Data from IATA shows that the recovery in air travel demand has continued into 2023, as January traffic reached 84% of 2019 levels and was up 67% year on year. The data highlights ongoing month-to-month improvements. December traffic, as measured in revenue passenger-kilometres, was at 77% of the 2019 level. International RPKs more than doubled year on year in January and hit 77% of 2019 levels. Growth was led by airlines in Asia-Pacific, notes IATA. Global domestic traffic grew by just under a third year on year and was at 97% of the level four years previously, bolstered by the easing of travel restrictions in China. "Air travel demand is off to a very healthy start in 2023," states IATA director general Willie Walsh. "The rapid removal of Covid-19 restrictions for Chinese domestic and international travel bodes well for the continued strong industry recovery from the pandemic throughout the year. And, importantly, we have not seen the many economic and geopolitical uncertainties of the day dampening demand for travel." Asia-Pacific's international RPKs were nearly five times higher than a year earlier, by far the largest increase of any region. Traffic rose 125% in Africa and nearly doubled in the Middle East. IATA believes that with strong travel demand holding up through the Northern Hemisphere's winter season, busy spring and summer seasons are in prospect. Walsh adds, however: "At a time when many are just beginning to enjoy their newly restored travel freedoms, it is especially disappointing to see the Dutch government making plans to limit their movements by unilaterally and unjustly reducing operations at Schiphol airport."

Lufthansa has not yet made an engine selection for a batch of seven Boeing 787-9s it ordered from the US airframer under a deal disclosed earlier this month. The German airline opted for Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000-TEN for its initial order of 20 787-9s in 2019. But the first Dreamliners to enter Lufthansa's fleet – part of a subsequent deal with Boeing to acquire five 787-9s previously ordered by another airline – are fitted with GE Aerospace GEnx-1B engines. Three GEnx-1B-powered 787-9s have joined Lufthansa's fleet since August 2022, fleets data shows. The airline says it has yet to decide on an engine for the additional 787s it has ordered from Boeing. In May 2022, Lufthansa ordered seven 787-9s under an agreement with Boeing to compensate for capacity gaps created by delivery delays to the in-development 777-9, the airline said at the time. The seven Dreamliners, "available at short notice because of a cancelled order", are scheduled for delivery in 2025 and 2026, Lufthansa says. Delivery of some 787s previously ordered by Lufthansa has meanwhile been brought forward, to 2023 and 2024. Boeing data shows the seven 787-9s ordered in 2022 will be Trent-powered. The latest batch of seven 787 orders is part of a broader fleet-renewal effort and additionally includes orders for 10 Airbus A350-1000s and five A350-900s. Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB is the sole powerplant available on the A350. The UK engine maker declined to comment on the prospects of potential further Trent 1000 sales for Lufthansa's 787 fleet. Lufthansa has options on 20 787s in addition to its on-order Dreamliners.

Cathay Pacific Group returned 24 more aircraft from long-term storage during the second half of 2022 and plans to reactivate more "in line with operational requirements". The Hong Kong-based airline group said it had 41 passenger aircraft parked outside Hong Kong at the end of 2022, after the reactivations. This compares to the 69 passenger jets parked at the end of June, according to an interim results update. The difference of four fewer jets returned from storage indicates that some parked jets have been permanently retired, likely some of the oldest aircraft in the fleet. Fleets data indicates that the group's oldest aircraft are its Airbus A330-300s, A300-600Fs, Boeing 777-300s and some A320ceo family jets, all above 20 years old and largely listed as in storage.
The group ended the year with a fleet of 222 aircraft, six fewer than at the end of June. From Cathay's fleet, these include the exit of one A320ceo, one A321ceo and eight A330-300s as well as the introduction of three A350-1000s, and the addition of an A330-300P2F to Air Hong Kong's fleet. In terms of new aircraft deliveries this year, the group received two A321neos in February, and expects to take deliveries of nine more jets. Three A321neos and two A350-900s are slated for Cathay's fleet and four A321neos for HK Express. The group took delivery of just five new aircraft in 2022. Cathay has completed refitting the seats of four 777-300ERs that were temporarily used as freighters, and will complete the remaining two in 2023.