Having agreed to buy the international luggage and cargo handler Swissport International last July for US$2.8bn, the Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co., Ltd., headquartered in Haikou, China, has now agreed to buy a second Swiss company, Gategroup Holding AG, the world’s second-largest airline catering company, for US$1.5 billion. The deal reflects a 17% premium on
Senator Charles Schumer’s (Dem) amendment attached to an FAA authorization bill met with a watery grave on Thursday, failing by a vote of 42-54. The amendment would have seen the FAA forced to set a seat minimum size aboard commercial aircraft together with a minimum distance between rows. Diminishing personal space has been the top
Two years after Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) announced the investment of €60m (US$68.4m) on the main runway – called 10/28 – and additional airport infrastructure, news has been released today (Thursday) that a second runway is to be built at an expected cost of €320m (US$365m). Work will begin in 2017, with completion expected by
The fight against terrorism has now seen Canada and the EU agree to share data of airline passengers flying between Canada and the EU. However, this move is being challenged in an EU court on the grounds of breaches in passenger privacy. The intention to share passenger name records (PNRs) has seen the Luxembourg-based Court
Confident that events will not impact heavily on the company, Spirit Aerosystems have confirmed that they will no longer be providing a broad selection of spare parts for Boeing aircraft after having their license cancelled by the US plane manufacturer. Despite such a show of force, shares in Spirit dropped 5%, but the price has
Virgin America has accepted an offer of US$2.6bn (US$57/share) from rival airline, Alaska Air, a figure which, including Virgin America’s debt and aircraft lease obligations, values the transaction at approximately USD$4bn. Virgin America began operating in August 2007 and which was set up by Sir Richard Branson in a similar vein to Virgin Atlantic, a
Labor negotiations between Delta Airlines and its pilots has reached the stage where US federal government mediation is now being sought by the Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA) in relation to collective bargaining. Both Delta and ALPA’s Delta master executive council (MEC) have jointly filed with the US National Mediation Board (NMB). The MEC confirmed
Boeing has announced the Company’s intention to cut 4,000 jobs by mid-year in its Commercial Airplanes unit, stating that involuntary layoffs would be “only ….as a last resort.” Reductions are expected to include “hundreds of executives and managers” the company confirmed in an email statement, with the clear intention to achieve the job cuts “through
After last Thursday’s tragic events in Brussels, including two bombs which exploded at Brussels Airport taking the lives of eleven victims, no confirmation has yet been made as to when the airport will reopen. While the main structure of the building has been inspected by engineers, technicians and independent specialists and it has been confirmed
IATA (International Air Transport Association) has become a formal complainant in an investigation being performed by the EC’s Directorate General for Competition (DG-COMP) in relation to suspected abuse of dominant positions by aircraft equipment manufacturers. Last year, questionnaires were sent out by the DG-COMP to a number of industry stakeholders in which they asked for
