Singapore Changi Airport handled 84,300 passengers in August, down 98.6% from 5.9 million recently. The figure was lower than the 86,000 passengers in July. Changi's monthly traffic report showed the number of commercial aircraft movements fell 82.8% year-on-year to 5,560 in August, compared with 32,400 a year ago. Air freight was 28.9% lower at 120,000 tonnes.Read More »
Airbus has set a target of 2035 to achieve zero-emission flight with aircraft using hydrogen as the primary power source. The company overnight unveiled three "ZEROe" concept aircraft for its zero-emission challenge – a turbofan design with 2,000nm range and seating for 120-200 passengers, a turboprop design with 1,000nm range and seating for up to 100 passengers and a blended wing-body design for up to 200 passengers. “These concepts will help us explore and mature the design and layout of the world’s first climate-neutral, zero-emission commercial aircraft, which we aim to put into service by 2035,” Airbus CEO, Guillaume Faury, said in a statement.
Airbus president Asia-Pacific, Anand Stanley, told reporters today the region offered the "maximum amount of, I would say, challenges and opportunity to make an impact in terms of climate change, more so than any other geographic region in the world". Singapore-based Stanley said cross industry collaboration would be needed to drive down infrastructure and production costs, particularly for such an ambitious project with a short timeframe, as well as cooperation with regulatory authorities.
Australia-based airline group, Regional Express (Rex), said today it had signed a "long-form term-sheet" and was in advanced exclusive negotiations with PAG Asia Capital for A$150 million (US$110 million) in funding to support its proposed launch of jet aircraft services from March 2021. The funding would be convertible notes that if fully converted to shares would give PAG Asia Capital 48% in the airline, Rex said in a regulatory filing to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Engine maker, Rolls-Royce, said overnight "no final decision" had been taken to go ahead with a capital rising of up to £2.5 billion (US$3.2 billion) either through equity or debt. "We continue to review all funding options to enhance balance sheet resilience and strength," Rolls-Royce said in a regulatory filing to the London Stock Exchange.
People are shortening the time frames in which they plan to travel from uncertainty due to the conoravirus pandemic, research published today by online travel company Skyscanner showed. The report said the number of searches for travel within 7-30 days was up about 15% compared with the 2019 average, while searches for travel in less than a week was up about 10%. "COVID-19 has posed grave challenges for the travel industry, the impact of which will be felt for years to come," Skyscanner CEO, Moshe Rafiah, said in the report.
The first of some 90 Hainan Airlines charter flights for 20,000 Chinese students to resume classes at universities in the UK has left China, local media reported overnight. The Hainan Airlines charter flights were in partnership with 23 universities in the UK.
