Daily2018-02-20
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Friday, January 11th, 2019

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LATEST NEWS

640 flights canceled as security staff strike again at German airports

Following Monday’s four-hour strike at Berlin’s Tegel and Schönefeld airports which saw 80 flights delayed, union-backed strikes on Thursday, January 10, at Cologne, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart have seen nearly 640 flights canceled. Verdi, Germany’s largest trade union, is seeking an across-the-board wage increase to €20.00/hr (US$22.79) for all security staff checking passengers, freight, goods and other airport employees at all hubs, and is in negotiation with BDSL, the organisation representing Germany’s airport security companies.

The strike
at Stuttgart airport began at 3:00 a.m. local time (2:00 UTC) on Thursday while
the strikes at the Cologne/Bonn and Dusseldorf airports began at midnight.
Munich was also hit by minor strikes. In Dusseldorf, 370 of 580 departures were
canceled at Germany's third-largest airport.

Over half
of the 1,050 flights from Dusseldorf, Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart have been
canceled. The airport association ADV had expected at least 110,000 travelers
to be affected. Stuttgart Airport urged would-be passengers to arrive early in
anticipation of "long waiting times."

BDLS has
rejected Verdi’s demand on the basis it is too high and as wages vary by
airport and by precise role, a €20.00 flat hourly rate would represent
unusually high increases for certain employees. Negotiations are expected to
resume on January 23.

Verdi has
warned that a breakdown in negotiations could lead to further strikes at German
airports.

TP Aerospace

The Lufthansa Group carried 142 million passengers in 2018

In 2018, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group carried a total of 142 million passengers, setting a new passenger record. With more than 1.2 million flights and a seat load factor of 81.4%, the aircraft load factor was higher than ever before.

The growth drivers for the network airlines were the Zurich hub and the Munich and Vienna hubs, with passenger growth of 9.5%, 9.3% and 8.5% respectively. The number of passengers at the Frankfurt hub grew by 4.7% in 2018. Eurowings also contributed to the Lufthansa Group's new passenger record in 2018 with growth of 18%.

In December, the freight capacity was 4.7% higher than in the previous year and the tonne-kilometres sold 0.4% higher. This results in a payload factor of 66.1%, which is 2.8 percentage points lower. In 2018, total freight capacity was 4.3% higher than in the previous year. At the same time, sales increased by 0.8% in this period. At 66.4%, the load factor was 2.3 percentage points lower than in the previous year. 

In December 2018, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group welcomed around 10 million passengers on board their aircraft. This corresponds to an increase of 6.9% over the same month last year. The number of seat kilometres offered was 11% up on the previous year, while sales increased by 10.6%. This results in a seat load factor of 78.5%, 0.3 percentage points lower than in December 2017.


WestJet reports December load factor of 82.8%

WestJet has posted December 2018 traffic results with a load factor of 82.8%, a decrease of 0.8 points year over year.

Traffic increased 3.4% year over year, while capacity grew 4.5% over the same period. WestJet welcomed an additional 57,000 guests in December, a year over year increase of 2.7%.

United reports December 2018 operational performance

United Airlines (UAL) has reported December 2018 operational results.

UAL's December 2018 consolidated traffic increased 6.9% and consolidated capacity increased 6.4% versus December 2017. UAL's December 2018 consolidated load factor increased 0.4 points to 82.7% compared to December 2017.

AFI KLM

NAC signs agreement to lease four Embraer E190 aircraft to Helvetic Airways

Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) has committed to lease four Embraer E190’s to Helvetic Airways, the first of which is due to deliver in February 2019. NAC are delighted to welcome Helvetic Airways as a new customer.

“We are very proud to welcome Helvetic Airways as our newest customer,” said Martin Møller, Chairman of Nordic Aviation Capital “we look forward to building and strengthening our relationship with them in the future.”

Helvetic Airways is a Swiss airline based at Zurich Airport. Established in 2003, the entirely Swiss airline offers European destinations in the short and medium-haul sectors and operates from Zurich and Bern-Belp airports.

GOAL introduces additional three A321neo aircraft to fleet for KGAL investors

GOAL German Operating Aircraft Leasing GmbH & Co. KG (GOAL) has arranged, through Irish leasing companies, purchase and lease transactions for three Airbus A321neo aircraft with InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo). The first aircraft delivery took place on 28th December 2018 and the other two aircraft are scheduled for beginning of 2019.

The A321neo is the first aircraft of its type which will be placed into funds for German institutional investors which have been initiated by KGAL. The underlying operating leases will be managed by GOAL.

The KGAL Group is a leading independent investment and asset manager
with an investment volume of €22.7 billion. The investments focus on
long-term capital investments for institutional investors in the real
estate, infrastructure and aircraft asset classes. The Group, founded 50
years ago, operates across Europe and has its registered office in
Gruenwald near Munich.

EPlane

Safran share buyback program

On May 24, 2017 Safran has announced its intention to implement a €2.3 billion ordinary share buyback program to run over the two years following completion of the tender offer for Zodiac Aerospace shares. To date, Safran already contributed 11.4 million shares to its program for a total of €1.22 billion.

On January 10, Safran has entered into an agreement with an investment service provider for a follow-on repurchase tranche. According to this agreement, Safran will acquire up to €600 million worth of ordinary shares no later than May 10, 2019. The average price per share will be determined based on the mean volume-weighted market price observed during the entire duration of the agreement. The unit price may not exceed the maximum of €140 per share set by the November 27, 2018 shareholders' meeting.

Indonesian Air Force places order for eight additional H225Ms

The Indonesian Air Force has ordered eight additional twin-engine multirole H225M helicopters as part of the country’s fleet-strengthening initiative for a combat search and rescue-capable fleet.

Under the agreement between the Indonesian Ministry of Defence and PT Dirgantara Indonesia (Persero) (PTDI), the 11-ton combat-proven helicopters will be delivered to the air force upon reassembly and completion of the mission equipment outfitting and customisation by PTDI at its facility in Bandung, Indonesia. These additional helicopters will join the air force’s existing fleet of six H225Ms to perform similar combat search and rescue missions.

Airbus Helicopters and Indonesia have an enduring relationship of over
40 years dating back to 1976 when PTDI first obtained a licence to
produce the NBO-105 helicopter. Specifically on the H225, PTDI became a
key supplier of the helicopter’s rear fuselage and main airframe in
2008, with full production in place in Indonesia by 2011. The two
companies expanded the industrial co-operation in 2017, to include
support and services dedicated for the Indonesian military fleet of
helicopters.

Eirtech

U.S. Air Force accepts first Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft

The U.S. Air Force has accepted the first Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft, setting the stage for the aircraft’s delivery to McConnell Air Force Base, in Wichita, Kan., in the coming weeks.

During extensive flight testing, six KC-46 completed more than 3,800
flight hours and offloaded more than four million pounds of fuel to
A-10, B-52, C-17, KC-10, KC-135, KC-46, F-15E, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft.
The Pegasus has been rigorously tested throughout all aspects of the
refueling envelope and in all conditions, including day, night and
covert.

With the signing of what’s known as the DD250 paperwork, the delivery
activities can proceed. McConnell Air Force Base will receive the first
four KC-46 aircraft, all of which are ready for delivery, with four
subsequent aircraft destined for Oklahoma’s Altus Air Force Base,
beginning as early as next month.

Boeing is on contract for 52 of an expected 179 tankers for the Air
Force. Beyond the first aircraft that was accepted today, nine aircraft
are undergoing customer acceptance testing with the remaining aircraft
of the contracted amount in production.

Kim Stephenson joins Universal Avionics as Regional Sales Manager for Canada

Robert Clare, Director of Sales for Universal Avionics (UA), has announced that Ms. Kim Stephenson has been appointed to the position of Regional Sales Manager for Canada.

Stephenson is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan USA and joins UA with over 20 years of experience in the aviation industry. Before joining UA, she held various sales and business development positions at L-3 Aviation Products, Mooney International Corporation, and Team Aircraft. Stephenson holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and is an Instrument Rated Commercial Pilot. She has also served on the Board of Directors for the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA).

Swiss-AS welcomes 12 new customers to the AMOS community in 2018

In 2018, Swiss-AS has welcomed 12 new customers to the AMOS Community, amongst them Ural Airlines, Kuwait Airways, LIAT, Bamboo Airways, Lufthansa German Airlines and Air Tahiti Nui. Though the new customers have different backgrounds, ranging from start-ups, CAMO organizations up to MRO providers and established airlines, they have all chosen AMOS as their perfect fit.

With the offer of four different AMOS Editions, airlines, airline groups, CAMO organisations and MRO providers of all sizes can individually select the AMOS Edition that best supports their business scope. With Lufthansa German Airlines joining the AMOS Community, Swiss-AS now equips all carriers in the Lufthansa Group with AMOS.

One highlight of the year was for sure the AMOS
Customer Conference that took place in October in the beautiful city of
Lucerne, Switzerland. Over 250 delegates attended the conference with
customers and partners representing 92 companies from all over the
world. The goal of the event was to facilitate networking and exchange
of experience within the AMOS Community as well as to inform attendees
about the latest AMOS developments and the enriched service portfolio.

Kellstrom

Finnair completes repurchase of own shares

Finnair has completed the repurchase of own shares, which started on December 5, 2018 and ended on January 10, 2019. During that time, Finnair acquired a total of 600,000 own shares for an average price of EUR 7.08 per share. The shares were acquired in public trading on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. at the market price prevailing at the time of purchase.

The repurchased shares were acquired on the basis of the authorisation given by the Annual General Meeting on March 20, 2018 and shall be used as a part of the Company’s incentive programmes.

Following the repurchase,
Finnair Plc holds a total of 797,008 own shares, corresponding to 0.62% of the
total number of shares.

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