US airline group urges government action to address air traffic challenges

The group representing major U.S. airlines on Wednesday urged the Biden administration to take swift action to address a long-standing air traffic controller shortage and out-of-date facilities and technology. Airlines for America CEO Nick Calio said «more urgency» is required to address the shortage in air traffic controllers that has resulted in airlines cutting flights […]

Improving air traffic service communications between Europe and South America

Anew air traffic services (ATS) interconnection has strengthened the exchange of information between Europe and South America, safeguarding the transmission of critical data such as flight plans and meteorological forecasts. On 23 February 2023, a new ATS Message Handling Service (AMHS) Protocol for transferring messages (P1) between the Caracas and Madrid Communications Centres became operational. […]

GOL discloses preliminary traffic figures for January 2023

GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL and B3: GOLL4), Brazil’s largest domestic airline, announces today preliminary air traffic figures for the month of January 2023, compared to the same period in 2022. Highlights: GOL’s total supply (ASK) increased 6.2%. Total seats increased 7.3% and the number of departures increased by 7.9%. GOL’s total demand […]

Air traffic control in Somali airspace has been restored, after a 30-year gap

The airspace over and around Somalia was reclassified as Class A at one minute past midnight on Thursday morning. This marked the operational restoration of air traffic control (ATC) services in Somalia and the adjacent airspace over the Indian Ocean – formally known as the Mogadishu Flight Information Region (FIR) – for the first time […]

Passenger Recovery Continues in November

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the air travel recovery continued through November 2022. Total traffic in November 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 41.3% compared to November 2021. Globally, traffic is now at 75.3% of November 2019 levels. International traffic rose 85.2% versus November 2021. The Asia-Pacific continued to report the […]

China aims for 2023 air traffic at 75% of pre-pandemic levels

China’s aviation regulator wants passenger traffic to reach around 75% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023, up from 38% last year when the since-abandoned zero-COVID policy led to domestic lockdowns and kept the border closed, state media reported on Friday. The Chinese airline industry should also strive to break even this year, said the regulator, the […]

Premature Return to Pre-Pandemic Slot Rules Risks Continued Passenger Disruption

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed concern that a premature return to pre-pandemic slot use rules in the EU this winter risks continuing disruption to passengers. The European Commission has announced it intends to return to the longstanding 80-20 slot use rule, which requires airlines to operate at least 80% of every planned slot […]

GOL discloses preliminary traffic figures for April 2021

GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL and B3: GOLL4), Brazil’s largest domestic airline, announces preliminary air traffic figures for the month of April 2021, compared to the same period in 2020. Highlights: In the domestic market, demand (RPK) for GOL’s flights increased 294% and supply (ASK) increased by 280%. GOL’s domestic load factor was […]

“Now or Never” for Single European Sky

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that the Single European Sky (SES) project to reform Europe’s air traffic management system faces collapse if European states do not support the European Commission’s proposals to reboot the stalled initiative. “The European Commission has been trying to deliver the benefits of SES since the early 2000s. But […]