Since earliest times, mankind has sought to slip the bounds of Earth and reach for the skies. Mechanical flight was an obsession of medieval and renaissance thinkers, with some going so far as to design recognisable flying machines. Despite the yearning of Socrates, it is easy to forget that powered flight, in the modern sense, is barely a century old. The events at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903 when the Wright brothers achieved the world's first sustained heavier-than-air flight was the beginning of a remarkable journey that is still evolving, and which has made possible the reality of global travel for hundreds of millions of people.
In our earlier Insight on shipping (July 2015), we remarked that despite its omnipresence, modern shipping remained practically invisible. Aviation could not be more different having been embraced by a global population, connected by the ‘jumbo jet'. In many ways it is the connecting power of aviation that has made the world a global village.
In this second Amity Insight to explore modern transport, we look at the complex economics of civil aviation from aerospace manufacturers and infrastructure providers to airlines, and consider some of the anticipated drivers for growth in a sector that appears to be powering ahead. We also look at the ethical issues arising for responsible investors, particularly safety and the environmental impact on climate. Finally, as ever, we look at the investment value chain, and reach some conclusions on whether airlines can ever be viewed as sustainable.
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