Aviation Intelligence Reporter May 2024
To read the full report please login first.
Do you want to become a member?
New Commission, New Agenda: The A4E’s Proposals for Action
By Ourania Georgoutsakou Managing Director Airlines 4 Europe
As the weeks wind down to the European elections in June, election campaigns are
ramping up in earnest. The elections mark the beginning of a period of transition and
change, introducing new faces and agendas across the institutions of the European
Union. High expectations follow five years plagued by multiple crises. Despite a
remarkable recovery in travel in recent years, the aviation industry in Europe has been
indelibly marked by the COVID pandemic, the greatest challenge it has ever faced.
Regulators Must Choose: Fortress Europe, or Pax Europa
We expect our regulators to make decisions. Indeed, we demand they do. But as we
lobby them to make those calls, we regularly fail to acknowledge that the regulators have
a difficult life. They are forced to make decisions that consider the entire spectrum of
views on the issue in hand; of the inputs and calls for sensible decision making coming
to them from all sides – solicited or otherwise – even though each of the stakeholders
has a very clear understanding only of their perspective on that issue. We do not care
about the broader picture, only our bit of it. The decision taken will be wrong unless it
accords exactly with our requirements. If not, we reserve the right to tell the world. More
accurately, we reserve the right to complain to the world.
Climate Change Mitigation Policy (Part 3): What Can ICAO Do?
By Dr. Chris Lyle, aviation consultant
The 2022 ICAO Assembly is regarded as a global watershed on mitigation of aviation’s
climate change impact. Twenty-five years from the Kyoto mandate and – after 12 years
of ‘exploring the feasibility’ of a ‘long-term aspirational goal’ – ICAO finally adopted one:
’net-zero carbon emissions by 2050’. Given the national commitments to net-zero of
2060 by China, Indonesia, the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia, and 2070 by India,
this leaves the door open and unspecified increased burdens on other States. The
Assembly also agreed to expand the application of CORSIA from above 2019 emissions
levels to above 85% of those levels from 2024 onward. Emissions below those levels
remain untouched.
What Can ICAO Deliver? Regulatory and related needs
Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis, concludes that current
mitigation measures for international aviation are ‘Critically Insufficient’. The ICAO
programme will not be close to bridging this gap and its institutional framework will
continue to limit its effectiveness. This begs some very large questions. What are the
key mitigation needs? Are there regulatory ways in which these might be addressed and
how may ICAO to play a role in them?
Greenwashing: Your Buzzword Bingo
KLM recently learnt what Iago was schooled by Desdemona’s dad all those years ago: to
vouch so is no proof. The courts have had very little sympathy with the concept of
airlines telling the world they are sustainably flying, when, as far as their honours are
concerned, they are not. That has seen the airlines’ marketing departments try to find
new ways to avoid the truth.
As a service to our readers, and with thanks to Patrick Edmond of Altair, we provide you
with your very own cut out and keep guide to greenwashing. Play along!
The Existential Threat to Regional Connectivity
Any assessment of the state of air transport today requires reflection of the year that
was, 2020. Airlines may have just about recovered their traffic numbers, but not
necessarily the passenger mix. That in turn has put many smaller European airports at
risk of insolvency. Many are suffering a significant decrease in capacity. Small regional
airports have seen a 38.6% decrease in VFR demand versus 2019 levels. Last year
saw an increase of 5.7% in international traffic to all regional airports, but a 5.9%
decrease in domestic traffic. Arguably, VFR travel has decreased relative to the
pandemic-era levels of travel as large swaths of city workers who returned home to live
with or near family-based support systems reversed that process.
Tags: Airlines, ATM, Aviation Industry, Business Aviation, Competition, Environment, Tourism, Uncategorised