Daily2018-02-20

Wednesday, May 9th, 2018

beachaviationsponsor2018-04-03

LATEST NEWS

Air France's shares fall after resignation of CEO Janaillac Resigns

With Air France striking for a fourteenth day since this round of strike action began in February, Air France CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac has resigned, causing the share price of Air France to plummet. The Group has had trouble with the French unions for a long time. More recently, the pilot’s union SNPL has carried out strikes over job relocations and working conditions, as well as pay.

The current strike action is over pay. The unions want an immediate 5.1% raise while management has offered 7% over a four-year period with an immediate 1% raise. Last Friday staff voted on the Air France proposal and 55% voted against the offer.

Janaillac had previously stated that if he was unable to resolve the strike issue, which currently costs the carrier nearly US$30 million per day, he would walk away, which he has now done. It is estimated the current strikes will cost the carrier in excess of US$360 million. In a statement on Sunday, the SNPL union claimed Air France could handle the losses as it was a “perfectly healthy group economically,” and besides, it was the government that was responsible for what was currently happening.

The Air France strikes are being seen as an attempt to rail against French president Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to “modernize” the French labor market. While the government holds a 14.3% in Air France, France’s economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, warned that the state could not be relied upon to rescue the airline. He stated that: “Air France will disappear if it does not make the necessary efforts to be competitive,” adding, “We’re minority shareholders ... those that think that whatever happens the state will come to Air France’s rescue and soak up Air France’s losses are mistaken.”

On the announcement of Junaillac’s resignation, shares in Air France fell by as much as 13%. The price recovered slightly, but still remained 11.6% down on Monday.

ELFC

WestJet reports first quarter net earnings of CA$37.2m, down 22%

WestJet has posted its first quarter results for 2018, with net earnings of CA$37.2m, compared to CA$46.7m the previous year, down 22%. WestJet achieved its 52nd consecutive quarter of profitability and flew an all-time quarterly record of 6.1 million guests. Based on the trailing twelve months, the airline achieved a return on invested capital of 9.5%, down from to 10.1% in the first quarter of 2017.

Despite a challenging winter 2018, WestJet successfully achieved record load factors and increased revenue by 6.9% on a capacity increase of 4.3%.

AJW Group extends PBH contract with Air Incheon

AJW Group has extended its power-by-the-hour (PBH) agreement with Incheon-headquartered cargo transport specialist, Air Incheon.

The contract has been extended for several years and covers Air Incheon’s fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, as well as their newly acquired Boeing 767’s, which are expected to enter service later this year.

AJW will manage the complete supply, repair and overhaul of Air Incheon’s rotable components and support the cargo transport specialist with optimised inventory management utilising global stock locations.

Air Incheon, based at Incheon International Airport, operates five scheduled cargo routes throughout China, Japan, Russia, Mongolia and South Korea. With the introduction of B767 freighter aircraft, Air Incheon will launch a new route from Incheon to Hanoi six times per week.

BombardierMRO_2018-05-09

Finnair's April traffic up 15.7%

Finnair's overall capacity increased by 15.7% in April, while Finnair's traffic grew by 15.4% compared to the previous year. The passenger load factor decreased by 0.2 points to 82.6%.

Turkish Technic and Havelsan will produce in-flight entertainment and internet service provider systems

Turkish Technic and Havelsan will carry out the production of in-flight entertainment systems. This joint venture company will perform activities in the field of in-flight entertainment and internet service provider systems and other softwares used in civil aviation including design, production, maintenance, repair, marketing, sales and after-sales services in land, sea, rail systems and air platforms.

The Company is aiming to provide linefit in-flight entertainment systems as approved supplier for both Turkish Airlines’ new generation aircraft to be delivered between 2022-2023 and other domestic and international airlines’ aircrafts. In-flight entertainment systems which play a very important role especially for long haul flights and foster customer satisfaction, are planning to be produced by this Company with high technology and competitive prices.

At the first stage, the Company, to be operational at Turkish Technics’ Sabiha Gökçen International Airport facilities in 2018, is planning to commercialize its products for domestic airline operators and other operators within its close region.

ASI

Lufthansa Group continues to invest in fleet modernization with order of 16 additional aircraft

The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has approved the order of up to 16 additional aircraft in a meeting on May 7. The list price of the aircraft is approximately €2.1bn. Delivery is scheduled to take place in stages until 2022. The investment plan for the 2018 fiscal year remains unchanged.

The order includes two Boeing 777-300ER long-haul aircraft for SWISS, which are expected to supplement the existing SWISS fleet beginning in early 2020 and will be used to expand the route network. An additional two Boeing 777F will be ordered for Lufthansa Cargo. The modern freight aircraft will replace MD11 cargo planes in the future. This will decrease fuel consumption, noise emissions and unit costs at the same time. The investment in fleet expansion at SWISS and a more modern cargo fleet reflect the economic success of the two companies. In the first quarter, traditionally a weak quarter for airlines, SWISS had a profit margin of over nine percent; Lufthansa Cargo’s was over ten percent. The order for the new long-haul aircraft highlights the strategy of Lufthansa Group to predominantly allocate the growth within its multi-hub system where cost and quality offer the best conditions for profitable investments.

The Supervisory Board has also approved the order of up to twelve short- and medium-haul A320-type aircraft. This includes six delivery options for aircraft of the Airbus A320neo (new engine option) type in 2022 that were converted to fixed orders. When they are delivered, they will replace older aircraft in the flight operations of the Lufthansa Group. Depending on availability, up to six additional A320ceo (current engine option) will be ordered. The plan is to deploy them at Lufthansa this year already, in order to offset delivery delays for Airbus A320neo aircraft.

Eirtech

WestJet reports April load factor of 86.0%

WestJet has announced April 2018 traffic results with a load factor of 86.0%, an increase of 1.2 points year over year. Traffic, increased 2.8% year over year, while capacity grew 1.4% over the same period. WestJet welcomed an additional 100,000 guests in April, a year-over-year increase of 5.1%.

AviaAM Leasing leases two Airbus A321 to Avion Express

AviaAM Leasing, WSE listed global aviation holding company engaged in commercial aircraft acquisition, leasing and sales, has delivered two Airbus A321-211 to ACMI operator Avion Express. Aircraft were delivered to the client at Kaunas, Lithuania on May 6 and May 7, respectively.

Both aircraft are joining Avion Express’s fleet under a 6 year operating lease agreement. Both aircraft were produced in 2007 and are powered by CFM56-5B 3/P engines. Prior to the delivery, AviaAM Leasing together with its MRO partners FL Technics conducted a comprehensive set of works, including reconfiguration into 220 Y, A-check and C-check respectively before the transfer to the operator.

Both Airbus A321-211’s, fully configured according to the ACMI carrier’s requirements, were delivered to Avion Express ready for operations dedicated to Thomas Cook Airlines. As of now, Avion Express will operate 18 aircraft, abovementioned two included.

TP Aerospace

United Airlines increases service between Houston and Havana

United Airlines will increase service between Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Havana's José Martí International Airport beginning July 20. Subject to government approval, United will operate the new daily service with either Boeing 737-800 mainline aircraft or Embraer E175 regional aircraft operated by Mesa Airlines as United Express.

"This expansion to Havana will provide significant public benefits to our city, region and state. As a diverse global city – in which many people speak Spanish – we are heavily reliant on international travel for our economic success," said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. "Worldwide access to Houston by air helps bring financial health back to Houston after Hurricane Harvey. The addition of Havana to Houstonians' travel options will also help us build cultural bridges with our neighbor nation across the gulf."

Magnetic MRO receives heavy maintenance contract from Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines has granted Magnetic MRO with heavy maintenance contract for the 2019/2020 winter season, booking three quarters of all available maintenance slots in Tallinn, Estonia.

Under the new agreement, Magnetic MRO will continue to provide Austrian flag carrier with reliable services for their Airbus A320 family fleet.

Markus Besta, Austrian Airlines’ Head of MRO Management stated that “Due to proven reliability and infallible quality that Magnetic MRO has been demonstrating for more than 10 years of serving Austrian aircraft, we have confidently decided to proceed with them for the upcoming seasons as well.”

GA Telesis

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