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Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018
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LATEST NEWS
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Airbus has confirmed that it has taken appropriate measures to comply with the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on subsidies for its A350 and A380 aircraft.The ruling by the WTO has cleared the way for the U.S. to impose sanctions at the end of what has been a dispute which has lasted 14 years.
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It is anticipated that the roles will be reversed later this year as the WTO gives its verdict on the EU’s legal action against support provided to Boeing by the U.S. Airbus’s chief in-house lawyer in the case said he expects a “devastating” ruling on U.S. support for the Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft when the WTO issues its final report.
The current level of tension between the U.S. and Europe may well rise with the threat of aluminum and steel tariffs, while the full impact of the U.S.’ withdrawal from the Iran nuclear pact is as yet unknown.
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The claim against Airbus was that it had received subsidized government loans, while the complaint against Boeing is that the company had been in receipt of illegal aid through research grants and tax breaks. Airbus has not confirmed how it is complying with the WTO ruling, but has indicated that with the collapse of Russian carrier Transaero and the consequential reduction in expected deliveries of the A380 to the carrier, will have limited the effect of any subsidies. A European Commission document has indicated it would repay an A350 loan to the UK government this year and reduce the drawdown on additional loans.
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In an interview with BBC Today, Karl Hennessee, senior vice president and head of litigation at Airbus, made it clear that Airbus wanted to move beyond the “ridiculousness” of the WTO legal marathon and create a peace settlement with the U.S. not dissimilar to that which exists between Canada and Brazil which has established an appropriate tone for global aircraft export financing.
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Florent Chauvancy has been appointed Executive Vice-President, OEM Sales, succeeding Maxime Faribault who is retiring.
Chauvancy is a graduate of the French National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon (Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering - 1999) and the Rotman Business School in Toronto (Executive MBA).
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Furthermore Giuseppe Curci has been appointed Executive Vice-President, Finance and Administration. He succeeds Pierre-Jean Flores who has been appointed to another position within the Group. Curci is a graduate of the UPEC in Paris (Master's Degree in Financial Engineering – 1997) and the Paris Dauphine University (Master's Degree Accounting and Finance).
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With fuel coming second only to wages as an airline’s greatest outgoing, a period of critical planning awaits them with rising prices coinciding with the traditionally busy summer season.
In 2018 alone jet fuel prices have risen 15 percent, while over the last twelve months they have risen by approximately 60 percent.
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With schedules and ticket prices set many months in advance, today’s passengers are free from any likely change in strategy to combat rising fuel prices. More to the point, passengers are benefitting from anything up to a reduction of 9 percent on ticket costs compared to summer last year for international flights, and 6 percent for domestic flights. The result has seen airline capacity between the U.S and abroad rise by 4.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
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The options available to carriers will likely come from one of three options – raise prices, trim less cost-effective routes, or charge for extras on no-frills flights. American Airlines has indicated it will be cutting one Chicago-Beijing flight from its schedule, while some South American routes will also be dropped. On the whole, airlines are reluctant to pare back route schedules as low-cost carriers are still looking to expand theirs.
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However, with airlines facing stiff competition and passenger loyalty to any specific brand at a low, one wrong move could prove costly, and shareholders will always be quick to punish. Currently, airlines will be playing their own version of ‘chicken’ and will likely withhold making any radical changes to fares or schedules for as long as possible for fear of losing customers to their competitors.
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As of summer 2018, Austrian Airlines passengers will be able to book a so-called Economy “Light” fare on routes to North America. As the basic rate, the new fare is the least expensive option for price-conscious passengers only travelling with carry-on luggage and who do not require any ticket flexibility. For an additional fee, passengers will be allowed to add one piece of luggage or request a seat reservation on an individual basis. Meals and drinks will continue to be served to passengers on board free of charge.
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In 2015, Austrian Airlines introduced a Light fare on its European routes. The various air fare options mainly differ with respect to the free baggage allowance, seat reservations as well as the possibility to cancel or re-book flights. Standard features of all fares include the flight, carry-on luggage weighing up to 8 kg, a snack and drinks on board, a fixed seat assignment at check-in as well as bonus and status miles.
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Lufthansa has been testing a Light fare since October 2017 on selected routes between Scandinavia and North America. Passengers can buy a basic rate with carry-on luggage on flights between Sweden, Denmark, Norway and selected North American destinations.
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The Latvian airline airBaltic has launched a new route from Riga International Airport to Split Airport in Croatia on May 21. The new route offers a new summer holiday destination for travelers from the Baltics, as well as convenient travel options from Croatia to Riga and beyond to destinations in Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the CIS.
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Wolfgang Reuss, SVP of Network Management of airBaltic: “We are delighted to add the seventh destination from Riga to airBaltic's summer route map of 2018. The city of Split has more than 2000 years of history. Not only is it an attractive destination in itself, with its position in Central Dalmatia it is also an ideal vantage point for journeys to Croatian islands, like Hvar or Brac.”
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Lufthansa Cargo has further increased its freighter network in China by adding direct services to and from Chengdu (CTU). Since 5 May 2018, a Boeing 777F with flight number LH8410 departs Frankfurt every Monday and Saturday and returns from Chengdu every Tuesday and Sunday.
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“We are very proud to now be serving the western Chinese mega city of Chengdu twice a week with Boeing 777 freighter flights. This extension to our network will allow us to offer solutions for the booming markets in the west of China”, says Frank Naeve, Vice President Asia Pacific at Lufthansa Cargo.
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Chengdu is the carrier’s fifth freighter destination in China and joins Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. In addition, Lufthansa Cargo offers the
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Ryanair has reported a 10% increase in full year profit after tax to €1.45bn, as lower fares (down 3%) stimulated 9% traffic growth to over 130m guests and 95% load factor. Average fares last year declined by 3% and traffic grew 9% to over 130m with Germany, Italy and Spain being the 3 largest growth markets. Ryanair expects above average EU capacity growth to continue into FY19, which will have a downward effect on fares.
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During full-year 2018, which ended March 31, Ryanair took delivery of 50 new B737’s, and increased its Boeing order to 135 firm MAX-200 Gamechangers, with a further 75 under option (210 in total). Ryanair opened 4 bases in Burgas, Memmingen, Naples & Poznan and launched over 260 new routes.
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In full-year 2019 Ryanair will invest substantially in its people, its systems and its business as the carrier scales up the operation to take delivery of 210 Boeing Gamechanger aircraft over the next 6 years. This will lead to a modest increase in ex-fuel unit costs next year but will underpin Ryanair's growth to almost 600 aircraft and 200m guests p.a. by FY24.
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Staff costs are expected to rise by almost €200m, half of which is higher pay for its front line people and half is additional headcount for growth.
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The breakthrough came with the borescope boss for the geared turbofan engine powering the A320neo; MTU Aero Engines is stepping up its efforts in the field of additive manufacturing. At the beginning of this year, a separate department, headed up by Dr. Jürgen Kraus, was set up to push this technology forward. “By pulling all activities – from design to technology development and all the way to production – together in one unit, we want to maintain and build our competitive edge,” comments MTU Chief Operating Officer Lars Wagner.
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At MTU’s headquarters in Munich, Dr. Jürgen Kraus, Director, Additive Manufacturing, has assembled a team of around 30 professionals from various technical disciplines: design engineers, structural mechanics engineers, process specialists, and operations scheduling experts. They look into new conceptual designs of applications and constructions from a bionics viewpoint, push the development of the production technology forward, and industrialize the entire process chain. Their work is worth the effort: Experts estimate that by 2030, parts manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques will account for at least 15 percent of the overall engine. “With the development of new machine types and improved on-line process control, it will be possible to produce an increasing number of components by additive manufacturing in a cost-effective manner,” explains Dr. Jörg Henne, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Technology. The additive manufacturing process used at MTU is selective laser melting, or SLM for short; production of borescope bosses for the PurePower®PW1100G-JM geared turbofan engine powering the A320neo started back in 2013.
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MTU Aero Engines has ambitious plans: “We are currently pressing on with additive manufacturing, giving its further development top priority in numerous technology projects and technology funding programs,” explains Chief Operating Officer Wagner. The aim is to explore new designs, new components, and new materials. As part of Clean Sky, the largest technology initiative ever launched in Europe, MTU is currently working on a seal carrier manufactured using additive processes. The inner ring with an integral honeycomb structure will be installed in the high-pressure compressor and contribute to improving clearance control, and hence to increasing efficiency. Additional components, such as bearing housings, brackets and struts, will follow. Other aims are to further enhance the process monitoring system and improve the surface finish.
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Satair’s UK operation has benefited from a multi-million pound investment programme, resulting in the opening of a brand new facility close to London’s Heathrow Airport. The new facility, at Space Waye, North Feltham Trading Estate, became fully operational on March 19 and has six times the area and 11 times the cubic capacity of the previous Heston, Middlesex, facility which Satair had occupied for almost 30 years.
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Currently Satair services some 7,500 aircraft batteries a year making it one of the world’s largest commercial aircraft battery servicing operations with a top-ranking reputation for quick lead times, quality, safety and the market confidence that comes from a strong heritage and pedigree of over 50 years.
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Some 180 customers, ranging from international scheduled airlines, charter carriers, large low-cost airlines and regional airlines to MRO companies, helicopter owners, business jets and private aircraft owners have their batteries serviced by Satair UK.
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The business is also one of the world’s largest aviation battery distributors, representing the top five battery manufacturers – ACME, Concorde, Hawker Enersys, Marathon Norco Aerospace and Saft.
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The increased warehousing and workshop space at Space Waye gives opportunities for expanded capabilities according to Jon Ravenhall, Managing Director Satair UK and Head of Operations Repair Europe (UK). He said: “It is also our intention to widen the scope of our offering to the market. Being a key part of the Operations Repair Group within Satair, we plan to offer electrically-based product repairs, particularly for Airbus proprietary parts. We are working very closely with our Satair and Airbus colleagues in determining a wide range of stocked parts all of which have significant UK demand and we have a development plan for this year and 2019 for both warehousing and repairs.”
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Air BP, the international aviation fuel products and services supplier has collaborated with Vivo Energy to grow its network in Africa adding six new locations: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU), Abidjan-Felix-Houphouet-Boigny International Airport (ABJ), Nelson Mandela International (RAI), Sal International Airport (SID), Agadir – Al Massira Airport (AGA) and Marrakesh – Menera Airport (RAK).
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Effective immediately, Air BP general and commercial aviation customers can refuel at the new locations in Ivory Coast, Morocco, Cape Verde and Mauritius.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
June 5, 2018 – Jury’s Inn Hotel, Prague
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