Global air travel traffic (measured in revenue per kilometers (RPKs)) begins 2024 in line with pre-COVID highs. Certain markets, such as US domestic and intra-European have already surpassed pre-COVID levels and despite some lingering headwinds there are real causes for optimism globally that air travel passenger demand is back and new heights will be reached in the coming year.
However, the main issue facing the aviation industry this year is not on the demand side but on the supply side. The post-COVID airline ramp-up looks set to be hindered (or at least slowed down) by an under-supply of current and new technology aircraft.
Initially, COVID caused production lines at Boeing and Airbus to come to a halt, causing a backlog of aircraft that will never get built. On top of that, the supply-chain and outsourcing issues faced by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have been well-documented but just as Boeing and Airbus looked to have made progress with their delivery schedules, microscopic contaminants were found in a metal used in part of the engine core of Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines powering Airbus A320neo aircraft. The inspection and repairs involved in addressing these contaminants involve taking the engine out of service for up to 300 days.
The Airbus A320 is one of the most popular aircraft types in the world… Read more
