When discussing airlines we often put them into geographic categories; for instance the European airlines, or the US carriers. For much of the industry’s history these were useful designations, and in some cases they still are. But especially in the US, there are now two almost distinct industries...
IATA is describing 2009 as “the worst year the industry has ever seen”. Director General and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, noted the industry “permanently” lost 2.5 years of growth in passenger markets and 3.5 years of growth in the freight business. The "permanent" loss of traffic is a big statement...
Indian shares fell for a sixth session on Wednesday, sliding 2.9% to their lowest close in nearly 12 weeks, with Asian stocks (the MSCI Asia Pacific Index) down for an eighth consecutive day, as investors joined a regional sell-off on concerns China's efforts to cool credit demand could hurt the global...
Beijing Capital International Airport’s passenger numbers reached 65.5 million in the 12 months ended 31-Dec-2009, making it by far the largest airport in China. (As a system, Shanghai's two airports combined handled 57.2 million passengers). 14 Mainland Chinese airports reported annual traffic of...
2010 could be a year of unprecedented growth for Kuwaiti aviation, after a very solid increase in 2009. With three home carriers – Kuwait Airways, Jazeera Airways and Wataniya Airways – all crowded into Kuwait International Airport (KIA) and a local open skies policy supporting continuing route...
In an update to a previous report published in today's Mainichi newspaper, Japan Airlines has confirmed it would decide next month which US carrier to tie up with, according to reports in today's Nikkei. JAL's incoming Chairman, Kazuo Inamori, has met with top executives from Delta and American.
1time’s (+0.0%) shares were flat on Thursday (28-Jan-2010) despite news the carrier, along with British Airways, Comair, South African Airways (SAA), SA Airlink and SA Express, will be investigated by South Africa’s Competition Commission for “alleged collusion” over fare prices during the 2010...
North and South American carriers stocks slumped on Thursday (28-Jan-2010), amid a number of 4Q2009 and FY2009 results. Stocks also moved with the wider market, with the Dow (-1.1%) ending trading down, following poor outlooks from Motorola and Qualcomm, weakening optimism in the US technology sector...
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) CEO, Stanley Hui Hon-chung, this month summed up the multitude of challenges currently being experienced by Hong Kong’s aviation industry, when he stated that the industry has been “battered by the global financial crisis, in combination with the swine flu outbreak...
JetBlue was facing one of its most challenging tasks as it spoke with analysts yesterday with the cutover from its old Navitair system to Sabre, which, while an exciting opportunity promising increased revenues, has caused huge problems with other carriers. Canada’s WestJet comes to mind. However,...
European share markets were down again on Thursday (28-Jan-2010), amid continued concerns over the regional economic recovery, problems in Greece and weaker than expected US durable goods sales.
China is likely to become the world’s second largest economy by the end of 2010 (tipping out Japan if China's growth rates continue to accelerate). China is flexing its financial muscles outside its local market, becoming a major contributor in the aircraft financing and leasing sector last year.
AirTran Airways reported its fourth consecutive profitable quarter when it announced a net income of USD17.1 million for the three months ended 31-Dec-2009. For the year, it posted an economic net income of USD93.6 million, or USD0.67 per share, which excludes gains on its future hedge portfolio and...
As a measure of how the restructuring work of the past three years has worked, Alaska Air Group posted a 4Q2009 net income of USD24.1 million, nearly a USD100 million swing from the year-ago period when it lost USD75.2 million. For the year the company reported 2009 net income of USD121.6 million, compared...
JetBlue reported its highest net income since 2003 in 2009, with a net profit of USD58 million (a turnaround from a net loss of USD85 million). But investors are becoming increasingly nervous about cost pressures in the sector. JetBlue’s shares slumped 7.9% yesterday, upon the release of the results...
New Zealand's Auckland Airport announced more than 99% of its institutional shareholders elected to take up discounted stock in its 1 for 16 offer. The institutional entitlement offer raised NZD69.4 million, reducing the amount of stock that will be available to other institutions. The targeted total...
It may come as news to most readers, even in the US, that early in the 20th century Oakland was considered one of the nation’s premier airfields. None other than Charles Lindbergh called it the “most advanced” when he dedicated the field in 1927. Additionally, it was the first airport in the San...
AirAsia and Jetstar, which this month announced details of a ground-breaking new alliance, are underscoring their ambitions to remain the dominant LCCs in the Asia Pacific region with a string of new announcements. AirAsia has reported another very strong set of traffic results in 4Q2009/2009, while...
New Zealand’s Infratil dipped 0.6% on Friday, ahead of the release of the company’s monthly operating report for Wellington Airport and its investment airports in Europe.
WebJet confirmed Ryanair Holdings (shares up 0.8%) has offered to buy an undisclosed equity stake in the Brazilian airline. Talks with Ryanair are likely to proceed once Brazil enacts a new law, expected in Mar-2010, increasing foreign ownership levels in Brazilian airlines from the current 20% to 49...
More challenges are emerging to the cosy duopoly that Airbus and Boeing hold in the market for narrowbody aircraft. According to reports in Brazil’s Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, Embraer is now conducting studies for a new aircraft, which would add another competitor into the increasing crowded 100-...
Qantas plans to introduce a higher-density A380 configuration with no First Class seating and remove all First Class cabins from its B747-400 fleet under a AUD400 million inflight revamp of its long-haul fleet, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review. The Qantas board reportedly approved...
HNA Group is one of the most fascinating growth stories in Chinese aviation, tourism and related sectors. Having aggressively expanded its asset base (integrating horizontally and vertically) over the past decade, HNA has extremely diversified revenue streams, geographic spread and exposure to many...
