Corporate Travel News

Australian Federation of Pilots (AFAP) advised (27-Oct-2023) Network Aviation of a two day work stoppage on 01/02-Nov-2023. AFAP members, who make up over 90% of the pilot group employed by Network Aviation, will participate in the work stoppage. [more - original PR]

Air New Zealand announced (27-Oct-2023) plans to make updates to its domestic schedule to support extended aircraft maintenance across its network. The changes are a result of Pratt & Whitney engine availability issues from 11-Dec-2023 to 30-Mar-2024. The schedule changes will be progressively rolled out. [more - original PR]

Wellington Airport announced (29-Oct-2023) the launch of Qantas Airways' daily Brisbane-Wellington service on 29-Oct-2023. The service will be operated with Embraer E190 aircraft, the first time the aircraft will be used on a trans-Tasman route. From Nov-2023, Qantas will operate 28 return frequencies across the Tasman from Wellington per week. This totals 450,000 international seats p/a, up 23% from pre-COVID. [more - original PR]

Lufthansa announced (25-Oct-2023) it will reintroduce A380 aircraft on daily Munich-Los Angeles service from 26-Oct-2023. The carrier stated: "With air travel surging in demand, the added capacity that the A380 brings to the LA region will provide the much-needed increased volume that the market requires". The aircraft is equipped with eight seats in first class, 78 in business class, 52 in premium economy and 371 in economy. As previously reported by CAPA, Lufthansa decided in 2022 to reactivate the A380, due to the sharp rise in demand for travel and the delayed delivery of ordered aircraft. By the end of 2025, eight A380s will be redeployed for service to and from Munich. [more - original PR]

Philadelphia International Airport announced (11-Oct-2023) plans to launch 'PHL Wingmate Guest Pass', a programme enabling non-ticketed guests at the airport to apply for a one day pass to access the airport's terminals post-security. The programme is scheduled to commence on 01-Nov-2023. [more - original PR]

Brisbane Airport announced (25-Oct-2023) China Eastern Airlines plans to resume three times weekly Shanghai Pudong-Brisbane service from 01-Nov-2023, increasing to seasonal daily service from 11-Dec-2023. As previously reported by CAPA, the service will be operated using A330-200 equipment. China Eastern last operated the service in Feb-2020 and will be the sole scheduled operator on the route. [more - original PR]

Brisbane Airport announced (25-Oct-2023) China Southern Airlines plans to resume four times weekly Guangzhou-Brisbane service from 18-Nov-2023, increasing to seasonal daily service from 11-Dec-2023. As previously reported by CAPA, the service will be operated using A350 equipment. China Southern last operated the service in Feb-2020 and will be the sole scheduled operator on the route. [more - original PR]

SUNRATE and Sabre announced (24-Oct-2023) an agreement to help improve and automate the business payments experience for travel companies in Asia Pacific. SUNRATE's virtual commercial cards (VCC) will be integrated with Sabre's Virtual Payments, enabling stakeholders such as online travel agencies and travel management companies on Sabre's platform to use SUNRATE's VCCs for business payments, including payment to airlines, hotels and suppliers worldwide. SUNRATE VCCs allow the settlement of card spends in more than 15 currencies. [more - original PR]

EUROCONTROL reported (25-Oct-2023) the following highlights for European aviation, for the period between 16-Oct-2023 and 22-Oct-2023:

• The network recorded 29,768 average daily flights, -1.9% week-on-week, +8% year-on-year, and at 93% of 2019 levels;
• Intra Europe: 24,475 daily flights, -2% week-on-week and 95% of 2019 levels;
• Intercontinental: 5564 daily flights, -2% week-on-week and 87% of 2019 levels;
• On the intercontinental network, the main regional flow was Europe-North Atlantic (1374 average daily flights, 6% above 2019 levels), overtaking the Europe-Middle East flow, affected by reduced traffic to and from Israel;
• Europe-North Africa is recording the highest growth compared to 2019 (1195 average daily flights, +14%);
• UK-US was the top long haul country pair, with 331 average daily flights, -1% week-on-week and +9% compared with 2019;
• Mainline (+21% compared to 2022), low cost (+7%) and regional (+2%) sectors are recording growth since the pandemic;
• All cargo (-4%) is levelling off with no more rebound effect from 2022 events such as Omicron or the start of the Russia/Ukraine war;
• Business aviation (-2%) is also levelling off, with commercial airline activity now almost closing the gap between 2023 and 2019;
• The non-scheduled segment (-3%) was affected by decreases in flows to and from Poland and Israel. [more - original PR]

Air France-KLM, via its official website, announced (24-Oct-2023) the following minimum connecting time (MCT) changes at Paris CDG:

• Between Terminal 2E and Terminal 2F:
  • Decreasing to 60 minutes from 16-Dec-2023 to 07-Jan-2024;
  • MCT of 80 minutes from 17-Jun-2024 to 01-Sep-2024 remains unchanged;
• Between Terminal 2F Schengen and Terminal 2F non-Schengen:
  • Increasing to 60 minutes as of winter 2023/24;
• Between Terminal 2G and Terminal 2F non-Schengen:
  • Increasing to 80 minutes as of winter 2023/24.