While most of the air transport industry is focused on aviation’s impact on climate change, ICAO held a conference last month in Montreal looking at the potential impact of climate change on aviation. "While increased mitigation efforts will reduce climate impacts, even the most aggressive mitigation efforts will not eliminate the need for substantial adaptation,” ICAO said.
The UK's new coalition government indicated last week that it will cancel plans for a third runway at London Heathrow and refuse additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted, stating that it is committed "to implement a full program of measures to fulfil our joint ambitions for a low carbon and eco-friendly economy."
Southern Air and Malaysia Airlines Cargo signed a multiyear wet-lease agreement for three 747 freighters with crew, maintenance and insurance. MASkargo also has the option to lease up to five aircraft.
AirBaltic transported 211,503 passengers in April, a 3% decline year-over-year. Load factor fell 2 points to 63%. During the first four months it transported 835,694 passengers, a 16% year-over-year improvement. Load factor for the four-month period remained flat at 62%. Air France KLM flew 14.28 billion RPKs in April, a 15.9% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity was down 15.3% to 17.85 billion ASKs and load factor fell 0.6 point to 80%.
Air Astana, which celebrated its eighth anniversary last week, said it plans to expand its Almaty hub by launching new services to Urumchi in western China, Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Tashkent in Uzbekistan during the second half of this year. "Additional new routes to other cities in southern Russia, including Omsk and Yekatenburg, are also under consideration," it said. It said it will operate the routes with new, leased E-190s it will begin taking delivery of next year. It will use A320s on the routes until the Embraer aircraft arrive.
Airbus parent EADS reported first-quarter net income of €103 million ($129.7 million), down 39.4% from a €170 million profit in the year-ago period, and said it remains behind on A380 production, a program that "continues to weigh significantly on the underlying performance." CFO Hans Peter Ring admitted, "We are still trying to reduce the amount of outstanding work on the A380." He predicted 20 will be delivered this year, well below the 45 originally slated for 2010.
Tiger Airways reported net income of S$28.2 million ($37.7 million) for its fiscal year ended March 31, reversed from a S$50.8 million net loss in the prior year. Underlying operating profit, which excludes fuel-hedging losses of S$21.7 million and IPO-related expenses, was S$49.7 million, turned around from a S$30.2 million operating deficit in the previous year. Revenue lifted 28.6% to S$486.2 million.
Iberia narrowed its first-quarter consolidated net loss to €52 million ($65.5 million), a 43.8% improvement over the €92.6 million deficit in the year-ago period, on a 4.4% decline in revenue to €1.05 billion. Operating costs narrowed 9.5% year-over-year to €1.13 billion owing to a 21% reduction in fuel expenses as well as capacity cuts and cost control measures. Consequently, recurring operating loss almost halved to €75.5 million from a negative €147.3 million EBIT a year earlier.
British Airways flew 7.26 billion RPKs in April, down 22.4% year-over-year. on a 20.9% fall in capacity to 9.48 billion ASKs. Load factor dropped 1.5 points to 76.6%. Operations were affected by the volcanic ash cloud that closed much of European airspace April 15-21 and resulted in six days of lost flying for the airline.
TAM, which yesterday officially became a member of Star Alliance, said it will make a decision by the second half of this year on whether to spin off its MRO subsidiary. "We've already talked to eight to ten possible" buyers, VP-Operations and MRO Ruy Amparo told ATWOnline this week in San Carlos, Brazil. "In about two months from now, we will decide if our MRO subsidiary will become a spinoff. We are ready to spin off [MRO]."
Air China appointed former CA President Cai Jianjiang chairman of Shenzhen Airlines, signaling that its plan to take control of Shenzhen is coming to fruition.
Investigators examining the Afriqiyah Airways A330-200 crash are expected to focus on faulty landing aids and the pilots being blinded by the sun as possible causes.
Asiana Airlines reported first-quarter net income of KRW958 billion ($83.8 million), reversed from a KRW2.62 trillion net loss in the year-ago period, on a 27.4% rise in revenue to KRW11.76 trillion.
The UK CAA this week altered its approach to the promulgated No-Fly Zone by removing the 60 nm. volcanic ash "buffer zone" that was proposed by Eurocontrol and accepted by the Eurocontrol member states in the week following Iceland’s volcanic eruption.
Boeing announced that it conducted initial engine starts on the first GE GEnx-powered 787 Monday. The aircraft, ZA005, is the fifth 787 off the line. First flight is expected later in the quarter. The first four Dreamliners are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s.
Mandala Airlines received IOSA certification from IATA and will launch its first international service from Jakarta to Singapore Changi, Macau and Hong Kong, as well as Balikpapan-SIN service, June 25. The Jakarta-based LCC said it is the first privately owned Indonesian airline to achieve IOSA registration.
US Dept. of Transportation yesterday named the members of a new advisory committee that will study the future of aviation and report back to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a year or more with recommendations on ensuring the competitiveness and capability of the US aviation industry. "Aviation is essential to our nation's economy and our ability to compete in international commerce," LaHood said. The panel's first meeting is scheduled for May 25 in Washington.
