More than 25,000 Cathay Pacific Airways staff have agreed to take unpaid leave, according to an internal memo from CEO Augustus Tang, in which he thanked employees for their support as the airline contends with the impact of the coronavirus. The CEO, who took over last year after his predecessor Rupert Hogg was ousted amid the fallout from anti-government protests in Hong Kong, said Cathay’s business challenges 'remain acute'. The airline has about 33,000 employees worldwide, with nearly 20,000 in Hong Kong. Cathay has sharply cut its flight capacity because of the impact the virus has had on travel, presenting a fresh challenge after the protests in Hong Kong weighed on the company’s performance in the second half of 2019. Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said last week that financial results in this first six months of this year will be 'significantly down' from a year earlier. Tens....
UAE airlines on Tuesday announced that flights to and from Bahrain has been cancelled as part of precautionary measures undertaken by the nation to confront the outbreak of the coronavirus. Earlier today, Bahrain civil aviation authority suspended all its flights from Dubai airport and Sharjah airport for 48 hours over coronavirus fears. According to a statement on its website, Emirates has cancelled the following flights for today: EK837/838: Dubai - Bahrain - Dubai EK839/840: Dubai - Bahrain - Dubai EK833/834: Dubai - Bahrain - Dubai EK835/836: Dubai - Bahrain - Dubai All affected passengers are advised to check their flight status before they go to the airport. Air Arabia, flydubai have also announced that it has cancelled some flight to and from Bahrain on their websites. The Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) in Bahrain announced the suspension on Monday night for a period of 48 hours, effective immediately, in a bid to contain the spread of the....
Qantas Airways Ltd. is slashing flights in Asia and freezing recruitment in response to falling demand as the coronavirus scares travelers across the region. Capacity reductions of 15%, which will be in place until at least the end of May, affect services to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Thailand, the Australian airline said in a statement. Flights to New Zealand will also be cut by 5%. The breadth of the pullback reflects the scale of the challenge for airlines in the region. What started as a largely Chinese problem has since spread to Southeast Asia’s biggest markets as the outbreak takes hold in transit hubs like Singapore. Qantas said there’s now even weakness on routes in Australia, and the airline is trimming capacity at home by 2.3% to the end of June. “We can extend how long the cuts are in place, we can deepen them or we can....
Avia Solutions Group (ASG), a global multipurpose aviation services company, has acquired Aviator, a firm providing a similar range of services to the Nordic region, from the investment fund Accent Equity. In a statement, Avia said that the acquisition would build on the firm’s service capability in the European aviation sector and expand the parent firm’s ground handling stations by adding scale to a business which already includes Aviator and Baltic Ground Services (BGS) Avia said there was increased earning potential from the acquisition by the provision of additional services such additional services, such as fuelling and line maintenance, at Aviator’s stations as well in the purchasing of ground handling equipment and the use of proprietary operations management software. Avia also highlighted Aviator’s long-standing customer relationships with key airlines will also benefit the parent firm’s other business units. “We are very pleased that Aviator is now a member of Avia Solutions Group....
A new milestone in providing secure and hassle-free Internet in the skies has been reached today as the Seamless Air Alliance published the first-ever standard for inflight connectivity. Developed in collaboration with industry experts across Seamless Air Alliance’s member companies, Seamless Release 1.0 establishes the world’s only Modular Platform Architecture for inflight connectivity. By using a modular structure based on open interfaces, the system enables rapid adoption of new technologies without requiring customization or the complete replacement of equipment on the aircraft or fleet. The standard – Seamless Release 1.0 – enables long-term technical flexibility for airlines, provides a secure and easy-to-access service for passengers, and opens the door to seamless roaming with mobile network operators. “Passenger demands for inflight connectivity are still ahead of the performance of systems putting increasing pressure on airlines to find a way to meet these expectations and gain passenger loyalty,” said Jack Mandala, Seamless Air Alliance CEO. “Seamless Release 1.0 changes the game by enabling airlines to take advantage of new capacity and innovations faster and more cost-effectively than ever before.” Seamless Release 1.0 includes a....
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd. reported its financial results for full year 2019. The consolidated financial statements can be found on DAE’s website at dubaiaerospace.com/investors Highlights include: Total Revenue: US$1,421.3 million (2018: US$1,436.6 million) Profit Before Tax: US$413.6 million (2018: US$428.8 million) Pre-Tax Profit Margin: 29.1% (2018: 29.8%) Pre-Tax Return on Equity: 12.6% (2018: 12.8%) Net Debt-to-Equity: 2.64x (Year-end 2018: 2.57x) Unsecured Debt as a percentage of Total Debt: 62% (Year-end 2018: 46%) Available Liquidity: US$2,404 million (Year-end 2018: US$1,558 million) His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of DAE, commented, “The growth of DAE in the last few years has boosted the contribution of aviation to Dubai’s success. DAE has executed its strategy effectively and is today a successful, large-scale lessor with more than 400 aircraft in its portfolio. We are pleased with the progress DAE has made with the support it has received from ICD.” Mr. Khalifa AlDaboos, Managing Director of DAE and Deputy....
Bombardier recently announced that it has made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on business aviation and plans to accelerate its deleveraging through the sale of its rail business. “Today marks an exciting new chapter for Bombardier. Going forward, we will focus all our capital, energy and resources on accelerating growth and driving margin expansion in our market-leading $7.0 billion business aircraft franchise. With a stronger balance sheet after the completion of this transaction, an industry-leading portfolio of products, a strong backlog, and a rapidly growing aftermarket business, we will compete in this market from a position of strength,” said Alain Bellemare, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation Sale Overview Bombardier has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alstom SA and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“la Caisse”) for the sale of its Transportation business to Alstom. Under the transaction, Bombardier and la Caisse will....
Specialist regional aircraft lessor, TrueNoord, is leasing two new Dash 8-400 aircraft to Philippine Airlines on long term operating lease agreements. MSN 4610 has been delivered and MSN 4612 will join the fleet in February. These aircraft are the first Dash 8-400 aircraft manufactured by De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (“De Havilland Canada”) to enter service in TrueNoord’s portfolio and have been financed within the new $360 million warehouse facility which was announced last October and is underwritten by Citibank, Société Générale and Royal Bank of Canada. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman advised TrueNoord and Norton Rose represented Philippine Airlines on the transaction. The Dash 8-400 aircraft will enter PAL’s commercial service in February and be based at Clark International Airport flying domestic routes throughout the Philippine archipelago of over 7,600 islands. Although only one third of the islands are inhabited, the Philippines is the 13th most populous country in the world, home to around....
Etihad Aviation Training, the specialist training division of Etihad Aviation Group, has become the first aviation company in the Middle East to gain approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to train Boeing 777 and 787 pilots for European operators and carriers elsewhere which adopt Europe’s air safety standards. The approval to train pilots for these two wide-bodied Boeing aircraft types expands the global capabilities of Etihad Aviation Training, which in 2018 also became the first Middle Eastern aerospace business to gain EASA designation as an Approved Training Organisation for pilots of Airbus A320, A330 and A340 aircraft. Captain Paolo La Cava, Vice President and Managing Director of Etihad Aviation Training, said continuing growth in global demand for air travel was driving increased requirements for pilot training. “Some operators have insufficient capacity to conduct training in their own facilities while others do not have in-house capabilities,” said Captain La....
Small satellite launch services provider Rocket Lab announced recently that its Electron vehicle’s first mission of 2020 will be for the National Reconnaissance Office. Named 'Birds of a Feather' (NROL-151) the mission is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The launch window opens on Jan. 31. Rocket Lab said in this mission it will attempt a guided re-entry of Electron’s first stage. But the stage will not be recovered after splashdown. This is the NRO’s first launch awarded under a program the agency started in 2018 to use commercial providers to launch small satellites. The program is called Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR). The NRO develops and launches the United States’ intelligence satellites. The RASR program was created to take advantage of emerging services offered by commercial small launch providers as the U.S. government seeks to deploy proliferated constellations in low....
More than 25k staff to take unpaid leave at Cathay Pacific
Major UAE airlines temporarily suspend flights to and from Bahrain due to coronavirus
Qantas slashes Asian flights by 15% in response to coronavirus scares
ASG acquires Aviator to build firm capability in EU aviation sector
Seamless Air Alliance marks a new milestone with inflight connectivity
DAE announces strong and stable financial results for 2019
Bombardier announces its strategic decision to focus on business aviation
Philippine Airlines leases two 8-400 aircraft from TrueNoord
Etihad Aviation Training receives approval to train Boeing pilots
Rocket Lab’s new mission scheduled to lift off soon
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