Last week we reported on the creation of the A4E (Airlines for Europe) alliance by IAG (British Airways & Iberia), Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, easyJet and Ryanair, and quoted Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, who specifically wanted to target air traffic control (ATC) unions – “we want to eliminate air traffic control strikes that affect thousands of
Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, issued an update for the 2015 fourth quarter (‘Q4’) and full year and announced that Bohai Leasing is investing an incremental US$1.2bn of equity capital in the business bringing Avolon’s total available liquidity to US$2bn to accelerate growth in 2016 and beyond. Avolon begins 2016 as a wholly-owned, indirect
Encouraging figures have been released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) indicating that for global air freight markets, figures for November 2015 are slightly up on the low point in August and had expanded on those for October, leading to the conclusion that the previous decline had now bottomed out. Figures measured in Freight
Gulf Air, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier, has announced a 3-year extension of its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) agreement with Joramco under which Joramco will provide Gulf Air with Heavy Maintenance checks for its current fleet of 28 aircraft – A330s, A320-ERs, A320s and A321s. The agreement, originally signed in January 2013, has
Almost a year ago to the day when the winter storm labelled Juno, described as “the worst snowstorm in history”, shut down massive tracts of the USA, today has seen an impending Mid-Atlantic snowstorm see thousands of flights cancelled in advance of the anticipated weekend weather. According to the US National Weather Service, the storm
Boeing announced it will lower the production rate on the 747-8 program to match supply with near-term demand in the cargo market. To account for the market and production impacts, the company will recognize a US$569m after-tax charge when it announces financial results for the fourth quarter of 2015. “Global air passenger traffic growth and
It was announced on Wednesday of this week that Europe’s five principal airline groups, IAG (British Airways & Iberia), Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, easyJet and Ryanair have formed an alliance which will go under the name A4E (Airlines for Europe). The launch at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport was timed to coincide with today’s EU Aviation Summit which
Gulf Air decided to convert its 16 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners on order to 787-9s as part of its long-term, twin-aisle fleet strategy and expansion. The value of the airplanes is US$4.2bn at current list prices. “I am delighted that we have arrived at mutually agreeable solutions with Boeing and can now successfully restructure our order
Four new long-haul planes will expand Condor’s and Thomas Cook Airlines UK’s fleet from May 2016. Three Boeing 767-300ERs will be added to Condor’s current 13 airplanes of this type. Thomas Cook Airlines UK is also counting on a reliable model with an additional Airbus A330-200: This new arrival is the seventh A330. The first
As part of its fleet renewal strategy, Gulf Air has announced a firm order of 29 A320neo Family. The new order includes 17 A321neo and 12 A320neo of which 10 A320neo have been confirmed in 2012. The contract was signed on January 21st, at the Bahrain International Airshow. Gulf Air currently operates 28 Airbus aircraft
