December 1st 2023

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JUNE

When the aviation community gathered in Istanbul this month for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting, they were greeted with the positive news that the lobby group had more than doubled its calendar 2023 profit forecast for the airline industry, albeit on a still slender 1.2% profit margin. Read More »

IATA director-general, Willie Walsh, told delegates the return to profitability after years of losses during the pandemic was a story of resilience and added there were many good reasons for optimism in 2024.

That optimism was on display at the Paris Airshow later in the month, when India’s largest carrier, IndiGo, announced its intention to acquire 500 A320 family aircraft. It was the biggest single aircraft purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation and was on top of IndiGo’s existing order of 480 A320 and A321s. In other Paris Airshow news, China Airlines exercised options for eight 787-9s from Boeing.

In mid-year updates, Airbus and Boeing lifted their annual 20-year forecasts for commercial aircraft deliveries by 3.4% and 3.5%, respectively, compared with last year. For the record, the Boeing 2023-2042 Commercial Market Outlook expects 42,595 new commercial aircraft deliveries and the Airbus Global Market Forecast predicts 40,850 aircraft orders.

Boeing reported another manufacturing issue had arisen to potentially impact deliveries this month, this time for its 787 program. The manufacturer said a non-conforming condition related to a fitting on a horizontal stabiliser had been discovered and aircraft with this condition must go through a rework before they could be delivered to customers. The air framer already is working to correct an issue with its 737 MAX program.

Qantas Airways boosted its North American network with the resumption of flights to New York JFK for the first time in three years, restarting the Sydney-Auckland-New York service, flown with 787-9s, three times a week. The Australian carrier competes with Air New Zealand on Auckland-New York.

In news from Malaysia, the Sarawak government reached an in-principle agreement with Malaysia Aviation Group to take over the company’s regional carrier, MASWings.

An interesting cargo partnership also was announced in the month by Etihad Cargo and SF Airlines. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding to boost freight capacity between the United Arab Emirates and China, including the start of Abu Dhabi-Wuhan cargo services.

The final month of the 2022-2023 financial year began with a milestone for the A380, when Emirates Airline flight EK368 touched down in Bali-Denpasar a little after 1620 local time on June 1. The flight, operated by an Emirates A380 registration A6-EUR, was the first commercial flight by the double decker to Indonesia since the type entered service in October 2007.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) bolstered its presence in the South Pacific this month when it opened a liaison office for Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) in Fiji. The office aims to foster collaboration, provide technical assistance and address the unique aviation challenges faced by countries in the region.