American plans to introduce a Los Angeles-Sydney flight in December, allowing Qantas to move some of its flights from the route to open a new service between Sydney and San Francisco.
Tyler played down the significance of lower fuel prices in the industry’s expected strong performance in 2015, noting that about half of airlines’ 2015 fuel supply is hedged at prices above the global aircraft fuel-price average, and that a 20% rise in the value of the U.S. dollar over the last 12 months has “moderated” the fuel-cost benefit.
IATA Director General Tony Tyler referred to “underlying tension,” but Clark instead sees the situation as a “7.8 on the Richter scale about to go off.”
Starting in December, the joint-venture (JV) partners and Oneworld members will operate new service between Sydney and San Francisco and Los Angeles. American will begin daily service from Los Angeles on Dec. 17, using Boeing 777-300ERs.
Neither airline serves each other’s country directly, although they do serve some third-country airports that would be good connecting points between their home markets.
Emirates has stayed out of alliances, but has some bilateral deals—including one with Qantas—that provides it with feed in Australia and similar agreements with Alaska Airlines and JetBlue in the U.S.
Müller told Aviation Daily at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Miami that he expects major progress in that regard within the next five years, as countries continue to liberalize their air service regimes and allow their national carriers to combine forces.
The core function of UATP remains the same: Its key product is a cost-saving system used by an airline’s high-value corporate customers. UATP does not charge high swipe fees on transactions like Visa or Mastercard, allowing airlines to protect margins while offering discounts to important corporations.
“People forget we’re a young airline,” he said, referring to Etihad’s network. Equity-partners Air Berlin, Alitalia and Jet Airways could fuel additional growth in Europe and India. Growth in China and South America, on the other hand, is most likely to stem from codeshare partners.
But it’s possible airlines might not be ready to change flight attendant job descriptions in such a way, and this is the only one of the four applications Air Canada does not plan to use.
“There is a huge market and demand for travel [from China] to the U.S.,” Dunkerley told Aviation Daily at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting (AGM) here.
IATA continues to argue the money is being trapped in Venezuela in violation of international treaties. “This must stop,” CEO Tony Tyler said during a session at the IATA annual general meeting. “The government is circumventing its international obligations.”
Brazil is a particular problem for carriers, both for its tax policy and regulatory framework, said Peter Cerda, IATA’s regional vice president for the Americas. About 75% of the aviation fuel sold in Brazil is produced locally, Cerda noted, and yet it is priced as if imported. “It’s artificial pricing,” Cerda said during a briefing at the IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM).
“Natca’s number one concern is the lack of an agency owning the safety management system process,” said James Keith, a Natca representative at a recent Air Traffic Control Association discussion about remote towers.
South African Airways has looked at a “reset-the-clock” scenario, but at “this point in time there is no such action or need to take such action” to bring the embattled airline to commercial sustainability, acting CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said.
The looming conflict about alleged state subsidies for Gulf carriers reached the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 8, with Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker calling for the association to stand up against “protectionism.”
AEA has taken a massive hit as a result of the recent exit of International Airlines Group (IAG) carriers British Airways (BA), Iberia, Alitalia, and Air Berlin, a move the airlines made after voicing their disagreement in key policy areas, such as how to deal with the Gulf carriers.
