Aviation Intelligence Reporter – October 2017
The Narrow Road to the Low Cost Long-Haul
Negotiating Drone Regulations: Good Grief
You Brexit You Pay For It: The Airport Perspective
Making the Level Playing Field Slope Even More Steeply
The A4E Summer Offensive: Finger Pointing is the New Yoga
Biz-Av: Lots of News; A Little Cheer
UNWTO: World Tourism Organisation Lives Up To Its UN Billing
To read the full report please login first.
Do you want to become a member?
The Narrow Road to the Low Cost Long-Haul
As we reported in June, low cost carriers, not content to disrupt the short-haul point-to-point market, are now going long-haul. If that was all, it would be old news. Freddy Laker did it in the 70s. Instead, now, the LCCs are not going after particular city pairs, Laker-style, they are going after markets. That means building a network, not just offering cheap seats between two cities. The legacy carriers can tell them how hard it is to build a network. They have been building their networks for several decades.
…
Negotiating Drone Regulations: Good Grief
A lot of drones are not subject to the gravitational forces of aeroplanes. Or, to put that another way, the small drone community is blithely unaware of the self-proclaimed gravity of aviation. They do not fit the model, they will never fit the model and nothing the legacy industry does will force them to fit the model. But full marks for trying. For those that want to corral drones into the mainstream of aviation the fact that there are millions of uncorralled drone operators already is but a mere detail. Only a tiny minority of drones go into controlled airspace and are subject to ATM control. That has not stopped the ANSPs from attempting to stand at the front. The vast majority of drones, several million of them, do not go into or anywhere near controlled airspace.
…
You Brexit You Pay For It: The Airport Perspective
Last month, we looked at the risks the UK airlines face in the face of Brexit. It is a huge risk, played down by many UK aviation industry experts, who place their faith in the ability of the UK government to Do Something. Bless. It would seem that the UK airports are less sanguine. They have commissioned a report, not yet public, but widely leaked, that suggests that there is a huge risk of significant damage to the UK’s airports from a hard Brexit. Nearly a half of bookings to continental Europe are at risk, it says.
…
Making the Level Playing Field Slope Even More Steeply
Who does not like a level playing field? Who does not want that level field to then slope distinctly in their own favour? With the opposition running into the wind and with the sun in their eyes. Deep down, every lobbying group in aviation wants that. Fair enough, as long as we all accept that such an outcome is not actually all that fair. Fair? You want fair? Nobody wants fair: they want the impression of fair. So it is best to make sure any outcome you lobby for is cloaked in a veneer of mutual good and public spiritedness. If you are lobbying in the aviation field that means only one thing: connectivity.
…
The A4E Summer Offensive: Finger Pointing is the New Yoga
Once, you could rely on the summer break to allow cattle to graze in the Commission quarter of Brussels, whilst beaches were laid on, batteries recharged, trashy novels read and indulgences indulged. Some unwound with physical exercise, some with yoga. That was then. This is now, a brave new world of modern aviation industry trade associations. Just as their members are busiest at this time of the year, the new generation, alpha-numeric trade association has to be seen to be busy all summer too.
…
Biz-Av: Lots of News; A Little Cheer
It is all going off in business aviation. Big news includes a $200 million funding for VistaJet from Rhône Capital, apparently valuing the global business jet operator at $2.5 billion; the collapse of its precocious competitor operator, Singapore-based Zetta Jet; a BP-led $20 million investment in the global ambitions of private jet broker, Fly Victor; and a further $26 million round of financing successfully raised by competing broker, US-based Stellar Labs. The market appears to be bubbling in anticipation of its annual gathering at the NBAA in Las Vegas next month.
…
UNWTO: World Tourism Organisation Lives Up To Its UN Billing
Say what you like about UN functionaries, the good ones can engineer an outcome. At the UNWTO’s annual assembly in Chengdu in September, the Executive Council’s recommendation for the new Secretary General was passed. As we reported last month, before the meeting, there had been a concerted campaign against the nominee, Georgia’s Zurab Pololikashvili. On the day, a parade of well-prepared interventions left the opposition isolated and outgunned. Delegate after delegate took the floor to support the nomination. Crisis averted. It is to be hoped that, nevertheless, this result does not quell a push for reform. Tourism is much too important for that not to happen.
…