The UK government has announced the implementation of tighter sanctions on Russian aircraft.  

On May 9, 2022, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced a new suite of actions against Russia that will allow the UK government to detain any Russian aircraft and remove any aircraft owned by Russian individuals and entities from the UK register.  

“The ban includes any aircraft owned, operated or chartered by anyone connected with Russia or designated individuals or entities, and will include the power to detain any aircraft owned by persons connected with Russia,” the UK government announced in an official statement. 

The UK government also introduced additional trade measures banning the export of goods and technology related to aviation and space to Russia, including technical assistance and any other related services, such as insurance and reinsurance. 

“This means the cover is withdrawn on existing policies and UK insurers and reinsurers will be unable to pay claims in respect of existing policies in these sectors,” the statement continued.  

The Foreign Secretary said the new sanctions will apply further economic pressure on Russia. 

“Banning Russian flagged planes from the UK and making it a criminal offense to fly them will inflict more economic pain on Russia and those close to the Kremlin,” the Foreign Secretary said. 

“We will continue to support Ukraine diplomatically, economically, and defensively in the face of Putin’s illegal invasion, and work to isolate Russia on the international stage,” she added. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

The Russian government has prepared a draft decree that could allow Russian airlines to pay for leased aircraft in roubles throughout 2022. 

However, if a foreign lessor decides to terminate a leasing contract and requests that the aircraft be returned earlier than specified in a leasing agreement, the airline will have a right to continue flying the plane, according to Interfax.ru.  

Under a new law drafted by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation on March 10, 2022, the decision to terminate lease agreements and return aircraft to foreign lessors will be overseen by a special government commission, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov. Without the commission’s decision, Russian carriers will be allowed to continue operating the leased aircraft and the leased planes. 

Russia’s Ministry of Transport also proposed that aircraft are expected to be insured and reinsured by Russian insurance organizations under the same conditions specified in the contract. 

The draft decree will apply to all aircraft lease agreements concluded before February 24, 2022. 

Western sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine require foreign lessors to terminate lease contracts in Russia by March 28, 2022. However, foreign leasing companies are unlikely to be able to reclaim aircraft from Russia while the conflict in Ukraine continues. 

On March 7, 2022, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) issued a host of recommendations for airlines in an attempt to negate Western sanctions.  

Russian authorities have recommended airlines avoid operating to foreign destinations with leased aircraft in order to mitigate the likelihood of planes being seized while on the ground outside of Russia. The authorities have also discussed re-registering aircraft owned by foreign lessors, effectively nationalizing the aircraft, and have urged operators to keep all technical documents to hand. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

The latest data from ForwardKeys reveals that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused an immediate stall in flight bookings to Europe and within Russia domestically.

In its second public analysis since the outbreak of war, ForwardKeys compared flight bookings in the week following the invasion, February 24th-March 2nd, to the previous seven days.

Excluding Ukraine and Moldova, which closed their air space, and Russia and Belarus, which were subjected to flight bans and safety warnings, the destinations worst affected were generally those closest to the conflict.

Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia all saw a 30-50 per cent collapse in bookings.

All the other European countries, except for Belgium, Iceland, and Serbia, which saw single digit drops, experienced a decline in bookings between ten and 30 per cent.

Domestic flight bookings in Russia fell 49 per cent.

Analysis by source market shows that intra-European air traffic was worse affected than transatlantic travel.

Flight bookings within Europe fell 23 per cent, whereas they fell 13 per cent from the USA.

The only European air corridor left open to Russia is via Serbia, which is now acting as a gateway.

This is most clearly demonstrated by an immediate uplift in seat capacity between Russia and Serbia in March and by the profile of bookings.

Seat capacity scheduled in the first week of March shows around 50 per cent increase in available seats for flights from Russia to Serbia, compared to February 21st (before full scale military operations began).

Some 60 per cent more flight tickets were issued for travel from Russia to another destination via Serbia in the week immediately after the invasion, than there were in the whole of January.

Also, in January, 85 per cent of transfers from Russia via Serbia were to Montenegro; in the week after the invasion, the figure was 40 per cent, as Serbia became a hub for onward travel to Cyprus, France, Switzerland, Italy and elsewhere.

Olivier Ponti, vice president, insights, ForwardKeys, said: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made an immediate impact, stalling what had been a strong recovery in travel since early January.

“What I find surprising is that transatlantic travel and western European destinations have been less badly affected than I feared – North Americans can tell the difference between war in Ukraine and war in Europe, and so far, it seems that travellers regard the rest of Europe as relatively safe.

“There is also a strong pent-up demand.

“What’s most notable is the speed with which Serbia has become the gateway for travel between Russia and Europe.

“However, these are early days in a global political and economic crisis; so, what happens to travel will certainly be affected by the progress of the war and the impact of sanctions.

“Over the coming weeks, I expect we will see inflation and possible fuel supply issues pulling back what would otherwise be a strong post-pandemic recovery, as Covid-19 travel restrictions are progressively lifted.”

Source: Breaking Travel News

An increasingly competitive landscape and high airfreight costs have put pressure on air cargo in some landlocked parts of Africa.

Most African shipments are perishables, but for mining economies such as Zambia, which is landlocked in southern Africa, mining-related materials, as a percentage of total imports, have declined in recent years.

Generally, there has been a steady decline of imports and exports since 2018 in the country. Imports to year-end 2021 were down 25%, and exports down 15% over the same period, according to data from NAC2000 Corporation, the only ISAGO registered and certified airport ground services provider in Zambia.

“We observed that due to absence of capacity and prohibitive airfreight cost we have seen mining equipment being progressively sourced and stored via sea and road through depots in South Africa, and trucked within the region, with most non-urgent mining cargo sent by sea and road, much less by airfreight,” said Jonathan Lewis, managing director at NAC2000.

Additional data shows that imports are reducing from a ratio of 80% imports and 20% exports in 2018 to 70:30% respectively in 2021, due mainly to an increase in export volumes primarily in fruit, vegetables and flowers, mainly to the UK and EU, and to a lesser extent regional shipments of live chicks and hatching eggs. Imports were mainly bolstered by an influx of pharmaceuticals and PPE due to the pandemic, but Covid vaccines remain of negligible volumes and have no meaningful impact on import figures.

With GDP across Africa expected to double in 20 years, air travel will inevitably lead to increased trade, and consequently air cargo will benefit – but trade barriers between African countries have historically hindered progress. But now with agreements such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) there is hope for more intra-African trade.

Increased continental trade could foster a more competitive manufacturing sector to create opportunities for industries, including air freight and associated handling.

“My concern is the pace at which this will happen for airfreight regionally,” said Mr Lewis. “I believe that there is potential to leap forward the pace of this trade and development through airfreight, especially for perishable and urgent cargo.”

Mr Lewis reckoned AfCFTA will have less impact for air freight without deliberate implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) and developing more point-to-point routes within the region and continent. “It would be advantageous for Africa’s air transport industry stakeholders to get in on this forecasted movement of cargo with competitive rates, capacity and routes.”

Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa were the most affected in terms of capacity due to the flight restrictions that were imposed on the region at the outset of the Covid Omicron variant. Most cargo from Zambia typically moves on passenger services with regular scheduled services operated by Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways and SAA.

Typically, in the Zambian context, monthly passenger numbers rise by 25% in December each year, but in the aftermath of the flight restrictions from the Omicron variant December 2021 saw a fall in aircraft handling, with a 36% dip in monthly passenger numbers, and overall, 64% less than the pre-Covid passenger levels. Mr Lewis reported that cargo had equally been adversely affected, down by 15% in December compared to pre-Covid, but strikingly January 2022 was down by 40%, to its lowest in seven years.

Mr Lewis explained that costs went up as players monopolised routes, drowning out the usual strong demand for perishable exports – but not the premium in freight charges.

“Knee-jerk reactions are very dangerous to our export freight supply chain that supports the perishable exports industry. If it is damaged by an unfeasible supply chain, it will take years to recover – or they could lose their businesses all together.”

Looking ahead, Mr Lewis believed the sector should be looking at sustained, stable growth at manageable rates, otherwise the ever-important flora and horticulture export industry for one will face even more challenges in the future.

Source: The Lordstar

More than 15 flights were on Wednesday night redirected from Kenya’s main airport to as far as Dar es Salaam after a plane stalled, putting its single runway under the spotlight.

The incident, which started at 5 pm, caused a four-hour delay in landings and takeoffs.

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) says nine flights that were due to land at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) were diverted to Mombasa, three to Kilimanjaro, two to Entebbe and one to Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar.

The aviation agency says four more aircraft that were due for departure to different destinations were also delayed.

The delays were occasioned when an aircraft belonging to Fly 540 developed a mechanical hitch on the front wheel, hampering all the activities on the airside.

The incident will lead to hotel booking refunds for affected passengers who were on transit and could have missed their flights following the incident.

KCAA director-general Gilbert Kibe said several attempts by engineering teams from different airlines to remove the stuck aircraft on the runway faced challenges as they were keen not to damage the nose wheel, which had malfunctioned.

“Several attempts to remove the aircraft by engineers was challenging, taking into account the need to avoid breakage of the nose wheel. It took four hours 30 minutes to remove the aircraft and resume normal operations,” said Mr Kibe.

This is just one of the many incidents that have seen flights at JKIA diverted to other airports following paralysis caused by a disabled aircraft on the runway.

In 2018, The Phoenix plane that was flying from Ukunda, Kwale County, developed a mechanical problem on the runway on JKIA following issues with its landing gear, causing a major delay that saw several flights diverted to other airports.

Kenya was supposed to expand the airport with the construction of the Green Field Terminal. However, the plans were cancelled by Transport Cabinet secretary James Macharia.

The JKIA runway is 4,117 metres long and 45 metres wide with 15 metres paved shoulders, making it a code E runway that can handle wide-body aircraft, including the Boeing B747.

JKIA was built in the 1970s to handle 2.5 million passengers annually but is struggling to handle more than six million people a year as its regional importance grows.

Source: Business Daily

The Kenyan Government has tasked Seabury Consulting, part of Accenture, to help Kenya Airways evaluate options to restructure its debt. The retention of an international aviation consultant to prepare an in-depth financial assessment of Kenya Airways was highlighted as essential for the country’s state-owned enterprises (SOE) strategy in a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June 2021.

“Given the special circumstances and uncertainty facing the global airline industry, Kenya Airways has retained an international aviation expert to assist in defining a set of strategies for its future. Kenya Airways has experienced losses in recent years and faces significant future challenges. Sector-specific expertise will contribute to a better understanding of major trends in the regional and local aviation market, the formulation of a viable business model for Kenya Airways and ensure the consideration of all least cost alternatives for the Exchequer,” the IMF said.

Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka was not immediately available for comment.

The move comes as government plans to inject another KES26.56 billion shillings (USD233.7 million) into the debt-ridden carrier and other parastatals, according to supplementary budget estimates by the National Treasury presented to Parliament.

This comes on top of KES53.4 billion (USD470 million) in direct budget support already allocated to the airline for the fiscal year ending June 2022, with the government having promised to absorb KES92.5 billion (USD814 million) of its debts accumulated by the end of 2020.

The extra allocation to the airline and other parastatals constitutes the highest of the National Treasury’s extra spending of KES108.5 billion (USD954.9 million) in the fiscal year ending June 2022, aimed at alleviating unforeseen expenditure due to a drought in parts of the country, security, a petrol subsidy, payments for COVID-19 vaccines, and a general election in August, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani told the Kenyan Parliament. It also represents a 3.3% increase in the national budget presented in April 2021, thus raising the country’s fiscal deficit from 7.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 8.1%, reported Business Daily.

Kenya’s Business Daily reported the airline needs funds for the maintenance of grounded aircraft, payment of salaries, and the settling of utility bills, and to ease the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel demand. Kenya Airways is at risk of running out of funds amid reluctance by commercial banks to extend further liquidity.

The government, which owns 48.9% of the airline, last year decided to reverse earlier plans for its renationalisation.

Source: Ch-aviation

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) continues its campaign to reboot the airline industry and is again calling on governments to relax travel restrictions further as COVID-19 evolves from the pandemic to the endemic stage. IATA wants all travel barriers (including quarantine and testing) removed for fully vaccinated travelers.

“With the experience of the Omicron variant, there is mounting scientific evidence and opinion opposing the targeting of travelers with restrictions and country bans to control the spread of COVID-19. The measures have not worked,” said IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh.

“Today, omicron is present in all parts of the world. That’s why travel, with very few exceptions, does not increase the risk to general populations. The billions spent testing travelers would be far more effective if allocated to vaccine distribution or strengthening health care systems.”

Airline capacity still lagging around the world

According to airline analytics consultancy OAG, global airline capacity this week (measured by the number of available seats) is now 25.5% behind the same week in 2019. However, the current capacity is tracking above the equivalent weeks in 2020 and 2021. The bulk of the current capacity is in domestic markets, currently just 11% below the comparable 2019 period. International capacity remains 48% down on the equivalent 2019 period.

Outright border bans in some countries and complex and costly testing and/or quarantine regimes in other countries can make international travel an unattractive proposition to most travelers. That’s having direct flow-through effects on airlines.

Except for Central and Western Africa (where overall airline capacity has increased 4.8% compared to the same week in 2019), current available capacity continues to lag 2019 levels in every other airline market worldwide. In some markets, including Central and Upper South America, there is a relatively small, single-figure gap. In key markets like North America, Western Europe, and North-East Asia, capacity is currently down by 12.5%, 36.5%, and 20.6%, respectively.

Regional airline organizations echo IATA’s view

The biggest regional laggards are the South East Asian and South-West Pacific markets, where capacity is down 47.1% and 49.9%. Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines Director-General Subhas Menon says this is due to strict border measures imposed throughout the region and the emergence of the omicron variant. Mr Menon is singing from the same songsheet as Willie Walsh.

“For meaningful recovery to take place, border restrictions would need to be eased on a consistent basis, and the current multi-layered travel requirements streamlined and simplified for travelers,” he says.

IATA gets behind recent research studies

While there is a clear commercial imperative for Mr Walsh’s 290 member airlines to boost the amount of flying they do, IATA cites a recently published study by Oxera and Edge Health that demonstrates the minimal impact of travel restrictions on controlling travel restrictions the spread of omicron.

The study was specific to the UK. However, it found that the absence of any on arrival testing measures for travelers would have seen the omicron wave peak seven days earlier with an overall 8% increase in cases. Critically, now that omicron is highly prevalent in the UK, if all travel testing requirements were removed, there would be no impact on omicron case numbers or hospitalizations in the UK.

“It is clear that travel restrictions in any part of the world have had little impact on the spread of COVID-19, including the omicron variant. The UK, France, and Switzerland have recognized this and are among the first to begin removing travel measures. More governments need to follow their lead,” said Mr Walsh.

IATA’s Director General argues other governments removing barriers to travel will not only help normalize the airline industry, but it will help the world learn to live with COVID.

Source: Simple Flying

According to an updated report by the African Airlines Association (Afraa), the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hammer Africa’s aviation industry in 2021, resulting in an estimated $8.6 billion revenue loss.

While the figure is less than the $10.21 billion revenue loss recorded by the sector in 2020, it did mark a 49.8% decline when compared to the revenue recorded by the sector prior to the pandemic in 2019.

The report blamed the revenue loss on the stringent travel restrictions placed by governments, in a bid to contain the Coronavirus. While the restrictions were well-intentioned, they also inevitably made it impossibly for African airlines to operate optimally.

As a matter of fact, the traffic volume from January through to December was 42.3% less than what was recorded in 2019.

“Across Africa in general, passenger traffic volumes remain depressed due to the unilateral and uncoordinated travel health restrictions imposed by some governments following the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

“Airline revenues have remained low with many operators battling with cash-flow issues. Full-year revenue loss for 2021 is estimated at $8.6 billion, equivalent to 49.8 per cent of the 2019 revenues,” said a part of the report.

The Afraa report further noted that the ongoing political upheaval in Ethiopia also contributed to the loss because traffic volumes into the Horn of Africa country contracted, particularly between November and December last year.

Do note that during the year under review, only three African airlines were able to continue with their international routes expansion, the report said.

Source: Business Insider Africa

Ethiopian Airlines has commenced reactivation of its Boeing 737 MAX fleet. The 737 MAX, which is the first of four passenger jets, has returned to the skies for the first time since the aircraft were grounded in spring 2019.  

The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8, registration ET-AVI, was spotted on February 1, 2022. According to Flightradar24.com data, the jet took off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) at 09:21 a.m. (UTC) for a two hour-long reactivation flight and returned to the airport around 11.46 a.m. (UTC).  

The jet was the first of four 737 MAX passenger planes operate by the airline before the type was grounded following two fatal crashes. 346 people died when Lion Air Flight 610 crashed on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed on March 10, 2019. 

The MAX reactivation follows Ethiopian Airlines’ initial schedule, which was announced by the airline in December 2021.  

At the time, Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian Airlines CEO revealed that it had taken more than 20 months for the airline to regain confidence in the safety of its MAX fleet.  

“We have taken enough time to monitor the design modification work and the more than 20 months of rigorous rectification process…our pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians, cabin crew are confident in the safety of the fleet,” the CEO said in a statement seen by Reuters, which was dated January 2022.  

Gebremariam also noted that safety is the airline’s “topmost priority” and guides “every decision [it] makes and all actions [it] takes”. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

The airline industry is raising the stakes in a showdown with AT&T and Verizon over plans to launch new 5G wireless service this week, warning that thousands of flights could be grounded or delayed if the rollout takes place near major airports.

CEOs of the nation’s largest airlines say that interference from the wireless service on a key instrument on planes is worse than they originally thought.

“To be blunt, the nation’s commerce will grind to a halt” unless the service is blocked near major airports, the CEOs said in a letter Monday, January 17, to federal officials including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has previously taken the airlines’ side in the matter.

AT&T and Verizon plan to activate their new 5G wireless service Wednesday, January 19, after two previous delays from the original plan for an early December rollout.

The new high-speed 5G service uses a segment of the radio spectrum that is close to that used by altimeters, which are devices that measure the height of aircraft above the ground.

Two weeks ago, the companies struck a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration to delay the service for two more weeks and reduce the power of 5G transmitters near airports. That delay ends Wednesday, January 19.

AT&T and Verizon say their equipment will not interfere with aircraft electronics and that the technology is being safely used in many other countries. Critics of the airline industry say the carriers had several years to upgrade altimeters that might be subject to interference from 5G.

The CEOs of 10 passenger and cargo airlines, including American, Delta, United, and Southwest, said 5G will be more disruptive than they originally thought because dozens of large airports that were to have buffer zones to prevent 5G interference with aircraft will still be subject to flight restrictions announced last week by the FAA and because those restrictions won’t be limited to times when visibility is poor.

“Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded. This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays,” the CEOs said.

Source: AFAR