Air Transport World

China Eastern Airlines (MU) has reported a first-half net income of CNY806.9 million ($127.2 million), down 64.6% compared to a net profit of CNY2.28 billion in the year-ago period.

EVA Air will launch 2X-weekly Taipei-Hakodate Airbus A330-200 service Oct. 28. Japan Airlines will increase daily Tokyo Narita (NRT)-Singapore service to 3X-daily Oct. 28 and weekly NRT-New Delhi service to 7X-weekly Oct. 29.

Korean Air’s (KE) attempt to buy a stake in Korean Aerospace Industries has failed, putting its plans to expand its aerospace business in jeopardy.

Airbus has delivered the first wing for the A350 XWB to the final assembly line in Toulouse, France, from its Broughton, UK, site.

The opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) will be delayed again, this time from March 17 to the end of October 2013, the Brandenburg government has confirmed.

Airbus is predicting total world demand for 28,250 new passenger and freight aircraft over the next 20 years, valued at nearly $4 trillion.

Norwich Airport (NWI), in eastern England, has unveiled plans for a major expansion of MRO activities.

TAV Airports has acquired 35% of Turkish ground handling service provider Havaş for €80 million ($102 million) from an affiliate of İşbank and HSBC Investment Bank Holdings. TAV Airports president and CEO M. Sani Sener said, “With this transaction we injected €102 million into TAV Airports Holding ... With the addition of Turkish Ground Services to its subsidiaries, HAVAŞ has more than doubled the number of aircraft it serves in the Turkish market.” HAVAŞ serves at 23 airports in Turkey.

Singapore Changi Airport has implemented measures to ensure the move of low-cost carriers from its “Budget Terminal” to “Terminal 2” goes smoothly, the airport said in a statement. “With the closure of the Budget Terminal at Singapore Changi Airport on Sept. 25 … airlines currently operating at the terminal—Berjaya Air, Cebu Pacific, Firefly, Mandala Airlines, South East Asian Airlines and Tiger Airways—will move their operations to Terminal 2 on that day,” the statement said.

The UK government is becoming increasingly embroiled in the vexed topic of how to solve London’s shortage of runway capacity.

Qatar Holding has purchased a 20% stake in UK airports operator BAA. According to the company, the transaction is conditional upon approval by EU competition authorities. If approved, the deal is expected to close by year end. The fund has acquired the stake in PGP Topco, the consortium formed by Spanish infrastructure conglomerate Ferrovial to buy BAA in 2006, for £900 million ($1.35 billion), valuing BAA at £4.5 billion. The shares come from three members of the consortium.

London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW) said it welcomed the decision of its former owner BAA to drop its appeal to the Supreme Court and agree to sell Stansted Airport (STN), in compliance with a 2009 UK Competition Commission ruling to sell both LGW and STN airports ( ATW Daily News, Aug. 20). “This decision will increase competition in the airport market and improve customer service,” LGW said in a statement.

India’s national auditor CAG has castigated the government for mishandling the privatization of the New Delhi airport. In a long-awaited report released last month, the auditor said the government had leased out the airport’s land at well below market value. New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has been operated by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a public-private partnership, since 2006.

From ATW's September 2012 Issue

There was a curious dichotomy in the US Dept. of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report for the first half of 2012 and the month of June. On the one hand, the report appears to be packed with lots of great news: US carriers set half-year records for on-time arrival performance, lowest rates of canceled flights, mishandled bags and tarmac delays.

Lufthansa (LH) on Tuesday canceled more than 350 out of 1,800 flights at Berlin Tegel (TXL), Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC) airports as its flight attendants—represented by the UFO union—launched a second day of strikes in an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.

Etihad Airways (EY) has confirmed it has purchased a further 221 million Virgin Australia (DJ) shares on the open market over recent weeks, bringing its equity stake in the Australian carrier to 10%, the maximum permitted.

Warsaw-based EuroLOT has converted options on six Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft to a firm order, increasing its order to 14 Q400s.

Turkish Airlines (TK) reported a first-half net profit of TRY164 million ($90 million), reversed from a TRY544 million loss year-over-year.

Switzerland-based SkyWork Airlines (SX) will increase its network by nine to 34 destinations in the summer season 2013.

Wencor Group, a distributor of aftermarket parts and services to the commercial and military aircraft sectors, has acquired Absolute Aviation Services and Soundair Aviation Services. Absolute Aviation Services is FAA/EASA certified and repairs electrical/electronic accessories, instruments, radio and sub-components for major, regional and cargo airlines and military aircraft worldwide; Soundair Aviation Services is an FAA/EASA/CAAC licensed repair station serving the commercial aircraft interiors market.

Etihad Airways (EY) and Alitalia (AZ) will step up their 2009 codeshare agreement with direct Abu Dhabi (AUH)-Rome Fiumicino (FCO) flights from Dec. 1.

International air passenger traffic continues to grow but airfreight markets remained depressed, according to the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

Russia’s Aeroflot (SU) will take delivery of its first Boeing 777 in 2013, part of an order for eight 777s in March 2011 and eight of the type at the Paris Air Show

Prediction and risk reduction are the next steps in aviation safety investigation, industry specialists agreed at a convention last week.