CAPA News Briefs

European Parliament and the European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen, via their official Twitter accounts, confirmed (01-Jan-2025) Bulgaria and Romania became full members of the Schengen area on 01-Jan-2025, enabling the removal of checks when travelling across land borders between Bulgaria or Romania and any Schengen member country. Border checks for air and sea travel in the two countries were lifted in Mar-2024.

China Eastern Airlines, via its official Twitter account, announced (01-Jan-2025) it deployed COMAC C919 equipment on its Shanghai-Hong Kong service, making the carrier the first airline to use C919 equipment for scheduled commercial operations to Hong Kong. As previously reported by CAPA, this marks the first scheduled international service to be operated using the aircraft type.

Emirates Airline announced (01-Jan-2025) plans to bring forward the deployment of A350 equipment on the following frequencies from 08-Jan-2025:

• Dubai-Bahrain: Twice daily;
• Dubai-Kuwait: Daily.

This expands the carrier's A350 network to three destinations. The aircraft features 312 seats: 32 lie-flat business class seats, 21 premium economy and 259 economy class. According to OAG, flydubai also operates each route, while Jazeera Airways and Kuwait Airways also operate the Dubai-Kuwait route. Gulf Air also serves Dubai from Bahrain. [more - original PR]

Dublin Airport reported (30-Dec-2024) a record year in 2024, with each of the first 11 months seeing record passenger numbers, including over 171 days with more than 100,000 passengers. Retail figures show passengers at the airport consumed a full Irish breakfast every minute on average, while cafes served over 2.5 million cups of tea and coffee. The bars sold more than 1.5 million pints of Guinness, and popular products included 500,000 packets of Tayto crisps and 72 tonnes of Toblerone. The airport also reported a high volume of lost property, with nearly 19,000 items turned in, of which 56% were returned to the owner. Media relations manager Graeme McQueen highlighted improvements in terminal services, such as new food outlets and parking options, have contributed to high passenger satisfaction ratings, with further upgrades planned for 2025. [more - original PR]

British Airways announced (30-Dec-2024) changes to its loyalty programme, rebranding it as 'The British Airways Club' and introducing new ways for members to earn Tier Points. The updates aim to provide more flexibility and benefits across various spending categories. Key changes include:

• From 01-Apr-2025:
  • Tier Points will be earned based on the cost of flights and, for the first time, on ancillary spending such as seat selection and excess baggage. Members will earn one Tier Point per GBP1 of eligible spend. Tier thresholds will be recalculated to reflect the new earning model;
  • Members will be able to earn Tier Points and collect Avios by purchasing a contribution to SAF, earning up to 1000 Tier Points annually. Avios will also be able to be used as a form of payment, through a dedicated landing page;
  • British Airways Holidays will offer a permanent Tier Points earning proposition. Members will earn Tier Points based on the total price of their holiday packages, with no earning cap, enabling members to achieve elite status in fewer trips;
• Later in 2025:
  • BA American Express Premium Plus cardmembers will be able to earn up to 2500 Tier Points by spending on their card;
  • New milestone benefits will be introduced between Tiers, enabling members to unlock rewards before reaching the next level.

The rebrand follows previous changes to award customers Avios based on their spend, which has seen 70% of customers collecting the same or more Avios as they did under the previous model. [more - original PR]

JEJU air confirmed (29-Dec-2024) the crash of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft upon landing at Muan International Airport on 29-Dec-2024. The aircraft was operating from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Muan carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, of which 179 passed away in the incident. The aircraft's flight data recorder and one cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from the wreckage. Jeju Air CEO Kim Lee-bae stated: "Jeju Air will do everything it can to quickly recover from the accident and support the families of the passengers. We will also do our best to determine the cause of the accident together with the government". South Korea Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) reported the aircraft declared a bird strike emergency approximately four minutes prior to landing. MOLIT stated it will establish a local accident response headquarters at the scene to support response crews and bereaved families, to be led by the Busan Regional Aviation Administration. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - MOLIT - Korean] [more - original PR - MOLIT - Korean - II] [more - original PR - MOLIT - Korean - III] [more - original PR - MOLIT - Korean - IV] [more - original PR - MOLIT - Korean - V] [more - original PR - MOLIT - Korean - VI]

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) confirmed (25/26/27-Dec-2024) the crash of an Embraer E190 aircraft near Aktau on 25-Dec-2024. The aircraft was operating from Baku to Grozny with 62 passengers and five crew, of whom 38 lost their lives. AZAL suspended Baku-Grozny and Baku-Makhachkala services on 25-Dec-2024 and also suspended services from Baku to Mineralnye Vody, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saratov, Sochi, Ufa, Vladikavkaz and Volgograd, effective from 28-Dec-2024 until completion of the final investigation. AZAL stated the suspension of the routes was based on preliminary results of the investigation, which indicated that the crash was "due to physical and technical external interference". IATA reported that the incident "occurred in Russian airspace in the vicinity of military operations", according to statements from the governments of Azerbaijan and Russia, and added that there is "strong potential" that the aircraft "could have been the victim of military operations". [more - original PR - AZAL] [more - original PR - AZAL II] [more - original PR - AZAL III] [more - original PR - AZAL IV] [more - original PR - AZAL V] [more - original PR - Embraer] [more - original PR - IATA] [more - original PR - ICAO]

Adelaide Airport announced (20-Dec-2024) it has become the first major airport in Australia to reach carbon neutrality. This follows the airport entering an agreement to purchase certified Australia Carbon Credit Units from a land regeneration project in South Australia's Gawler Ranges, which will offset residual Scope 1 carbon emissions in 2024/25. The airport has reduced its carbon emissions by almost 90% since 2018 through improved energy efficiency, increased onsite renewable energy use and other activities. Airport MD Brenton Cox stated: "Adelaide Airport is targeting a 100 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050". [more - original PR]

Aer Lingus announced (19-Dec-2024) it took delivery of two A321XLR aircraft (EI-XLR and EI-XLT) at Dublin Airport. The aircraft are the first of six A321XLRs which the carrier plans to use on trans-Atlantic routes to destinations including Nashville and Indianapolis in 2025. Aer Lingus stated it is the second airline in the world to operate the aircraft, following Iberia's launch of operations with the aircraft in Nov-2024, as previously reported by CAPA. Aer Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton stated: "The long-range capabilities of the XLR enable us to travel deeper into North America, offering previously unserved markets greater connectivity to Europe through our Dublin hub... Looking ahead, we're on target to expand our XLR fleet from two to six aircraft in 2025". [more - original PR - Aer Lingus] [more - original PR - Airbus]

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines completed (19-Dec-2024) the conversion of all 54 of its Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft to the new 'Premium Comfort Class', following a two year project. The intermediate class, available on long haul services, offers "more space, luxury, and privacy" than economy class, at a lower price point than World Business Class. Depending on the aircraft, the Premium Comfort section features 21 to 28 seats with wider seating, additional legroom, larger screens, footrests and more recline compared to economy. During the conversion of the 777 aircraft, KLM also upgraded World Business Class with new seats that include sliding doors and direct aisle access. [more - original PR]

OAG reported (17-Dec-2024) the top domestic routes by seat numbers for 2024, as follows:

1. Jeju-Seoul Gimpo: Capacity increased 3% year-on-year but remains 19% behind the 2019 level;
2. Sapporo Chitose-Tokyo Haneda: Capacity remained similar to the 2023 level;
3. Fukuoka-Tokyo Haneda: Capacity was "relatively unchanged" year-on-year;
4. Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City;
5. Melbourne-Sydney;
6. Jeddah-Riyadh: Recorded the largest growth among the top 10 at 10% year-on-year and 9% compared to 2019;
7. Tokyo Haneda-Okinawa Naha;
8. Mumbai-Delhi;
9. Beijing Capital-Shanghai Hongqiao;
10. Guangzhou Baiyun-Shanghai Hongqiao.

The top five rankings were unchanged from 2023. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II]

China's National Immigration Administration announced (17-Dec-2024) China's Government decided to extend the transit passenger visa free stay period for ordinary passport holders from 54 countries, including the UK, the US and Canada, from 72 hours to 240 hours (10 days), effective from 17-Dec-2024. The Government also approved 21 additional airports as official ports of entry for the transit passenger visa free stay scheme, including Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, Haikou Hainan Meilan International Airport, Sanya Phoenix International Airport and Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport, increasing the total number of airports approved under the scheme to 60. [more - original PR]