Editor’s Note

The cumulative traffic numbers recently published by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines for the eleven months ending November 2021 have not been very uplifting, notes Byron Bohlman in our lead story of this issue. Bohlman talks about different Asian airlines from Singapore, to Korean to Chinese. The hardest hit markets have been the ones with a high proportion of connecting flights yet no domestic network. A detailed report about this long recovery road of Asian aviation industry has been included in this edition.

Even for the Indian aviation industry, last year 2021 allowed a brief moment of calm with domestic flight operations reaching their pre-pandemic levels. From Drone Rules to Air Sewa 3.0; monetisation to e-governance, new UDAN routes to new airlines, a recap of Indian aviation in 2021 by Ayushee Chaudhary is carried in this issue. In another article, she also reports on the spectrum of changes happening in the Indian aviation’s landscape, as the Tata Group took over management and control of Air India. The transaction notably covers Air India, Air India Express and AI SATS. However, gaining the control of the airline, is but a mere beginning and much more awaits on the platter for Air India.

The leading manufacturers of aero engines are devoting concerted effort to make headway on advancements in technology to significantly improve the performance parameters of aero engines. This issue of the magazine carries a detailed analysis of the subject Anil Chopra. Dealing with the issue of aero engines, this issue of the magazine also carries an article on the subject in which Isha Jaiswal focuses on the advancements registered in this domain by Pratt & Whitney, especially with their Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines.

After continued discussion across the world, on January 19, 2022, the wireless companies, Verizon and AT&T activated 5G C Band service in many of the 46 US markets. Since the frequencies used by the telecom companies are so close to the frequencies used by onboard instruments such as radar altimeters, there are higher chances of interference in the signals. A report by Ayushee Chaudhary highlights how the FAA (Federal Aviation Aerospace) continues to work with the aviation industry and wireless companies to try to limit 5G-related flight delays and cancellations.

The Singapore Airshow returns this year to be held from February 15 to 18, 2022. The airshow is the third largest in the world, after Le Bourget and Farnborough airshows. Over the years, the airshow has seen big giants, such as Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier get huge orders worth billions of dollars for their airplanes. Rohit Goel gives a preview of what awaits at one of Asia’s most significant airshow.

Wings India 2022 is major international event that focuses on the global civil aviation industry, is being held from March 24 to 27 at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad. Do visit us at over Stall Wings India 2022.

All this and more in this issue of SP’s Airbuz. Welcome aboard and we wish you many happy landings.