FAMEX 2021: First Post-COVID-19 Aerospace Fair

President of FAMEX Rodolfo Rodríguez Quezada stressed on Thursday that FAMEX will be held in 2021. In the meantime, the association will be planning how to generate greater opportunities to promote the realignment of the local aerospace industry in Mexico, according to a note by El Economista. The fair will have 370 exhibition spaces: 50 percent are reserved, 37 percent still available and 13 percent are already paid for. The fair will be held in Queretaro. 

Now let’s jump into the Week in Aerospace!
 

Airbus A380 Superjumbo Reaches the End of the Road

French aerospace giant Airbus prepares to build the last A380, the largest commercial aircraft in the world. The double-decker aircraft was not long ago a large bet in the future of aviation, but it panned out due to changing passenger trends and the COVID-19 outbreak. Developed in an era where the aviation industry was growing unimpeded and expected to continue doing so for many years, the A380 represented Airbus’ bet in the future of the aviation industry. The French planemaker launched the program to develop it during 2000 when the “hub-and-spoke” model, in which small jets took passengers to and from major airport hubs that would connect among each other using large and jumbo jets, was taking speed.

LATAM Airlines Shuts Down Operations in Argentina

Bad news continues to accumulate for Latin American airlines in the wake of COVID-19. Today, LATAM Airlines Group, after filing for bankruptcy protection less than a month ago, ceased the operations of its Argentina subsidiary indefinitely. LATAM Airlines has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The airline is the largest in all of Latin America with its main hub in Santiago, Chile, and secondary hubs in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina. Border closures in some of these mayor hubs brought demand to unprecedented lows. Pre-pandemic, LATAM Airlines performed regular flights among 130 destinations in 24 countries including Cancun and Mexico City. However, the outbreak forced LATAM to cancel 90 percent of its international flights.

Latin American Aviation at Risk

While the COVID-19 outbreak has hurt airlines across all regions, those in Latin America seem to be under a much heavier burden, warns the International Air Transport Association (IATA), as it reiterates its call on local authorities to support the sector. While all continents have been hurt by the decrease in demand for air travel, strong border closures in many of the region’s hubs worsened an already large problem. The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) indicated that airlines in the region had seen an overwhelming 97.1 percent drop in traffic during April 2020, in comparison to the previous year, with the sharpest contractions occurring in international flights within Latin America, which fell by 99.9 percent, and abroad, by 98.7 percent.