This Week in Air Transport (W/C Mar. 31)

This week’s top air transport stories include a Netherlands court ruling that Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s capacity limit plan does not follow EU rules and Colombian ULCC Ultra Air ceased operations just over a year after making its market debut, due to adverse macroeconomic conditions.

A Netherlands court has ruled that the Dutch government’s plan to impose a flight capacity limit at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to cut noise does not abide by European Union (EU) rules—a move KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said brought clarity for its winter schedule. The ruling comes a day after Royal Schiphol Group, which operates the airport, set out its own plan to become “quieter and cleaner.” The controversial proposal involved abandoning plans to build an extra runway, as well as banning private jets and tightening limits on night flying to reduce noise. 

Colombian ULCC Ultra Air ceased operating just over a year after making its market debut, due to adverse macroeconomic conditions for the industry, including fuel cost volatility and currency headwinds, led to an operating loss in recent months. Within the last couple of weeks South American airline group JetSMART started and abruptly ended a due diligence process to potentially acquire Ultra Air. JetSMART, which is also a ULCC, is working to establish a new domestic operator in Colombia. 

In other airline news, Kenya Airways and South African Airways delayed plans to create a pan-African airline group from 2023 to 2024, giving both carriers space to focus on their own restructuring.

Greece’s Aegean Airlines and global flight training company CAE formed a joint venture (JV) to establish the most advanced Flight Training Center in Southeast Europe. The Aegean CAE Flight Training Center will be part of the carrier’s new 85,000 sq m technical base at Athens International Airport. At full capacity, the center will be able to train up to 3,500 pilots (42,000 pilot training hr.) and many more cabin crew annually. 

In sustainable news, the European Commission is planning to launch a study on the so-called ‘book-and-claim’ system, where sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can be purchased by one airline and used by another. This study will explore the potential impacts of introducing book-and-claim, along with how it might contribute to the objectives of the ReFuelEU Aviation legislation, which is currently being drafted and has a strong SAF focus.

Sustainable fuels technology company LanzaJet has partnered with Jet Zero Australia to start planning work on what could be Australia’s first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Queensland. Qantas Group and Airbus will jointly invest A$2 million ($1.35 million) in early-stage project capital as part of their A$200 million Australian Sustainable Aviation Fuel Partnership launched in June 2022. 

In airport news, Tampa International Airport (TPA) says a new $79.5 million cargo facility to be used by United Parcel Service (UPS) will be “substantially completed” by the end of this year, allowing for construction to begin in 2024 on the airport’s planned $787.4 million passenger terminal.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) has broken ground on a new End Around Taxiway (EAT), to be funded in part with U.S. government infrastructure money. EATs enable aircraft to taxi around active runways rather than cross them. DFW built its first EAT in 2008 on the airport’s southeast side. The airport built another EAT on its northeast side in 2022. The latest EAT project, on the airport’s southwest side, is slated to be completed in 2025. The airport is expected to exceed 2019 passenger levels in 2023.

Aircraft news continues to make headlines. China’s Xiamen Air brought the Boeing 737 MAX-8 back into commercial service on April 3, making it the ninth Chinese airline to do so. The carrier follows local peers Air China, China Southern Airlines, Fuzhou Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Jiuyuan Airlines, Lucky Air, Shandong Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines. China Southern was the first to resume passenger operations, operating a 737 MAX-8 on Jan. 13, 2023.

Taiwan’s EVA Air finalized a deal with Boeing for five 787-9 aircraft, two weeks after the EVA Air board approved the acquisition worth $1.78 billion. Deliveries are expected to begin from 2025 to 2027. The carrier will also begin a cabin retrofit of its current 787-9 with a premium economy product, giving the 787-9 a three-class configuration. 

Alaska Air Cargo expects to take delivery of two Boeing 737-800BCFs in 2023, and is upgrading its cargo network systems to support planned growth over the next five years. Joining a cargo fleet of three 737-700Fs, Alaska expects the -800BCFs to provide 40% more load space. Delivery of the first converted freighter is expected in summer 2023, with the second slated for year end. The company also expects more than 30 737-9 passenger aircraft to join the Alaska Airlines fleet before the end of the year.

Finally, Air passenger duty (APD) on UK domestic routes has been cut by a half, which the country’s government hopes will incentivize airlines to expand their networks to bolster UK connectivity and ensure passengers have access to more affordable flights. Details of the tax reduction—which fell from £13 ($16) to £6.50 per passenger on April 1—were first announced in October 2021. However, the UK’s budget in March this year confirmed that the rate will rise in line with the retail price inflation index in 2024-25, increasing to £7.