Welcome back to The Up Front Update, and the news this week contains an unusually large amount of movement around the A321neo/LR/XLR, from airline shutdowns to engine issues, orders and reviews — the shape of things to come as more larger, longer-haul narrowbodies start to arrive, perhaps?
The big thing to note this week: Wizz Air is shutting down its Abu Dhabi operation after “a comprehensive reassessment of market dynamics, operational challenges, and geopolitical developments in the Middle East”. Between the geopolitical Scylla of airspace closures and Charybdis of market access, that old industry chestnut of keeping engines operational in the Middle East reared its head. Wizz cites “engine reliability constraints, particularly in hot and harsh environments, which have impacted aircraft availability and operational efficiency”. The airline will redeploy its all-A320-family fleet to “focus on its core Central and Eastern European markets, as well as select Western European countries such as Austria, Italy and the UK”.
This week on The Up Front:
It’s fascinating how airports drive the shape of aircraft, and aircraft drive the shape of airports — while sometimes being the place where passengers spend more time than on the plane.
I sat down with Ty Osbaugh from design and architecture firm Gensler, with a huge airport and terminal design portfolio all the way up to their current big project, the new JFK Terminal One, for a deep-dive into the changing shape — and experience — of the world’s airports.
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