Network Planning Focus 2020

After a decade of growth, international route networks have been shattered by the global pandemic. Amid a myriad of operating challenges, airlines and airports are having to adapt their thinking to adapt to new market realities.

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has approved Scandinavian long-haul operator Norse Atlantic Airways’ application to operate scheduled and chartered service between Europe and the USA.

Analysis

EU says Lufthansa ‘ghost flights’ unnecessary as Ryanair wades in

The European Commission has insisted that airlines do not need to operate so-called ‘ghost flights’ under current slot rules, with the issue continuing to attract a diverse range of views.

News

China Southern celebrates A380 pilot who spent 189 days quarantined in 2021

China Southern Airlines has described one of its Airbus A380 pilots as the “King of Quarantine” after he spent 189 days in isolation during 2021.

Analysis

Asia-Pacific set to enter third year of international travel woes as Omicron hits

This week provided has provided a reminder of how fragile the Covid-19 recovery is the Asia-Pacific region, where an already tentative return of international travel is being hit by the spread of Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Opinion

Amid US-China flight suspension spat, what price, zero infection?

As China doubles down on ’zero-Covid’, it risks further isolating itself, as well as its airlines, on the global stage.

News

Airlines brace for tough start to 2022 as Omicron response hits bookings

Ticket bookings for international travel in particular have taken a hit amid the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, according IATA.

All Networks news

In depth

How domestic capacity return varies across key markets

Domestic markets have been a salvation for many airlines as the global pandemic continues to batter international travel.

Asia-Pacific ‘travel bubbles’ fail to inflate

Despite government talk about “travel bubbles,” “green lanes” and the like, the Asia-Pacific’s biggest international air travel markets remain a long way from anything approaching normalcy.

Where the airline industry was when the music stopped

Another year of strong profit and traffic growth in 2019 for leading carriers illustrates the highs the industry had reached before the coronavirus pandemic, but offered no warning of the crisis to come that has pushed airlines to the brink.

Why transatlantic return matters so much to airlines

When Virgin Atlantic broke the news it would need to cut over 1,000 more jobs, even having secured its future within £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) in refinancing commitments, it underlined just how damaging the failure to reignite the key transatlantic market was.

IATA lowers 2020 passenger traffic hopes on stalled recovery

Airline trade body IATA has lowered its expectations for global passenger traffic this year amid a plateauing in the recovery and bleaker forward booking indicators.

Airline coronavirus recovery tracker: November 2020 update

Our regular examination of the latest global data for several key airline market indicators, including traffic and capacity in passenger and cargo markets, airport passenger throughput, in-service and stored fleets, jet fuel costs, and share price trends for the world’s largest groups.

Webinar

Network planning in the new reality

Sponsored by Miami International Airport and OAG

Airlines and airports are slowly picking up the pieces of networks shattered by a coronavirus crisis that has seen the majority of the world’s passenger flights grounded, and many countries shutting their borders to international travel. As the world of air travel opens up again, what factors will drive which routes will return first, and how might route maps change permanently? How are network planners choosing what services to reinstate and what tactics should airports use to retain or lure new customers, given that some airlines will not survive the crisis and many will be forced to drastically reappraise their networks. Will the crisis change the entire relationship between airports and airlines?

Airline insights

’Small flows through hubs’ will lead recovery, says KLM chief
The recovery of international air connectivity will favour KLM’s hub operations above point-to-point services, according to the Dutch flag carrier’s chief executive Pieter Elbers.
Pandemic forces Vistara to press pause on rapid growth
Indian carrier Vistara entered 2020 with plans for rapid growth, but the coronavirus pandemic has kept the airline from meeting its full potential.
Airports face long wait for air traffic return
Whilst the crisis facing airlines has dominated most of the headlines since the collapse of air transport demand from the global pandemic, the symbiotic nature of their relationship means airports are facing their own financial pressures from the slump in passenger numbers.