WWF-UK last month launched its "One in Five Challenge" to persuade businesses and governments to reduce their business travel by 20% by 2014. Officially launched on July 20 with five founder members including heavyweight companies such as Capgemini UK, Marks & Spencer and Vodafone UK, the program is highlighting that 25% of businesses in the UK now are measuring their carbon footprint.
The Aug. 31 deadline for operators into the EU to submit their monitoring plans under the Emissions Trading System has been thrown into confusion by the UK's announcement that it does not have "a firm and agreed list" of operators to be regulated by each member state.
Qantas criticized the Australian government's emissions trading scheme, warning that the costs of operating the intricate system will be borne by consumers. In a speech delivered in Perth, QF Chairman Leigh Clifford said the government's ETS has "theoretical benefits and has the merit of being market-based." He cautioned, however, that "the intricate valuing, trading and system management" it requires will come at a cost.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, an airline-led industry working group, added several new carriers to its membership. Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, TUIfly and Virgin Blue have joined current airline members Air France, Air New Zealand, ANA, Cargolux, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, KLM, SAS and Virgin Atlantic Airways. Boeing and Honeywell's UOP are associate members.
It's probable that John Leahy, Airbus's dapper chief salesman, never before had appeared at a press event during a major air show not wearing a tie. But after late-into-the-night negotiations with AirAsia X CEO Tony Fernandes produced an unexpected order for 10 A350-900s at the Paris Air Show (June 15-21), there were Leahy and Airbus CEO Tom Enders removing their neckwear just before beginning a press conference with Fernandes at Le Bourget to announce the deal.
Air Canada suspended activity related to the implementation of a new reservations system under development with ITA Software. The carrier recorded a second-quarter impairment charge of C$67 million (US$61.9 million) related to the development of the system, dubbed Polaris.
MY MIND CLICKS ON AND OFF . . . I try letting one eyelid close at a time when I prop the other open with my will. But the effort's too much. Sleep is winning. My whole body argues dully that nothing, nothing life can attain is quite so desirable as sleep. My mind is losing resolution and control." --Charles Lindbergh
"The devil is in the detail, and the detail is a dog's breakfast." That is how one senior airline executive describes the EU Emissions Trading System, with layer upon layer of confusion dealing with various regulators. "Just one of the problems is that one of our domestic subsidiary regional airlines has been listed by one EU country, which we do not fly to, because it took delivery of an aircraft that transited that country," the executive claimed. "This is just one example of the task in front of airlines."
New report from UK-based Policy Exchange claims that wide-scale deployment of sustainable biojet fuels would result in emission reductions worth £37.4 billion ($62.4 billion) in the UK between 2020 and 2050, as well as making a significant contribution to meeting the UK's 2050 emission reduction target.
The House of Representatives already has passed a reauthorization bill and a proposed Senate bill is working its way through that chamber. But the Senate version is starkly different from the House version, so even if it is passed a House/Senate conference committee will be formed to attempt to reconcile the disparate pieces of legislation into one bill that can be cleared by both houses.
UK-based RDC Aviation published a comprehensive guide to the percentage share of airline CO2 emissions for EU countries for June 2009. The UK is out in front, accounting for 25%, followed by Germany with 18% and France 13%, Spain 12% and Italy 8%. Not surprisingly, London Heathrow is the major airport for CO2 emissions--almost double that of the next airport, Frankfurt. However, Lufthansa just pips out British Airways and Air France as the largest airline emitter.
Amadeus introduced a "holistic" solution for corporate travel agencies that aims to provide a complete "start-to-finish" system. Called Amadeus One, the Web-based, multisource solution includes profile integration, mid-office functions, agency administration tools and new productivity tools. Mary Keagul, senior vice president of product development for Amadeus North America, provided an early look at some of Amadeus One's features. Corporate policy can be configured using the system's rules engine, she said.
Airlines are turning to cockpit retrofits to enable older aircraft to take advantage of new PBN capabilities. Southwest Airlines is undertaking the largest such project.
Navtech expanded its contract with Delta Air Lines for its Preferential Bidding System crew rostering tool to include more than 4,500 pilots from Northwest Airlines.
Russian State Civil Aviation Administration said domestic airlines carried 18.8 million passengers through the first six months of 2009, down 18% year-over-year, Reuters reported. June passenger numbers fell 13.4% to 4.6 million. Frontier Airlines flew 804.4 million RPMs in June, down 13.1% year-over-year. Capacity fell 14.9% to 903.8 million ASMs, lifting load factor 1.8 points to 89%. Allegiant Air flew 468.8 million system RPMs in June, up 25.6% year-over-year. Capacity rose 29% to 527.3 million ASMs and load factor dropped 2.4 points to 88.9%.
Star Alliance added functionality to its website allowing customers to book and purchase round-the-world tickets. Such transactions previously required the assistance of an airline call center, ticket office or travel agent.
British Airways will remove inflight meals in economy class on flights shorter than 2.5 hr. from next week, although it will continue to serve breakfast on flights departing before 10 a.m. and offer free drinks and snacks. It expects to save £22 million ($36.1 million) annually as a result. It will not sell food onboard and claimed it is "not unusual to make small changes [to inflight catering] to avoid waste and save money where it makes sense and it meets customers' changing tastes." British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Assn.
Ameco Aviation College opened its new CNY50 million ($7.3 million), 7,400-sq.-m. extension at Beijing Capital International. Facility contains classrooms and a workshop. AAC now can host some 400 students for type training and 550 for basic/apprentice training at any given time. Ameco Beijing is a joint venture between Air China (60%) and Lufthansa (40%).
Turkish Airlines flew 17.3 billion RPKs through the first six months of 2009, up 11.2% from the year-ago semester. Capacity rose 19.1% to 25.3 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 4.8 points to 68.2%. Finnair flew 1.55 billion RPKs in June, down 13.4% year-over-year, against a 14.2% cut in capacity to 2.1 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.6 point to 74%. Air Berlin said June unit revenue rose 14% to 6.07 euro cents (8.63 cents). Passenger numbers fell 4.9% to 2.6 million on a 2.7% cut in seats to 3.3 million. Load factor slipped 1.8 points to 79.1%.
Frontier Airlines, operating under bankruptcy protection, reported net income of $12.6 million for the second quarter, reversed from a $57.7 million loss in the year-ago period. It said profit would have been $27.6 million excluding $14.9 million in reorganization expenses. It also reported a $5.1 million mark-to-market gain on fuel hedges. Revenue fell 23.6% to $275.6 million while expenses lowered 39.7% to $242.6 million, producing operating income of $33 million, reversed from a $41.5 million loss in the year-ago period.
Delta TechOps entered into an MOU with Hawaiian Airlines to provide Complete Fleet support for HA's new A330-200 fleet. Long-term agreement, which is valued at up to $500 million, also includes an extension of an existing deal covering its 767s.
Ryanair yesterday said it has complained to the European Commission about Ireland's €10 ($14.23) air passenger duty, which it blamed for last month's decision to cut capacity at Dublin and Shannon ( ATWOnline, June 18).
