Passenger Flights Go Down but Logistics Flights Go Up

The aviation sector has slowed down due to the low number of flights. Many of the international flights scheduled for the next few days are devoted to the repatriation of people who have been caught by the health crisis far from their places of residence. Domestic flights are limited to a minimum as a result of travel limitations in dozens of countries. However, food and medical equipment companies have increased their logistic activity by 50 percent, derived from panic purchases due to the contingency of COVID-19, said Luis Enrique Hernández Yáñez, President of the Cluster for Logistics Innovation. 

Now, let’s jump into the Week in Aerospace! 

NATIONAL

• Grupo Aeroméxico, the country's flagship airline, said that it might leave at least half of its fleet grounded by April if the COVID-19 situation worsens. For April, Aeroméxico forecasts that the domestic flight market will have decreased by 50 percent and the foreign market by 60 percent compared to the same period in 2019. 
• Interjet said that it had agreed to return four of its A320 aircraft to the lessors because the cost requirements that they were offering were very high. The company said that this step had been taken in the face of the current situation of weak consumer demand. 

INTERNATIONAL

• According to estimates from the consultancy company Cirium, which specializes in the analysis of travel data, almost 6,000 passenger aircraft were stored in approximately 600 locations around the world as of 24 March. Nonetheless, a recent report shows that almost 1,000 more have been added to the inactive fleet in the last 24 hours.
   
• President Donald Trump said his administration will help Boeing, the biggest US defense contractor and one of the two largest aircraft manufacturers in the world. The company has been dealing with the effects of two deadly crashes of its 737 Max. In fact, Boeing is awaiting the government's relief package of US$60 billion for the aerospace industry that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.