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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
Riyadh Air is set to place its expected narrowbody aircraft order “in the coming months” as Tony Douglas, chief executive of the ambitious Saudi Arabian start-up, continues to plot the national carrier’s launch path.
A major restructuring exercise amid the depths of the coronavirus pandemic has put spring in the step of Philippine Airlines.
Australian low-cost start-up Bonza is making traction with its unique business model, which aims to stimulate demand among infrequent fliers on largely un-served routes.
While the arrival of new entrants is grabbing headlines this year as part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plans to create a new global aviation hub and triple passenger numbers by 2030, growth has been part of the story since day one for Flyadeal and its chief executive Con Korfiatis.
Akbar Al Baker, one the airline industry’s most outspoken leaders, delivered his views on its relationship with Airbus, persisting supply chain problems, and the need to bolster the carrier’s orderbook in a quickfire media roundtable at the Paris air show today.
South African Airways chief executive John Lamola believes that the Star Alliance carrier emerging profitably from its first full-year of operations since resumings flights almost two years ago underlines it is in good shape to expand.
It may remain two years away from launch, but ambitious Saudi Arabian national carrier start-up Riyadh Air is certainly making itself known.
Kenya Airways chief executive Allan Kilavuka believes the operational fundamentals of the carrier are strong after its restructuring efforts, but that raising capital is key to it moving back onto a growth path.
IATA senior vice-president, sustainability and chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen sees air travel as an 'essential ingredient' to helping achieve the primary goal of sustainable development -- to eradicate poverty
Ashwin Bhat takes over after the cargo business reported record operating profits for three years in a row, but since then the market has weakened with both rates and volumes declining.
As low-cost carrier Scoot approaches full recovery, chief executive Leslie Thng says the airline wants to be the region’s leading operator, not the largest
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.
