Airlines must not become a target for retaliatory action, triggered by a battle of sovereignty over European policy. This was the clear message given today by the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

On 21-22 February, a number of non-European countries met in Moscow to co-ordinate their opposition to aviation’s inclusion in the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). This meeting culminated in a joint declaration and a series of suggested retaliatory measures to be used against European industry.

“This situation is totally unacceptable. Airlines must not be taken hostage by politicians or be forced to compete with serious market distortions,” said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, AEA Secretary General. “We urgently need both sides to focus on the core objective – managing global aviation emissions – rather than on winning a battle of sovereignty.”

European and non-European countries may have diverging views on the sovereignty implications of the EU ETS, but they broadly agree that a global approach is the best way to manage aviation emissions. They also agree that this solution should be handled by ICAO, the UN specialist body for aviation.

“It is not right to attempt to force the EU to change their law. Nor is it right to impose European standards on the rest of the world,” said Mr Schulte-Strathaus. “ICAO is, without a doubt, the way forward. Countries must move away from retaliation and counter-retaliation and instead come up with concrete, short-term actions towards a resolution. Then ICAO can deliver.”

Source: Assoc. of European Airlines
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1342h UTC Feb 22, 2012

Fly Vectra, the UK's newest business aviation charter operator, has just set up home at London Oxford Airport.  The company obtained its Air Operator's Certificate in early February, within six months of applying to the UK CAA, achieving a ‘compliance plus’ rating.   Initially offering a Cessna Citation Excel for third party charter, the seven-seat jet will be joined by two brand new aircraft, a eight seat Cessna XLS+ with Wifi, due to arrive by May this year and a Latitude, Cessna’s newest, mid-size 2,300 nm range model, scheduled to make its debut in 2015.   Fly Vectra will be the first UK operator of this type. 

Fly Vectra, headed by CEO Captain Edward Noel, is owned by The Vectra Group of India, which in mid-2011 determined its wish to enter into aircraft operations and management in the UK in its own right, two and a half years after having the Excel (G-VECT) managed by a third party, independent operator.  Edward worked with Vectra’s owner as the lead Captain for three and a half years.

“We are delighted to welcome Fly Vectra to Oxford - our seventh AOC operation offering aircraft for charter,” said London Oxford Airport Business Development Director James Dillon-Godfray.   Being under 10 tonnes, the aircraft will rarely need to be screened in Europe making for easier, stress free business jet operations at most airports around Europe, he noted.   (Fly Vectra also offers a specialised security protection service using ex Special Forces officers, when such support is deemed necessary for high profile clientele and dignitaries.) 

“We selected London Oxford Airport as our base for a number of reasons,” said Edward Noel.   “Its owners are constantly investing in its facilities, including new hangars and offices; it has seen its business aviation activity increase significantly over the years, it has a strong network of business aviation tenants and is pro-active with its marketing/PR.”

Edward is no stranger to Oxford either.  He completed his pilot training at the airport with Oxford Aviation Academy in 2000 and took his first job there as an aircraft refueller.   Prior to helping set up Fly Vectra, he flew for a number of operators flying the CJ2, King Air, Boeing 737 and the Piaggio Avanti for Ferrari in Italy. 

Fly Vectra is owned by The Vectra Group, a collection of diverse companies operating in various business domains across the world. The core businesses of the US$800 million Vectra Group are aviation, engineering, material handling and construction equipment, automotive, real estate, information technology, and the services sector. The operations of Vectra Group are primarily in India and Eastern Europe, spanning more than 18 companies, with eight manufacturing facilities in four countries (India, the UK, Czech Republic, and Slovakia). In addition, Vectra Group has offices or investments in France, Russia, and Singapore.

Source: Oxford Airport
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1248h UTC Feb 22, 2012

Ryanair today announced that it would cut its base at Edinburgh from 7 to 6 aircraft, with the loss of 5 routes, 300,000 pax p.a., leading to the loss of up to 300 jobs, following the breakdown of negotiations with the high cost BAA Edinburgh about a competitive cost base for further Ryanair growth at Edinburgh. Ryanair also warned that BAA Edinburgh’s high cost base will lead to significant further cuts in Ryanair’s operation, if its 5 year agreement (which expires in Oct 2012) is not extended on more competitive terms. These cuts at Edinburgh Airport (including the closure of Berlin, Malmo, Murcia, Ibiza and Tallinn routes) become effective for the summer 2012 schedule (starting April) and will include: · From 7 to 6 base aircraft (down 15%).

· From 40 to 35 routes (down 13%).

· From 140 to 110 weekly flights (down 21%).

· From 1.8M to under 1.5M pax p.a (down 16%).

· This loss of 300,000 pax p.a. will sustain 300 fewer jobs at Edinburgh Airport. Ryanair will continue its negotiations with BAA Edinburgh to try to extend its five year agreement on a competitive basis from October 2012, but warned that if these negotiations are unsuccessful, then there will be further significant aircraft, route, traffic and jobs cuts announced at Edinburgh from winter 2012 onwards. Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “Ryanair regrets BAA Edinburgh Airport’s rejection of our proposals for a competitive cost base which would allow Ryanair to further grow our traffic and routes for summer 2012. Sadly BAA Edinburgh seems to prefer higher costs, even if it means fewer passengers and jobs at Edinburgh. “While Ryanair remains committed to Edinburgh Airport (and with 1.5m passengers and 35 routes, we continue to be one of the largest airlines operating to/from Edinburgh), BAA Edinburgh cannot continue to ignore the competitive marketplace, where airports all over the UK and Europe have been reducing costs and lowering charges in return for traffic growth. We hope even at this late stage that BAA Edinburgh will realise that the way to grow traffic and jobs is by working with Ryanair to lower passengers fares, not raise them.”

Source: Ryanair
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1134h UTC Feb 22, 2012

International passengers at Melbourne Airport continued to grow strongly, increasing by 5.8 per cent or an additional 36,556 passengers compared to January 2011 and taking total international passengers to 667,535 for the month.

Melbourne Airport CEO, Mr Chris Woodruff said that international growth in January had been driven by Chinese New Year celebrations.

“Chinese New Year is a significant celebration and people made the most of the holiday with passport holders from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan all increasing by more than 20 per cent.”

“As well as embracing significant cultural events, Melbourne continues to serve up great reasons to visit our city and state with fantastic major events such as the recent Australian Tennis Open and the upcoming Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.”

“The latest International Visitor Survey figures show that foreign visitors are increasingly spending time in Victoria. This figure is increasing almost four times more than change in visitors to New South Wales and Queensland combined. It’s clear that Victoria is a popular place to visit,” said Mr Woodruff.

“Also significantly influencing domestic travel over the last decade has been the emergence and enormous growth of the low-cost carrier market. We believe the strong growth in this market will continue and our new domestic terminal is aimed at catering for this growth.”

“The new terminal will be located adjacent to the current terminal precinct and we’ll be releasing more details on this project shortly.”

Domestic passengers declined by less than one per cent compared to the same period last year, resulting in a total of 1,827,900 domestic passengers. Passengers for January increased by 21,205 or 0.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, taking total passengers for January to 2,495,435.

Source: Melbourne Airport
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1132h UTC Feb 22, 2012

Etihad Airways has selected M&C Saatchi as its new global creative agency partner.

M&C Saatchi will manage the airline’s brand communication strategy, international above-the-line and online display campaigns, including development of creative for brand, product and service communications, tactical promotions and new route launches.

The agency, which is headquartered in London, will service the account globally from a new local office currently being established in Abu Dhabi, opened specifically to service Etihad Airways.

The selection is an outcome of an agency review process during which Etihad Airways invited selected global agency networks to respond to a creative brief.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are entering a new phase where we decided to make a fresh start with a new agency to partner us for the next stage of our brand’s journey. M&C Saatchi has demonstrated an expert understanding of the airline business and they have an exemplary record within this industry. We are thrilled to bring the agency on board and very much look forward to the exciting new campaigns we will develop with them.

“In our first eight years, Etihad Airways made rapid progress in developing global recognition and appreciation for our brand. Our previous agency has been with us throughout this journey and instrumental in this success. We thank them for their support and great work during this critical period.”

Moray MacLennan, M&C Saatchi Worldwide Chief Executive, added: "This is a significant win for M&C Saatchi globally and means we will be opening our 26th office worldwide in Abu Dhabi. We are thrilled to be working with Etihad Airways on the next stage of their journey".

Source: Etihad Airways
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1130h UTC Feb 22, 2012

MUMBAI: Jet Airways yesterday achieved a major milestone with the successful completion of over 3 million operating hours on CFM56 engines. This milestone came barely a few months post the airline inducting its 100th aircraft into its fleet. Incidentally, Jet Airways was the first airline to introduce the best-in-class-technology CFM56 engines to India and more importantly even in Asia, as early as 1993. Over the past two decades, Jet Airways has continuously collaborated with CFMI to improve operational efficiencies and bring in technological advancements in engines to power its fleet and provide the best service to its customers.

Nikos Kardassis, CEO of Jet Airways, said “The completion of over 3 million operational flying hours on CFM engines without any incidents is a major milestone for Jet Airways. The airline has always chosen to utilize the very best in next generation technologies to ensure superior quality, reliable service and above all customer satisfaction. A case-in-point being the fact that we were the very first airline in India and indeed Asia to adopt the technologically advanced CFM56 engines. We are very happy to have worked closely with CFMI as a partner since 1993 and look forward for more fruitful affiliation in the years to come as Jet Airways plans to expand its domestic and international network.”

Commenting upon the achievement, Mr. Jean-Paul Ebanga, President & CEO, CFMI Engines said, “CFMI is proud of its association with Jet Airways through the years and is especially happy about the achievement of the airline having clocked over 3 million operational flying hours on CFM engines. This achievement bear’s testimony to the reliability of the CFM56 engines which coupled with huge efficiencies have proven to be the trademark of CFMI. We look forward to achieving many more important milestones with Jet Airways in the years to come.”

Interestingly, CFMI is currently developing ultra high technology engines for the Next Generation Aircraft, based on the concept of Green Engines which will help reduce fuel burn and thus, significantly bring down carbon emissions. As an environmentally conscious corporate citizen, Jet Airways is closely working with CFMI to deploy these next generation and best-in-class technology propulsion systems to power its fleet of aircraft in the future.

Source: Jet Airways
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1129h UTC Feb 22, 2012

BAA (SP) Limited, the owner of BAA’s two London airports of Heathrow and Stansted, today announces its results for the year ended 31 December 2011.

Heathrow operating at full capacity as it achieves record annual traffic

87.4 million passengers at Heathrow and Stansted with 2% underlying growth at Heathrow

Strong service performance with highest ever passenger satisfaction at Heathrow

Revenue up 9.9% reflecting higher tariffs and continued strong retail performance

Adjusted EBITDA up 17.1% enabling continued significant Heathrow capital investment

Further increase in profitability and investment anticipated in 2012

Capital structure strengthened with £3 billion in new financing raised in last 12 months

New £2 billion Terminal 2 to deliver further state of the art facilities from 2014

Colin Matthews, Chief Executive Officer of BAA, said:

"BAA delivered a strong operational performance in 2011 with record traffic levels and high service standards at Heathrow. Last year saw Heathrow’s best punctuality performance in over a decade and the international Airport Service Quality passenger survey showed that 70% of Heathrow’s passengers rated their experience as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’, compared with just 41% when the Ferrovial-led consortium bought BAA in 2006. We continued to invest significantly in further improving our airports during 2011, particularly on the new Heathrow Terminal 2.

“The group’s financial position has been strengthened with £3 billion in new financing completed in the last 12 months and we have fully repaid our £4.4 billion bank bridge loan nearly two years early.

“We are pleased that the UK Government recognised the importance of a successful hub airport to UK economic growth in its Autumn statement. All potential solutions to the UK’s lack of hub airport capacity have their pros and cons and all should be on the table to ensure the right solution is found for both the short and long term.”

Source: BAA Airports
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1126h UTC Feb 22, 2012

FORT WORTH, Texas /PRNewswire/ -- American Way, the inflight magazine of American Airlines and American Eagle, was named in the 100 Best in Design 2012 by Graphis, the international journal of visual communication. "The Reinventor", a Dec. 15, 2010, article in American Way featuring musician Robert Plant, won a Graphis Gold award.

"It's an honor to be recognized alongside industry legends such as Gensler, Pentagram, and Sagmeister Inc.," said American Way Design Director David Radabaugh.

Each year Graphis invites leading professionals across the photography, illustration, and graphic design communities to be considered for inclusion in their annual books in each of those visual arts fields. Among the thousands of submissions, the Graphis panel selects the most compelling work of the year in each category and the winning entries are featured in the hardback annual.

Source: American Airlines
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1125h UTC Feb 22, 2012

NEW YORK /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) now offers in-flight Wi-Fi service on all Delta Shuttle flights between New York's LaGuardia Airport, Boston Logan and Washington National and on all Delta Shuttle flights between LaGuardia and Chicago O'Hare.

Delta operates the world's largest Wi-Fi-equipped fleet of aircraft and by this summer more than 800 Delta aircraft, including more than 250 two-class regional jets, will be equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi service. More than 550 mainline aircraft are already Wi-Fi-equipped.

Delta is the first carrier to deploy Wi-Fi across its entire mainline and two-class regional fleet. When Wi-Fi installations on regional jets are complete, more than 400,000 Delta customers on more than 3,000 daily flights will have in-flight connectivity on a fleet that already makes up nearly half of the world's Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft.

"Wi-Fi offers travelers the flexibility and tools to stay connected at 30,000 feet, enabling them to send email or finish a presentation before they reach their destination," said Gail Grimmett, Delta's senior vice president - New York. "We are thrilled that Wi-Fi is now available to our Delta Shuttle customers as it's a perfect complement to other Shuttle amenities including free morning coffee and newspapers."

Delta was named last month as the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its airport recharging stations, in-flight Wi-Fi on more domestic flights than any other carrier and smartphone apps with innovative features such as baggage tracking and airport check-in. The magazine also highlighted Delta's 24-hour customer service via Twitter from @DeltaAssist, as well as the ability to book tickets directly from Facebook.

Delta also offers Delta Connect, its in-flight Wi-Fi portal, for access to real-time travel information, free news content from The Wall Street Journal and People magazine, exclusive shopping deals and entertainment options.

Delta's Wi-Fi investments are the latest in the airline's previously announced plan to spend $2 billion improving its products, services and facilities. As part of that goal, Delta is participating in a $1.2 billion project to expand Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport to create a modern overseas gateway. When completed in spring 2013, the terminal will feature nine new gates, a state-of-the-art baggage screening system and one of the largest Delta Sky Clubs in the system. Delta also will spend more than $100 million to renovate Terminals C and D at LaGuardia after it takes over certain landing rights there from US Airways next month. Delta will add 100 new flights and 28 new destinations to become the leading carrier in New York by mid-July.

Source: Delta Air Lines
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1122h UTC Feb 22, 2012

Nairobi - Kenya Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have jointly launched the first direct freighter service between mainland China and Africa. This also marks Kenya Airways entry into Freighter service with a dedicated Boeing 747F.

The Boeing 747-400F cargo freighter, unveiled in Nairobi on Tuesday, is expected to significantly boost the airline’s capacity to airlift cargo between its growing Asian and African markets while realizing higher earnings from cargo as a distinct revenue source.

Kenya Airways through its cargo arm, KQ Cargo, has entered into a joint venture with KLM Cargo to operate the freighter which is owned by Martinair, a subsidiary of the Air France KLM Group. The service connects China’s key industrial zone in Guangdong with the Kenya capital Nairobi thus offering access to all key African markets through KQ passenger service.

The freighter dubbed ‘Safari Connection’ denotes its trans-continental (Africa-Asia-Europe) operations and the partnership between Kenya Airways and KLM; it bears the slogan “Hunting for Business” in Chinese Mandarin.

The cargo freighter has a capacity to carry 120 tonnes which is over five times the belly capacity of the Boeing 777, the largest aircraft in the airline’s fleet.

The wide-body cargo freighter will operate the Amsterdam-Guangzhou-Nairobi-Lagos-Nairobi-Amsterdam circuit. The aircraft will make stopovers in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates on its way from Guangzhou to Nairobi.

Kenya Airways plans to introduce twelve freighters into its growing fleet over the ten years, some wholly owned and others leased. This will improve the airline’s overall cargo carrying capability and reduce over-dependence on the passenger fleet whose belly capacity is limited.

The airline carried over 56,000 metric tonnes of cargo in 2010/11 and this is expected to grow following the launch of the freighter line.

Source: Kenya Airways
Posted by: just4airlines.com at 1121h UTC Feb 22, 2012