Aviation Daily Roundup: April 18, 2022

April 19, 2022

European Air Traffic Continues Recovery

European air traffic continued to edge higher in the week ending April 17, Eurocontrol statistics showed, with a 1.4% increase compared to the previous week. “Week 15 saw continued growth up to 24,534 flights/day–82.1% of the 2019 level (see chart, page 7)–despite a drop over the Easter weekend,” Eurocontrol Director General Eamonn Brennan wrote on Twitter April 18. Credit: Horacio Villalobos-Corbis/Corbis/Getty Images

Air Canada Posts Record Day For Passengers Carried In The Pandemic

Air Canada recently reached a pandemic milestone after it posted a record day for passengers carried. The airline explained on April 15 that it transported 100,701 passengers, which was the first time Air Canada had flown more than 100,000 in a single day since early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Air Canada said the last time it flew more than 100,000 passengers in a day was March 13, 2020. Credit: Airbus / Olivier Cote

Alpine Air Buys Suburban Air Freight For Cargo Expansion

Alpine Air Express, which claims to be one of the largest U.S. all-cargo, regional and on-demand contract airlines, has acquired Suburban Air Freight. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, according to the April 18 announcement. Alpine’s private equity owners described the deal as an expansion of the business. Credit: Gmdeal, CC BY-SA 4.0

ARSA Flags Confusion Over New-part Validation Process

Some U.S.-based repair stations with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approvals are getting pushback from that agency and the FAA on an approved method of showing a new part is traceable to the manufacturer, prompting the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) to ask that FAA clarify its position. The issue concerns E100 “New Article Inspection" forms, which repair stations can use when inspecting new parts that do not have certain documentation required by EASA. Credit: Sean Broderick/AWST

U.S. Federal Judge Strikes Down The Government’s Mask Mandate

A Federal judge in Florida has declared the U.S. government’s mask mandate for air travel is unlawful. The ruling by judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle was part of a lawsuit challenging the mandate by the Health Freedom Defense Fund. Mizelle concluded the mandate exceeds the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Credit: Delta Air Lines

Opinion: Why Block Turboprops That Could Reduce Emissions?

The U.S. domestic airline market carried 926 million passengers, of which roughly 165 million—almost 20%—took flights shorter than 450 mi. (the “regional market”) in 2019. Nearly all of these flights were undertaken with less fuel-efficient regional jets (in particular, 50-seaters such as old-generation Bombardier CRJ200 and Embraer ERJ135/145 aircraft). In the U.S. regional aircraft market, only 36 50-76-seat turboprops are currently flown, and the largest turboprop-flying carrier, Horizon Airlines, recently announced its intention to retire the aircraft type from its fleet by 2023. Credit: Waltzing Matilda Aviation

Daily Memo: Not Every U.S. Domestic Airport Is Recovering

The U.S. domestic airline recovery is mostly a good-news story. As other regions and many international markets struggle to find firm ground coming out of the 2020-2021 global downturn, the U.S. is having the opposite problem—demand is placing strain on many airlines. Credit: Sean Broderick / AWST

Mitsubishi Teams To Produce SAF In Japan

Mitsubishi and Eneos, Japan’s largest oil company, will jointly study the establishment of a domestic supply chain for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), targeting deliveries beginning in 2027. The Tokyo government has set the goal of replacing 10% of jet fuel consumption in Japan with SAF by 2023, but there is no domestic production. “Building a system is an urgent issue,” Eneos and Mitsubishi said in a statement. Credit: TotalEnergies

Wisk Developing Four-Passenger Autonomous eVTOL

Wisk Aero’s production self-flying air taxi will carry four passengers, the Boeing-backed startup has confirmed. The company is not providing further details of its sixth-generation design, which will be unveiled later this year. Credit: Wisk Aero

JAL Now Forecasting Deeper Loss For 2021

Citing protracted border closures and lukewarm domestic travel for its decreased financial estimates, Japan Airlines (JAL) is forecasting a deeper loss for the 2021/22 financial year of ¥777 billion ($1.4 billion) against ¥146 billion previously estimated last November. JAL said in a stock-exchange announcement that domestic air travel was hit by the spread of an omicron-driven outbreak in various prefectures, resulting in numerous restrictions and lower domestic passenger revenue than expected. Credit: Chen Chuanren

International Recovery Gains Momentum At Auckland Airport

Auckland Airport is seeing a strong rebound in traffic from Australia following New Zealand’s latest border reopening move, and airlines are preparing to add more routes when travel resumes from other overseas markets. Australian residents were allowed to enter New Zealand quarantine-free starting April 12, fully restoring two-way travel flows between the two countries. Quarantine and isolation requirements for returning New Zealanders had already been dropped in March. Credit: James D. Morgan / Getty Images

European air traffic continues recovery, Air Canada posts record day for passengers carried in the pandemic and more. Take a look at the daily roundup of air transport news.

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