China Airlines made a net operating income of NT$3.6 billion ($121 million) for the first quarter ended 31 March, reversing the NT$469 million loss in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue for the quarter came in at NT$37.2 billion, up 34% from NT$27.8 billion, the Taiwanese airline says in a filing with the Taiwan stock exchange. The carrier reported a pre-tax profit from continuing operations of NT$3.55 billion from the loss of NT$1.33 billion in the first three months of 2021. Profit attributable to owners of the parent during the quarter was NT$3.07 billion, versus the NT$1.02 billion loss in the year-ago quarter. Total operating expenses stood at NT$1.87 billion versus NT$2.14 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

Airports across Europe expect delays to increase into the summer because of a chronic shortage of staff, according to industry bodies ACI Europe and the Airport Services Association (ASA). In a joint statement, the organisations warn that "the impossibility of scaling up staffing to the levels required in order to accommodate the surge in passenger traffic" is the key driver behind delays, cancellations, "and more generally a degraded passenger experience at many airports". They highlight that airports and ground handlers are exiting the pandemic with depleted resources, having shed staff in 2020 and 2021. This has been compounded by an extremely tight labour market across the continent which has dragged on airports' efforts to recruit new staff, especially given low pay rates for security and ground handling staff. The organisations assert that "years of liberalisation triggered by the EU Ground Handling Directive have resulted in a downward spiral that has now become both socially and operationally unsustainable", adding: "If low wages and compromised service quality were already a concern pre-pandemic, they are now coming to the fore – impacting the aviation system." Delays bringing new staff on board because of security clearances have contributed to the problems, resulting in lead times of up to 16 weeks between recruitment and actual deployment. The groups cite a new ACI Europe survey showing that two-thirds of Europe's airports expect flight delays to increase going into the summer, while 16% believe that cancellations will rise and 15% predict that flight schedules will have to be modified. They are urging authorities to provide faster security clearance for new staff, and airlines to adapt their schedules to reduce traffic peaks, and for closer dialogue between airports and airlines. In the medium term, the EU's rules on ground handling should be reconsidered with a renewed focus on resilience, they argue. The warnings tally with what airlines themselves expect. IAG on 6 May disclosed plans to pare back summer capacity at Heathrow because of the likelihood of delays on the ground. Lufthansa has said on 5 May that it would hold back capacity partly for the same reason.

Etihad Airways recently performed 42 eco flights using Airbus A350-1000 over a period of five days to test operational efficiencies, technology and procedures that will reduce carbon emissions. The sustainable flight testing programme included 22 contrail prevention flights over the course of three days, the UAE's flag carrier says. Additionally, Etihad's Sustainable50 A350-1000 officially became the first A350 to operate as an eco flight. Etihad Aviation's group chief executive Tony Douglas states: "We believe this is the most intensive sustainability flight testing programme ever conducted, the results of which will contribute to reducing aviation's carbon emissions and environmental impact as the learnings are implemented into standard airline operations across the industry. "Some of the technologies and operational efficiencies we have tested can be implemented today and we're well in the process of putting these innovations into standard operational procedures, which we hope to see replicated across the industry, while some technologies are still in their infancy and we'll continue to work with our partners to test and develop these for future use. However, there are a number of impactful solutions which are ready to go, but require an industry and regulatory response to become practical, that the industry needs to raise to the challenge for." Etihad points to sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), acknowledging that both SAF and lower carbon aviation fuel are needed for aviation's energy transition. Douglas states: "This challenge needs policy changes from governments, continued R&D, supply chain enhancements and refining improvements." "The other big area, which has a simple solution but requires fundamental restructure to the way things currently work, is for the industry, traffic controllers and regulators to modernise flight paths for controlled climbs and continuous descent. In our demonstration eco flights, we've been able to take at least 40 minutes out of flight times and reduce the CO2 content by around six tonnes, which is incredible," he adds.