New Zealand’s air navigation service provider Airways could halt air traffic control at seven regional sites across the nation, as part of efforts against the coronavirus-induced slump in traffic. There are limited or no commercial services operating at these seven airports, it said in a statement today. Under review are the towers at Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Invercargill airports, as well as the airfield flight information service at Kapiti Coast airport and Milford Sound Piopiotahi Aerodrome. Airways operates 17 towers across New Zealand and will commence a two-week consultation process with unions next week. Chief executive Graeme Sumner said it is not viable to continue the same level of service at those sites, where traffic had been low even before the outbreak of Covid-19. “We now need to consider operating different services at these airports or that they operate as uncontrolled airspace in the same way as other uncontrolled aerodromes in New Zealand that have no Airways service – including Kerikeri, Taupo, Whangarei and Timaru airports,” he says. Airways tells Cirium that could mean digital services in the future, where controllers manage traffic from a remote location, but highlights that the company will work through a consultation process before any firm decisions are made. Last year, Airways awarded a contract to Austria-based communications and information systems supplier Frequentis to develop a digital tower system for Invercargill airport. Such towers are already in operation in Europe, including in Sweden, Norway and Germany.

Source: Cirium

Airlines around the world are in desperate need of government liquidity support which in many cases is taking too long to reach them, IATA has warned. Describing the coronavirus shutdown as "the biggest crisis we have ever had", IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac stresses that although many governments have been "very supportive" of the aviation industry, their support must arrive imminently if carriers are to be saved from bankruptcy. "We desperately need these packages to be implemented," he said during IATA's latest weekly crisis briefing, on 7 April. Assistance could come in the form of loans, loan guarantees, tax relief or other forms, he notes, but "whatever it is, we need it now". The calls are backed up by data from the association showing a 70% reduction in global flights compared with this time last year. The figure for Europe, Africa and Latin America is 90%. As most airlines have just two months of cash reserves and a host of fixed costs, they are now running out of financial legroom. Refunds totalling around $35 billion are due in the second quarter alone, IATA says. It expects total cash burn of around $60 billion in the period. Many airlines have begun issuing vouchers instead of cash refunds to customers, a practice de Juniac says is a simple "matter of survival" as the industry looks to conserve meagre cash supplies. Even with these measures, further bankruptcies are "inevitable", he says, as the sector’s improved profitability over recent years has been confined to just a few carriers. IATA also warns that a three-month industry shutdown threatens up to 25 million jobs, out of a wider pool of 65 million people who rely on the aviation industry, directly or indirectly, for work. Pouring cold water on the suggestion that passenger growth is resurgent in China, de Juniac highlights that around half of flights are still not flying, and that load factors have not risen above around 50%. He says there has been a "slight increase" in passenger numbers, but one that is "not very significant at this stage". He adds that the country's key leisure travel market remains essentially non-existent.

Source: Cirium

Airbus’s A330-800 has secured European approval for extended twin-engined operations (ETOPS) running beyond 180min. The clearance was granted on 2 April according to a certificate revision from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. EASA certified the A330-800 – the smaller member of the A330neo family – in mid-February. The aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines. It was granted ETOPS approval up to 180min at the time. No A330-800s have yet been delivered, although an initial aircraft for Kuwait Airways has been painted. Fourteen of the variant are on firm order including eight for the Kuwaiti flag-carrier. EASA approved the larger A330-900 for beyond-180min ETOPS in January last year.

Source: Cirium