Coronavirus: Monitoring passenger jet activity through the hibernation phase

READ OUR NEW DAILY UPDATE THAT TRACKS THE FLIGHT PLAN TO RECOVERY

NEW DATA POINTS ADDED EVERY DAY FROM 29/05/2020

At this point the time frames of the hibernation phase are unknown. We expect markets to enter the rebuild and the consolidation stages at different times depending on the spread of Covid-19. Find out more about how Cirium can help you understand how the industry is responding to COVID-19.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 29/05/20

May 2020 is set to be the first ever month in which Chinese airlines operate more passenger jet flights than their US counterparts.

Cirium tracking data shows that from Friday 1^st May up to and including Wednesday 27^th May, Chinese operators had completed nearly 200,000 flights with passenger-configured widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets, compared with fewer than 170,000 for carriers based in the USA.

China has achieved this milestone because its airlines have recovered to an activity level approximately 35% below last year, whereas US operators remain 74% down as a result of the collapse in passenger demand due to the coronavirus crisis.

Meanwhile the global stored passenger jet fleet has declined slightly to just over 15,000, taking the overall proportion of inactive aircraft down a further percentage point to 57%.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 28/05/20

Latest tracking data indicates the extent to which the largest members of the Airbus and Boeing twin-aisle aircraft families are being preferred by operators during the gradual rebuild of flight operations, potentially due to their greater belly-hold capacities.

Despite the collapse in passenger demand for intercontinental flights since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, a significant subset of the global widebody fleet is being pressed into service to help offset the accompanying loss of cargo capacity.

Our data visual shows that for the seven-day period up to and including Tuesday 26^th May, more than 40% of 777-300s were tracked making at least one scheduled flight, compared with only 20% of passenger variants of the smaller 777-200. Approximately two thirds of 787-10s and half of 787-9s flew, versus roughly one third of the smallest -8 model. The trend was also reflected in deployment of A350s, with three-quarters of the largest -1000 variants flying during the study period, compared with half of the baseline -900 model.

The four-engined A380 – which offers relatively modest cargo capacity relative to its overall size – remained subject to extremely low levels of utilisation.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 27/05/20

Chinese operators have established a clear recovery trend measured by tracked flights with passenger jet aircraft. As of Monday 25^th May 2020 flight numbers for the country’s airlines were down approximately one third compared with Monday 27^th May 2019 – a major improvement from the nadir of the 84% decline recorded in mid-February.

Our data visual contrasts the improving picture in China with the situation in the USA, where daily flight activity by native carriers remains more than 70% down compared with a year earlier, and the UK where operators have ceased almost all scheduled passenger jet operations since the beginning of April.

In terms of the global stored passenger jet inventory, the situation continues to slowly improve with the proportion of inactive aircraft now below 58%, equivalent to just over 15,000 aircraft. This is the lowest level recorded since early April.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 26/05/20

United Airlines is deploying its largest and most efficient passenger-configured widebody twinjets for a significant number of belly cargo flights, according to Cirium tracking data.

During the seven days up to and including 20^th May, United operated more than 2,100 passenger and freight flights with all aircraft types. However just over a fifth of these carried the ‘UA27XX’ and ‘UA28XX’ flight designators believed to indicate services operated primarily for cargo.

Our data visualisation shows the activity of the United fleet for the 90 days up to 20^th May, with each line representing an individual aircraft. Red cells indicate the days on which these aircraft did not operate a commercial service, revealing the proportion of the carrier’s twin-aisle fleet that saw regular flight activity over the study period.

Meanwhile the overall proportion of the global passenger jet fleet held in storage remains stagnant at approximately 59%, equivalent to just below 15,400 aircraft.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 21/05/20

Yesterday’s announcement by Air France that it was ending Airbus A380 operations with immediate effect brought the plight of the four-engined ultra large airliner into sharp focus.

Only four aircraft from the global fleet of 239 are in service, according to Cirium criteria. Accordingly, the number of daily scheduled A380 passenger flights tracked has almost completely collapsed, from the level of approximately 300 last year.

The 235 stored A380s are parked at 25 locations according to Cirium’s fleet data. Almost half (115) are part of the Emirates fleet in the UAE, with 71 at Al Maktoum International and 44 at Dubai International Airport.

The second largest operator – Singapore Airlines – has 15 of its aircraft in Singapore, while four have been transferred to the less harsh environment of Alice Springs Airport in Australia.

Air France’s nine examples are split between Paris Charles de Gaulle (five), Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport (two) and Teruel in Spain (two).

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 20/05/20

There has been much industry debate over whether proportionally fewer older aircraft will make it back into service than their younger counterparts. This has significant implications for aftermarket players as newer aircraft generally consume fewer replacement parts and require less maintenance.

Cirium is able to link its flight tracking data to aircraft build year to visualise the age profile of the current fleet. We can then follow trends as they emerge on a daily basis over the course of the upcoming return-to-service phase.

Our visualisations today show the proportion of passenger jets in the global fleet (ie with either in-service or in-storage status) that we tracked making at least one flight during the seven days up to and including Monday 18^th May, segmented by aircraft build year.

The data confirms that for the study period, older aircraft were indeed significantly less likely to see flight activity. However it was also the case that fewer than half of the widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets built since 2015 flew during the past seven days (to 18^th May).

In our 1st short video update, Andrew Doyle compares utilization figures for passenger jet activity since the start of the year with 2019. We offer the market a glimmer of hope as there is an upward trend in utilization for the 7 day view in May 2020.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 19/05/20

Regional jets and mainline narrowbodies account for a greater proportion of daily scheduled flights by passenger aircraft than was the case prior to the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

Cirium tracking data shows that these smaller jets are being preferred at the expense of widebodies and turboprops during this unprecedented period where global flight numbers have slumped to approximately one fifth of normal levels. This trend is likely to continue if – as widely predicted – mainline domestic markets recover first, followed by intra-regional services and lastly intercontinental longhaul.

Looking at 2020 to-date (up to and including 17^th May 2020), flights by widebodies bottomed out in week 15, which ended Sunday 12^th April. On that day twin-aisles accounted for only 5% of the total for all passenger aircraft market classes including turboprops, equivalent to approximately 840 flights.

As of Sunday 17^th May, the proportion of widebodies had strengthened to 6.2%, equivalent to just over 1,170 flights. By comparison, Sunday 5^th January saw over 9,200 widebody scheduled passenger flights, representing 9.8% of the total.

Meanwhile, today we take the overall proportion of stored passenger jets (so excluding turboprops) down a percentage point to 59%. This follows a net decrease of approximately 130 in the

inactive fleet since yesterday’s update, to just below 15,600. We return aircraft to in-service status following observed flight activity on at least three of the preceding seven days, or five of the preceding 14.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 18/05/20

Six of the top 10 airlines ranked by number of scheduled flights operated with passenger jets for the seven days up to and including Saturday 16^th May were Chinese, although US carrier Southwest Airlines topped the list overall with just under 9,500 services flown.

China Eastern and China Southern ranked second and third, each with just over 7,000 flights, while Air China,Shandong Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines were in sixth and 8-10^th places, in that order. Skywest Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines occupied fourth, fifth and seventh spots respectively.

The ranking does not feature a non-US or non-Chinese operator until position 21, represented by Vietnam Airlines with a little over 1,150 scheduled services operated with widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets during the seven-day period.

We do not encounter a European airline until reaching Russia’s S7 Airlines at number 25, which is also the first operator on the list to have operated fewer than 1,000 passenger jet flights during the week to 16^th May. Lufthansa and Air France were at 40^th and 41^st respectively, each with fewer than 400 services flown. British Airways was placed 63^rd with a little over 150 scheduled passenger jet flights operated.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 15/05/20

Cirium’s seventh-day-prior comparison metrics for scheduled passenger jet utilisation recovered to positive ground for Wednesday 13^th May, following the one-off decline reported for Tuesday.

Globally, Wednesday this week saw approximately 5% gains in both tracked aircraft and flights compared with Wednesday 6^th May, while flight hours improved by 6.7%. The seven-day rolling average for tracked aircraft, meanwhile, was up 3.1% compared with the same day a week prior, while flights and hours were up 4.5% and 6.4% respectively.

China-based operators followed Tuesday’s 11% decline in tracked flights with a 2% increase for Wednesday, compared with the seventh day prior. On a seven-day rolling average basis, tracked flights were up nearly 9% compared with the seventh day prior.

On a worldwide basis, a comparison of Wednesday 13^th May 2020 with Wednesday 15^th May 2019 shows tracked aircraft were down 71%, flights by 81% and hours 82%.

Our data visual today shows the percentage change in widebody, narrowbody and regional jet flight hours versus a year prior, by engine manufacturer. On Wednesday 13^th May 2020, hours were down 80% for CFM International, 79% for General Electric, 85% for International Aero Engines, 81% for Pratt & Whitney and 83% for Rolls-Royce.

Meanwhile, we recorded a fall in the global stored passenger jet fleet of 30 since yesterday’s (14^th May) update. The overall proportion of inactive aircraft remains at approximately 60%.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 14/05/20

An 11% fall in tracked commercial passenger jet services by Chinese operators for Tuesday 12^th May – compared with 5^th May – pushed our global seventh-day-prior comparison metrics meaningfully into negative territory for the first time since late April. Worldwide, the number of tracked aircraft fell 2%, tracked flights were down 5.4% and flight hours declined 2.5%, compared with 5^th May.

It will become clearer in the coming days whether this interruption to the positive trend that emerged over the past couple of weeks is a blip, or indicative of underlying issues.

Our data visual today shows the daily percentage decline in tracked flights for operators based in the top five Asia-Pacific countries from 1^st January to 12^th May 2020, compared with the equivalent days 364 days prior. It reflects the gradual recovery trend for operations in China, while India has seen a complete shutdown since late-March.

Meanwhile we recorded a fall in the global stored passenger jet fleet of 31 since yesterday’s (13^th May) update. The overall proportion of inactive aircraft remains at approximately 60%.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 13/05/20

A net decrease in the global stored passenger jet fleet of just under 130 since yesterday’s (12^th May) update has taken the overall proportion of inactive aircraft down a single percentage point to 60%.

We classify an aircraft as stored following 14 days of inactivity, and return it to in-service status if it flies on three of the preceding seven days, or five of the previous 14. For the purposes of this daily update we include all widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets equipped with a passenger cabin regardless of whether they have been temporarily deployed for cargo-only services.

Tracking data for Monday 11^th May showed a 4.5% increase in active aircraft, 5.4% uplift in flights and 8.1% improvement in flight hours, compared with the seventh day prior (4^th May). Compared with 364 days prior, these metrics show declines of 70.3%, 80.7% and 82.3% respectively, bringing into stark relief the scale of the recovery challenge that confronts the industry.

Our data visual today shows fly/no fly days for individual aircraft in the British Airways narrowbody and widebody fleets over the course of the 90-day perior to 11^th May. The comparison – where red indicates an aircraft did not fly – illustrates how the UK flag-carrier’s twin-aisle aircraft were typically grounded later than its shorthaul aircraft following the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 12/05/20

A 9% increase in both average daily tracked flight hours and cycles for passenger jets was recorded for week 19 of 2020 (the seven days up to and including Sunday 10^th May), compared with the previous week.

This represented the second consecutive week of improvement as week 18 (seven days to 3^rd May) saw average daily hours and cycles improve by 8% and 7% respectively, compared with week 17 which had declines of 4% and 6%. Prior to that there were several consecutive weeks of decline in widebody, narrowbody and regional jet flight activity.

The latest seven day rolling average figures – for week 19 to 10^th May – also indicate higher average daily aircraft utilisation compared with the previous week, with the number of in-service jets tracked up 4% but average flight hours per aircraft up 5%. The average number of aircraft tracked daily during the week was just under 5,800, and each flew an average of 5.7 hours per day.

Meanwhile a net decrease in the stored passenger jet fleet of just over 50 was recorded since yesterday’s (11^th May) update. At approximately 16,000, the inactive passenger jet fleet remains at just under 61% of the global inventory.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 07/05/20

The stored passenger jet fleet has again remained stable at just below 61%, with just over 15,900 widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets classified by Cirium’s researchers as inactive.

While the in-service fleet has stabilised at approximately 10,300 in recent days, we continue to record positive trends in tracking data.

Tuesday 5^th May saw active aircraft up 7.3%, flight cycles up 19% and hours flown up 17% compared with Tuesday 28^th April. However these global metrics remain adverse by 71%, 81% and 83% respectively compared with 7^th May 2019 (364 days prior). These seventh-day-prior metrics have remained positive for eight consecutive days.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 06/05/20

Passenger jet tracking data for Monday 4^th May extends the positive trend as measured by active aircraft (up 6%), flight cycles (14%) and hours flown (13%) compared with Monday 27^th April. However these metrics remain adverse by 72%, 82% and 84% respectively compared with 6^th May 2019 (364 days prior).

The improvement in the global picture observed over the past week continues to be driven primarily by Asia-based carriers where lock-downs in some countries are being eased and airlines are reinstating scheduled flights.

Our figures include jet airliners normally configured for passenger operations and therefore incorporate activity by such aircraft that are temporarily being deployed for cargo-only services (belly freight or in some cases packages transported in the passenger cabin, with or without some seats removed).

Our data visual today shows the proportions of passenger jet family fleets that were tracked making at least one flight in the seven days up to and including 4^th May. For this analysis we include only aircraft that we consider to have in-service or in-storage status, and which have also been observed making at least one flight since 1^st January 2020. It again highlights the extent to which the active fleets of the largest passenger types (Airbus A380 and Boeing 747) have been impacted as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

There has been no material change in the overall proportion of global passenger jets with in-storage status (61%) since yesterday’s (5^th May) update.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 05/05/20

A sixth consecutive day of increase in scheduled flights flown by passenger jets – using the ‘seventh day prior’ metric – was recorded for Sunday 3^rd May, lending more weight to the hypothesis that the industry’s operational low point may be behind it.

The data also shows there was a 7% increase in passenger jet flights for week 18 of 2020, compared with week 17.

Cirium’s tracking sources indicate an increase of over 8% in operated flights for 3^rd May, compared with Sunday 26^th April, and over 2% more aircraft were active and more than 5% additional flight hours were flown. These seventh-day-prior metrics have remained in positive territory since and including 28^th April.

Source: Cirium Core, Tracked Utilization 5 May 2020

It is important to compare equivalent days of the week for this type of analysis to obtain a true picture of flight trends, as airline services typically follow a weekly pattern to reflect variations in passenger demand across the working week and weekends.

While the seventh-day-prior comparison remaining in positive territory for several days can be seen as an encouraging development – as some countries such as China begin to relax travel restrictions – globally operated scheduled flight cycles for 3^rd May were nevertheless down nearly 83% compared with the equivalent day 364 days prior, reflecting the unprecedented crisis the aviation industry is facing.

Also, the number of flights operating does not necessarily reflect demand, with many services reported to be operating with extremely low load factors.

Meanwhile, Cirium’s researchers have determined that the in-service passenger jet fleet has grown by nearly 170 since yesterday’s (4^th May) update, taking the global stored inventory down to just over 15,900 aircraft and below 61% of the total.

A net total of more than 50 Boeing widebodies rejoined the active fleet, alongside 30 Airbus twin-aisles and nearly 60 of the European manufacturer’s A320 Family models.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 04/05/20

Cirium’s researchers have transferred a net total of nearly 140 passenger jets to in-service status since Friday’s (1^st May) update, taking the stored passenger jet fleet below 16,100. This means just over 61% of the global inventory of widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets is in storage – one percentage point lower than we reported on Friday.

These aircraft are stored at 876 airports around the world, with more than 2,000 spread amongst the top 10 locations. The ranks of inactive aircraft continue to grow steeply at Roswell International Air Center and Marana Pinal Airpark in the USA (currently ranked numbers one and three respectively).

As reported on the Cirium Dashboard, renowned investor Warren Buffet revealed on 2^nd May his decision to sell his investment company Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings in US majors American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.

“We like those airlines. But the world has changed for the airlines,” he said. “I hope it corrects itself in a reasonably prompt way.”

Cirium’s tracking sources show the severe impact the Coronavirus crisis has had on total flight counts for these four carriers up to 2^nd May, with little immediate respite in sight. However significantly greater numbers of flights continue to be flown within the US market compared with Europe, where an almost complete shutdown of scheduled flight operations has occurred.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 01/05/20

Cirium tracking data has provided further tentative evidence that the global passenger jet fleet may have passed the nadir of scheduled flight activity in recent days. Wednesday 29^th April marked the second consecutive day of increases in active aircraft, cycles and flight hours using the ‘seventh day prior’ metric (ie by comparison with Wednesday 22^nd April). However overall flight cycles remained nearly 83% down compared with a year ago.

The Asia-Pacific region – driven predominantly by Chinese operators – saw roughly 1,000 net additional flight cycles by passenger widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets on Wednesday, compared with the same day a week earlier, while the active aircraft count was up by approximately 140.

Europe also recorded an increase in flights compared with the seventh day prior, but from a far lower base (tracked flight cycles were down 95% compared with the equivalent day last year).

Cirium’s researchers have meanwhile returned 70 passenger jets to in-service status since yesterday’s (30^th April ) update. The proportion of widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets in storage globally remains at approximately 62%.

There has been in a net increase in the in-service fleet of over 600 aircraft over the past four days. We consider an aircraft to have returned to service following observed flight activity on at least three of the preceding seven days, or five of the preceding 14.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 30/04/2020

The first evidence of a potential bottoming-out of the global slump in commercial passenger jet flights due to coronavirus has emerged from analysis by Cirium using its 600-plus sources of tracking data.

A 4% increase in scheduled passenger flights flown was recorded for Tuesday 28^th April when compared with Tuesday 21^st April, marking the first positive value for this ‘seventh-day-prior’ rolling indicator since 5^th March. It is important to compare equivalent days of the week for this type of analysis as airline flights typically follow a weekly pattern to reflect variations in passenger demand across the working week and weekends.

While the seventh-day-prior comparison moving back into positive territory can be seen as an encouraging development – as some countries such as China begin to relax travel restrictions – global scheduled flight cycles for 28^th April were nevertheless down nearly 84% compared with the equivalent day 364 days prior, reflecting the unprecedented crisis the aviation industry is facing.

Meanwhile, Cirium has added just over 130 passenger jets (widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets) to the active global fleet since yesterday’s (29^th April update), taking the overall proportion of stored aircraft down to approximately 62%, or 16,300. This figure is two percentage points (or approximately 600 aircraft) lower than the peak recorded in mid-April.

We transfer stored aircraft to in-service status after observing flight activity on at least three of the prior seven days, or five of the prior 14.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 29/04/2020

The global stored passenger jet fleet has remained stable since yesterday’s update, at approximately 63% of total inventory.

A major news development this week – reported extensively by Cirium Dashboard – has been the collapse of the proposed joint venture between Boeing and Embraer. We therefore take this opportunity to look in more detail at the impact of the Coronavirus on the regional jet market.

Cirium classifies nearly 850 of the roughly 1,500 E170/175 and E190/195 twinjets as being in storage, alongside more than 450 of the approximately 700 remaining ERJ-135/140/145s.

Meanwhile about half of the approximately 1,500-strong fleet of Bombardier CRJs is currently in storage.

In terms of tracked aircraft the CRJ and E-Jet families both saw around 450 aircraft fly on Monday 27^th April. Prior to the onset of the crisis a typical day saw more than 1,200 active E-Jets and around 1,000 CRJs. The number of smaller ERJs active daily has declined from around 400 to closer to 120.

As of 27^th April, daily tracked flight cycles for all three families were down about 80% compared with 29^th April 2019, with no immediate signs of recovery.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 28/04/2020

Cirium has recorded a net reduction in the global stored passenger jet fleet of just over 400 aircraft since yesterday’s (27^th April) update. This coincided with the implementation of our decision announced last week to slightly revise our classification criteria to reflect the industry’s entry into the ‘hibernation phase’ of the Coronavirus crisis.

Notable developments in our latest update included a net increase in the in-service Airbus narrowbody fleet of A319/A320/A321s of more than 110, while the active inventory of Boeing 717s, 737s and 757s was up by over 80. On the widebody side we have classified about 100 additional 767s, 777s and 787s as having returned to service, alongside roughly 50 A330s, A340s and A350s.

The situation continued to improve in China, where we have returned over 100 passenger jets to in-service status during the past week.

Cirium’s researchers now require 14 days of observed inactivity to classify an aircraft as having entered storage, up from seven days previously.  To be returned to in-service status an aircraft must fly on at least three of the previous seven days, or five of the previous 14.

We now put the global stored fleet of passenger widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets at below 16,500 aircraft or just under 63% of the total inventory, down from the peak of approximately 16,800 (64%) which persisted for approximately two weeks.

Cirium continues to deploy its more than 600 sources of flight status and tracking data to monitor daily hours and cycles utilisation trends. Flying hours are a key driver of demand for aftermarket products and services and associated revenues, and so today we look at slowly recovering utilisation levels for scheduled services by Chinese operators for four widely used types.

On Monday 26^th April 2020 Chinese A320 and 737 family operators logged more than 50% fewer flying hours compared with Monday 28^th April 2019, although this represented a marked recovery from the mid-February 2020 low point where figures were over 80% down for each of these types.

Chinese-operated 787s meanwhile posted nearly 75% fewer scheduled flying hours than a year ago, while demand for A330/A340 Family flight hours appeared to be recovering more slowly, likely a reflection of the international travel restrictions that remain in place.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 27/04/2020

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 24/04/2020

We remain firmly in the hibernation phase of this crisis with 16,800 passenger jets (64% of the total fleet) classified as stored. There has been no material change in the net figure since yesterday, and the global total has remained more or less stable for the past 10 days now.

All eyes are on China as a potential leading indicator of the shape of the recovery that could be expected as and when other national travel restrictions are eventually lifted. Cirium’s tracking data recorded a low point of around 1,000 passenger jets being flown daily by Chinese airlines by mid-February, but this recovered to nearly 2,000 for the bulk of March and has remained around this level so far in April (see graphic). However we are still consistently seeing approximately 1,000 (36%) fewer active aircraft per day compared with a year prior.

Average daily flight hours per active aircraft also remains well down on pre-crisis levels, having been around 9.5 hours at the onset of the crisis but still hovering at around 5.5 as of 22^nd April. This is partly a reflection of the fact that domestic operations continue to be proportionally less badly impacted than international services. Total daily tracked flight cycles and flight hours for Chinese-operated passenger jets remain down nearly 60% compared with a year earlier.

As we approach the beginning of May we will be watching closely to see whether more optimistic capacity scheduling by Chinese operators translates into increased passenger demand, and therefore fewer flight cancellations and ultimately increased utilisation of the Chinese passenger jet fleet.

Hibernation phase fleet & utilization update – 23/04/2020

Welcome to the first of our daily updates in which we track the operational status of the global passenger jet fleet during this unprecedented ‘hibernation’ period, following the spread of the Coronavirus and implementation of government-imposed travel restrictions.

During the course of the past several days we have seen the overall stored inventory of widebodies, narrowbodies and regional jets stabilise at approximately 16,700 aircraft, or 64% of the total fleet. However this net figure masks the significant churn that is occurring on a daily basis as hundreds of aircraft either enter or leave a period of storage.

In order for Cirium to be able to provide the most accurate and up to date picture of the stored fleet during the hibernation phase, we will be slightly modifying the criteria our researchers apply to determine the status of an individual aircraft, effective Monday 27^th April.

From this date we will extend the period of observed inactivity required to classify an aircraft as stored, from the current seven consecutive days to 14. This is the criteria we applied prior to the start of the highly dynamic mass storage phase which characterised the past few weeks.

For an aircraft to return from stored status to in-service, we will continue to require flight activity on at least three of the preceding seven days, but in addition we will also accept five out of the preceding 14 days in recognition that a significant proportion of the fleet is seeing regular but highly sporadic utilisation.

We will meanwhile continue to include in this report insights drawn from Cirium’s more than 600 sources of flight status and tracking data. Today we show for the world’s largest carriers the proportion of their passenger jet fleets that have been tracked making at least one scheduled flight during the past seven days (data up is to and including Tuesday 21^st April).