Aviation Daily Roundup: March 31, 2022

April 01, 2022

Brussels Airlines CEO Frustrated By New Passenger Tax

Brussels Airlines CEO Peter Gerber has expressed his frustration about the implementation of a new passenger tax that will affect all departing flights from Belgium. The Belgian Embarkation Tax, which comes into effect as of April 1, was first proposed by the county’s government in October 2021 on distances of less than 500 km (270 nm) in order to encourage alternatives. However, it will now apply to all flights, including passengers traveling by private plane or helicopter. Credit: Brussels Airlines

Etihad Airways Starts A350-1000 Operations

Etihad Airways has begun operation of its much-delayed Airbus A350-1000, with an inaugural flight from the company’s Abu Dhabi hub to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport. The airline delayed delivery of its five A350-1000s from the European OEM in September 2019, as Etihad began a business transformation plan to restore its finances. This came after several years of losses following Etihad’s unsuccessful efforts to form a constellation of airlines that would feed their passengers into its Abu Dhabi hub. Credit: Airbus - Jean-Vincent Reymondon

Supplier Crane To Better Focus On Aerospace/Defense After Spinoff

Highly engineered aerospace products provider Crane said March 30 that it will spin off its payment and merchandising technologies businesses into a separate, publicly traded corporation, in part to better focus on core aerospace and electronics end markets. The separation follows the current trend of larger multi-industrial conglomerates breaking up, meeting a demand by today’s investors for businesses to be more focused and comparable within niches rather than microcosms of the manufacturing universe. Credit: Crane

Spirit AeroSystems May Join With UK Startup On Zero-Emission Aviation

Spirit AeroSystems (Europe), based in Prestwick, Scotland, has signed a term sheet in principle with UK startup Electric Aviation Group (EAG) to collaborate on the development of technologies to support zero-emission flight. EAG is aiming to develop a zero-emission 90-seat hydrogen hybrid-electric regional aircraft, the H2ERA, by 2030. The startup plans to fly a demonstrator in 2026 and to use its technology in retrofit programs before developing the clean-sheet H2ERA. Credit: EAG

Daily Memo: Budget Request Highlights The FAA’s Safety-Data Push

The U.S. federal budget process always provides a peek into government agencies’ aspirations. Some headline-grabbing items generated by the incumbent administration’s annual public unveiling, which took place March 22 for fiscal 2023, never see the light of day. But buried within the thousands of pages produced by the Office of Management and Budget and the individual agencies are clear signs of ongoing priorities that need—and often receive—some level of funding. Credit: Eric Baradat / AFP / Getty Images

Ex-Im Bank Renews Boeing Supplier Aid; Works To Close Russia Coverage

The board of directors of the U.S. Export-Import Bank on March 31 met for the first time under President Biden’s Senate-approved pick to run the bank, Reta Jo Lewis, and the export credit agency quickly doled out financial assistance for Boeing’s embattled airliner supply chain. The board unanimously approved the renewal of a $450 million guarantee authorization to Citibank, under Ex-Im’s Supply Chain Finance Guarantee Program. The facility helps Boeing suppliers receive accelerated payments on accounts receivable due from Boeing. Credit: Sean Broderick / AWST

European Carriers See Limited Short-Term War Impact, Major Uncertainty

While the immediate effects of the Russia-Ukraine war appear to be limited on European air travel demand so far, the invasion has the potential of creating a multi-layered fallout that may have longer-lasting effects on the aviation industry than the COVID-19 pandemic, executives here at the March 31 Airlines for Europe (A4E) summit concluded. Credit: Rob Finlayson

Dutch Government Seeks Major Increase In Country’s Departure Tax

The Netherlands government is seeking to triple the country’s airport departure tax to €24 ($27) beginning in 2023, as part of its Recovery and Resilience Plan from the pandemic. In a letter to the lower house of the Dutch parliament March 28, finance minister Sigrid Kaag said the government wanted to increase the departure tax, introduced in 2021, from its current level of €7.45 per person. Credit: Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP / Getty Images

European Airlines Hope Sustainability Focus Sparks Airspace Reform

European airlines are hoping increased scrutiny on the sector’s environmental impact will provide the impetus to advance progress on much-needed reforms of the region’s airspace. Unnecessary emissions from delays and inefficient flight routings have highlighted the need for a revamp, industry executives said at the Airlines For Europe (A4E) summit in Brussels March 31. Credit: Rob Finlayson

Cargo Group ASL Boosts Boeing Converted Freighter Fleet

Fast-expanding ASL Aviation Holdings (ASL) is potentially doubling its order book for Boeing 737-800 converted freighters with a new firm order for 10, plus 10 purchase rights. Almost a year ago to the day, Ireland-headquartered ASL firmed options on 10 737-800 Boeing Converted freighters (BCFs), building on an original order for 10 of the type, plus 10 options, announced at the 2019 Paris Air Show. Credit: Boeing

Air France-KLM Appoints New KLM CEO, Increases Summer Capacity

Air France-KLM’s board of directors has renewed group CEO Ben Smith’s mandate for an additional five years and appointed Marjan Rintel as KLM’s new CEO. The moves come as the group set out plans for an Air France summer schedule that should see that carrier operate on average 90% of 2019 summer capacity. Credit: Rob Finlayson

Qantas Reveals New Sustainable Fuel Use Targets

Qantas has set ambitious goals for the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in its newly released Climate Action Plan. The Qantas Group has established a target of having SAF comprise 10% of its fuel mix by 2030, and about 60% by 2050. “One benefit of setting these targets now is sending a clear signal that we’re in the market for large volumes of sustainable aviation fuel,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said. “That will hopefully encourage more investment [in SAF production] and build more momentum for the industry as a whole.” Credit: Qantas

China’s ‘Big Three’ See Losses Widen In 2021, Now Fuel Costs Rocket

Rising fuel costs and closed borders are keeping China’s national carriers—Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines—under pressure and, despite increases in passenger revenue, all three saw their losses widen in 2021. Protracted travel restrictions this year have added to their woes as Beijing presses on with its zero-COVID policy. Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images

Lilium Pushes EVTOL Certification Target Back To 2025

Lilium
Lilium Jet electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

Brussels Airlines CEO frustrated by new passenger tax, Etihad Airways starts A350-1000 operations and more. Take a look at the daily roundup of air transport news.

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