Nevertheless, there is some encouragement in capacity projections derived from schedules for 4Q2021. Europe's traffic recovery has a north-south divide, with Southern Europe stronger, while non-EU Eastern Europe is the strongest region.Įurope's capacity and passenger traffic as a percentage of 2019 levels both remain on plateaus. This compared with capacity at -34% in that week. This week (week commencing 1), Asia Pacific is down by 38.3%, Africa by 30.4%, Latin America by 23.2%, and North America by 18.5%.Īirport passenger numbers in Europe were down by 39% versus 2019 in the week of 1, the seventh week at a similar level, according to the most recent data from ACI Europe. The Middle East, where seat capacity is down by 38.5% versus 2019, has slipped to the bottom. Total seat numbers in Europe are 32.7% below 2019 levels in the week of 1, the 11th week in the region of seat numbers at -33% to -35%.Įurope is still in fourth place in the regional capacity recovery ranking. The rise in these cycles is encouraging for the world's aviation industry. This report presents data from Airbus, Boeing and the CAPA Fleet Database on the cycles of deliveries, orders and aircraft in service for the two manufacturers. Boeing also has a higher percentage of aircraft back in service than Airbus, as a result of its higher installed base in North America (where the recovery is most progressed). Orders were even more severely hit by the pandemic crisis, but Boeing's resumption of the MAX programme has helped its order cycle to recover more strongly than its delivery cycle (and more strongly than Airbus orders). Deliveries are recovering for both, with Airbus staying ahead of Boeing. Combined deliveries then plummeted with the pandemic, and almost dried up in 2Q2020. The COVID-19 pandemic had some dramatic impacts on the annual orders and deliveries of the world's two leading commercial aircraft manufacturers.Ĭombined deliveries of Airbus and Boeing aircraft grew from 2010 to 2018, but Boeing's suspension of its 737 MAX production in 1Q2019 halted this growth and gave Airbus a clear lead. Meanwhile, and hardly unexpectedly, the government is ploughing an environmental strategy furrow by which AENA commits to self-powering all its airports with solar power by 2026.Īt least if AENA’s financial lights go out, the sun won’t. While the government is adamant it is making the right decisions, which will aid the recovery of the sector, it is possible that there is limited flexibility in the law to cater for eventualities such as resurgences of the coronavirus pandemic on one hand, another Black Swan event, or a rapid recovery of the air transport business (which has already begun in Spain) on the other. Under the 2022-2026 ‘DORA’ (Airport Regulation Document) airport tariffs will again be frozen across the entire AENA spectrum of small, medium and large airports, and infrastructure expenditure will be capped (again). Now that law is being extended under circumstances which could not have been envisaged then. When AENA was partially privatised in 2015 a law was introduced to exercise control over it and to manage and regulate all AENA’s airports.