All Analysis
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AnalysisWhy hubs could be back in fashion in post-crisis network recovery
While low-cost carriers are likely to be among the early beneficiaries of demand for price-sensitive leisure travel in the early stages of a post-pandemic recovery, the lower levels of overall traffic could also see mean renewed focus on hub operations.
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Analysis
Manufacturers see no single ‘silver bullet’ to reach aviation’s CO2 reduction target
Airbus chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini has said that the aviation industry’s stated aim of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 had been a “pretty good problem to have” before the air transport sector and most other areas of public life were thrown into disarray by the coronavirus outbreak.
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Analysis
Walsh set to meet IATA challenge head on
When Willie Walsh retired from his role at the helm of European airline group IAG in September, it seemed unlikely he would leave the airline industry altogether given the impact he has had on it during his career.
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Analysis
Asian and North American airlines to lead recovery but all regions loss-making in 2021
IATA expects airlines in Asia-Pacific and North America to lead the recovery in 2021 aided by strong domestic markets, though it still sees all regions loss-making as international passenger markets struggle to recover from the pandemic.
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Analysis
Middle Eastern carriers face long recovery from crisis
Having built their networks around the transfer of long-haul passenger through their hubs, with limited short-haul networks to fall back upon, the Middle East’s largest carriers are perhaps uniquely vulnerable to the coronavirus crisis.
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Analysis
Is personal jet pack set for thrust into mass market?
They have long been the stuff of sci-fi, but, after the collapse of the most prominent manufacturer of a personal propulsion device, other developers are confident of a breakthrough.
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Analysis
Questions persist after 737 Max recertification
The grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft highlighted doubts about the effectiveness of US Federal Aviation Administration oversight. The FAA’s end of the Max flight ban on 18 November leaves families of Max crash victims unsatisfied and Congress trying to pass aircraft certification reform.
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Analysis
Is Korean acquisition of Asiana bellwether for wider consolidation in Asia?
As the dust settles on the proposed Korean Air acquisition of its embattled rival Asiana Airlines, questions begin to emerge about what the future merged carrier will look like and whether this is the start of many other pandemic-driven mergers and acquisitions to come?
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Analysis
Costly refits further dim A380’s appeal for Asia-Pacific operators
The small number of Airbus A380s in the Asia-Pacific that have undergone cabin upgrades is a challenge for the type’s post-pandemic future in the region.
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Analysis
How practical is a Chinese and US aerospace breakup over Taiwan?
Despite opposition from the Chinese Communist Party, in the past year and a half the Trump administration has approved billions of dollars in potential arms sales to Taiwan. China, which claims the island democracy as its own, has vowed to retaliate.
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Analysis
Hong Kong’s cautious approach to travel bubbles
Hong Kong’s government will take a safety-first approach when its travel bubble with Singapore launches on 22 November, and the launching of further bubbles with other countries or regions will come with strict anti-Covid-19 preconditions. “It takes two to tango,” the city’s secretary for commerce and economic development Edward ...
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Analysis
United Airlines returns to New York’s JFK airport
United Airlines will return to New York’s John F Kennedy International airport in early 2021 with flights to the US West Coast, aiming to benefit from new trends in travel following the coronavirus crisis.
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Analysis
Calm before the storm for airline failures
The relatively small number of airline failures so far is not indicative of the health of the sector.
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Analysis
Once prolific operators, Japanese majors bid sayonara to venerable 777 ‘Classics’
Once profilic operators of the Boeing 777, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have recently announced that they will cut their 777 fleets by significant numbers. While not entirely a surprise given the state of the aviation industry, this marks the passing of an era for Japanese carriers, which have been intimately entwined with programme from its infancy decades ago.
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Analysis
Lessors submit proposals to Thai Airways – reluctantly
Thai Airways’ lessors were given a 4 November deadline to tell the carrier what by-the-hour rates, rental haircuts, and other concessions they would be willing to offer the struggling flag carrier to help with its restructuring. Sixteen lessors have exposure to the airline and its subsidiaries, to the tune ...
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Analysis
Tokyo weighs options for overseas participation in ambitious F-X future fighter programme
As Tokyo advances its ambitious F-X future fighter programme, it must weigh a number of factors – including concerns around intellectual property (IP) and ease of upgrade – as it decides which nations to partner with for the effort, according to two leading airpower experts.
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Analysis
Southwest flirts with Airbus in fleet renewal
Southwest Airlines, an all-Boeing carrier since its inception almost 50 years ago, is again flirting with the idea buying aircraft from a competing airframer.
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Analysis
Domestic travel green shoots in New Zealand, Australia
Air New Zealand is relaunching its mystery holiday packages, showing how domestic travel remains a key focus in the region while Covid-19 continues to decimate international travel. Domestic travel is virtually the only way airlines in the Asia-Pacific region can get passengers to board their aircraft these days. In ...
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Analysis
For Malaysia Airlines, clarity and urgency in restructuring is key
The future of Malaysia Airlines was recently thrust back into the spotlight, as it undertakes an urgent restructuring exercise. Again it confronts an existential dilemma about what, exactly, it needs to do.
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Analysis
Lion Air tries new approach with lessors
Lion Air has approached its lessors with an alternative proposal for their leased aircraft on the back of their feedback on its requests for by-the-hour arrangements, according to sources and an email seen by Cirium. The Indonesian carrier is proposing a four-part plan, involving the partial payment of rentals ...
