While it will take some time for airlines to make up for the losses incurred over the last year and a half, the previous resiliency of the airline industry creates a sense of optimism for a sector that is trying to rebound strongly following months of low passenger numbers and revenue.
However, the month of September, in particular, seems to have been filled with good news for the aviation industry as a whole. Over these five weeks, airlines have opened up new routes, registered optimistic, but promising figures and expanded their flight operations while travel restrictions are slowly being eased across the world.
Even though IATA has stated that the airline industry is “well past the deepest part of the crisis,” the association which represents airlines globally was keen to stress that it is still projecting a total loss of USD$51.8 billion for the aviation industry in 2021.
 100vw, 810px” data-recalc-dims=”1″><figcaption><em>Qantas Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner registered VH-ZNF. Photo by Duy Khang Tran | AeroNewsX.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p>Now after almost a year and a half since its borders were closed due to COVID-19, Australia is about to open up to international travel in November. Following the announcement, <strong>Qantas and Emirates</strong> have extended their joint venture partnership until 2028. Both international carriers have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, “<em>the partnership will continue to deliver financial upside</em>,” the companies have jointly stated.</p>
<p>Since the alliance was formed 8 years ago, more than 13 million passengers have benefited from the shared network. Through Emirates’ strategic hub at Dubai International Airport (DXB), it offers more than 55 million Australians the opportunity to transfer and connect to countries in Europe, North Africa and The Middle East. It also offers easier transitions for travellers who are looking to connect to secondary destinations in the Pacific region.</p>
<figure class=)
 100vw, 810px” data-recalc-dims=”1″><figcaption><em>Emirates Airbus A380-800 registered A6-EET. Photo by Cole McAndrew | AeroNewsX.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p><strong>Emirates</strong> will also bring back its iconic A380 to Australia. From next month, Emirates plans to operate flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. On the other hand, <strong>Qantas</strong> will reintroduce its so-called<em> “Project Sunrise”</em> flights from November 14th with its Perth to London service. The Australian flag carrier will also operate flights to Dubai as part of its codeshare agreement with the Middle Eastern carrier.</p>
<p>Emirates recently announced a large recruitment campaign and plans to hire up to 3,000 cabin crew positions and 500 airport service employees to join Dubai’s ground team. Its fellow competitor airline, <strong>Etihad Airways</strong> has revealed that it plans to create 1,000 new positions for its cabin crew division.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <strong>Qantas</strong> will become one of the few airlines to make proof of vaccination a mandatory requirement for all international travellers. However, the Australian airline won’t be alone as its neighbouring competitor <strong>Air New Zealand</strong> is planning to implement a similar measure.</p>
<p><strong>Qantas</strong> is also in talks with various aircraft manufacturers regarding its ageing fleet of 20 Boeing 717’s and 18 Fokker 100s, as well many of its Boeing 737 jets. According to Reuters, the Australian flag carrier is considering the Airbus A220 and the Embraer E2. Even the Boeing 737 MAX is up for consideration with the Australian airline planning to place a potential order for up to 100 new planes.</p>
<figure class=)
 100vw, 810px” data-recalc-dims=”1″><figcaption><em>Lufthansa Airbus A350-900 registered D-AIXA. Photo by Olivier Hoarau | AeroNewsX.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p>Another airline that is betting on its international network is <strong>Lufthansa</strong>. Following an announcement that vaccinated individuals can travel to the U.S., there has been a sharp increase in demand for flights to the United States from Europe. Now the German flag carrier has revealed that it plans to lease 4 Airbus A350-900 aircraft as part of the company’s fleet renewal plans.</p>
<p>Lufthansa has practically accelerated its long-haul fleet plans and will grow its A350 fleet to 21 aircraft by the beginning of 2022 when the leased aircraft are expected to join the German flag carrier. A further 177 short, medium and long-haul aircraft will progressively replace the airline’s ageing fleet over the next decade.</p>
<p><strong>Lufthansa</strong> has also announced it has increased the number of flights from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs to many leisure destinations in Europe as passenger demand remains high even for the fall season. In total 130 additional destinations will be served from both cities, more specifically to destinations in Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal.</p>
<p>A spokesperson for Lufthansa stated, <em>“Over the last few weeks, the airline had already expanded its services for October by 45% on routes from Frankfurt to Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and from Munich to Berlin, Hamburg and Düsseldorf, compared to July.”</em> Business travel is also recovering, according to the German airline group.</p>
<div class=)
 100vw, 810px” data-recalc-dims=”1″><figcaption><em>British Airways Airbus A321neo registered G-NEOY. Photo by Jero Vida | AeroNewsX.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p>Despite disappearing from Gatwick Airport initially, in some optimistic news, <strong>British Airways</strong> has announced that it plans to give its flight operations a second chance at Gatwick Airport. The British flag carrier is currently involved in talks with the U.K. pilots union, BALPA and has decided to resume <em>“constructive”</em> discussions over opening a low-cost division that would compete with budget airline Easyjet.</p>
<p>Way before the pandemic, the British carrier alleged that flight operations at Gatwick were unprofitable, but it intends to make a comeback with a cheaper division that still offers “<em>a full service with the look and feel of BA</em>.” The U.K. pilots association plans to conduct a ballot that will determine whether BA can proceed with the new project or whether it will have to give up its slots, potentially, to other low-cost carriers.</p>
<p><strong>British Airways</strong> will be also reintroducing at least five of the carrier’s Airbus A380s which have been in storage since November 8th. The superjumbo will preliminary operate flights to Frankfurt and Madrid and will then be reassigned to long-haul international services to Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and Dubai from early December.</p>
<p>With the transatlantic corridor expected to be fully restored in the next few months, <strong>Virgin Atlantic</strong> has also announced flights to San Francisco, Orlando and Las Vegas from early October. The U.K. based carrier has also announced services to St. Vincent, The Bahamas and St. Lucia which will operate from mid-October.</p>
<figure class=)
 100vw, 810px” data-recalc-dims=”1″><figcaption><em>Ryanair Boeing 737-800 registered EI-EMA. Photo by Pascal Weste | AeroNewsX.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p>In terms of low-cost carriers, <strong>Ryanair</strong> recorded 10.6 million passengers and operated a total of 69,500 flights for the month of September. A significant increase in comparison to the 5.2 million passengers the European airline registered during the same period in 2020.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <strong>WizzAir</strong> has also posted excellent figures carrying 3 million passengers with an average load factor of 78.9 per cent. The Hungarian company has been expanding its route network aggressively, opening routes in Europe and beyond while taking the place of well-established legacy airlines.</p>
<p>In fact, WizzAir just recently launched two new routes to its 51st country, Jordan. The capital of Jordan, Aqaba and the Jordanian tourist destination of Amman will be connected twice a week to cities, such as Budapest, Milan, Rome, Vienna and Bucharest, competing head-to-head with legacy airlines such as Royal Air Jordanian and Austrian Airlines.</p>
<p>On the other side, <strong>WizzAir’s Abu Dhabi</strong> division is set to launch new routes to Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Odesa (Ukraine), Muscat (Oman), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Sohag (Egypt), Baku (Azerbaijan) and Kutaisi (Georgia). To do so, it will add 3 to 4 aircraft to its fleet and plans to add more frequencies to Egypt, Albania, Serbia and Ukraine from its base in Abu Dhabi Airport.</p>
<figure class=)
 100vw, 810px” data-recalc-dims=”1″><figcaption><em>Vueling Airbus A319 registered EC-MIR. Photo by Karam Sodhi | AeroNewsX.</em></figcaption></figure>
<p>The COVID-19 crisis has also created many opportunities, especially for low-cost carriers like <strong>Vueling</strong>. The Spanish carrier has decided to make Paris Orly Airport its newest hub with the launch of 28 new routes throughout Europe and even North Africa. Vueling ultimately intends to compete directly with the Dutch low-cost airline, Transavia as well as the Moroccan flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc.</p>
<p>The last airline is Israel’s <strong>El Al</strong> which has timidly embarked on direct flights to Chicago in addition to Tokyo. The airline had planned to inaugurate both routes in 2020, but these plans were put on hold due to the pandemic. Both routes will now commence sometime in April 2022 with the Israeli carrier stating that a basic return fair will start at around USD$1,000.</p>
<p>IATA’s latest document clearly reflects the recovery path that airlines around the world are really investing on. While it will potentially take a further 2 years to see positive balance sheet figures, depending on the region they operate in. According to the Director-General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Willie Walsh, “<em>aviation is demonstrating its resilience yet again</em>.”</p>
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Source: https://aeronewsx.com/a-spell-of-good-news-for-the-global-airline-industry/
