Aviation News

Rising fuel costs and turbulent currency markets have dragged profits at Emirates Airline lower as the industry braces for a tough year ahead.

First-half profit fell 76 per cent as the Dubai airline spent US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) more on fuel than in the same period last year.

“The global challenges of the past six months have again put Emirates to the test,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates.

But he said the airline would “continue to grow despite the unsteady marketplace”.

Net income fell to Dh827 million in the first half, down from Dh3.4bn in the six months from April to September.

Emirates disclosed its earnings before the Dubai Airshow, which is to start on November 13, at which further aircraft orders are widely expected from the carrier.

Airlines globally are expected to suffer a fall in total profits to $6.9bn this year compared with $16bn last year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A further reduction to $4.9bn next year is predicted amid the weak global economic environment.

Following profits of $900m for Middle East airlines last year, there will be a decline to $800m this year, the IATA’s forecasts show. Next year, a further drop to $700m is anticipated.

“Given what’s happened economically in Europe and the US, Emirates’s first-half figures should not be seen as a long-term trend,” said Saj Ahmad, an analyst at FBE Aerospace.

Other factors also had a negative impact on profits, he added.

“The decline in first-half profits is no doubt a reflection of both the effects of regional change and also because of the growth in competition. Not only does Emirates have flydubai on its doorstep, it has a growing Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways to contend with.”

Mr Ahmad said he expected the results would not affect expansion for Emirates or its aircraft orders because the company’s cash position remained strong. On September 30 this stood at Dh13.8 billion, compared with Dh14bn on March 31, the airline reported.

Passenger seat factor, or the occupancy of seats on Emirates flights, reached an average of 79.3 per cent, down slightly from 81.2 per cent in the same period last year, as the airline increased its capacity, the carrier said.

Emirates has a fleet of 161 aircraft. Since the start of its current financial year, the airline has taken delivery of 10 new wide-body aircraft, with another 13 aircraft scheduled for delivery before the end of the financial year.

It has launched flights to Geneva, Copenhagen and St Petersburg since April. It plans to add another eight routes, including Baghdad this month and Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Harare, Lusaka, Dallas, Seattle and Dublin early next year.

“It’s a tough year of crises and shocks for airlines in the Middle East and North Africa region,” Majdi Sabri, the IATA’s regional vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, said this week.

“September figures show that Middle Eastern airlines are rapidly adjusting capacity growth in response to economic uncertainty in the region and globally.”

Last month, Etihad said fuel-hedging measures taken by the airline left it less exposed to soaring oil prices and that it still expected to achieve its break-even target for this year.

source: http://www.thenational.ae/business/aviation/emirates-airline-sees-profits-hit-by-rising-fuel-costs

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The Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 is surrounded by rescue personnel after it slid off the runway at Munich airport.

Munich Airport said a Boeing 777 airliner flown by Singapore Airlines slid off its south runway when landing today, and that no passengers were injured in the incident.

The 143 passengers and 14 crew members left the aircraft using normal portable stairways following the 12.14pm accident, and no one was injured, Florian Steuer, a spokesman for the airport, said in a phone interview. The runway is closed and the airport operator hopes to reopen it later this evening.

The cause of the accident, which involved a flight from Manchester, England, has yet to be determined, the airport operator said in a statement.

QANTAS chief Alan Joyce today told an antagonistic Senate committee hearing the claim he decided to ground the airline well before Saturday morning was one of several conspiracy theories surrounding the action.

And Mr Joyce made clear the decision to lock out staff, and ground the airline’s fleet in advance, was his alone, and was made Saturday morning.

“I brought it to a head and I do apologise to the 90,000 customers affected,” he said of the dramatic showdown in the workplace dispute.

“But I had to bring it to a head.”

Mr Joyce accepted there had been a “big mistake” made by selling Qantas tickets after the decision to halt flights. It was not until 8pm Saturday night that executives realised that the Qantas web site was still operating.

But he rejected claims that the airline had long planned the shut-down and had prepared for it days in advance, apart from general planning for a lock-out “looking ahead”.

“There’s a lot of conspiracy theories about a lot of factors around this,” Mr Joyce told the Senate committee on transport legislation at a hearing scheduled well before he grounded the airline.

But Greens Leader Bob Brown acused Mr Joyce of being “very obscure and devious’’ for not mentioning the grounding plan to the Government before Saturday.

Mr Joyce agreed Qantas had booked hotel rooms in Los Angeles, Singapore and other destinations on the weekend, but no more than normal.  There were 2000 bookings made, but after the grounding.

“My public relations department, which you’d think I would have wanted to be in Sydney when all of this took place…three of them were at the races in Melbourne on the day of this,” he said.

“They got trapped in Melbourne, had to buy Virgin tickets to get back. That was woeful planning if we’d…”

He was then interrupted by Labor Senator Doug Cameron who said: “It could be called an alibi.”

“Come on senator,” replied Mr Joyce, laughing. “I categorically say I made the decision on Saturday.”

Qantas would have kept the airline grounded if Fair Work Australia had suspended rather than terminated industrial action, the committee was told by Transport Workers’ Union secretary Tony Sheldon immediately after Mr Joyce finished his evidence.

Mr Sheldon said the airline had made it clear “we will not put planes back in the air’’ if it didn’t get the decision it wanted.

“It was a direct attack, a strangling of the Australian economy,’’ he said.

Mr Sheldon also challenged what he said was the Qantas claim that “there was a major disaster afoot, financially, organisationally and structurally’’ with the airline.

He told the committee that revenue was up eight per cent and profits before tax were up 46 per cent.

Mr Sheldon said it would cost Qantas an extra five cents a ticket between Melbourne and Sydney to pay for greater job security and end out-sourcing of work.

“Qantas will only die if Alan Joyce and (chairman) Lee Clifford kills it,’’ said Mr Sheldon.

Mr Joyce was appearing to testify on legislation which would limit Qantas’ plans to create Jetstar Japan next year and help start a premium Asian airline to snare the growing Chinese market.

He told the committee the proposed law was protectionism, but that if the new airlines did not go ahead, Australian jobs would be lost.

Mr Joyce said the legislation, presented by Greens leader Bob Brown and independent Senator Nick Xenophon, would contravene the Qantas Act, and would impose restrictions which did not apply to any other Australian company.

Qantas also believes it would help competing airlines take a bigger share of the Asian market.

“The Bill being proposed would not do more to protect Australia’s Qantas,” said Mr Joyce.

“It would not protect Australian jobs and it would have the opposite effect.”

He said some wanted Qantas to go within Australia’s borders.

“This is protectionism,” he said.

“If you want to survive and succeed we must be free to pursue global opportunities.”

But he added: “I can assure you that Qantas proudly calls Australia home and we will always do so.

“The vast majority of our operations are here and always will stay here.”

A Ryanair flight carrying 200 passengers was forced to turn back to London when duct tape that was securing the cockpit windscreen tore off.  The Sun reports passengers watched the Irish budget airline’s ground staff apply the tape to the edge of the windscreen shortly before takeoff.

The flight was aborted when the tape became loose and made disturbing noises shortly after departing from London’s Stansted Airport.
Ryanair insists their crew followed procedure, and that there was no danger to passengers or crew.

Passenger on the flight, Anthony Neal, 33 said, ‘We were in the sky, then the pilot said due to damage on the windscreen, we were going to have to turn back.’
‘We were kept in the dark, and were terrified’ he said.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said the tape was being used as an extra precaution to secure a new window seal and that it had completed its investigation into the incident.

A Ryanair spokesman said ‘We do not comment on routine technical issues. All Ryanair flights operate in accordance with approved safety standards.’

source: http://www.skynews.com.au

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