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For some airlines, the net-zero target was nothing new. But for all carriers, the important task is working out how to get there – and then implementing that plan.
The IATA AGM marked by a shift away from the harmonious front seen in parts of the commercial air transport industry at the height of the pandemic.
Airline leaders left IATA’s World Air Transport Summit this week in a buoyant mood, sensing the industry’s worst days are behind it, and that normalcy is months, not years, away. They also left having made firm commitments to reduce carbon output, saying the industry is emerging from the pandemic-driven aviation downturn with invigorated dedication to environmental stewardship. Exactly how airlines will significantly cut carbon, however, remains unclear.
The transition will continue a period during which the role has been taken by the chief executive of an airline outside the group of network carriers that are traditionally the high-profile core of IATA’s membership.
Even though the final Airbus A380 has rolled off the production line in Toulouse, Emirates Airline – and president Tim Clark – are still madly in love with the superjumbo, as the carrier looks forward to welcoming the last three of the type into the fleet later this year.
An IATA survey has revealed significant frustration with Covid-19 travel restrictions, and that air travellers believe the freedom of travel should be restored.
Developing new aircraft powered by novel technologies such as un-ducted fans and hydrogen-burning engines remains essentially unfeasible without billions and billions of dollars in direct government aid.
A senior airline executive warns that a further casualty of the coronavirus crisis - in addition to at least two years of financial pain - will likely be innovation and new products.
Ambitious carbon-reduction goals have led airframers to pursue longer-term, more-revolutionary technologies rather than bringing incremental efficiency improvements to market faster, according to a top Airbus executive.
The upcoming reopening of transatlantic air travel can serve as an example of how other travel markets can be restarted – which is why the aviation industry has so much riding on the process going smoothly.
Ahead of this year’s IATA AGM in Boston, FlightGlobal spoke to the airline association’s director general Willie Walsh about his aims for the gathering – and his views on the challenges and opportunities ahead for the airline industry
If the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt by both its airlines and the wider industry this year, new product investments and acquisition moves underline Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr’s determination that this should not prevent it from regaining the initiative.
Cebu Pacific’s new chief executive Mike Szucs sees the opportunity to outstrip its pre-crisis financial performance in the years ahead as the Philippine budget carrier emerges from the pandemic.
Pieter Elbers has secured some early wins as the new chief executive of Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo, as he contemplates long-term growth in what is destined to be one of the world’s most important aviation markets.
Hooked on aviation since her pre-teen years, Shivani Kulkarni has progressed from flying Indian air force An-32 turboprops to A320neos for the nation’s most popular domestic carrier.
Buoyed by record revenue and load factors in the third quarter, airline chief executive Bogi Nils Bogason sees the combination of its connecting model across the Altantic and Iceland’s strong tourist market as positioning the carrier to thrive beyond this summer’s peak
Resurgent travel demand heightens the need for action to bring down regulatory and cost hurdles for Latin American and Caribbean carriers
Malaysian start-up MYAirline stands poised to commence services, led by a team of industry veterans who have faith that they can go that extra mile for passengers.
As he leads WestJet out of a punishing pandemic period, Alexis von Hoensbroech is doubling-down on the carrier’s low-cost legacy and its deep roots in the Canadian West
Malaysia-based AirAsia X is “treading cautiously” after its restructuring, as it looks to building back its operations in an environment that is slowly reopening after two years of the pandemic.
Turkish Airlines chairman Ahmet Bolat believes that retaining staff and its strong financial performance through the pandemic has been key to enabling to return to growth as the Istanbul carrier has already passed pre-crisis activity levels.vels.
Kenya Airways chief executive Allan Kilavuka sees an opportunity to return to growth in 2024, as it focuses in the near-term on implementing a restructuring aimed at securing a sustainable cost base.
Having relaunched operations in September last year after an 18-month grounding, South African Airways (SAA) is expanding its operations as it capitalises on the recent collapse of local carrier Comair.
