Posted: April 4, 2013 | Author: sedgie47 | Filed under: European Aviation News, UK Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News, World Aviation News | Tags: Airline, Demand, Global, Growing, Up |
Stronger business confidence in emerging regions of the world helped push up global airline passenger demand by 3.7% in February.
Demand has been growing at an annualized rate of 9% since October – almost double the growth trend over the first nine months of 2012, according to Iata.
But the airline body warned that dark clouds still exist in Europe and the US.
Director general and chief executive Tony Tyler said: “The industry’s fortunes appear to be moving in the right direction. But the margins are wafer thin. And any shock – the continuing eurozone crisis or budget sequestration in the US – could negatively impact the outlook.
Budget sequestration measures began to take effect on Monday. Alongside the economic impact of uncertainty and reduced US government spending, operational concerns are “significant”, Iata warned.
Passengers in the US could face flight delays and even longer lines then usual at security and border control.
“It’s unfair that air travellers should suffer the impact of sequestration given that airlines and passengers already pay around $4.5 billion a year in fees and taxes for the essential services of border control and airport security,” Tyler said.
“It is unlikely that the savings that will be achieved from sequestration will offset the damage to the economy if air travel is discouraged by these cutbacks.
“Aviation is an important catalyst for economic growth and prosperity. The cost of the shocks, uncertainty and unpleasant surprises can only hamper efforts to revive the economy.
“The government’s priority should be on extracting the greatest economic benefit possible from aviation – not making it more difficult to do business.”
He added that the February figures show that demand for air travel continues to rise on economic optimism and improved business confidence.
“But that comes with a few caveats,” Tyler said. “Much of the growth is concentrated on emerging markets. Europe continues to be a laggard. And the handling of the banking crisis in Cyprus has reminded all of us that the deep problems in the eurozone economies still remain.”
European carriers have not seen any growth in international demand since October, reflecting the contraction of the Eurozone economy in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to Iata. Overall growth was up by just 0.8% compared to February last year.
They have responded by tightly managing capacity, which declined by 2% year-on-year in February. This pushed the load factor up to 76.5%.
Sourced from Travel Weekly
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Posted: February 20, 2013 | Author: walesairforum | Filed under: Airline & Route News, Passenger Advice | Tags: Cancellations, KLM, Emirates, Scandanavian Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Airline, ANA, Air New Zealand, LOT, Europe, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, KL, SIA, ANZ, Performance, Finnair, AY, FIN, SQ, EK, SAS, SK, UAE, LOT Polish Airlines, LO, Japan Airlines, JAL, JL, NH, NZ, Brit Air, DB, BZH, YS, RAE, Flightstats, On-time, KLC, KLM Cityhopper, EI Al Airlines, LY, ELY, Regional Compagnie Aerienne, Tyrolean Airways, VO, TYR, Finalists, Regional Airlines |
Japanese airlines have scored the top spot in both on-time performance and the fewest cancellations globally.
Flight tracking website, Flightstats, has announced its 2012 Airline On-time Performance Service Award Winners.
For the third year, Japan Airlines (JAL) comes out on top. The airline has been in the top five since the awards began in 2009.
The other four finalists were Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, KLM and Scandinavian Airlines.
Another Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways, had the lowest number of global cancellations. Other finalists in that category were El Al Airlines, Emirates, Finnair and Singapore Airlines.
Within Europe, LOT Polish Airlines was top of the list with 89.35% of its flights being on time. Close runners up were Aer Lingus, Finnair, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines.
Among European regional airlines, the winner was Aegean Airlines, with a 93.02% on-time performance. Close runners up were Brit Air, KLM Cityhopper, Regional Compagnie Aerienne and Tyrolean Airways.
Sourced by Travelmole
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Posted: February 8, 2013 | Author: sedgie47 | Filed under: Airline & Route News | Tags: AA, AAL, Airline, American Airlines, Announced, AWE, Largest, Merger, US, US Airways, World |
By Phil Davies
A merger between American Airlines and US Airways to create the world’s largest carrier could be announced as soon as next week.The two airlines have been discussing a potential deal for months and US media outlets are reporting that the board of American’s parent company AMR will meet on Monday to consider a possible merger.
The combined carrier is expected to retain the American Airlines name and be based in Fort Worth in Texas.
A combination of the two airlines would create the world’s largest airline, with a combined $38.7 billion in revenue and a workforce of more than 100,000.
American would be 2.3% larger than rival United Airlines by capacity, and 2.2% in terms of traffic.
American creditors would own roughly 72% of the airline and US Airways shareholders about 28%, the Wall Street Journal reported.
US Airways chief executive Doug Parker is likely to take over as chief executive after the merger with his AMR counterpart Tom Horton expected to fill the role of chairman.
American filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2011 and faces a decision to either merge or climb out of bankruptcy while remaining as an independent airline.
Nothing has been decided and no actual deal is in place, a source told ABC News. Both airlines have declined to comment on reports that a merger is imminent.
Sourced from Travel Weekly
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Posted: February 4, 2013 | Author: walesairforum | Filed under: Airline & Route News | Tags: 2013 Business Travel Awards, AF, AFR, Air France, Air France-KLM, Airline, Best, BTA, Crowned, KL, KLM, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Shorth-haul |
The AIR FRANCE KLM Group has won the accolade of Best Short-Haul Airline at the 2013 Business Travel Awards. The Group beat off stiff competition from British Airways, easyJet, Flybe, and Lufthansa, to win the category.
AIR FRANCE KLM was awarded the title of Best Short-Haul Airline at a gala dinner held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on 21st January 2013. The award was won based on a number of key criteria which clearly demonstrated the Group’s commitment to the business community and the support it offers corporate travel buyers.
The Group’s entry detailed its extensive regional network in the UK and Ireland and schedule structure. Air France KLM offers the convenience of more than 20 airports with more than 110 daily flights to its hubs of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
The judges were impressed with the extensive European network offered by Air France and the service provided. The Judges were particular impressed with KLM who demonstrated a willingness to negotiate with the corporate market.
Says Henri Hourcade, General Manager, AIR FRANCE KLM UK & Ireland, “We place great importance on listening to our customers and giving them the best service. We are committed to providing a good choice of point of departures in the UK and Ireland and we know that our customers do value our network. This award proves how important our extensive regional network in the UK and Ireland is to business players and we are proud that they acclaimed it.”
“We’re delighted to have won this award which has set a high benchmark for us to work towards for the coming year.”
The AIR FRANCE KLM Group won Business Airline of the Year in 2012 and was also shortlisted for Best Long-Haul Airline and Business Airline of the Year in the 2013 Awards line up.
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Posted: January 4, 2013 | Author: sedgie47 | Filed under: Accidents & Incidents, European Aviation News, UK Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News, World Aviation News | Tags: 2012. Accident, Airline, Airline Safety, Flightglobal consultancy Ascend, Rates, Safety, World |
By: DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON
Source:
World airline safety in 2012 was exceptionally good whichever way the statistics are cut, particularly in terms of accident rates, but also in simple accident numbers.
Paul Hayes, senior safety analyst at Flightglobal consultancy Ascend, has warned, however, that the rate is probably “a bit of a fluke”, and that the figures for 2013 may be less good without actually indicating a reversal in real airline safety.
A single year’s world airline safety statistics, particularly when there are so few fatal or serious airline accidents, is not statistically significant except as part of a longer-term trend, Hayes notes. Nevertheless, he adds, 2012 has reinforced a favourable trend in an emphatic manner.
Flightglobal figures show there were 21 fatal airline accidents in 2012, resulting in a total of 425 deaths. This compares with respective figures in 2011 of 32 and 514. Flight International’s statistical sample produces figures that vary slightly from those from other sources even if they tell much the same story. They take account of all fatal airline accidents whether they involve Western- or Eastern-built aircraft, and include aircraft of all weights, sizes and engine types, in passenger and non-passenger airline operations.
Ascend’s Special Bulletin analysing airline safety performance last year says: “2012 was another good year for safety, with the fatal accident rate falling from about one per 1.4 million flights overall in 2011 to one per 2.3 million flights in 2012. On this basis, 2012 was certainly the safest year ever and, on the face of it, 65% safer than 2011, which itself had been labelled ‘the safest year ever’. However, unfortunately, we do not believe that the world’s airlines have suddenly become this much safer and 2012′s accident rate, perhaps, should be considered more of a fluke than the new norm.”
- A complete 2012 airline accident listing, with a full analysis of airline operational standards and current safety concerns, will be published in Flight International for 15-21 January.
Sourced from Flight Global
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Posted: December 28, 2012 | Author: sedgie47 | Filed under: Accidents & Incidents | Tags: Accidents, Airline, Claims, Crash, Decline, Fall, IATA, Incidents, Insurance, International Air Transport Association |
By Robert Wall
Airline insurance claims for plane accidents will drop below $1 billion this year for the first time since 1991 as passenger fatalities and aircraft destroyed hit record lows, advisory firm Ascend estimates.
Claims for aircraft losses and legal liabilities this year will total about $980 million, or $300 million less than last year, Ascend said in a report. Claims are almost half the $1.8 billion in premiums written in the period, it said.
The International Air Transport Association said earlier this month that western-built jets suffered 0.19 “hull loss” accidents per million flights this year through November as the industry headed to its safest year on record. IATA’s figures didn’t reflect the Dec. 25 crash of an Air Bagan Fokker 100 jet in Myanmar in which one person on-board died and the out-of- production aircraft was destroyed.
“Airline fatal accident rates have been steadily improving and, on average, operations are now twice as safe as they were 15 years ago,” Paul Hayes, head of safety at Ascend said in a statement. “With such a benign insurance claims year and increasing capacity in the market, we believe that premium income will continue to fall in 2013.”
There is concern premium levels are “too low to be able to maintain the market in the longer term,” Hayes said. Premiums have declined for three years and for 2012 were more than $800 million below the 2003 level when they reached $2.7 billion, the highest in the last 10 years.
Africa Improvements
In the first 11 months of this year, North Asian and North American carriers had the lowest accident rates and African carriers had the highest, according to IATA.
Measures being introduced in Africa to improve pilot training and enhance safety audits are designed to help bring airline safety in the region in line with current global standards by 2015, Guenther Matschnigg, IATA’s senior vice president for safety, said on Dec. 13.
The June 3 crash of a Dana Air MD-80 in Nigeria was the deadliest accident this year, killing 153 people on-board and 10 on the ground, Ascend said. Of the four deadliest accidents in 2012, in which almost 90 percent of all fatalities occurred, two were in Africa, it said.
Sourced from Bloomberg
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Posted: October 12, 2012 | Author: walesairforum | Filed under: Airline & Route News | Tags: 4U, Airline, DLH, Germanwings, GWI, LH, low-cost, Lufthansa, Lufthansa Group |
by Mark Caswell
Lufthansa Group has confirmed that its forthcoming no-frills carrier serving routes within Germany and Europe will operate under the Germanwings banner.
The carrier announced plans to create a short-haul budget brand last month, but at the time said a decision on the name of the operation would be made “in the upcoming months”.
This decision has now been made, with the existing Germanwings brand being used for the new low-cost model serving point-to-point services on domestic German and European routes.
The new business model will launch in January, but will not apply to point-to-point services operated through Lufthansa’s two main hubs of Frankfurt or Munich, which will remain under the Lufthansa brand.
Sourced by ABTN
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Posted: September 11, 2012 | Author: sedgie47 | Filed under: Airline & Route News | Tags: Airline, BA, Brand USA, British Airways, Partner |
Fresh from backing Britain as a key London 2012 sponsor, British Airways is now supporting efforts to encourage tourism to the US.
The airline has become the first founding airline partner in the UK for new tourism marketing body Brand USA.
BA will work jointly on initiatives to promote the US as a “premier travel destination,” including industry and travel agent activity, plus advertising campaigns in UK trade and consumer press.
It will be the airline partner for an inaugural Brand USA megafam trip for UK-based travel agents. The trip will incorporate multiple destinations across the US, designed to showcase the diverse travel opportunities as well as BA service to agents.
BA will receive exclusive airline recognition, such as priority on new initiatives, promotions and major marketing co-operative campaigns as well as inclusion at Brand USA functions at major industry events.
Brand USA was established by the Travel Promotion Act in 2010 to spearhead the nation’s first global marketing effort to promote the US as a premier travel destination.
Business development vice president Jay Gray said: “Working with the UK’s national carrier ensures the gravitas and long-term commitment that we dedicate to the UK market, the largest overseas visitor market to America.”
BA head of UK and Ireland sales Richard Tams added: “We are delighted to be the first airline partner to Brand USA. With over 66 years of flying customers and holidaymakers into the USA, this is an extremely important market to us and one we look forward to continuing to grow and promote.”
Sourced from Travel Weekly
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Posted: August 3, 2012 | Author: sedgie47 | Filed under: European & World Tourism, Passenger Advice, Tour Operator News, UK Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News | Tags: ABTA, Airline, Fake, Holiday Fraud, Holidays, Online, Passenger Advice, Tickets, Warning |
By Sophie Griffiths
The National Fraud Authority has issued a warning to holidaymakers, after a rise infraudulent websites selling fake airline tickets.
Action Fraud, the reporting centre of the National Fraud Authority, said it had taken 151 reports of fraud involving airline tickets since January 2012, with over 100 of thee taken in the three month from April to June.
It said scams typically involve websites which are falsely claiming to be authorised airline ticket agents promising cheap deals.
The fraudsters buy the tickets on behalf of consumers before cancelling them at a later date, once the airline companies have issued the tickets.
Or a fraudster may purchase a legitimate e-ticket then sell copies of it to multiple buyers, or fake an e-mailed ticket, or purchase tickets using a fraudulently acquired credit card on a traveller’s behalf, Action Fraud said.
It is urging travellers to use a credit card, as in most cases it provides protection and to check ticket agents are accredited by regulatory bodies, such as Iata or Abta.
Sourced from TTG Digital
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Posted: August 2, 2012 | Author: walesairforum | Filed under: Passenger Advice, Tour Operator News, UK Aviation News, Welsh Aviation News | Tags: ABTA, Airline, Fake, Holiday Fraud, Holidays, Online, Passenger Advice, Tickets, Warning |
More than 150 incidents involving fake flight bookings have been reported since January, according to Action Fraud, the reporting centre of the National Fraud Authority, with more than 100 occurring since April.
The scams involve fraudulent websites claiming to be authorised travel agents offering cheap airfares. Cases of websites selling fake package holidays, hotel stays and apartment rentals have also been reported.
The warning follows a survey by the Government advice service Get Safe Online which claims that one in three Britons do not confirm the authenticity of a travel provider before handing over payment details.
Action Fraud advises holidaymakers to beware of rock-bottom prices, to book – where possible – through established or reputable travel companies, and to research any unfamiliar holiday retailers.
It adds that if an agent or tour operator claims it is a member of a trade body such as ABTA, it should be confirmed through the association’s website.
Online shoppers should look for the padlock symbol on their browser when making a payment, it warns, and should be wary of traders who refuse to accept credit or debit cards. Using a credit card, it adds, will provide payment protection in most cases.
The background checking website 192.com advised holidaymakers to verify a company’s name and business address before making a booking.
“Don’t assume an advert is genuine just because the website is,” said a spokesman for the website. “Research the property or hotel you’re booking and verify that the address exists through web searches and online maps.”
Sourced by The Telegraph
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