Time For Growth - Airline Routes and Ground Services

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Time For Growth - Airline Routes and Ground Services
Final countdown
Europe’s LCCs hope for
a strong summer

Eastern promise
Korean Air prepares for
life after lockdown

Selling the dream
Why Orlando International is
                               Time For Growth
marketing destinations again   Can China drive a global aviation recovery?
                                                   airlinergs.com   Spring 2021
Time For Growth - Airline Routes and Ground Services
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Time For Growth - Airline Routes and Ground Services
Editor’s
N O T E S
Edward Robertson
ed@evaint.com

I
     don’t want to tempt fate, but it is          shows on page 44.
     beginning to feel like there is a note
     of optimism in the aviation industry         This is not to say we are out of the woods
     regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.             quite yet.

      Vaccine programmes are rolling              Our technology feature on page 40 shows
      out across the world and, providing         how both Boeing and Airbus have been
      countries administer them effectively,      forced to reconfigure operations during
we should see both an increase in                 the pandemic while Emirates boss Sir Tim
international flights and more confident          Clark has also warned many airlines still face
travellers in time for the summer.                considerable financial difficulties (page 16).

As a result, airlines are planning to resume      Meanwhile, an analysis of the Asia-Pacific
services in volume and easyJet CEO Johan          region on page 26 shows that there is
Lundgren (page 4) is now ready to do so just      still work to be done in recovering traffic
as soon as possible.                              numbers. And of course, if the region’s
                                                  commercial aviation sector is to recover it
Further afield, Korean Air has retrained staff    is likely that it will be driven by China, which
in the downtime to ensure they are ready to       is home to 1.4 billion people and offers huge
meet new demands and challenges (page 20),        potential both to the area and the rest of the
while United Airlines’ Scott Kirby is confident   world (page 30).
that commercial aviation will return to normal
quicker than currently predicted (page 24).       But with news that Orlando International
                                                  Airport is once again marketing destinations
Ground handlers are also keen to see flights      and the dream of visiting them (page 36)
ramp up and have developed new practices          it does feel like there are reasons to be
to ensure they can deal with the demands of       optimistic – something we’ve all been
Covid-19 on a day-to-day basis, as our story      dreaming about recently.

James Sheridan                      Parveen Raja                     Humza Raja
Chairman                            Publisher                        Sales Manager
james@evaint.com                    parveen@evaint.com               humza@evaint.com

Charlotte Willis                    Gemma Keen                       Alpha Diallo
Office Manager                      Events Coordinator               Graphic Designer
charlotte@evaint.com                gemma@evaint.com                 alpha@evaint.com

Shobhana Patel                      Salam Raja
Head of Finance                     Producer
finance@evaint.com                  salam@evaint.com

                                               Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services        1
Time For Growth - Airline Routes and Ground Services
Contents                                 SPRING 2021

Issue 35 2021
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The opinions expressed in
                                                                04 Airlines
this publication are those                                           EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren is hoping Europe’s
of the individual authors                                            vaccination programme will open up its skies in time
or advertisers and do not
necessarily reflect those of                                         for the summer
EVA or its members.

The mention of specific
companies or products in                                        08 Airlines
articles or advertisements
contained herein does not
                                                                     Norwegian is reassessing its European programme
imply that they are endorsed                                         after closing down its long-haul operations
or recommended by EVA.

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 2             Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Time For Growth - Airline Routes and Ground Services
Contents

         24 Airlines
              United Airlines’ Scott Kirby is optimistic about the
              future of aviation once the pandemic subsides

         26 Route development
              Asia-Pacific is still feeling the impact of Covid-19 in
              its aviation market

         30 Route development
              China will be the engine for aviation growth as
24            travellers start flying again

         36 Airports
              Orlando International Airport explains its market-
              ing plans as Americans return to the skies

         40 Technology
              Both Boeing and Airbus rethink operations as
              the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact
              their businesses

         44 Ground handlers
              Ground handlers around the world continue to
30            develop new ways of dealing with the pandemic

44

      Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                    3
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Airlines

Divining an uncertain
future
The future may be unclear, but easyJet’s Johan Lundgren is still making plans for it,
whatever shape it takes.
By Edward Robertson

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about    variants, vaccine-rollout problems, new         So when asked during an online CAPA
the Covid-19 global pandemic is that once   government regulations that often               Live interview in February about recent
we seem to have a handle on it, the virus   question logic, or people’s reactions to        Eurocontrol predictions that aviation
throws us another curveball.                the situation, life doesn’t feel much clearer   traffic levels in June could still be
                                            than a year ago when Covid-19 went from         depressed by as much as 70 per cent
Whether that takes the form of new          regional issue to global problem.               compared with 2019, easyJet CEO

4          Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
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Airlines

  Johan Lundgren                                                                                    Sustainability is key to aviation’s growth

Johan Lundgren is keen to make the              Keeping the future sustainable
point that the only certainty the future               EasyJet’s boss is urging governments        millions and millions of families and people to
holds is uncertainty.                                  to avoid the temptation to tax              enjoy this product and service that weren’t
                                                aviation more in a bid to make the industry        there before.”
He says: “There are a number of scenarios       more sustainable.
out there, but let’s be very clear: nobody                                                         Lundgren also argues more taxes would
knows. Nobody knows if it’s going to be         Speaking in an interview during the February       only lower load factors, so making flying less
more or less than some of the stats you’re      CAPA Live event online, CEO Johan Lundgren         efficient and a less green form of transport.
mentioning. Of course, it’s interesting to      says sustainability remains a core concern for
look at the scenarios, and some of them         an industry that has been largely grounded         However, he admits that the ongoing
are based on some underlying assumptions        during the Covid-19 pandemic.                      pandemic will have an impact on the
that could well be true, but the fact is that                                                      industry’s work to become more sustainable
this could change in a few weeks’ time.”        However, while clearer skies might mean            as airlines focus their financial resources on
                                                cleaner skies, he believes that when aviation      surviving the ongoing and ever-changing
However, Lundgren believes that should          returns introducing new taxes which increase       rules that can see lockdowns and travel bans
the rollout of the vaccination programme        costs with the aim of reducing demand would        introduced with little to no notice.
across his European markets be judged           be a mistake.
a success by June, then the relaxation of                                                          Lundgren says: “This is the danger with the
                                                Lundgren says: “The point is not to reduce         pandemic because it has removed, clearly,
governmental restrictions on flying will be
                                                flying, the point is to make sure that aviation    funds from the industry to invest into new
met with a boom in the market.
                                                has less impact on the environment.                technology that was so desperately needed.
“We can be very positively surprised if
                                                “To only look at the demand side on this and       “You see that some of the commitments that
there is a positive continuation of the         say: ‘Well, we should introduce taxes,’ or: ‘We    some airlines have made (to sustainability)
vaccination programme,” he adds.                should make it more expensive for people           have been withdrawn throughout this.”
                                                to fly,’ is an awful, awful way of looking at it
“It is most important that governments          because it drives social inequality.               However, he adds airlines need to remain
come out with a plan as to how they’re                                                             focused on increasing their sustainability not
going to unwind these restrictions that are     “It means that you go back to the days before      just for the sake of the environment and the
in place, so we can look forward to a good      the deregulation in the middle of the ’90s,        industry, but also for their own bottom line.
summer because we know that there is            when flying was something that was available
underlying demand out there. This is not a      to wealthy and privileged people.                  “We know that customers coming out of
question about demand, this is all about the                                                       this crisis are going to pay more attention on
restrictions that are in place.”                “Companies such as ours have allowed               these things,” he says.

Lundgren says a combination of the LCC’s

                                                                           Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                           5
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                                                                                                 “We have turned
own research in its top five markets and          that the early indications of the demand       every stone in
his previous experience of crises, ranging
from 9/11 to the 2008 global financial crash,
                                                  that we’re seeing for the summer is
                                                  into the big, traditional holiday resorts,
                                                                                                 this company and
show that the leisure market will be the          where people recognise that there’s an         looked underneath
first to recover, followed by visiting friends    infrastructure in place.”
and family, while business travel will be last.                                                  it to see how
                                                  Business travel growth
With domestic flying also remaining more          Lundgren is also positive that although        we can be more
popular than international travel, he adds        it might be last, the business travel
the airline will have to be both patient and      market will return in strength as people       efficient and how
nimble, not just to react to market demand
but also to government restrictions.
                                                  become increasingly disillusioned with
                                                  video conferencing and human nature
                                                                                                 we can be more
                                                  reasserts itself.                              productive.”
“We want to wait as long as we possibly
can before we start operating them                “When it comes to establishing new
(flights), putting them on sale, getting the      relationships; when it comes to talking        Johan Lundgren
crew in and start looking at the capacities       with more than one person; if you want to      easyJet CEO
versus demand,” Lundgren says.                    have a creative debate; if you want to start
                                                  looking into complexities or if there are
He believes this job will be made easier          difficult decisions that needs to be made,
by the very nature of being an airline,           meeting in person is far superior,” he says.
especially if some countries are quicker to
lower restrictions than others.                   “People and humans are social
                                                  creatures; they want to meet and they
Lundgren adds: “We know that, for                 want to travel. They want to establish
instance, if there are big variances between      those relationships, so I don’t believe
countries then there will be restrictions         for a moment that there is going to be
that are tighter and harder in one country        a structural shift of any significance. I’m
than another. But the beauty of having an         sure there will be some changes but,
airline is you can move your assets.              don’t forget, there will also be general
                                                  underlying growth.”
“You can fly to different places, you can
fly to where demand is. It’s fair to say          Lundgren adds easyJet will also be well

6          Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
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Airlines

placed to take advantage of the markets         while Ryanair is 15 per cent at most.
upon their return having undertaken the         He adds: “The big overlap sits with               “We’ve also
largest cost-out programme in its history       the legacy carriers. We know there
during lockdown.                                are retrenchments there and we are                got to face the
With a combined focus on right-sizing the
                                                absolutely going to take the opportunity
                                                to grow when the demand is there and
                                                                                                  reality that there
company and increasing productivity, the
airline also put many of the crew on part-
                                                when the opportunity arises.”                     might be some
time contracts in order to avoid mass staff     And while the future might remain                 time here with
redundancies.                                   unclear, Lundgren does have a plan for it.
                                                He adds: “We plan to have the flexibility         some suppressed
He says: “We have turned every stone in         to be able to grow, definitely take
this company and looked underneath it to        (market) share and definitely build on the        demand”
see how we can be more efficient and how        opportunities we have.
we can be more productive.                                                                        Johan Lundgren
                                                “But we’ve also got to face the reality that      easyJet CEO
“If the cost isn’t generating revenue or        there might be some time here with some
driving a superior customer satisfaction        suppressed demand, and that’s what you’ve
experience that, in its turn, drives more       then got to work out and see what you’re
revenue, then it should go.”                    going to do to come out of this in the best
                                                financial way that you possibly can.”
Legacy management
Lundgren argues this should also put            Of course, there must be more detail to
the airline in a good position to grow at       easyJet’s plan than this but, with the future
the expense of the competition, which is        continuing to remain as uncertain as it
unlikely to be rival LCCs as easyJet only has   does, it will likely be a while before the fine
a 3 per cent route overlap with Wizz Air,       print becomes apparent.

                                                                             Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services         7
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Airlines

End of the
                                                            Norwegian’s decision to drop its entire
                                                            long-haul network in order to focus on
                                                            short-haul, European flights comes as it
                                                            seeks to simplify its business and reduce its

American
                                                            level of debt.

                                                            In 2019, the airline was operating a fleet
                                                            of 156 Boeing aircraft, including 37 787

Dream
                                                            Dreamliners, 18 737 Maxs and 101 737-800s.
                                                            However, a spokesman says all long-haul
                                                            routes have long since come to an end,
                                                            including all flights from the UK to the US
With aviation suffering from the ongoing Covid-19           and South America, flights from France,
                                                            Italy, Spain and Norway to the US as well as
pandemic, Norwegian has cancelled its long-haul             Norway-Thailand.
programme in a bid to survive                               The spokesman added while it is hard
                                                            to quantify exactly how many long-haul
By Edward Robertson                                         flights were operating in 2019 and 2020,

8          Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

                                                “2020 was an exceptionally difficult year”

                                                      Just the briefest of glances over      has caused, there is a great fighting
                                                      Norwegian’s fourth quarter results     spirit and engagement within the
                                                in 2020 reveal the extent of Covid-19’s      company, and together we will build
                                                impact on the airline’s fortunes.            new Norwegian when we exit the
                                                                                             reconstruction processes.
                                                As the report states: “The pandemic
                                                continues to have a negative impact          “Now, we are doing everything we can
                                                on the aviation industry. Demand was         do to emerge as a more financially
                                                severely affected by changing travel         secure and competitive airline with
                                                restrictions and the continued spread of     an improved customer offering, and
                                                Covid-19 across Norwegian’s key markets.”    as soon as Europe begins to reopen,
                                                                                             we will be ready to welcome more
                                                The statement adds that of the               customers on board.”
                                                current fleet of 131 aircraft, an average
                                                of 15 were operational in the last three     Nor has 2021 started off looking any
                            Jacob Schram        months of the year, between them             better. New figures released by the
                                                carrying 574,000 customers.                  airline show that in January, 74,224
                                                                                             customers flew with the airline, a
in 2019 alone the LCC operated 18,528           The passenger numbers equated to             96 per cent decrease year on year.
transatlantic flights.                          a 92 per cent decrease year on year          Reflecting the anticipated bad figures,
                                                while capacity measured in available         ASK was down 98 per cent while the
                                                seat kilometres (ASK) was down 96 per        load factor was just 35.9 per cent,
Since 2019, the number of aircraft in
                                                cent and passenger traffic measured          down 45 percentage points on the
the airline’s fleet has dropped to 131
                                                in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK)         previous January.
and the spokesman says Norwegian is
                                                was down 97 per cent.
already in conversation with lessors                                                         In January, 74,224 customers flew with
regarding the spare aircraft, as well as        Despite the considerable reduction in        Norwegian, a decrease of 96 percent
having plans to sell any it owns that are       ASK, the airline was unable to boost load    compared to the same period last
now surplus to requirement.                     factors, recording 52.4 per cent for the     year. The capacity (ASK) was down
                                                entire period and down 32.5 percentage       98 percent, and the total passenger
Of the aircraft that Norwegian plans to         points compared to 2019’s figure.            traffic (RPK) was down by 99 percent.
keep, in February this year it was operating                                                 The load factor was 35.9 percent,
eight 737s, down from a total of 15 in the      While Norwegian might have been              down 45 percentage points.
last three months of 2020.                      able to alleviate some of the pain by
                                                reducing operating expenses before           Jacob Schram, CEO of Norwegian,
The new plan will see the airline               leasing and depreciation by 82 per           said: “The pandemic continues to have
continue to operate initially 50                cent, the net loss for the airline was       a negative impact on our business
narrowbody aircraft on both                     NOK 16.6 billion ($1.95 billion).            as travel restrictions remain. We are
domestic Norwegian routes as well as                                                         doing everything in our power to
international ones across the Nordics           Norwegian CEO Jacob Schram says:             come out of the examinership as a
and to key European destinations.               “2020 was an exceptionally difficult         stronger, more competitive airline
                                                year for the aviation industry and for       and we look forward to welcoming
However, the spokesman is remaining tight-      Norwegian. Consequently, the fourth          more customers on board as travel
lipped about the exact nature of the new        quarter results are as expected.             restrictions are lifted.”
short-haul programme, revealing only that
                                                “Unfortunately, many of our                  Norwegian operated eight aircraft
Norwegian would operate routes that show
                                                employees are furloughed or have lost        on average in January, mainly on
strong demand.
                                                their jobs, partly due to the company’s      domestic routes in Norway. The
                                                decision to cease long-haul operations.      company operated 96.8 percent of its
The airline is then planning to operate an                                                   scheduled flights in January, whereof
additional 20 narrowbody aircraft in 2022.      “Despite the difficulties the pandemic       90.4 percent departed on time.
Meanwhile, the long-haul programme will
end thanks not just to the ongoing situation
which has seen the airline’s Dreamliner fleet

                                                                       Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                9
Airlines

  Norwegian’s Dreamliners have
  carried passengers for the last time

grounded, but also because of the extreme      these operations will not continue.             The company overhaul will also see
uncertainty over future demand.                                                                a focus on the finances, with its debt
                                               “The consequence of this decision is that       expected to be reduced to NOK20 billion
Norwegian CEO Jacob Schram says: “I am         the board of directors of the legal entities    ($2.37 billion) while as much as NOK5
pleased to present a robust business plan      employing primarily long-haul staff in Italy,   billion ($590 million) in capital will be
today, which will provide a new start for      France, the UK and the US have contacted        raised through a combination of a rights
the company. By focusing our operation         insolvency practitioners. Norwegian             issue to current shareholders, a private
on a short-haul network, we aim to             will continue to assess profitable              placement and a hybrid instrument.
attract existing and new investors, serve      opportunities as the world adapts and
our customers and support the wider            recovers from the impact of Covid-19.           Schram added the airline has also reinitiated
infrastructure and travel industry in Norway                                                   a dialogue with the Norwegian government
and across the Nordics and Europe.             “Our short-haul network has always              about possible state participation based on
                                               been the backbone of Norwegian and              the new business plan.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly          will form the basis of a future resilient
affected the entire aviation industry.         business model.                                 Should it win both private and public
Travel restrictions and changing                                                               support, we must hope that Norwegian
government advice continue to                  “Our focus is to rebuild a strong, profitable   has a strong future. Covid-19 has caused
negatively influence demand for long-          Norwegian so that we can safeguard as           several European airlines to collapse and
haul travel, and Norwegian’s entire            many jobs as possible.                          while the number of carriers that have
Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet has been                                                           suffered this fate is not as high as some
grounded since March, 2020.                    “We do not expect customer demand in            have predicted, the loss of any more
                                               the long-haul sector to recover in the near     airlines should be considered very sad
“Future demand remains highly uncertain.       future, and our focus will be on developing     indeed, especially when a vaccination
Under these circumstances a long-haul          our short-haul network as we emerge from        programme is being slowly rolled out
operation is not viable for Norwegian and      the reorganisation process.”                    across the continent.

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Reshaping                                                                                    Jeremy Bowen

aviation
Reconfigured fleets, improved demand forecasting
and increased operational flexibility will all be key in
driving the world’s post-Covid-19 commercial aviation
industry, says Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen.
The worst year in aviation history might       global passenger airline traffic to levels
be behind us, but government-enforced          last seen in 1999. A staggering 21 years of
lockdowns and border closures continue to      aviation growth was wiped out in a matter
restrict movement and reduce demand for        of months.
commercial aviation worldwide.
                                               This led to more than 40 commercial
Earlier this year, Cirium’s Airline Insights   airlines ceasing or suspending
Review revealed the pandemic had rewound       operations in 2020 around the world,

12         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

while we witnessed the profound impact     the number of flying passengers would not       Retirement and reconfiguration
of the well-oiled flight scheduling        return to 2019 levels until 2024. That is one   First, the sudden demise of certain aircraft
system thrown into chaos. The year         of the more optimistic scenarios.               types in 2020 is one of the most visible
closed with two thirds of the world’s                                                      effects of the pandemic on aviation – and
passenger fleet still grounded – some      Until Covid-19 vaccines are rolled out          the trend is set to continue.
of which will never take off again –       more widely, the airlines will be impacted
and those aircraft in service are flying   for some time – particularly as the             For the A380, in particular, the outlook
significantly fewer hours.                 pandemic continues to halt international        in 2021 remains bleak. Many airlines have
                                           travel. Airlines are already finding new        already declared the aircraft too large
However, there are some silver linings.    ways to try and re-grow air travel through      for their current needs, while Airbus
Carriers welcomed the opportunity          building traveller confidence with safety       has announced it will cease production
to return newer aircraft to the skies,     measures and communications and                 completely. Only Emirates remains
particularly those which have an           offering testing strategies.                    committed to the A380, announcing new
excellent range such as the Airbus                                                         aircraft deliveries.
A320neo aircraft and the recently          What the pandemic does enable is the
reapproved Boeing 737 Max. In fact, at     opportunity for the carriers, especially        Operators struggle to fill larger aircraft
the end of 2020, only 10 per cent of       the major ones, to try new things               as demand for long-haul travel continues
A320neo aircraft were in storage.          without upsetting the boat too much.            to stand at a halt, while such aircraft are
                                           For example, retiring and reconfiguring         generally less efficient per seat than next-
So, what about the future? At the IATA     aircraft, uncovering new ways to                generation twin-engine rivals such as the
2020 annual general meeting held online    forecast travel demand and adopting             Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
in November 2020, it was predicted that    more flexible flight scheduling methods.        However, some aircraft types in storage

                                                                        Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                 13
Airlines

will be converted to freighters. At least    impact of Covid-19 exacerbated this           Such indicators were used by airlines
70 aircraft conversions happened in          inefficiency as historical bookings were no   as a secondary source previously but
2020 and this is expected to increase        longer comparable.                            are now becoming primary indicators
in 2021 to approximately 90. The trend                                                     to predict future travel demand and
is largely driven by the strong growth       In Q4 2020 alone, bookings were               develop pricing strategies.
in e-commerce, helped by customers           down 78 per cent compared to the
making their purchases online.               same period in 2019. Adding to the            Airline operational flexibility
                                             unpredictability, the summer period saw       In a pre-Covid world, most travellers would
In addition, more than 150 commercial        40 per cent of bookings being made at         book flights between six and 12 months
jets were used for cargo in 2020, albeit     the last minute – as little as one to three   ahead. This long-range booking window has
the aircraft did not undergo a physical      days before travel.                           fallen to just six to eight weeks, so airlines
conversion. Many of these aircraft are                                                     must be able to react much more quickly
being used in cargo networks to replace      New indicators are needed instead, such       when it comes to demand pricing and
the temporary loss of cargo capacity until   as travellers’ online interactions, social    equipment use.
long-haul passenger networks recover.        media activity and their sentiment –
                                             these can be monitored around global          The increased volatility of flight scheduling
Improved demand forecasting                  real-world events and trending activity.      and booking numbers must also be met with
Before the pandemic, airlines relied         Signals using artificial intelligence (AI)    dynamic approaches to aircraft and crew
on historical bookings data to forecast      can automate the information for              rostering and there is a clear need for closer
travel demand, although this saw carriers    airlines to understand where flight           cooperation between network planning
operating flights with empty seats. The      activity may increase.                        departments and scheduling.

14         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

The transition might prove challenging            information for travellers, including           seek to improve the experience of flying.
but dynamic flight scheduling will help           notifications and alerts, will become more
break down the legacy silos which                 critical than ever.                             Lastly, the leasing sector is likely to take
continue to exist between commercial                                                              on an even greater role as the financial
planning network teams and revenue                With so much uncertainty for passengers         struggle for airlines prevails. In 2020, leasing
management. In the months ahead,                  around flying during Covid-19, the onus is      companies pushed past the 50 per cent
airlines will thrive on operational               on airlines to communicate more effectively     ownership share of the global fleet for the
resilience and seamless collaboration.            about the status of flights automatically and   first time and the trend is set to continue.
                                                  improve the customer experience.
Other trends Cirium has identified include                                                        Sale-and-leasebacks in particular are an
greater consolidation of airlines, particularly   But AI is not just about alerts and             immediate source of cash – something
in the Asia-Pacific, where more domestic          notifications. It has huge potential to         airlines desperately need in these
competitors will merge or be acquired.            streamline the entire travel experience,        challenging times.
Merging airlines usually leads to a stronger      from the minute the passenger leaves
single entity and, against the backdrop of the    their front door.                               One thing we know for sure, is that aviation
pandemic, this increased level of resilience                                                      has a proven record of resilience. At Cirium,
might just prove to be an important asset.        In the post-Covid world, we should              we are confident the industry will weather
                                                  expect to see more emphasis on a                this difficult period and emerge in better
Meanwhile, the implementation of AI               touchless airport and in-flight experience      shape – with younger, more fuel-efficient
technology will accelerate and automate           – and so we’re likely to see new                aircraft – gradually navigating its way to
the traveller experience. Real-time proactive     technologies come into use as airlines          recovery in the years ahead.

                                                                              Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                    15
Airlines

             Cash in or cash out
           The news surrounding Covid-19 may be improving but airlines still face a
                        battle to survive, the Emirates boss believes
                                                   By Edward Robertson

16         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

                                            “Last year people thought that, one,
  Sir Tim Clark, Emirates
                                            there would be an end in sight; and two,
                                            that they would supplement the cash
                                            requirements of non-operating by debt
                                            provision or by state aid or whatever
                                            it was, to a point where they could get
                                            through, certainly for the first quarter of
                                            this year. Well, that hasn’t happened.

                                            “It looks as though it’s going to go on
                                            for longer; and therefore you see the
                                            cries from the heart, from a number of
                                            entities within our industry, as well as
                                            the players in the industry saying: ‘We’re
                                            going to run short of cash very quickly.
                                            You need to understand this.’”

                                            Fundamentally flawed
                                            However, Clark adds while the pandemic
                                            has had a very real, and very alarming,
                                            impact on the aviation industry, he
                                            believes Covid-19 has been a catalyst for      “I’m not sure it’s
                                            any airline failures, as opposed to the
                                            fundamental cause.
                                                                                           the right time to
                                            He says: “I’m not sure it’s the right
                                                                                           start thinking
                                            time to start thinking about whether           about whether
As 2021 gathers pace, there is an air       your business model is fit for purpose.
of unease remaining over the aviation       If it was fit for purpose prior to the         your business
industry as the Covid-19 pandemic           pandemic, then it’s probably going to be
continues to bite.                          fit for purpose post pandemic.                 model is fit for
When the virus first became a global        “If there was a fundamental problem prior
                                                                                           purpose.”
issue, aircraft around the world were       to that, then there’s no point blaming the
grounded, creating very real concerns       pandemic for the fact that you failed. It
that countless airlines would be forced     was going to happen anyway, perhaps now
out of business.                            sooner rather than later.”                     Sir Tim Clark
                                                                                           CEO, Emirates
However, by CAPA’s own estimation,          This is not to say that staff at Emirates
only about 30 airlines closed down          have not used the downtime of the last
for good thanks to a combination of         year to fine tune the business, with a
government backing and some strong          lot of work focusing on how best to
investment activity.                        manage the supply chain that allows the
                                            airline to operate.
While this may be a relief to the
industry, Emirates president Sir Tim        Which is just as well. Despite the initial
Clark is warning that the situation is      optimism that Clark says he felt when
even more precarious this year, as          Covid-19 vaccines were created, new
despite vaccinations being rolled out       mutant variations of the virus and
globally there is little to indicate when   problems with vaccination programmes
commercial aviation may resume again        around them mean: “We’re not going
at any significant level of activity.       to see capacity return to the levels I’d
                                            hoped in July and August. I think that
Speaking in a one-on-one interview in       might only happen in the last quarter of
the online CAPA Live event in February,     this year.”
he says: “The problem is that the airline
industry and all the associated aerospace   And it is this continued delay to earning
sectors … have had a year of this now.      serious cash that may yet spell the

                                                                       Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services        17
Airlines

                                                                                                    Dubai International Airport acts
                                                                                                      as a super hub for Emirates

demise of many airlines, even the ones      what they actually want. Their aspirations   He adds: “It’s far better to have healthy
that were originally well placed to         will be the same, but how they get the       competition and that the carriers
survive the ongoing commercial trauma       aspirations may be slightly different.”      that are doing a good job in all the
caused by few to no customers. In which                                                  geographical sectors of the world
case, he believes governments will be       Instead, Clark is more concerned about       can continue to operate. It serves no
forced to step in again with the required   how the world’s airlines will initially      purpose for one carrier to dominate and
money.                                      meet the demand when it returns, as          price gouge or whatever; that is short-
                                            many aircraft have been mothballed           term thinking. It’s not healthy thinking
Clark says: “There is an obligation to      during the pandemic while both               and it doesn’t do anybody any favours.”
ensure this sector survives and there’s     Boeing and Airbus will take time to get
no point worrying about state aid           production levels of new aircraft up and     Emirates plans
or who gets what. First thing – get it      running again.                               Despite his pleas for a strong global
(aviation) going and keep it healthy                                                     aviation market, Clark admits the airline,
and active as it’s so important to the      “So if you take this all together, there     which has about 250 aircraft in total and
global economy and deal with the rest       is likely to be a shortage of capacity       is still flying to 104 of its pre-pandemic
afterwards.”                                principally in the medium and long-haul      142 destinations, is well placed to meet
                                            markets,” he says. “And given that the       demand once aircraft are permitted to
He is also confident that the consumer      capacity … and the demand … will be very     return to the skies in serious numbers.
demand will be there once aircraft are      strong in multiple segments, there could
allowed to return to the skies again.       be a supply and demand issue.”               He says: “From a predatorial point of
                                                                                         view, a competitive point of view, we
“My view is that once we are through        Even though this could create                have a very large fleet, which, unlike
this, demand for air travel will return     monopolies on routes which Clark             other carriers, (we have not) discarded
and consumer confidence will return,”       believes would be of benefit to an           or retired or put into mothballs.
Clark says.                                 airline with the scale Emirates enjoys,
                                            he is hopeful that rival airlines will be    “The airplanes are being kept in
“It may be slightly more finessed in the    ready and waiting to pick up the slack as    an advanced state of readiness for
sense that people may be smarter about      quickly as possible.                         operations as soon as we need them.

18         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

There is a view that there will be a
stripping out of capacity over the next
                                                  Which leaves Clark and the airline feeling
                                                  optimistic about the future, despite the
                                                                                                             “It serves no
two or three years. Capacity has been             dialling up of the current threat level                    purpose for
taken out and will not be replaced.”              to airlines globally as the pandemic
                                                  continues to bite.                                         one carrier to
Furthermore, Clark believes Emirates’ longer
term planning, which includes moving to           He is also confident that new sectors                      dominate and
more fuel-efficient aircraft as its Airbus        will emerge in the market as a result of
A380s are slowly phased out, will mean it         the pandemic and that Emirates is well
                                                                                                             price gouge or
still has a network 30 per cent bigger in the
number of cities served by 2035.
                                                  placed to benefit from them. It is simply
                                                  a matter of time, and factors beyond
                                                                                                             whatever; that is
                                                  his control, that will allow the serious                   short-term
He adds the plan remains largely                  resumption of service.
unchanged and also rests on Dubai                                                                            thinking.”
International Airport remaining key to            Clark says: “How and when these airplanes
the strategy as the airline’s super hub.          come in will be a question of managing
                                                  where we think demand is likely to
Clark says: “There was never any                  be in the countries and whether the                        Sir Tim Clark
suggestion that the business model                manufacturers are in a position to deliver                 CEO, Emirates
and the centrality of the super hub (in           at the pace and numbers that we want.”
Dubai) that we created would alter in
any way. In many respects, it got larger,         Which, under the current circumstances
more focused, and as we grew the hub,             is about as optimistic as you can get,
the unit cost of operating the hub fell. It       especially when there are many airlines
got the benefits of scale to the level that       out there that may yet have closed down
we have at the moment.”                           by the end of this year.

                                                     that the changing global environment will           originally shared value with.
       Emirates’ partnership with                    either force more airlines to join them out of
       Qantas is in ‘deep freeze’
                                                     economic necessity or, alternatively, abandon       “And do I see a little bit more of that? Yes.
                                                     them as they seek more nimble models of             Prior to the pandemic, it was already being
                                                     cooperation with their rivals.                      talked about. And that’s not to say that there
                                                                                                         won’t be groupings, but I would suggest that
                                                     Clark says: “In times of distress and difficulty,   those groupings may span alliances, that
                                                     the aviation community has had a habit              they may involve players in other parts of the
                                                     of forming clusters to protect itself from          world. Qantas is a OneWorld member, they
                                                     the trading conditions across the global            work with us.”
                                                     economy. We’ve seen that in the past.
                                                                                                         However, Clark admits the current working
                                                     “On the other hand, there may be a view             relationship with Qantas is undergoing a
                                                     that perhaps the dominance of the way the           “deep-freeze situation” as the Australian
                                                     alliances work may not be fit for purpose in        airline has cancelled its entire international
    Shifting alliances                               the new way of doing things.”                       operation currently, while its domestic
                                                                                                         programme undergoes regular upheaval as
           Alliances face a crossroads as the        He adds instead of choosing the safety              Australian states close their borders to one
           Covid-19 pandemic forces airlines         blanket of size that alliances offer, a strategic   another whenever Covid-19 outbreaks strike.
    to re-evaluate their business strategy from      rethink among airlines, coupled with Airbus
    top to bottom.                                   and Boeing’s increasing focus on the creation       He adds: “But the relationship, I hope, will
                                                     and production of long-haul, twin-jet aircraft      not change. It’s always been a very good one,
    Speaking in a CAPA Live interview online         could create new opportunities.                     hopefully profitable for both sides.”
    in February, Emirates president Sir Tim
    Clark believes the repercussions from            Clark says: “These (aircraft) change the            Similarly, Clark is hopeful of working with
    the current crisis are yet to be fully           needs for carriers which hitherto had               local rival Etihad, with cargo potentially
    understood, let alone felt.                      allowed their geographical markets to be            providing an inroad to a closer relationship,
                                                     controlled by others. They now have the             providing competition rules allow and
    And when it comes to alliances, he argues        ability to move to the city pairs that they         neither brand is diluted by the other.

                                                                                   Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                         19
Airlines

Picking up the pieces
Cargo might have helped Korean Air navigate the Covid-19 pandemic so
far, but staff are preparing for new ways of working in the future
By Edward Robertson

Perhaps one of the hardest things about    been while the present remains so             pandemic travel world.
living through the Covid-19 pandemic       uncertain, the future is not much
has been working out what to do with       clearer, thanks to governments still          One such airline that embodies this
all the excess time available.             ready to impose flight restrictions           philosophy is Korean Air, which has just
                                           should new waves of Covid-19 occur,           released its tentative 2020 financial
Whether it is passing the endless hours    while IATA has predicted passenger            results which show it still made an
at home during lockdown or running         demand in 2021 will be half that of 2019.     operating profit of KRW238.3 billion
a business that can no longer perform                                                    ($219 million) from KRW7.4 trillion ($6.8
its key functions, trying to fill in the   While this might mean route development       billion) in sales.
downtime in a meaningful way has           programmes are largely on hold, airline
proved to be a challenge even for the      staff are finding new ways of ensuring that   Despite the initial good news
most productive of people.                 once international commercial aviation        surrounding an airline making a profit
                                           resumes, they will be ready and waiting       in such a difficult year, the airline’s
A particular problem for airlines has      to welcome passengers to the post-            president Keehong Woo says the

20         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

                                                                             Cargo has been a key revenue
                                                                                   generator for Korean Air

              success was largely down to cost cutting         “Sadly, Incheon Airport, one of the
              and cargo sales rising by 66 per cent            largest Asian hubs, is no longer
              due to increased global demand for               bustling with people; it is very quiet
              anything from Covid-19 diagnostic kits           but hopefully this will soon improve as
              to automobile parts.                             people start travelling again.”

              The passenger side of the business did not       Noh adds Covid-19 started becoming
              fare nearly so well; sales fell by 74 per cent   a serious problem in South Korea
              since the start of the pandemic.                 from February 2020 and was felt most
                                                               profoundly in May, when the airline was
              Handling Covid-19 on the ground                  operating as few as eight flights a day to
              But what does this mean on the ground?           any one of 24 cities.
              Korean Air managing vice president
              airport customer service Sungjae Noh             This is a considerable drop on the 150
              says the impact has been heavily felt by         international flights to 108 cities Korean
              all employees.                                   Air would have operated on a normal
                                                               day, although the situation turned out
              He adds: “Due to the pandemic, it has            to be far more complex than simply
              been an unprecedented, disastrous                cutting capacity as the airline responded
              year for everyone, but especially                to each country’s new laws.
              for those in the travel industry. The
              demand dropped sharply and our 2020              Noh says: “In addition, travel restrictions
              international flights were reduced               and requirements were surprisingly
Sungjae Noh   by about 61 per cent and capacity by             different and inconsistent, which created
              around 82 per cent.                              chaos for airlines and customers.”

                                           Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                21
Airlines

                                                                Safety in the time of Covid-19
                                                                                                   Korean ramps up ground handling
                                                                                                   Covid-19 safeguards

                                                                                                           While Korean Air has been
                                                                                                           doing all that it can to make the
                                                                                                           customer travel experience safer,
                                                                                                   it has also focused on ensuring rampside
                                                                                                   staff adopt new practices.

                                                                                                   Managing vice president airport
                                                                                                   customer service Sungjae Noh says
                                                                                                   although ramp operations for passenger
                                                                                                   flights were reduced by 61 per cent in
                                                                                                   response to the global pandemic as
                                                                                                   governments closed down airspace,
                                                                                                   cargo increased by 2.5 per cent in 2020.

                                                                                                   He adds the closed airspaces brought a
                                                                                                   fresh set of issues for staff to handle, further
                                                                                                   compounded by a spate of bad weather.

                                                                                                   Noh says: “As many international flights
                                                                                                   were suspended it was challenging to
However, the airline got to work on               with Incheon currently include the               secure enough parking areas for grounded
preparing for the future and prioritised          introduction of biometric technologies,          aircraft. To manage the situation, following
a ‘Care First’ programme to emphasise             including biometric check-in, while talks        discussions with the airport authority,
safety measures introduced throughout             with IATA could lead to the introduction         we secured additional parking space to
the passenger journey.                            of its Travel Pass.                              accommodate all the grounded airplanes.

This included teaming up with                     Nor has the work been limited to the             “In addition to the Covid challenges we
Incheon International Airport to work             passenger experience, Noh says, with             also experienced unusually harsh winter
on a number of practices including                the business itself also feeling the             weather and typhoons in the summer in
temperature checks both on arrival at             effects of the changes.                          Korea, which further hindered our fleet
the airport and on boarding the aircraft,                                                          operations as we had to tie up all the
social distancing throughout both                 He adds: “During the pandemic Korean             grounded jets to prevent any damage.”
environments and plexiglass screens at            Air has successfully restructured the
check-in and service desks.                       organisation to better focus on the              Once the immediate problems were
                                                  core aviation business and strong cargo          solved, new ways of working were
The airline has also introduced a Covid-19        operation. In particular, Korean Air is          introduced with Korea Airport Service,
                                                                                                   an outsourcing company for Korean Air’s
test centre at the airport, promoted an           committed to transporting Covid-19
                                                                                                   ramp operations, ensuring all staff wore
enhanced self check-in system to travellers       vaccine and medical supplies safely
                                                                                                   personal protective equipment (PPE)
and introduced a back-to-front boarding           across the world.”
                                                                                                   when entering the aircraft and that their
system on its aircraft.
                                                                                                   temperatures were regularly checked too.
                                                  The airline’s initial results show this has
Noh says: “Korean Air has overcome crises         been achieved by raising KRW1.1 trillion         The ramp bus and staff areas were
before in its 50-year history, we are resilient   ($880 million) worth of capital through          disinfected frequently, while the
and in the past we have turned these              new shares, a move it was hoping to repeat       disinfectant used on aircraft interiors
challenges into opportunities.                    in March 2021 with the aim of raising a          was strengthened. Monthly cleans were
                                                  further KRW3.3 trillion ($2.6 billion).          carried out on a daily basis, with even
“Health and safety standards and                                                                   higher levels of cleanliness applied to
protocols have become critical and we             Korean has also sold its inflight catering and   aircraft that had carried any passengers
will maintain the highest standards of            duty-free business unit to South Korean          with a suspected Covid-19 case.
cleanliness, whilst continuing to invest in       private equity fund Hahn & Company for
technology and discover opportunities             KRW981.7 billion ($864 million).                 Noh added Korean Air has also provided
for innovation.”                                                                                   more education and training opportunities
                                                  However, perhaps the most interesting            in time for when operations resume fully.
Future thinking                                   move is Korean Air’s acquisition of local
Future innovations under discussion               rival Asiana Airlines for KRW1.8 trillion

22         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

($1.6 billion), with regulatory approval
expected this year.

Providing the deal is given the go-ahead,
more than 80 aircraft will be added
to Korean’s own fleet of more than
150 aircraft and give it the lion’s share
of the South Korean domestic and
international markets.

Noh says: “Recently Korean Air announced
the acquisition of Asiana Airlines, a bold
move that will further enhance the
competitiveness of the Korean aviation
industry with more streamlined route
operations and lower costs.”

And we can be sure that, should the
deal go through, Korean Air staff will be
more than ready to navigate the much
larger airline towards a happy landing.

After all, they have had the time on
their hands to be fully prepared and
presumably, like the rest of the world,
will be pleased of the opportunity to do     Korean Air staff are prepared to
something positive in anticipation of a      welcome travellers back to Incheon
brighter future.                             International Airport

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                                                                           Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                23
Airlines

United thinking
United Airlines boss Scott Kirby is questioning Covid-19 aviation dogma, from
mass airline consolidation in the US to the return of business travel
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is unlikely to      “The reason I thought it would happen             everyone is happy. I can promise you, United
lead to a rash of consolidations among American   earlier is because the choice would be            Airlines is not doing that.”
airlines, the boss of United Airlines believes.   something even worse and no one is faced
                                                  with that choice today, and so I don’t think      Kirby says instead the airline is preparing to
Speaking at the online CAPA Live event in         there’ll be any major consolidation here in       take delivery of 94 narrow body aircraft in
March, the carrier’s CEO Scott Kirby says         the US, but I guess we’ll see.                    2022 and 2023 that can start working on its
when the crisis first struck, he thought                                                            domestic programme.
certain airlines could be open for acquisition    Having raised more than $26 billion in
as they fell on financial hard times.             liquidity and cutting cash burn, Kirby is also    “Compare that 94 aircraft to the fleet size of
                                                  bullish about the future. In particular, he       some of those other airlines and that’ll give
However, the reaction to the crisis with          argues that United is prepared to defend          you a scale of what we’re planning to do,” he
airlines accessing finance means he now           its market share against LCCs, which in the       adds.”The growth plan was working great at
believes they are far safer commercially than     past have sought to take advantage of any         United before.”
could have been expected, so reducing the         problems that cause mainline carriers to pull
need for consolidation.                           back from the market, particularly if they        Like many others in aviation Kirby also
                                                  lead to an increase in oil prices.                believes the domestic and leisure markets
Kirby says: “We’ve been able to raise                                                               will be the first to recover and the airline
so much liquidity, not just through the           He says: “One of the analysts wrote last week     will be able to take advantage of this thanks
government but through the private capital        … that when times are tough, the network          to its decision to get rid of change fees on
markets, that no one has a liquidity issue.       carriers push back from the table and leave       economy and premium cabin tickets for
Everyone is going to survive.                     the table scraps for the low cost carriers, and   flights, initially in the US or to Mexico or the

24         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Airlines

  Scott Kirby                                    considerably longer to bounce back.                 “Business travel is
                                                 He says: “It is true that the leisure and           not transactional.
                                                 domestic market is going to be the first to
                                                 recover. But I will bet you dollars to donuts       It’s about
                                                 that in 2023 long-haul international is going
                                                 to be outperforming domestic by a very              relationships. This
                                                 wide margin. It’s just a timing issue.”
                                                                                                     is a question
                                                 Kirby is also questioning the accepted
                                                 wisdom that the Covid-19 pandemic will be
                                                                                                     about human
                                                 particularly deadly for the business travel         nature instead of
                                                 market, largely thanks to the belief that the
                                                 use of videoconferencing tools like Zoom            technology
                                                 during the lockdown will continue to be
                                                 popular even when the skies reopen.                 and human
                                                 He says: “Business travel is not transactional.
                                                                                                     nature has not
                                                 It’s about relationships. This is a question
                                                 about human nature instead of technology
                                                                                                     changed.”
Caribbean. Further down the line the policy      and human nature has not changed.
will be spread out to all international travel                                                       Scott Kirby
originating in the US.                           “I’ve been fond of saying the first time            CEO, United Airlines
                                                 someone loses a sale to a competitor who
However, Kirby does not subscribe to             showed up in person is the last time we’ll do a
the theory that long-haul travel will take       sales call on Zoom, and that’s going to be true.”

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                                                                  Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services                 25
Route Development

Surviving the                                           About a year on from the outbreak of the
                                                        Covid-19 virus in China and its initial spread
                                                        in the Asia-Pacific region before travelling

waves
                                                        across the world, and the region’s aviation
                                                        sector remains depressed.

                                                        Preliminary traffic figures for January,
                                                        2021, released by the Association of Asia
Asia-Pacific is still feeling the impact of Covid-19    Pacific Airlines (AAPA), show that the
                                                        tighter border restrictions imposed by
on its commercial aviation sector more than a           governments across the world continue to
year after the region was the first to be hit by the    curtail international flights.

pandemic and ensuing response                           Indeed, the only glimmer of hope to be seen
                                                        is in the growing air cargo demand as world
By Edward Robertson                                     trade begins to pick up momentum again.

26     Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
Route Development

                                                                                                      “The uneven roll-
                                                                                                      out of vaccinations
                                                                                                      across the world
                                                                                                      will only delay the
                                                                                                      full reopening of
                                                                                                      borders.”
                                                                                                      Subhas Menon
                                                                                                      director general, AAPA

AAPA director general Subhas Menon says              Air cargo activity was more positive,
the latest figures show that in the first            with demand measured in freight tonne
month of the year, a total of 1.3 million            kilometres (FTK) having grown by 0.3 per
international passengers flew with an Asia-          cent, despite freight capacity levels falling
Pacific airline, just 3.9 per cent of the 33.5       by 25 per cent year on year thanks to the
million passengers who flew with the same            decline in passenger belly-hold space.
carriers in January 2020.
                                                     Menon says: “Renewed efforts to
Offered seat capacity was 12.1 per cent of the       contain Covid-19 through lockdowns and
January 2020 volume, while the international         border restrictions have again affected
passenger load factor averaged 27 per cent           international passenger demand, which
for the month, a significant 54 percentage           remains close to a standstill.
point decline from the 81 per cent achieved
in the corresponding month last year, before         “The uneven roll-out of vaccinations across
international aviation felt the full impact of the   the world will only delay the full reopening
Covid-19 pandemic.                                   of borders.”

                                                                                   Spring 2021 | Airline Routes & Ground Services   27
Route Development

                                                                                                                       Both Qantas and Air New Zealand
                                                                                                                             have seen operations suffer

He argues that the crisis remains a serious            two countries, allowing citizens of each free       largest airport, having seen its total number
threat to airlines, adding: “In this extremely         travel between the nations in question.             of passengers for the six-month period fall
challenging operating environment, airlines                                                                by 73.4 per cent to 2.8 million, compared to
are struggling to survive.                             It has long been thought New Zealand and            the same period in 2019.
                                                       Australia could pioneer the practice, having both
“While some airlines are receiving financial           controlled their Covid-19 outbreaks through         The drop in numbers was largely thanks
support, further assistance would be needed            stringent lockdowns and the closing of their        to the 96.8 per cent fall in international
for most airlines to stay afloat, given that           borders to all but a few outsiders.                 travellers with transits included, to just
international borders remain largely shuttered.”                                                           187,003, while the domestic market has
                                                       However, speaking at the release of Auckland        remained a little more stable, having
Menon adds that as well as fighting to survive         Airport’s half-year results for the period ending   decreased by 44.6 per cent to 2.6 million.
now, many airlines have one eye on the future to       December 31, 2020, CEO Adrian Littlewood says
ensure that when travellers are ready to return to     he is not expecting to see any such measures        Comparisons of Auckland Airport’s plight with
the skies, so carriers will be ready to receive them   introduced this year.                               Sydney Airport, Australia’s largest gateway, across
in a post Covid-19 world.                                                                                  the Tasman initially tell the same story, with its
                                                       He adds: “Although the government remains           2020 full-year total passenger numbers down by
He adds: “Meanwhile, the industry is working with      committed to restarting two-way, trans-             74.7 per cent year on year to 11.2 million.
several stakeholders to prepare the ground for         Tasman travel, and we support this, for the
the sustained resumption of air travel, notably        purposes of this underlying earnings guidance       However, Sydney kept a firmer grip on
on contactless digitalised tools and passenger         we have assumed there will be no material           international travellers with a 77.5 per cent fall in
facilitation protocols to ensure a safe and            quarantine-free, two-way Tasman travel during       the total number, while the domestic sector saw
seamless journey for travellers.”                      the remainder of the 2021 financial year. It also   a drop of 72.9 per cent.
                                                       assumes no further lockdowns of an extended
Closed corridors                                       duration during the period.”                        Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert says: “The
One of the key hopes for restarting                                                                        recovery won’t be linear, but our experience
international aviation has been the                    The launch of the travel corridor would have        shows that when restrictions are eased and
establishment of travel corridors between              been a considerable boost for the country’s         borders come down, people are keen to travel.

28         Airline Routes & Ground Services | Spring 2021
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