Aviation Daily Roundup: Feb. 23, 2023

“Demand for air travel has never been stronger,” particularly from white collar remote workers in big cities, United Airlines is saying. 

As the aviation industry rises to the challenge of reducing CO₂emissions from aircraft, debate continues over whether condensation trails caused by water vapor in engine exhausts are at least as great a contributor to the climate effect of aviation.

Rolls-Royce’s new CEO Tufan Erginbilgic has said the company’s results may have improved as aerospace markets have recovered from the coronavirus pandemic, but the company as a whole was still underperforming. 

Airport operator Royal Schiphol Group is gradually expanding the number of passengers it will allow to depart from Amsterdam Schiphol as the Netherlands May holidays approach.

The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) has approved a request to extend airport slot waivers for certain routes to the Asia-Pacific region for the duration of the northern summer 2023 season.

Newly established South Africa-based Suid Cargo Airlines plans to begin operations in the second quarter (Q2). 

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi is to increase connectivity between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iraq with the launch of a new route to the country’s capital Baghdad and a service to Erbil, the most populated city in the Kurdistan region.

Lufthansa Airlines CCO Stefan Kreuzpaintner will move to the position of Lufthansa Group's head of network, alliance and partner management after being credited with expanding a strategic partnership with Munich Airport (MUC)

ST Engineering and China’s SF Airlines have entered an agreement to set up an airframe MRO joint venture in Erzhou, China.

As part of a series of fleet moves, Qantas has revealed plans to purchase several used Airbus A320 family aircraft to help cope with expected delays to new aircraft deliveries.

Air New Zealand predicts that continuing travel demand strength will be sufficient to offset looming macroeconomic pressures, allowing the carrier to remain profitable this year.

With 93.7 million passengers, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) remained the world’s leading airport in terms of passengers in 2022. That figure shows a 24% increase on the previous year but remains 15% below ATL’s 2019’s record performance of 110.5 million passengers.

While the proposed JetBlue Airways-Spirit Airlines merger has garnered “strong” support from the union representing Spirit flight attendants, the union representing 6,800 inflight crewmembers at JetBlue is voicing concerns.