023 ($4.63B) and up 64.6% from pre-pandemic February 2019. Fuel cost and consumption statistics are not adjusted for inflation or seasonality. Year-over-year increases in fuel consumption and cost for February 2023 [...]

Source: ACI-LAC (Scroll down for Spanish version) ACI-LAC invites all its members to join the webinar on "Eliminating Architectural Barriers @ Airport Terminals". It is the aspiration of every airport operator, government, the authority having jurisdiction, and the design and construction industry to design and build facilities that are 'free' of architectural barriers for persons with disabilities.  We, the professionals and facilitators of the air travel industry, have the responsibility to assure our airports (no matter size and function) provide full access to all their facilities, including persons with disabilities. People with disabilities are those who have an impairment that limits them to do certain activities such as vision, movement, communicating, learning, hearing, etc.  In many countries, the Americans with [...]

Source: ACI World Airports Council International (ACI) World has today published the top 10 busiest airports worldwide for 2022, which welcomes back some of the world's largest airport hubs as international traffic returns, marking an important milestone in air travel's full recovery from the impact of the pandemic. Passenger traffic Preliminary figures indicate that with the resumption of international travel, 2022 global passenger traffic reached close to 7 billion, representing an increase of 53.5% from 2021, or a 73.8% recovery from 2019 results. The top 10 airports for total passenger traffic, representing 10% of global traffic, witnessed a gain of 51.7% from 2021 amounting to 85.9% recovery vis-à-vis their 2019 results. Holding their positions from 2021, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL, 93.7 million passengers, +23.8%) [...]

Source: ERA Hundreds of delegates attended the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) annual Regional Airline Conference last week in the beautiful city of Nice Featuring an all-female cast of expert speakers and presenters, this high-profile event showcased the competence and knowledge of women across the aviation industry Delivering a unique blend of business networking opportunities and stimulating conference sessions, ERA’s unique Regional Airline Conference was back this year, bigger and better than ever before.  Over the course of the two days, more than 275 top aviation executives attended the event held on the French Riviera, including 35 European airlines, as well as airports, manufacturers, suppliers and air service providers. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and a gradual return to normal, ERA’s [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced continued strong growth in air travel demand, based on February 2023 traffic results. Total traffic in February 2023 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 55.5% compared to February 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 84.9% of February 2019 levels. Domestic traffic for February rose 25.2% compared to the year-ago period. Total February 2023 domestic traffic was at 97.2% of the February 2019 level. International traffic climbed 89.7% versus February 2022 with all markets recording strong growth, led once again by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. International RPKs reached 77.5% of February 2019 levels. “Despite the uncertain economic signals, demand for air travel continues to be strong across the globe and particularly in [...]

Source: ICAO The ICAO Council has approved a new amendment addressing international instructions on the carriage of active small lithium battery powered electronic devices in checked baggage. Based on the revised requirement, devices powered by small lithium batteries in checked baggage can stay turned on during the flight, provided their lithium metal battery’s lithium content is less than 0.3 grams, or if its lithium ion battery’s output is less than 2.7 Wh. For devices with lithium batteries that exceed the above limits, the obligation to turn them off in checked baggage remains. The Council Decision follows on recommendations from the Air Navigation Commission and its Dangerous Goods Panel, which had advised that restrictions were unnecessary for such small lithium batteries [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for February 2023 global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand rose above pre-pandemic levels. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), fell 7.5% compared to February 2022 (-8.3% for international operations). This was half the rate of annual decline seen in the previous two months (-14.9% and -15.3% respectively). February demand for air cargo was 2.9% higher than pre-pandemic levels (February 2019)—the first time it has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in eight months. Capacity (measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers, ACTK) was up 8.6% compared to February 2022. The strong uptick in ACTKs reflects the addition of belly capacity as the passenger side of the business continues to recover. International [...]