General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Business travel recovery boosts BAA October passenger numbers – up 3.4%
Date added: 10 November, 2010
BAA today posted a 3.4% increase in total passenger numbers for October, boosted
by a recovery in the level of business travel. Passenger numbers across its six airports rose by 318,000 to 9.75 million, up from 9.44 million
in the same period last year, helped by a 1.2% increase in the number of flights. Cargo was up 12.5% across BAA's UK airports. There was a 6% increase in flights at Heathrow and a 7.2% increase in passengers. Passengers
were down - 3.1% at Stansted.
Click here to view full story...
EU Transport emissions up 34% since 1990 and aviation emissions up 110%
Date added: 10 November, 2010
A new report by T&E found that between 1990 and 2008, transport emissions
in the EU increased by 34% while emissions from other sectors decreased by 14%. So
the share of transport in total emissions rose to 29% in 2008; in 1990 the share
of transport was 21%. Emissions from international aviation and shipping rose
by 110% and 56% respectively between 1990 and 2008. The average annual emission
growth of EU aviation since 1990 has been 4.2% (not including non-CO2 effects).
Click here to view full story...
Boeing halts test flights of delay-plagued 787 Dreamliner due to fire
Date added: 10 November, 2010
Boeing has halted test flights on its new 787 Dreamliner, dealing a fresh setback
amd probably delays to a program already running about 3 years behind schedule.
The decision came after a fire aboard a test plane forced an emergency landing. A spokeswoman said the fire was the most serious incident since test flights began
in December 2009. The length of the suspension is not known and testing will only
be on the ground till the problem is understood.
Click here to view full story...
Discovery of oil leaks keeps Qantas A380s grounded
Date added: 8 November, 2010
Qantas is keeping its Airbus A380 aircraft grounded after investigations into
a mid-air engine failure found oil leaks in 3 aircrafts’ turbines. One of the company’s Trent 900 engines exploded mid-flight last Thursday, forcing
the Qantas aircraft carrying it to make an emergency landing in Singapore. Investigations
on other areas of the engine are also continuing. The EASA warned several months
back that there was a potential problem. Airbus's shares are 10% down.
Click here to view full story...
BAA prices £325m bond to complete subordinated debt refinancing
Date added: 6 November, 2010
BAA (SH) plc, the holding company for BAA (SP) Ltd and its subsidiaries that
own Heathrow and Stansted, have announced that it has successfully placed a £325m
bond issue to complete the refinancing of its existing debt facility. The sterling-denominated notes will have a fixed interest coupon of 7.125 %,
at the tight end of guidance, and will mature in March 2017. The issue has been
signifcantly oversubscribed, having initially been £250 million.
Click here to view full story...
Race from Edinburgh to the Gherkin, in London. Train v Plane. Train won.
Date added: 6 November, 2010
The race took place on Friday with the aim being to get to London, to the Gherkin,
for 2.45pm for a meeting. And the two journalists racing had various work assignments
to do en route. Seems the chap coming down on the train got to the Gherkin 10
minutes before the man on the plane to Heathrow. There are page of blogs from each, recording their progress, difficulties and
highs and lows. Seems the train did very well in the contest ....
Click here to view full story...
Easyjet 8.6% passenger increase in October, 8% increase in September, 8.4% in August
Date added: 6 November, 2010
EASYJET recorded an 8.6% increase in passenger numbers during October, to a total
of 4.58m. Load factor rose by 1.4%, to 88.2%. There was an increase of 8.1% in its rolling
12-month passenger statistics, of 49.11m. EasyJet carried 4.8 million people in
September – an increase of 8% on the same month in 2009 and enough to boost revenue
per seat by 6%, thanks to surging demand for European beach holidays.
Click here to view full story...
Qantas says A380 engine failure may be “design issue”
Date added: 5 November, 2010
A faulty part or a design issue may have caused the explosion in an engine on
a Qantas Airways Airbus A380, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Singapore. The engine failure on Thursday, which scattered debris over an Indonesian island,
marked the biggest incident to date for the world's largest passenger plane, in
service only since 2007. It forced Qantas to ground its fleet for 24 - 48 hours for safety checks, and
other airlines to recheck their own A380s.
Click here to view full story...
Ban-ki Moon: UN climate finance report demands global tax hike including aviation finance
Date added: 5 November, 2010
A UN committee has recommended that the world's governments introduce new taxes
on carbon allowances and financial transactions to help raise the $100bn a year
from 2020 pledged at Copenhagen to help poor countries cope with the effects of
climate change. The report also claims that by 2020 $10bn could be generated from new levies
on the shipping and aviation industries. But WWF says these cannot be achieved
without decisive political action.
Click here to view full story...
Charges for extras lift half year Ryanair profits by 17%
Date added: 3 November, 2010
Ryanair's profits rose by 17% to € 451.9 million ( £393.4million) in the 6 months to September 30, due to fare rises and charges for extras such as on-board drinks. Passenger numbers rose by 10% and fares increased 12% but they benefited as revenue from drinks, baggage fees and priority boarding jumped by more than 20%. Ryanair warned of ticket price rises of 5 - 10% in the next couple of years, and route cuts. It is cutting bases in France and N.Ireland.
Click here to view full story...
