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.

US airlines have finally received the gift they so long sought from the administration of president Joe Biden: a full opening of the USA to foreign travellers.

News

Vueling to pick up Air France slots at Paris Orly

IAG’s Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling is set to pick up slots at Paris Orly airport being released by Air France as a condition of the European Commission’s approval of French financial support to the latter.

News

JetBlue and Spirit vie for 16 available Newark slots

JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines have applied with the US Department of Transportation to received more than a dozen newly available take-off and landing slots at Newark Liberty International airport.

News

European airline shares rise as US signals full restart of transatlantic travel

The big European network airlines saw their share prices increase sharply on 20 September amid reports that the US government might soon announce a relaxation of its border controls for European visitors.

Analysis

For Latin America’s airlines, return to 2019 is ‘not good enough’

As Latin American carriers make a steep climb out of the crisis, the region’s pre-pandemic normal is an undesirable summit

News

Cathay cuts year-end capacity forecast; August traffic hits 2021 high

Cathay Pacific has reduced its capacity forecast for the year-end — amid ongoing travel restrictions — as the embattled carrier’s passenger numbers in August hit a new high for the year.

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.