Gathering clouds

Regional aviation is often the ‘canary in the cage’ for commercial aviation. As always there are clouds gathering on a range of fronts.

Fuel prices appear to be trending up with escalating tensions across the Middle East not helping matters. Operators are watching developments closely, particularly as to how costs will impact the thinner routes where any increase in ticket prices can affect load factors disproportionately.

While the announcements from the larger carriers around the purchase of new 70 seat turboprops means increased capacity on the established regional routes, major challenges still remain as to how RPT services can be returned to the bush and medium-sized regional communities.