All Nippon Airways Group carried a total of 37,634 international passengers in April, an increase of 8% year on year.
Capacity, as measured in available seat-kilometres, was up 78%, while revenue passenger-kilometres increased 10% on the international routes, the Japanese group states. Passenger load factor fell by more than 10 percentage points to 17%, while international cargo volume rose by 143% year on year. On Japan's domestic routes, the group carried more than 1.06 million passengers during April, an increase of 293% year on year. Domestic capacity was up 39%, while revenue passenger-kilometres grew by 290%. The domestic passenger load factor came in at 45%, an increase of 29 percentage points from April 2020. Domestic cargo volume rose 37%. ANA Group has a fleet of 247 aircraft as of 31 May.

Embraer has secured European steep-approach certification for its E190-E2, permitting the aircraft to operate at airports that require approach slopes greater than 3°. The certificate was issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on 11 May, the Brazilian airframer says in a 3 June press release. With this, airlines can now fly to London City airport which has a 5.5° steep approach requirement, the manufacturer notes. The E190-E2 aircraft’s steep approach capability is enabled through a special software upgrade and installation of a steep approach switch on the cockpit control panel. The E190-E2’s noise footprint is said to be 63% lower than first-generation E190s operating at London City. Moreover, the aircraft can fly just over 2,200nm (4,074km), nearly double the distance of the E190 and with 17.3% fewer CO2 emissions. This additional range brings more business and vacation markets within the E190-E2’s capability, making possible to reach Moscow, Istanbul, Lisbon and Casablanca from London City, Embraer says.

Boeing's chief executive David Calhoun seeks to co-ordinate with the airframer's supply chain to avoid overestimating how quickly it will produce new jets while helping its suppliers plan ahead for a recovery in travel demand amid increased vaccination against Covid-19. "I am going to steer clear of blanket rate announcements that go out too far," Calhoun said on 3 June during Bernstein's virtual Strategic Decisions Conference. "If we get it wrong, we pay a price for it. We are trying to manage that process." Suppliers that overcommit to an aircraft production schedule can be forced to lay off extra staff or face unnecessary expenses, Calhoun says, adding Boeing will minimise how often it will announce rates. He aims to keep suppliers informed to "allow them to weigh in on that judgement with me" to plan for supply and production. Boeing and Airbus both aim to increase production and deliveries of their commercial jets to help airline customers prepare for the easing and eventual lifting of Covid-19 travel restrictions. Production rates from Boeing should be for the benefit of suppliers and not signal aircraft market share between itself and Airbus, Calhoun says. Boeing, however, does not have an aircraft to directly compete against the fuel-efficient and long-range Airbus A321XLR aircraft. Airbus has generated around 2,950 firm orders worldwide for its single-aisle A321neo family aircraft, which includes the new XLR series scheduled for its first delivery in 2023, data shows. While the A321XLR series "definitely fills a select part of the market" where it enjoys a performance advantage, Calhoun says "I don’t see that as a market mover" that would significantly impact its competition with Airbus. Moving too quickly producing an aircraft and designing it mainly to counter the A321XLR could be a costly mistake, Calhoun says, while adding "it won't be long" before Boeing announces a new aircraft type. Fuel efficiency and long range are part of the appeal for XLRs but Calhoun says a new Boeing aircraft is "going to tackle more than that". "We are not going to rush; we are going to do it the right way," Calhoun says. New aircraft like 737 Max jets offer more efficient propulsion than previous generations of aircraft but Calhoun says engineering is not yet ready to offer a significant boost through propulsion on new aircraft. "Advantages will have to result in lower seat cost mile or trip cost" and will have to be derived from fuselage and other factors designing the aircraft besides more efficient propulsion, he says. A new Boeing aircraft may appeal to customers by using "assembly techniques that have not been used at this scale" to result in a lower cost airplane, he says, potentially alluding to 3-D printing techniques to reduce production costs. Boeing still expects its 777X aircraft to be certificated by the fourth quarter of 2023, Calhoun says, adding that "it stands on its own" because Airbus does not have a counterpart planned to directly compete against. "This airplane is going to have an enormous cost advantage per seat, volumetric numbers for freight," he says, touting its potential as a freighter. The US Federal Aviation Administration and Congress are both seeking more information from Boeing about the safety of its processes to manufacture 787 family and 737 family aircraft, following errors discovered in some of those recently built jets. "The FAA rightly wants to know more about the analytics and process controls that we put in place," he says of Boeing's methods to review safety during production. Calhoun remains optimistic of Boeing's goal of certificating the 777X by the end of 2023, adding "that airplane has been flying quite a bit" and the airframer has not discovered any technical issues. Fleet renewal is "the biggest step that the industry can take" to reduce emissions and fuel costs, Calhoun says of airlines retiring older aircraft and replacing them with newer jets during the Covid-19 travel downturn. While mainly large, developed nations are ahead on vaccination so far, Calhoun is optimistic for "a pretty robust recovery" for air travel demand worldwide, whether it comes sooner or later.