Aviation Daily

By Adrian Schofield
Hawaiian Airlines predicts that an improving operating environment in the second half of the year will more than outweigh headaches caused by foreign currency weakness and shrinking fuel surcharges in some countries.

By Jens Flottau
Central European LCC Wizz Air is seeing diverging trends for ancillary revenues and yields: Passengers are paying more for extras while overall fares are declining rapidly.

Aer Lingus is confident it can grow its operating margin either as an independent company or as part of International Airlines Group (IAG), its CEO said.

Like several other airlines in North America, WestJet plans to slow its growth next year in response to changing market conditions.

By Adrian Schofield
Singapore Airlines’ lower fuel costs helped offset weak yields as well as losses from affiliates and hedging in the quarter ending June 30.

By Adrian Schofield
Virgin Australia has narrowed its loss considerably in its fiscal year through June 30 and dragged its Tigerair Australia subsidiary closer to breakeven.

By Sean Broderick
A long run of monthly enplanement growth, continued boosts in demand and an uptick in non-aeronautical revenues has earned Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) upgraded ratings on its general airport revenue bonds (Garbs) from Fitch Ratings.

By Bradley Perrett
Sichuan Airlines will set up a branch company at Harbin in far northeastern China with the aim of building a hub connecting the Russian Far East with northeast Asia.

By Adrian Schofield
Qantas is opposing efforts by an Australian airport to introduce an instrument landing system (ILS), with the airline arguing the ILS is not needed

Delta’s $450 million investment in China Eastern Airlines could strengthen SkyTeam’s presence in China and position the alliance to better capture growing business-travel spending in that county.

JetBlue Airways reported slightly higher unit revenues in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis, a development the carrier credited in part to increased profits on flights to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dubai International Airport plans to begin using a camera-based foreign object debris (FOD) detection system early in 2016 to help the operators more quickly identify and remove debris from runway areas, eliminating a persistent safety problem.
Air Transport

By Adrian Schofield
China Eastern has committed to adding capacity in Australia with a new route and seasonal increases on two existing ones if the country’s regulators change their minds and allow the carrier to partner more closely with Qantas.

BRUSSELS—Only days after the head of Air France-KLM confirmed that expanding Transavia into a truly pan-European LCC was back on the agenda, following French pilots indicating they no longer opposed the plan, Air France’s largest pilot union is again voicing its objections.

By Jens Flottau
Airbus has resumed flight testing with its Pratt & Whitney (PW) PW1100G-powered A320neo, with one of the two prototypes equipped with PW engines taking flight July 27 following a three-month grounding.

By Adrian Schofield
Malaysia’s airport operator says it is unfeasible for AirAsia to relocate to its former terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), a move the carrier suggested in response to ground stability problems at a new facility.

For a complete list of Aviation Week’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.awin.aviationweek.com/events Oct. 13-15—MRO Europe, ExCel London Exhibition and Convention Center, London, U.K. Nov. 4-6—MRO Asia, SingEx Exhibition and Convention Center, Singapore. Feb. 3-4, 2016—MRO Middle East, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE.

By Sean Broderick
The MRO unit boosted first-half third-party revenues by 35% to €776 million ($861 million).
MRO

“We’ll take whatever fare we get during the winter as long as we fill these additional flights,” CEO Michael O’Leary told analysts during Ryanair’s first-quarter earnings call on July 27.

By Jens Flottau
The new fare classes apply to economy travel, and with them, Lufthansa Group legacy airlines will for the first time charge a checked bag fees for its Economy Light class.

Specifically, JetBlue has batted aside the two carriers’ claims that they would not control more than half of the slots at Mexico City’s slot-constrained airport (Aviation Daily, June 21).

Republic told investors and employees it is discussing with partner airlines how to both temporarily and permanently reduce its commitments.
Air Transport

By Sean Broderick
“Airline profit expectations for the year ahead have dipped from previous highs but remain positive,” IATA says it its latest Airline Business Confidence Index, the group’s quarterly survey of airline chief financial officers.

By Adrian Schofield
The airline is suspending a number of long-haul routes as it moves to streamline its operation and improve its financial health.

/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2015/07/avd_07_24_2015_fuelw.pdf Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint)* As of July 24, 2015, compared with