Quantum advances in videoconferencing, combined with the desire of companies to reduce both travel budgets and environmental impact, are going to have a marked negative impact on future airline traffic growth but will improve CO2 emissions, according to a new report from New York-based Bernstein Research.
Airports and airlines have united to warn that a proposed US Environmental Protection Agency rule on limiting discharges from airport deicing operations would be highly costly, compromise safety and impede efficient operations during winter months.
ICAO's Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection in February committed to a timetable for development of a CO2 Standard for commercial aircraft that would establish the first global fuel-efficiency standard for any industry and is aiming to have it ready in 2013.
Air New Zealand has realigned its biofuel plans as the reality of sustainable production hit home. The airline, which conducted the first second-generation biofuel flight in late 2008, had set an ambitious target of 10% of its fuel being sourced from biofuel by 2013. According to CEO Rob Fyfe, it spent considerable time last year working through the carbon penalty issue of moving fuel long distances and instead turned its attention to home-grown options and settled on cellulose and algae as the two main contenders.
Reductions in fuel burn and thus emissions of up to 2% can be realized on transatlantic flights without any major technological investment through simple improvements in cooperation among ATC, airports and airlines, according to an analysis presented at ATC Global in Amsterdam March 9. Initial data from the ongoing study, dubbed "Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions" (AIRE), were released by SEASR and FAA. SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) is the project aimed at completely overhauling European airspace.
British Airways cabin crew represented by Unite announced Friday that members will strike for seven days this month, March 20-22 and March 27-30, and vowed that further industrial action could take place after April 14 "if the dispute has not been resolved."
American Airlines faces growing problems on two fronts as US FAA announced Friday it is seeking to collect civil penalties totaling $787,500 from the carrier for maintenance violations and its ground workers became the second labor group to ask the National Mediation Board for a release from talks that could lead to a work action.
ARC reported that ticket sales through participating travel agencies totaled $6.22 billion in February, up a healthy 16.8% over February 2009 and a 4.5% rise over January 2010, "accelerating seasonal expectations." Credit card sales, representing the bulk of agency sales, soared 19% year-over-year to $5.56 billion. Total fares excluding taxes and fees grew 17.5% to $5.22 billion. Domestic fares climbed 15.8% to $2.73 billion on a 12.3% rise in transactions, while international fares were up 19.5% to $2.49 billion on a 9.4% gain in transactions.
SAS Group announced formal agreements with eight unions representing flight and cabin crew that will save the company around SEK500 million ($70.1 million) per year and that satisfy "one of the conditions for participation by its major shareholders in the rights issue." The airline and the unions signed a letter of intent in February and the governments of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were waiting on a final deal before committing to a SEK5 billion capital increase
Aer Lingus applied to the US Port Director at Shannon to commence using the Customs and Border Protection facility for flights to New York JFK from early May. EI said it might extend the service to other US cities following the initial trial phase. It currently flies to JFK and Boston from SNN. British Airways' all-premium A318 flight from London City to JFK uses SNN's US customs and immigration pre-clearance facility.
Aeronautical Repair Station Assn. warned that a provision in both the US House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills "will prevent Canadian [Approved Maintenance Organizations] from performing maintenance" on aircraft operated by US airlines.
Air France KLM said that poor weather and last month's four-day air traffic controllers strike had an estimated €22 million ($30 million) impact on revenue. The company flew 13.98 billion RPKs in February, down 0.6% year-over-year, against a 5% drop in capacity to 17.99 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 3.5 points to 77.7%. British Airways flew 7.79 billion RPKs in February, a 1.1% increase year-over-year. Capacity was cut 1.9% to 10.51 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2.2 points to 74.2%.
IATA slashed its projected 2010 loss for the global airline industry by half, stating in a new forecast issued yesterday that a stronger-than-expected recovery in demand, particularly in Asia and Latin America, will result in a full-year loss of $2.8 billion instead of the $5.6 billion predicted in December.
Korean Airlines and Asiana Airlines will be subject to fines of KRW10.4 billion ($9.2 million) and KRW640 million respectively for engaging in anticompetitive practices to hurt smaller Korean carriers, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission announced yesterday. The announcement came just days after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission charged KE with air cargo price fixing.
European Commission said "considerable progress has been made in recent months" on a second-stage open skies agreement with the US and that the parties have reached "tentative agreement on a wide range of items." It said it was "confident" that agreement on "a number of important issues" still outstanding can be reached this year. If no second-stage accord is finalized by December, both the EU and US have the right to suspend certain portions of the initial deal that entered effect in March 2008.
Tibet Air, a startup based at Lhasa Gonggar, yesterday was approved for launch by CAAC. The carrier is expected to base its fleet around the A319 or 737-700 and has registered capital of CNY280 million ($41 million), according to the regulator. Tibet Investment Co. holds 51%, Tibet Sanli Investment Co. 39% and Tibet Ruiyi Investment Co. 10%. China Eastern Airlines had planned to participate but withdrew after facing its own operating loss.
Russian government set aside RUB2.5 billion ($84.3 million) to subsidize 11 airlines to carry passengers to/from the country's far east from April 1 to Oct. 31, an official told ITAR-TASS. Aeroflot, Transaero Airlines and S7 Airlines are among the group.
SuperJet International, the Sukhoi/Alenia Aeronautica joint venture, received certification to provide maintenance on Aeroflot A320s at its Venice facility. Commercial Jet of Miami completed a heavy maintenance check and passenger-to-freighter conversion on one MNG Airlines 737-400SF.
Oneworld partners British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia offered to lease at least four daily slot pairs at London Heathrow or Gatwick to competing carriers for service to three US cities in order to address regulatory concerns about their proposed transatlantic joint venture.
The current round of pilot negotiations at US major network airlines "will be the most important since deregulation" and could determine the future growth path for the regional airline segment, according to William Swelbar, a research engineer at MIT's International Center for Air Transportation.
British Airways and Aer Lingus each reached a crossroads yesterday with disgruntled flight attendants as attempts to agree on terms designed to produce cost savings met with resistance.
US airline executives said at this week's FAA Aviation Forecast Conference in Washington that passenger behavior contradicts negative publicity on ancillary fees that have proven to be valuable revenue generators and will be expanded even if the economy continues to improve. "If you ask customers what they want, it's low fares and the way you get those low fares is through a la carte pricing," US Airways President Scott Kirby said.
EU and Georgia signed a comprehensive air services agreement that will "open up and integrate the respective markets, strengthen cooperation and offer new opportunities for consumers and operators" and transition to open skies within two years. The EC said passenger traffic between the EU and Georgia has increased by an average of 10% per year over the past five years. There currently are direct flights to Georgia from nine EU nations.
Wizz Air introduced Wizz Flex, a €10 ($13.59) supplement available for purchase during the booking process that will allow the customer to alter the date, time and routing of a flight up to 3 hr. prior to departure with no change fee (although any difference in fare must be paid.)
