General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
IAG profits up. IAG employed 228 (0.4%) more staff last year with 2.1% passenger growth
IAG has reported an increase in annual pre-tax profits of €503m (£425.6m) in the year to December 2011, after a profit of €84m euros the year before. Revenue rose by 10% to €16.3bn, despite an increase in fuel costs of 29.7%. BA made use of the opportunity of announcing their results to complain - yet again - about Air Passenger Duty, saying it "was reducing by about half the number of new jobs it would create this year." With an increase of +2.1% in passengers last year, they only employed + 0.4% more staff - just 228 more. Not many. The industry routinely makes complaints about APD, which is all of £13 per outbound flight for a return journey to any European airport. APD is a charge put in place to compensate for the fact that the aviation pays no VAT and pays no duty on fuel, so in effect remains under taxed. As airlines add substantial charges much higher than APD for a range of other services, or just to cash in on popular times for journeys, such as half terms, this APD whinge needs to be taken with a big pinch of salt. Yet again.
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Global air passengers up + 5.7% in January compared to a year earlier
IATA says global international air passengers were up by +5.7% in January, compared to January 2011, which was itself up +8.2% on January 2010, and that was up + 6.4% on January 2009. Figures are slightly inflated by the Chinese New Year on 23 rd Jan. European carriers had a + 5.3% gain in passenger versus January 2011, which was lower than the +7.9% growth in January 2011, but higher than the +3.1% growth in January 2010. Globally airlines' capacity climbed 4.2%, resulting in a load factor of 76.6%, up from 75.7% in January 2011. Domestic passenger numbers were up +6.1% in January compared to Jan 2011, with strong demand in Brazil, China and India. The Chinese market now accounts for more than 21% of the total global domestic market.
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All-business class luxury flights from Hong Kong to Gatwick start 8th March 2012
Kong Kong Airlines will start a business only flight from Hong Kong to Gatwick on 8th March. It will run three new Airbus A330-200s with just 116 seats - by way of comparison, Qantas' international versions of the same aircraft pack some 253 seats across both business and economy class. There will be 34 Club Premier 'suites' at the pointy end of the A330s with fully flat 1.8 metre (6'1") beds in a spacious 1-2-1 staggered layout. Further back are 82 Club Classic seats in a more conventional 'cradle' or recliner design, with a 1.3 metre (51 inch) seat pitch and 10.4" HD video screen in a still rather roomy 2-2-2 cabin layout. So not remotely fuel efficient. This is the airline that has come under fire from animal rights groups for profitably transporting live dolphins by air in cramped containers from Osaka to Hanoi.
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China plans to build world’s largest airport with 9 runways near Beijing
China plans to replace one of its Beijing airports with a new airport, with 9 runways, that will be the largest and busiest in the world, overtaking Atlanta. It will cost around $5 billion or more, and may open by October 2017. It will have the capacity to deal with 130 million passengers and 5,500,000 tonnes of cargo annually. By comparison the whole of the UK had around 222 million passengers in 2011. Beijing Nanyuan Airport nearby may close once the new airport in Daxing commences operations. There are reports that many airports in central and western China are losing money, though those in the east are doing better. The Chinese believe there is huge economic benefit from building, or enlarging airports, and even if the airport itself makes a loss.
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Clean Air in London resigns from stakeholder group after Government admits it has no intention of complying with air quality deadlines for NO2
Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has published the Government’s response to its further inquiry into air quality. The EAC - members of which are MPs - expresses it’s ‘disappointment’ that Government disagrees with many of its recommendations. Government denies its approach is ‘business as usual’. Government admits it has no intention of complying with air quality laws for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) even by the extended compliance date of January 2015 which it says is ‘inadequate’. Caroline Spelman dismissed the EAC's advice, saying costs of meeting EU pollution goals do not match benefits. Clean Air in London says “Astonishingly, the Government makes crystal clear it has no intention of complying with legally binding deadlines for NO2 which have been in legislation since 1999 and required to be met by 2010." Heathrow contributes huge amounts of NOx, from planes and road traffic.
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Future planes may be able to use energy recovered from wheels braking on landing
Tomorrow's aircraft could contribute to their power needs by harnessing energy from the wheel rotation of their landing gear to generate electricity. They could use this to power their taxiing to and from airport buildings, reducing the need to use their jet engines. This would save on aviation fuel, cut emissions and reduce noise pollution at airports. The feasibility of this has been confirmed by a team of engineers from the University of Lincoln with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. 'Engine-less taxiing' could therefore become a reality. ACARE has made engine-less taxiing one of the key objectives beyond 2020 for the European aviation industry.
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BA AND IBERIA IN PROFITS TAKE-OFF
IAG was formed in January 2011 by a merger between BA and Iberia. IAG says it has made greater than expected cost savings from the merger. It hopes to buy smaller airlines as the rising cost of fuel and the squeeze in consumer spending drives consolidation in the industry. It will shortly announce an operating profit estimated at €470 million (£398 million) this week, more than double the previous year’s combined earnings. The profits are 109% higher than 2010’s €225 million, and comes as the merger of the two airlines starts to take off. BA owner IAG wants to acquire more airlines and has tabled a £172.5 million bid for bmi, which has many take-off and landing slots at Heathrow. IAG is due to hear within weeks whether Brussels has cleared its takeover bid, and whether the OFT will order a competition inquiry. The airline group and bmi’s owner Lufthansa want to seal a deal by the end of March.
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Flush with cash: British Airways saves £600,000 on fuel by descaling its toilet pipes
All sorts of ways in which airlines try to cut a bit of weight. BA is now descaling its toilet pipes to remove limescale etc and weight. Other ideas out of the 200 submitted by BA staff include replacing glass with plastic for wine bottles, reducing the volume of water tanks, washing engines more regularly, lighter catering trolleys and cargo containers and introduce lighter cutlery for business class passengers. Apart from weight reductions from cabin and equipment design, other things that airlines have tried is reducing the number of ice cubes and magazines, and even using electronic navigation charts rather than paper.
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BAA made a pre-tax loss of £256 million in 2011, and continues to press for 3rd Heathrow runway
BAA has announced a pre-tax loss of £256m for 2011, despite record traffic at Heathrow and a leap in revenues. The loss was £60m larger in 2010. Interest payments on its £10bn debt continued to drag its annual accounts into the red. BAA said they had more passengers,"who spent more freely in our retail and car parks." At Stansted passenger numbers continued to fall even on the disappointing 2010 figures, down to 18.0 million from 18.6 million. Heathrow saw passenger traffic hit a record 69.4m last year, up 5.5% on 2010 and 1.5m more than its previous record of 67.9m, set in 2007. BAA used the opportunity to push, yet again, for serious consideration to be given to a third Heathrow runway, which is what it really wants. With the aviation consultation starting next month, they are lobbying hard to get the 3rd runway into the options for consideration.
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Airbus urges EU to scrap biodiesel incentives for road transport
A senior Airbus executive has said that the EU should bin incentives for road-transport biodiesel or provide equal ones for the production of biokerosene used in airplanes. The target for renewable energy sources in transport for 2020 is now set at 10%, including biofuels, green electricity and other renewables. There is competition now between aviation and road transport for biofuels, but making biokerosene costs more than making biodiesel. Aviation claims it should be given priority, as it cannot use electricity. (Neither, realistically, can road transport for the foeseeable future). Airbus wants "a level playing field or the scrapping of incentives that cover the biodiesel industry.” EU and Member States spent approximately €3.1 billion on biofuel support in 2010.