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.

United Airlines will stop flying to New York’s John F Kennedy International airport at the end of next month due to lack of slots.

Newsletter

Airline partnership activity intensifies

In January, we posed the question: ‘If 2022 is not the year for new airline partnerships, when will be?’

News

Airlink to take 40% share of African regional carrier FlyNamibia

South African regional carrier Airlink is to acquire a 40% shareholding in the Namibian-based carrier FlyNamibia, which is operated by Westair Aviation.

News

Aer Lingus to open new transatlantic service to northern Ohio

IAG’s Irish carrier Aer Lingus is to open a new transatlantic route to the US city of Cleveland, on the lake Erie coast, in summer next year.

Analysis

Airline Business Podcast: Winter worries, Emirates-United tie-up, Frontier and Blue Air

Graham and Lewis discuss the transition from a positive summer period in terms of demand and - in some cases - profits to an uncertain winter, with a long list of challenges clouding the 2023 outlook.

News

Airports to close, airlines cancel flights as Hurricane Ian approaches Florida

As Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Ian, numerous airports on the west coast of Florida will close completely, and airlines have pre-emptively cancelled hundreds of flights.

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.