DoLE stops retirements at PAL

MANILA, Philippines—Saying it should not “exacerbate” the labor row at the country’s flag carrier, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has ordered the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) to stop retiring senior flight attendants who turn 55 years old.

In a letter dated Jan. 28, Labor Undersecretary Hans Cacdac told PAL and the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) to desist from taking actions that could worsen the dispute at the airline.

Cacdac also ordered PAL to “suspend” its decision last month to retire eight senior flight attendants who had reached 55 “pending the final resolution of all motions relative” to the case.

He reminded the company that in accordance with the Assumption of Jurisdiction Order issued by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Oct. 6, 2010, both PAL and FASAP “are enjoined from continuing acts that may exacerbate the situation or give rise to further contentious issues or increase the tension between them.”

When reached by the Inquirer, PAL refrained from commenting about the latest DoLE order. It said it would issue a statement on Tuesday.

PAL had defended the retirement of the flight pursers, saying the Makati Regional Trial Court had already lifted the injunction it issued against their retirement.

But Bob Anduiza, FASAP president, said the lifting of the injunction did not give PAL the green light to retire the pursers since Baldoz was still reviewing her decision on the labor row.

In December last year, Baldoz ruled that the compulsory retirement age of PAL’s cabin crew should be 60 years old, but the airline appealed that ruling.

FASAP asked for DoLE’s help after PAL management sent notices of retirement to the eight senior flight attendants on Jan. 13.

“We are glad that the Office of the DoLE Secretary heeded FASAP’s urgent call to stop PAL from worsening the labor tension between PAL and FASAP,” Anduiza said.

“PAL’s move to suddenly retire our members and the manner by which they carried it out, giving them only three days before being thrown out of their jobs was really very provocative and cruel,” he added.

He said the DoLE reply to FASAP’s urgent motion “should serve as a reminder to PAL that it is not above the law.”

“We sincerely hope PAL management will rethink its combative stance and respect the DoLE’s decision. PAL and FASAP should start mending its bruised relationship and work together for the good of the country's flag carrier,” the association said.

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JAL and American Begin Joint Sales of Fares from Japan to North America

Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines have moved into the next phase of launching their transpacific joint business by starting joint selling in Japan on February 1.

The two airlines say they have coordinated more closely most of their Business Class and Economy Class fares for North America-bound flights originating from Japan, with effect from April 1 – the day American Airlines and Japan Airlines start operating their transpacific joint business.

According to JAL and American, as a result of the two airlines’ tighter relationship and closer coordination, it will now be easier for customers to benefit from carrier-filed discount fares for itineraries using both airlines, as well as a combination of different classes of service. Some, but not all, combinations of carrier-filed fares within Economy Class will also now be available.

This all means that collectively the two airlines will be able to offer new possible combinations of class of service and more destinations for transpacific itineraries, at a wider range of fares.

American Airlines and JAL say that previously it was much more difficult and expensive to combine itineraries between airlines, or when the class of service was not the same for a round trip, because of restrictions which limited carrier-filed discount fares to the use of a single airline’s flights or to one class of service.

Now, the two airlines’ closer cooperation and commencement of joint selling will give customers greater access to lower fares and also many more choices when making travel arrangements, according to American and JAL.

Through American’s route network in North America, JAL will increase the number of destinations it sells in North America to some 200 cities, which American also continues to sell.

Similarly, in the near future from North America, the partners expects their joint business to increase the number of Asian destinations that American can sell, and that JAL will continue to sell.

Customers originating in Japan will have a greater opportunity to access lower fares to more destinations as a result of the new joint-selling arrangement, according to JAL and American.

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ANA swings to black in April-December

TOKYO—All Nippon Airways Co. pivoted back into the black in the April-December period as robust travel demand and cost cuts bolstered the carrier's bottom line.

Japan's No. 2 airline said Monday it booked a net profit of 37.54 billion yen ($457.4 million), compared with a loss of 35.2 billion yen during the same nine months last year.

Revenue rose more than 12 percent to 1.04 trillion yen. Operating profit came to 77.7 billion yen, a turnaround from an operating loss of 37.8 billion a year earlier.

The carrier, known as ANA, credited a strong rebound in business travel for bolstering revenue on international routes. Flights from the new international terminal at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which opened in late October, also boosted business.

ANA reported healthy demand on its domestic routes. During peak travel periods, the company added extra flights and used larger aircraft to expand the number of seats.

Revenue from its international cargo services shot up 67 percent from the previous year, thanks to expanded shipments of liquid crystal and semiconductor components on Asian routes, ANA said. It also described trade on North American routes as "strong."

The carrier said it expects a tough fourth quarter, warning of intensifying competition with other airlines and bullet trains, as well as ongoing concerns about the economy.

"Despite a gradual rebound in the Japanese economy, growth is flat and concerns over the steep rise in crude oil prices, a downturn in overseas economies and fluctuation in exchange rates also result in an uncertain outlook," ANA said in its report.

Nonetheless, ANA maintained its earnings forecasts, saying it would continue with restructuring and cost cuts.

For the full fiscal year through March 31, it expects to book 6 billion yen in net profit on revenues of 1.38 trillion yen.

The company released earnings after financial markets closed. Its stock fell 1.3 percent to 301 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, largely in line with a 1.1 percent decline in the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average.

ANA reports earnings are based on Japanese accounting standards.

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Cell phones in the sky: Airlines that allow mobile use

Few things in air travel are as polarizing as cell phone use on commercial flights. Though many people quake at the thought of being sealed in a metal tube next to a loud talker, others aren't quite as concerned with peace and quiet. Similarly, while some travelers savor the idea of being out of touch for a few hours, others can't bear the thought of going more than a few minutes without checking their e-mail or updating their Facebook status.

In the United States, at least, such a debate is moot since the Federal Aviation Administration shows no sings of budging from its firm "no phones" rule in the sky. But outside our airspace, some international airlines have introduced cell phone use while aloft. The services are available only on select flights, and exactly what you can do with your phone will vary, but more airlines are warming to the idea.

Most restrict use to "silent" activities like texting and e-mail, but four airlines--Emirates, Saudi Arabian, TAM, and Malaysia--allow you to make voice calls. Takeoff and landing are still times when your handset must be powered off, but calling Mom is now an option if you're flying to Dubai, Riyadh, Sao Paulo, or Kuala Lumpur. And in case you're keeping score, Emirates is the only airline to install showers on certain aircraft.

The technology, which doesn't use standard cell towers, is provided through two companies, AeroMobile and OnAir (Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is a partner in the latter company). In OnAir's case, a "leaky cable" inside the plane broadcasts the cellular signal in the cabin and also converts your communications into a satellite signal. And don't worry about possible interference, as neither company's technology will interfere with navigational systems. Of course, whether that interference even happens is a whole other debate.

Keep in mind that in an era when airlines charge for food and pillows, using your phone won't come cheap. For voice calls you should count on paying at least $3 per minute. Data charges will vary, but count on them being pricey as well. If you have an opinion on in-flight calling--and I'm sure that most of you do--be sure to answer our poll or leave your comment below.

Airline	Which flights?	Voice calls	Texting	E-mail/data
Aeroflot	Select short-haul flights		X	X
Air Asia	Select short-haul flights		X	X
British Airways	Flights between London City Airport and JFK		X	X
Emirates	Select long-haul flights	X	X	X
EgyptAir	Select long-haul flights		X	X
Libyan Airlines	Select short-haul flights		X	X
Malaysia Airlines	Select Boeing 777 flights	X	X	X
Oman Air	Select Airbus A330 flights		X	X
Qatar Airways	Select Airbus A320 flights		X	X
Royal Jordanian	Select short-haul flights		X	X
Saudi Arabian Airlines	Select Airbus A330 flights	X	X	X
TAM	Select Airbus A321 flights	X	X	X
TAP Portugal	Select Airbus A319 flights		X	X
Wataniya Airways	Select short-haul flights		X	X

Airlines that have announced cell phone service

• Air New Zealand
• Cathay Pacific
• Lufthansa
• Singapore Airline
  
• Turkish Airlines
• V Australia
• Virgin Atlantic

Airlines that have completed trials of cell phone use

• Air France
• Qantas
• Ryanair

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First Canadian flight out of Cairo arrives safely in Frankfurt

An Air Canada flight dispatched to transport Canadians out of Egypt has touched down safely in Frankfurt.

The flight carrying 210 passengers was one of two planes scheduled to depart Monday. The group was a relative handful of the roughly 6,500 Canadians believed to be in Egypt.

Each of the Canadian passengers was expected to pay $400 to get on board the flight to Germany.

Some passengers at the airport were told by an Egyptian official that they would have to collectively pay $2,000 before they were permitted to board a bus that would take them to them to plane, CTV reported.

Some of them, so fatigued with their ordeal, broke into tears. But they passed a hat and one passenger apparently contributed the lion's share of the bribe. That done, they were permitted to exit the airport to begin their journey home.

Foreign Affairs officials have contacted the Egyptian Ambassador in Ottawa to raise concerns about additional fees charged to release the plane. The department said it understood the $2,000 to be an additional fee charged for luggage.

Toronto resident Bill Parent, who managed to get out of Cairo on board a separate Lufthansa flight with wife Diane, described hearing gunshots in the neighbourhood where the couple was staying.

Parent described in glowing terms how the building's caretakers “took on the role of the police” and protected the occupants.

“They took very, very good care of all of us,” he said. “I'm so impressed with the people who are charged with that responsibility. They're poor, but boy, did they ever have heart and they're wonderful and loyal people.”

Communications were also problematic. “People are calling me from Cairo all night long and they cannot get through to the Canadian embassy because there is no answer,” said Adel Iksander, the president of the Egyptian Canadian Friendship Association.

“There is no Internet in Cairo,” Mr. Iksander said. “And some of the landlines are not working. It might be the embassy itself is too busy to answer or there is a line problem. But the Canadian government should announce this.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told reporters on Monday the phone lines are the problem. “The embassy, for obviously reasons, is also not responsible for the telecommunications network in Egypt. I think everybody understands that,” he said.

Cellphones are working despite the protests that have affected other forms of communication and Mr. Cannon said anyone who is trapped in the country, or has family members who are trapped, should contact the Canadian embassy in Cairo at 20 (2) 2791-8700 or place a collect call to the emergency centre at the department of Foreign Affairs and International trade in Ottawa at 613-996-8885 or 1-613-943-1055 or, if the internet is available, send an e-mail to sos@international.gc.ca.

But some Canadians who want to get out of Egypt said those numbers have been nothing more than a source of frustration. While they connect with the Foreign Affairs department, callers are put on hold for more than eight minutes, afterwhich time they are forced to leave a voicemail. One woman from British Columbia said both she and her partner, who is in Egypt and wants to come home, left messages for the department two days ago that have gone unanswered.

Mr. Cannon said the centre had received 4,900 calls over the course of the last several hours. About 200 of those people who managed to get through to Foreign Affairs officials at the centre will be flown out of the country on Monday, the minister added.

Communications “have been difficult since the beginning of all of this uprising,” Mr. Cannon said. “We are, I think, working in difficult circumstances. But we are able to reach the Canadians and let them know when their departure time is and where it is.” 

Those who depart on one of the government-arranged flights will be taken to Frankfurt, Germany, and will have to find their way home from there. The government will pay $400 toward the cost of the flight from Egypt to Frankfurt with passengers expected to pay any additional amount.

The department plans to evacuate another 600 people on Tuesday. Roughly 250 more Canadians who have been contacted have indicated their intention to stay in the country, at least for the time being, said Mr. Cannon.

The government has come to an agreement with other countries including the United States and Britain who are also trying to fly their nationals out of Egypt, Mr. Cannon said. Any empty seats on the planes dispatched by those countries can be occupied by other westerners who are trying to flee.

The Australians, for instance, are flying people, including Canadians, out of Alexandria on Tuesday.

As to why the Canadian government has not demanded that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak steps down, Mr. Cannon said it is not up to the government of Canada to get involved in the internal politics of Egypt.

“We have called upon this government, the Mubarak government, to in place both economic as well as democratic reforms,” he said. But “Canadians would not like to see foreign governments involve themselves in Canadian internal affairs. In the same manner we are respecting the sovereignty of this country.”

With a report from The Canadian Press

Where to look for more information

Canadian citizens in Egypt wishing to be evacuated should contact the Canadian embassy in Cairo at 20 (2) 2791-8700 or make a collect call to the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Emergency Operations Centre at 613-996-8885 or the new number, 613-943-1055.

Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on Canadian citizens believed to be in Egypt should contact the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Emergency Operations Centre by calling, toll-free, 1-800-606-5499 or the new number 1-800-387-3124.

The website of the Canadian embassy in Cairo provides local numbers to call from Cairo and Ottawa to obtain information about the charter flights out of Egypt that are being arranged by the Canadian government.

People dialing the Cairo number after hours will be put through to the DFAIT emergency centre in Ottawa. But they should be prepared to wait. There is a backlog on the emergency line.

The website of the department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against non-essential travel to Egypt. It also provides a place for Canadians in Egypt to register with Canadian authorities as well as contact information for consular staff in Egypt.

The Egyptian embassy in Ottawa has a web address but the actual website does not appear to be operational. The Egyptian consulate in Montreal does have a working website but there is nothing posted relating to the current state of emergency.

There are a number of associations for Egyptians in Canada but none have posted information about the current situation of unrest. That may change in the hours and days to come. Those associations are:

The Egyptian Canadian Friendship Association

The Egyptian Students’ Association of North America

The Egyptian Community Canada

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ILFC, looking at planes, in $2 bln credit deal

* ILFC is in the market for new planes

NEW YORK

Jan 31 (Reuters) - Aircraft leasing company International Lease Finance Corp signed a new $2 billion revolving credit agreement on Monday, a key step for the company as it considers buying new planes.

ILFC, a subsidiary of bailed-out insurer American International Group (AIG.N), said the money under the three-year deal could be used for general corporate purposes.

Units of Citigroup (C.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) served as lead arrangers and book runners on the deal. The three were also the joint lead arrangers on bank credit lines for AIG and its property insurance arm Chartis last month.

ILFC Chief Executive Henri Courpron told Reuters last week he was looking at a range of planes for new orders, though he added the company had not yet decided to make any purchases.

AIG executives have said ILFC is not a core business for the future of the restructured company and that it will eventually be sold. The timing and manner of that sale remain unclear. (Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; editing by John Wallace)

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Ryanair share price rises as airline reports €10m Q3 loss

RYANAIR’S SHARE price rose by just under 1 per cent in Dublin yesterday in spite of the company reporting a “disappointing” €10.3 million loss for the three months to the end of December.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said the airline was on track to break even in its third quarter but its earnings were affected by air traffic control strikes in continental Europe and “ridiculous” airport closures related to the bad weather in December.

Ryanair cancelled 3,000 flights in the third quarter due to a variety of disruptions. By contrast, it cancelled only 1,400 flights in the previous fiscal year.

The airline, however, said it was “confident” that its full year net profit would be “towards the upper end” of its previously guided range of €380-400 million.

With Ryanair having recorded a net profit, before exceptional items, of €441 million in the first nine months of its financial year, this indicates that the airline will make a loss of at least €41 million in the three months to the end of March.

In a conference call with analysts yesterday, Mr O’Leary described them as a “solid set of results”.

Ryanair’s third-quarter loss was marginally down on the same period of 2009 but its revenues rose by 22 per cent to €746 million. Passenger numbers were up 6 per cent at 17 million.

The results show upward pressure on a number of expenses. Overall, unit costs rose by 15 per cent to €746 million due to a 14 per cent rise in flight hours, as the airline added longer routes to its schedule.

Fuel costs rose by 37 per cent to €283.7 million, while staff expenses were up 9 per cent at €89.3 million.

After two years of a pay freeze, Mr O’Leary said Ryanair staff would get a “modest” rise in their wages when the matter was considered in late March or early April. This would reflect the rebound in the company’s profitability, he added.

Ryanair’s average fare rose by 15 per cent to €34 in quarter three while the average revenue per passenger was up by the same percentage to €44.

Ryanair finance director Howard Millar told The Irish Times yesterday that its average fare would probably rise to €39 by end of the year.

“Our plan is to slow down our growth rate and push up average fares,” he added.

With oil prices rising in recent weeks, Ryanair has strengthened its fuel hedging position.

Current spot prices are at about $890 a tonne. Ryanair has hedged 90 per cent of its fourth-quarter requirement at $750 a tonne and is 80 per cent hedged for its next financial year at an average price of $800 a tonne.

“We are well hedged for the full year but on a long-term basis, oil prices are not looking good for the industry,” Mr Millar said. “It’s a headwind we don’t like.”

He added that Ryanair was preparing to sue the Spanish government for disruptions caused to its services due to strikes by air traffic controllers last year.

“We’re preparing to file the documents,” he said. “We’re setting down a marker now.”

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Egypt's national airline bows to curfew

National airline Egyptair announced on Monday the cancellation of all its domestic and international flights during curfew hours.

The company said it would cancel all flights scheduled between 3 pm and 8 pm (1300-1600 GMT) from Monday and that it would change certain flight times to abide by the curfew pending further notice.

It asked customers worldwide to contact the company to verify its new flight schedule.

The curfew was slapped on Cairo, Suez and Alexandria on Friday, theoretically narrowing the window of time available for protests.

But this did nothing to deter thousands of people from gathering for the seventh consecutive day in Tahrir (Liberation) Square, at the heart of Cairo, to demand the departure of President Hosni Mubarak.

The Egyptian uprising has killed at least 125 people and left thousands of injured since January 25.

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Air New Zealand goes all black for new aircraft arrival

Air New Zealand’s striking new all black A320 aircraft will touch down at Auckland airport for the first time this afternoon, marking the start of a revolution in the airline’s domestic jet service.

The Airbus A320s will progressively replace Air New Zealand’s existing fleet of Boeing 737-300s, increasing the number of passenger seats and improving fuel efficiency on the domestic jet network which forms the backbone of commercial air travel in New Zealand.

“The first four will be delivered this year and the remaining ten progressively through until 2016, coinciding with the expiry of our current B737-300 aircraft leases,” says Scott Carr General Manager New Zealand.

The larger aircraft will enable Air New Zealand to increase capacity on routes that are beginning to face capacity constraints at some airports during peak times.

The current 737 fleet is configured with 133 seats, with the larger domestic A320 aircraft increasing domestic jet capacity by almost 30%.

To kick off this transition, the first domestic A320 celebrates Air New Zealand’s long running sponsorship of the All Blacks with a stunning jet black livery, silver fern motif and Koru on the tail.

The aircraft, which carries the registration ZK-OAB, is due to arrive in Auckland at 3:30pm this afternoon after making a three day journey from the home base of manufacturer Airbus in Toulouse (France), via Gander (Canada), Denver, Los Angeles and Samoa.

After touching down at Auckland airport, the aircraft will taxi to the domestic terminal, where the aircraft will receive an official welcome.

The new A320 fleet coupled with the new fleet of Boeing 777-300s, will ensure Air New Zealand continues to have one of the youngest fleets in the world.

Aircraft enthusiasts outside of Auckland will have an opportunity to see this distinctive aircraft during a whirlwind five-stop nationwide tour on Waitangi Day, 6 February.

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Jetstar's Bali backlog 'clear by today'

JETSTAR says its backlog of about 1600 stranded passengers waiting to leave Bali should be cleared by today after volcanic ash in the region caused flights to be cancelled and delayed.

Airlines resumed flights in and out of Denpasar at the weekend after being told ash from an Indonesian volcano no longer posed a threat to aircraft.

The eruption of 2329m-high Tengger Caldera, in east Java, forced the cancellation of flights for two days straight, stranding passengers bound for Bali from Australia, as well as those headed in the opposite direction.

Jetstar chief executive David Hall said scheduled services would operate from Denpasar and confirmed an additional service to Melbourne after the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre indicated the ash had dissipated.

An extra three Jetstar services - to Sydney, Perth and Darwin - are also planned from Denpasar.

This will add about 1000 seats to clear travellers left grounded by cancelled flights on January 27 and 28.

"Our priority is to uplift all the affected passengers as quickly as possible and to get them back into Australia for the commencement of the school year and return to work," Mr Hall said.

The cost of the disruption to Jetstar, which operates up to seven daily services to Bali, could reach seven figures, he said.

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Air France Keeps Safety Conclusions Private

An independent review of Air France’s safety procedures commissioned by the operator in December 2009 has issued 35 recommendations, although the carrier has decided to keep most of the conclusions to itself.

The panel was established after the loss of Flight 447, an Airbus A330-200 service between Rio de Janeiro and Paris that crashed into the Atlantic in June 2009 killing all 228 on board. While the cause of that crash has still to be determined, Air France’s safety protocols and training came under scrutiny, which in turn caused a rift between the airline’s pilots and management.

Some of the preliminary recommendations from the Independent Safety Review Team have already been disclosed, notably the formation of a flight safety committee within Air France’s board of directors (Aviation Daily, Sept. 9, 2010). Air France now confirms it has also launched a Line Operations Safety Audit, a system that monitors pilots during flight operations, which the airline says it is introducing in Europe.

“The independent safety review’s work mainly focused on listening to employees’ accounts and observing the airline’s operating methods. These observations were analyzed by the safety review team’s eight experts: safety systems and safety management in aeronautical sectors or other sectors, “resilience” of the organizations and human factors,” says Air France in a release, adding, “The findings primarily concern the company’s organization, its corporate culture and the individual behavior of its staff, managers and unions.”

Air France, which notes that the review was not an audit and found the carrier in compliance with all regulatory requirements, says ‘most of the recommendations will be rapidly implemented in line with a schedule to be defined shortly and monitored in the groups concerned.

“The adaptation, postponing or non-acknowledgment of any of these proposals will be subject to discussion and validation by these groups.”

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Air France-KLM’s CEO, continues, “Air France is the only airline to submit itself, on its sole initiative, to the opinion of a team of external experts to whom I extend my gratitude for the quality of the work accomplished. By implementing their recommendations, which combine the best practices observed individually in other airlines worldwide, Air France will place its flight safety performance at the highest level possible.”

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Boeing Bets On Replacement 737 Over Reengining

Boeing is betting that technology will mature enough by 2019/2020 to support a new airplane to serve the all-important 100- to 200-seat market, rather than taking the option of re-engining 737NGs to compete with the Airbus A320 New Engine Option (NEO) program.

“If we can come up with the right airplanes in the roughly 2019/2020 [period], I personally think the market will wait for us,” CEO James McNerney told analysts during a 2010 earnings call yesterday. “But we have to work through the airplane [to see] more precisely what it will look like.”

The company expects to spend most of the year evaluating the tradeoffs of introducing an all-new airframe with new engines, systems and, perhaps, greater use of composites in the fuselage to improve its overall lifecycle performance versus the interim step of re-engining the current 737 to achieve immediate fuel burn improvements.

If Boeing’s bet on an all-new airplane is feasible by the end of the decade, it will leapfrog Airbus’s NEO, which is to enter service no earlier than 2016. Airbus has bet that new technologies will not be mature enough to meet a decade-end deadline. It expects a 15% fuel burn gain for customers who chose either one of its engine offerings—the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofan or CFM International LEAP-X.

But if technologies are not mature enough until 2025, then Boeing will need to consider re-engining to meet the NEO challenge. It will make that decision by year-end, McNerney said. He did not mention engine choices, but they include the LEAP-X or PW1000G.

Boeing and Airbus are no longer operating in a duopoly vacuum. Bombardier’s 130-seat CSeries, to be powered by the PW1000G, and China’s C919 with the LEAP-X are both scheduled to enter the market at mid-decade.

There is a risk for Boeing's and Airbus’s traditional customer base in this face-off. If they opt for the Airbus solution, they will be investing in an interim approach that could sour only a few years later if Boeing’s all-new replacement is viable. On the other hand, if Boeing is unable to complete an all new design by the end of the decade and waits too long to respond to the NEO, Airbus will have gained an advantage.

McNerney’s comments are in line with what he and senior Boeing officials have been saying for more than a year. But coming on the heels of Airbus’ announcement, they are an important reiteration of the company’s insistence that it sees more opportunity in waiting for a full replacement for the 737.

The risk for Boeing is that airlines may grow impatient. Only last week, Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told analysts that he was most “excited” about the CSeries and NEO because of their promise of improved fuel burn. His clear implication was that Boeing will be out of the mix. Delta expects to place a firm order for some 200 small, medium and large aircraft by year-end with an option for 200 more.

Although he did not mention the NEO, McNerney implicitly criticized an interim engine upgrade strategy. “For me, putting our backlog at risk twice—once for the re-engine and then for the cost [of developing an all-new aircraft a few years later], only makes sense if the new airplane wants to be developed in 2025 and beyond,” he said. 
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Boeing 787 Test Priority Shifts To ETOPS

Boeing 787 certification focus is shifting from aircraft tests to qualification for long-range ETOPS at entry-into-service in the aftermath of last November’s electrical fire, says Boeing CEO James McNerney.

Despite the delays caused by the fire on ZA002, the 787 program has completed 75% of the flight testing required for delivery, but the redesign of software prompted by the incident is threatening the timing of Boeing’s ETOPS qualification program. Without FAA approval for ETOPS at entry-into-service, early long-range operations by launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) and others will be severely limited.

Speaking to analysts on a 2010 earnings call, McNerney adds that as 787 flight hours pass the 2,500 flight-hours mark, qualification testing for ETOPS at entry-into-service is the growing priority. “We have a clear view of what we need to do. The FAA has been working very closely with us. ETOPS is different this time around than it was on the 777. The FAA has a new way of doing it. It used to be cycle-based and now it is fault-based and condition-based. The question is what test points are applicable for each test point, and we have to do it right.”

Commenting on development of the revised power distribution control software after the 787 electrical fire, and whether the chances of winning ETOPS clearance at entry-into-service have been endangered, McNerney says, “We are in agreement. We have a temporary fix, but we are going to implement a permanent fix before we go into ETOPS testing. But there is no misunderstanding between us [and the FAA] on what needs to be done, and on what timing.”

Overall Assembly Rate Will Continue To Grow

Production of the 787 is holding at two per month, and Boeing remains confident the overall assembly rate will continue to grow to 10 per month by the end of 2013. McNerney says the target is achievable but will occur later in the year than originally planned because of the delivery slide to the -8 into the third quarter of 2011. “We had a very conservative view and a significant amount of margin in our production ramp-up plans, and a lot of that has now been eaten up by the latest delay. Everything slid to the right—and that is offset by a contingency we had in 2013.”

McNerney adds that completion of recent assemblies into Everett has been at a “very high” level, suggesting that the company’s supply chain is over the hump on rework levels and aiming for a smoother ride into the production ramp-up plan for 2011-2013. On any thoughts of rate acceleration, McNerney is cautious. “We’re mindful of the supply chain, and we don’t want to relive the experiences of 1997.”

Commenting on the 747-8F program, McNerney says the stretched freighter has also passed the 1,700-flight-hour mark and, at roughly 650 flights, is about two-thirds of the way through its test program. With fixes for the aileron vibration and modal suppression issues discovered last year now completing flight test, Boeing remains confident of achieving first delivery around mid-2011. Development of the -8I passenger variant, meanwhile, remains on track for first flight in late March, while both the first two aircraft have now achieved ‘power-on’ in ground tests.

CFO James Bell says deliveries for 2011 are expected to cover 485-400 aircraft, and that all positions through December are “sold out.” This includes 25-40 747-8/787s, divided “roughly equally between the two programs.” Analysts suggest deliveries of up to 17 747-8s by yearend, meaning that Boeing could be looking at eight to 23 787 deliveries for the last four months of 2011. 
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Etihad adds two flights for Egyptian exits

ABU DHABI // Etihad Airways says it has put on additional flights from Egypt to accommodate those wishing to leave the country, as the UAE's Ambassador in Egypt requested all Emirati nationals in the country to head to Cairo Airport in order to arrange for their departure.

Etihad said an additional flight was scheduled yesterday afternoon and in the early hours of this morning.

An Etihad spokeswoman said: "Etihad Airways is monitoring the situation in Egypt very closely.

"At this stage, all scheduled flights to Cairo and Alexandria are operating as planned, however customers are advised to check the airline's website for the latest updates.

"Etihad is also working closely with the UAE authorities to provide supplementary flights as required. Interested passengers should contact the airline.”

Today’s confirmed additional Etihad flights are EY653A, which departed Abu Dhabi at 12.03pm local time and is estimated to arrive in Cairo at 2.20pm local time. The return flight, EY654A will depart Cairo at 3.00pm local time and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 8.30pm local time.

Two extra flights also operated yesterday.

Dubai carrier, Emirates, is operating as scheduled in Cairo. However, a spokesman for the airline said: “All passengers due to travel to or from Cairo in the next few days are advised to reconsider non-essential travel.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and aim to give customers as much notice as possible should there be any changes to our operations.”

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Jet Airways to Connect Sharjah - Mangalore Soon

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) : Bolstered by high passenger volumes on its Gulf network, private carrier Jet Airways is looking at enhancing connectivity to the lucrative region from the coming summer, an airline source said.

"Encouraged by the increasing traffic on the Gulf routes, we are mulling to launch some new sectors in ournetwork," a Jet Airways source told PTI on condition ofanonymity.

The airline plans to add one flight on Mumbai-Dubai route, he said, adding services to Sharjah from Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram are also being worked out. "We plan to introduce these services from the coming summer season."

Jet Airways currently operates two daily flights from  Mumbai and one each from Delhi and Hyderabad to Dubai.

The proposed flights are expected be serviced by theBoeing 737-800 aircraft, he added.

Jet Airways, which currently has a fleet of 93aircraft, plans to add 49 more planes in the next five yearsto expand its domestic and international network.

Coming out of the global meltdown, when passenger airtraffic fell significantly and airlines reduced capacity, the domestic air traffic clocked a 16 per cent growth in 2010.

According to industry estimates, the passenger trafficis expected to touch 60-million mark this year as against 45million in 2009.

Recently, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal said he was expecting a 15 per cent rise in the domestic and another 15-20 per cent in the international passenger traffic.

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Virgin Blue ditches jets to go 'retro'

Virgin Blue will lease a new fleet of up to 18 unspecified turboprop airliners. Photo: Hank Van Stuivenberg

Whatever else it is, Virgin and its airline incarnation Down Under, Virgin Blue, is a fashion brand, selling a travel experience. So when Virgin Blue decided to aquire a fleet of small regional jets from Brazil's Embraer in 2006, it marketed them with a slick series of double entendres about Brazilians.

Embraer was one of two manufacturers that rode a fashion wave in the 1990s as airlines discovered they could sometimes double passenger traffic from cities and towns that used to have noisy turboprop airliners if they switched to fast, quieter small jets starting at about 50 seats in size.

In Australia, Ansett joined the rush and bought a fleet of Bombardier regional jets, to replace its big jet services to Tasmania and offer business customers much higher daily frequencies.

Virgin Blue has announced that it is getting rid of the 70-seat Embraer 170.

But, as the first decade of this century rolled around, the new fashion hit the wall as the price of jet fuel hit the roof – not out of any shortage, but as a result of manipulation of the oil "futures" market.

What do you know? With the price of fuel on the rise again, there are now hundreds of unemployable small regional jets parked in the US desert. Much more fuel efficient turboprops are back in fashion, even though they've never been particularly popular with punters.

And Virgin Blue has announced that it is getting rid of the smaller of the two Embraer types it decided to buy in 2006 – the 70-seat Embraer 170 – even though the 170 and the larger 190 are popular because of their unique oblong cabin design that offers plenty of headroom among other things.

The whole deal is shrouded in mystery as Virgin Blue has revealed little other than the fact that it will lease a new fleet of up to 18 unspecified turboprop airliners, in conjunction with Western Australian regional airline, Skywest.

VB hasn't even said where the turboprops will be flying, but there's plenty of speculation they'll be flying all over the VB network in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, as well as in WA.

My tip, for example, is that VB will use them to operate its first services to Bundaberg and Gladstone, two major regional cities that have restricted runways; it's an embarrassment for the Brisbane-based airline that it has never been able to fly to these centres, when it boasts it's Queensland's biggest airline.

The obvious candidate elsewhere is the Sydney-Canberra route. If the airline chooses the fast turboprop Bombardier Q400 – a plane that new Virgin Blue boss John Borghetti saw up close at Qantas – a whole range of other routes come into calculations as the aircraft can compete on flying time with bigger jets on routes of up to as much as 1000 kilometres.

But how will a new fleet of turboprops be greeted by punters in Australia? They've never been popular because of the increased cabin noise and vibration compared with jets, and they tend to find more rough weather because they're unable to fly above it.

I remember, in the 1990s, flying from Melbourne to Adelaide via Mount Gambier in a Kendell Airlines Saab 340; the cabin vibration was so bad my voice sounded like a psychedelic audio experiment.

In my rare trips to the bush, I've found Qantas's Bombardier Dash 8s better than Rex's Saab 340s for noise, but there's no doubt the technology is better nowadays on both types with cabin noise and vibration suppression systems.

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EGYPT: US Embassy to begin voluntary evacuation flights Monday

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo plans to begin flying Americans out of Egypt on chartered planes Monday, according to a Sunday statement.

The announcement came hours after the embassy advised Americans in Egypt to consider leaving as soon as possible. The statement said the State Department is making arrangements to provide those who want to leave with flights to “safe-haven locations in Europe.”

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice Jacobs told CNN that the government-chartered flights will continue after Monday.

“They will be ongoing until we are able to get all Americans who are not able to get out via commercial airlines,” Jacobs said.

She advised Americans to limit travel in Egypt and urged those with relatives in Egypt to convey flight information to them directly, since access to the department's website is limited within Egypt.

The department earlier moved to reduce diplomatic staff in Egypt, authorizing the voluntary departure of diplomats and nonessential workers.

Britain recommended its citizens leave Cairo, Suez and Alexandria, “where it is safe to do so.”

An accountant at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Egypt was among those killed in street clashes in Cairo on Saturday on his way home from work, an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters.

The spokesman said the government was sending a plane to Cairo on Sunday to pick up the body and evacuate about 70 Azerbaijanis studying in Egypt.

The Japanese government was preparing Sunday to use chartered planes to fly out 600 Japanese nationals stranded in or around Cairo, the Kyodo news agency reported.

The Greek foreign ministry told Reuters that at least two Greek military aircraft were on standby to evacuate citizens from Egypt.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki dispatched his presidential plane to Egypt to pick up Iraqi citizens, and the Iraqi transport ministry ordered free transportation on Iraqi Airways for Iraqi citizens leaving Egypt, a ministry spokesman told Reuters.

The Belgian travel agency Jetair, owned by TUI Travel, said on its website that it was working on an evacuation plan that would begin Monday for customers who are in Egypt. Belgian media said about 1,700 tourists were subject to the plan.

Turkey also offered to evacuate citizens wanting to leave Egypt on Sunday.

As some European companies started evacuating staff Sunday, Reuters reported that the scene at Cairo Airport had become chaotic as travelers competed for a dwindling number of flights. U.S.-based Delta Air Lines told Reuters that as of Friday it was suspending service into Cairo indefinitely, but other major airlines, including Lufthansa and Air India, said they would send additional planes to Cairo and Alexandria.

At the same time many were preparing to flee the country, others were sheltering in place or pursuing holiday travel.

The Philippines foreign ministry readied a $567,000 emergency fund for the evacuation of about 6,600 Filipinos on Sunday, while Thailand advised some 2,600 Thais in the country to stay put, Reuters reported.

“They have been asked to stay indoors with food and water in case of an emergency,” Thai ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi told Reuters.

Most of the estimated 40,000 Russians vacationing in Egypt have no plans to cut short their trips despite the protests, the acting head of the Russian Federal Tourism Agency, Alexander Radkov, told the Interfax news agency on Saturday.

“On the whole, the situation in Egyptian resorts remains calm. ... People do not want to interrupt their holiday,” he said.

Tour operator TUI Deutschland said cancellations and rebookings of trips to the Red Sea coast had so far not increased, and Thomas Cook flew a fresh batch of tourists to the region from Germany on Sunday.

“Our guests are doing fine. And none of them have said they want to come home now,” a Thomas Cook spokeswoman told Reuters.

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Passengers affected by 'smoky' SIA plane

SNGAPORE: More than 200 passengers on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ328 were affected Saturday morning after smoke was spotted in the cabin.

The plane was flying from Singapore to Munich when the incident took place.

As a result, it returned to Changi Airport and landed safely shortly after midnight.

All affected passengers boarded another flight to Munich about three hours later.

SIA is investigating the cause of the incident.

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Boeing will deliver 787 Dreamliner to Air India this year

Aircraft manufacturing major Boeing will deliver the first of its premium 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Air India (AI) this year. “Deliveries will occur this year and it will happen with proper settlement,” Dinesh Keskar, president, Boeing India,  told Hindustan Times. Keskar said he would formally announce the date of deliveries at the Aero India show to be held in Bangalore in the second week of February.

“We know the answer (when the first plane would be delivered to AI) but we wanted to find a good platform. We have just announced that we will deliver the 787 to Japan’s All Nippon Airlines in the third quarter this year,” Keskar said.
Keskar would soon be meeting AI chairman to inform him about the delivery schedule.

A miffed AI management had slapped a notice on the Seattle-based aviation giant demanding compensation of about $850 million for the persistent delay on deliveries of planes. AI had placed an order for 27 B-787 Dreamliners.

According to the original schedule, the first such aircraft was to be delivered in September 2008 followed by one each in the subsequent months.

By March 2011, Boeing was scheduled to have delivered 18 of these 787 aircraft to AI.

“Everybody knows there is a commercial agreement between Boeing and AI and those agreements govern the terms. It’s like you tell somebody to build your house and if it’s not built on time there is a remedy,” Keskar said.

The Dreamliner flight test programme, he said, was in full swing with the aircraft having completed 2500 hours and another 300 hours were needed to be done after which they will get the Federal Aviation Administration certificate.

“Once that is obtained, which we are expecting this summer, then we can begin deliveries all over the world,” he said.
The demand for the aircraft has been unprecedented with 857 units already sold. “Many aircraft in operation right now won’t reach that number in their lifetime,” Keskar said.

“By 2013-end, we will start building ten airplanes a month. But still that will take 85 months (for the present orders to be executed) so it’s a long way and are seeing what we can do. For the first time in Boeing’s history, we have opened a second assembly line in South Carolina where we will be building Boeing 787’s,” he said.

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The Russians Are Coming - First Australian Freight Movement By Giant Aircraft

AUSTRALIA – MAURITANIA – Ruslan International, the company christened after the nickname of the An-124, the aircraft which forms the basis of its fleet, saw one of the planes make an inaugural flight from Sydney this week after officials at the country’s Department of Infrastructure & Transportation passed the giant heavy lift freighter as Chapter 3 ICAO noise-compliant.

The An-124 series are to be seen serving all around the world as the workhorses of the skies carrying cargoes which range from military vehicles for NATO to whales and elephants but up to now it was necessary to prove it was in the public interest to utilise the aircraft before permission was granted to land in Australia.

Ruslan International, is a company formed in 2006 as a joint venture of Antonov Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Airlines, to manage, and provide marketing for, both airlines’ An-124 fleets (which total 17 aircraft) with the aim of optimising their utilisation.

The company submitted noise certificates for all 17 aircraft, satisfying the Department that the fleet fully complies with Chapter 3 ICAO noise standards, and is not impacted by the MCC3 noise levels regulations which opened the way for the first shipment, 105 tonnes of specialised drilling equipment for Tom Browne International Pty Ltd., bound for Nouakchott in Mauritania. Ruslan International Business Development Manager, Michael Goodisman commented:

“Tom Browne advised us that the fast delivery of this outsize drilling equipment was a key factor in securing a new drilling services contract, at the Tasiast Gold Mine in Mauritania, for Kinross Gold. The timely acceptance by the Australian authorities of the Antonov Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124 fleets which we manage, and the assurance this brought to Tom Browne’s own negotiations with its customer, Kinross Gold of Canada, have produced an excellent outcome for this Australian company. Ruslan International is pleased to have played its part in this highly positive result.”

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'Milestone' WTO ruling due in EU-US Boeing battle

GENEVA — The WTO is expected on Monday to hand over a final but confidential ruling to the United States and EU on their bruising dispute over decades of multi-billion dollar US public aid to aircraft giant Boeing.

"We are about to reach another important milestone in the WTO aircraft dispute," said Boeing Vice President for trade policy Ted Austell.

The ruling -- which marks the second major stage in a seven-year, tit-for-tat subsidies battle along with the separate US challenge to European support for rival Airbus -- should remain out of the public eye for a few months under World Trade Organization rules.

Sources in Washington said the lengthy ruling on large civil aircraft should be handed over to the two governments on Monday around 1530 GMT, giving lawyers on both sides the chance to come to grips with its complex findings.

Airbus said last Tuesday that it expects the WTO's arbitrators to award the European Union 45 billion dollars (32.8 billion euros) in "compensation", after interim findings were provided to the two sides last September.

"It will confirm that Boeing received illegal aid," said Maggie Bergsma, spokeswoman for European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

"The aid given to Boeing was in fact much more significant in terms of distorting competitiveness than any sort of aid which Airbus has received."

"We consider that an amount of at least 45 billion dollars will be called for in compensation," she added.

The EU has estimated that Washington gave Boeing 24 billion dollars in disguised subsidies. Not all subsidies or public support are illegal under WTO rules, which seeks to stop those distorting international trade.

Although the dispute involves governments, both companies have been waging a public relations battle on the sidelines of the dispute. Boeing swiftly rejected Airbus's claim.

The "statement from Airbus is simply ridiculous," a spokeswoman for the US aircraft maker said.

Boeing has nonetheless acknowledged that the interim findings did show that some US support was "inconsistent with the rule set", although the amounts are disputed.

"In fact, those findings suggested that any assistance that was alleged to have been found against Boeing in United States was far far smaller, not even comparable to the findings in the USA against Europe case," Austell explained.

Washington has estimated that the economic damage suffered as a result of European support to Airbus amounts to up to 200 billion dollars, an amount that Brussels contests.

Beyond tax breaks and other advantages, a key issue in the EU complaint is the question of aid to Boeing from NASA and the US Defence Department for aerospace research and development, and its scope or impact on civil aircraft.

Trade insiders believe that the WTO's ultimate verdicts will fault both sides, in a similar manner to 2003 rulings on Brazil and Canada's battle over aid for aircraft makers Embraer and Bombardier.

The United States and EU have already appealed against the other ruling on European subsidies for Boeing, and a similar pattern is expected once the Monday's ruling on US support for Boeing becomes public.

Austell also highlighted the likely emergence of new large civil aircraft makers that would compete against the giants from either side of the Atlantic. Boeing and Airbus have largely shared the spoils in recent decades.

"Remember again there are countries all around the world who propose to be large civil aircraft makers and they too are watching how the United States and Europe address this issue," he said.

Executives have suggested those countries would include China and Brazil, and the WTO rulings would serve to lay down markers indicating the limits of state support for such emerging ventures.

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Chile competition tribunal probes LAN, TAM merger

* LAN, TAM union would create one of world's top airlines

SANTIAGO

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Chile's anti-trust tribunal has opened a probe into the merger between Chile's flagship airline LAN and Brazil's TAM, a move that could delay or even block a bid to create one of the world's biggest airlines.

The Chilean airline (LAN.SN) LFL.L said earlier this month it expected the merger with TAM (TAMM4.SA) to be completed within six to nine months.

But Chilean consumers asked the country's competition tribunal to investigate whether the deal conforms to local regulations. That means the merger cannot move forward until the tribunal has given it the go ahead.

A resolution published on the court's website on Saturday ordered that "the process is suspended in the intervening period."

LAN and TAM announced their plans in August and are waiting for regulatory approval in both countries.

Industry analysts say LAN is effectively buying the Brazilian airline as the Cueto family is set to emerge with the major stake in what would be one of the world's top carriers.

The Cueto family is the main shareholder of LAN, considered one of Latin America's most profitable airlines.

LAN shares closed down 3.19 percent in Santiago on Friday in a general sell-off. (Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Helen Popper; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Families of top businessmen flee Egypt

An official at Cairo airport says 19 private jets carrying families of wealthy Egyptian and Arab businessmen have flown out of the capital.

The official said the jets left on Saturday carrying dozens of family members of Egypt's business elite.

He said most of the planes were headed for Dubai.

The passengers included the families of telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris, the executive chairman of Orascom Telecom, and Hussein Salem, a hotel tycoon and close confidant of President Hosni Mubarak.

The exodus of the families comes as Egypt enters its sixth day of mass unrest directed against Mubarak and what they say have been policies that further enrich the wealthy at the average citizen's expense.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.

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EGYPT: Air travel disrupted; Cairo airport besieged by fleeing tourists

Mounting unrest in Egypt disrupted air travel to and from Cairo and other major Egyptian cities on Saturday as carriers canceled or delayed flights.

One Cairo-bound jet from London turned back in mid-flight after Egyptian authorities extended a curfew to start at 4 p.m., making it impossible for passengers aboard the British Midlands flight to make it out of the airport in time to avoid the police patrols.

More than 1,500 travelers descended on Cairo International Airport, about half of them tourists, after the United States, France, Germany and other countries warned their citizens to cancel nonessential travel and avoid the major Egyptian cities where anti-government protests have become violent.

Airport officials told the Associated Press in Cairo that the Israeli carrier, El Al, was attempting to send in a plane to pick up about 200 Israeli citizens.

Delta Airlines announced that it was indefinitely suspending its flights from the United States to Cairo "as a result of civil unrest.”

British Airways said it had revised its flight schedule to land well ahead of the start of the 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew imposed by the government in response to widening unrest.

German carrier Lufthansa canceled both of its Saturday flights to the Egyptian capital, as did Air Berlin and Poland's LOT.

Dutch-based KLM, Italy's Alitalia, EgyptAir and Emirates said they would continue to fly to Egypt but on schedules adjusted to accommodate the curfew.

Cairo, Alexandria and the port city of Suez have been the scene of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police for more than five days as Egyptians demand the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

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More French flights for UAE carriers Ivan Gale

France has given the green light to Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways to increase flights to Paris and other French cities by more than 60 per cent, despite lobbying efforts from Air France to block the expansion.

The UAE airlines' allotments, under the UAE-France bilateral air agreement concluded on Thursday, has risen to 60 weekly flights, up from the previous 35 flights a week. They represent an important victory for the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which is also waging long-running campaigns to sign similar agreements in Germany and Canada despite opposition from those countries' flag carriers.

The new agreement gives the UAE airlines additional weekly frequencies into Paris, and also more weekly flights to provincial airports such as Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice and Toulouse.

The UAE airlines and Qatar Airways have invested billions of dollars in new aircraft to carry out rapid international expansions in recent years.

Their growth threatens to divert lucrative international traffic from airlines such as Lufthansa, Air Canada and Air France. In response, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, the chief executive of Air France, has called on his government for protection. "Europe is at the crossroads of international air travel, and this is a role we need to value and defend," Mr Gourgeon said in October. "We need a strategy that gives us a chance to resist."

Saif Mohammed al Suwaidi, the director general of the GCAA, said he was pleased the negotiations were successful amid the charged political environment.

"People had been expecting, due to the statements from Air France last year, that this round of consultation would fail, because the French government would adopt the point of view of Air France," he said. "But the French government made us an offer and we accepted it."

The new landing rights will gradually be increased between now and 2014, Mr al Suwaidi said.

Andrew Parker, the senior vice president of international affairs at Emirates, said the new air connections should help the French economy.

"Despite Air France's vigorous defence about not wanting more competition, and its well stated views on Gulf carriers, the French Government's position was more about finding common ground and promoting growth. It is in France's national interest to boost aviation, tourism and traffic," Mr Parker said.

France is a major ally and trading partner of the UAE, supplying Airbus planes to airlines and Dassault fighter jets to the Air Force. As a sign of the strong ties, France in 2009 opened a military base in Abu Dhabi, and in December, the UAE was reported to have resumed negotiations with Dassault to buy 60 Rafale fighter jets in a proposed multibillion-euro deal.

The GCAA is pursuing more than two dozen bilateral negotiations this year with foreign governments to pave the way for further expansions of UAE airlines, Mr al Suwaidi said, including with India and Pakistan.

The rise of the UAE as a global air hub is reshaping the global aviation landscape, including the long-held dominance of Germany's Lufthansa. Emirates has supplanted the German carrier for the title of world's largest international airline by capacity.

The Berlin mayor Harald Wolf said this month that although his city government would welcome international flights from Emirates as a way to stimulate trade, tourism and investment, these plans were being stymied by lobbying efforts from Lufthansa. "The difficulty is the federal government. They are very restrictive," he said. "They have had a very strong lobbying from Lufthansa not to strengthen Emirates."

In Canada, Etihad and Emirates are allowed only six weekly flights, and the failure to receive more frequencies despite five years of talks has spurred a fully fledged diplomatic crisis between the UAE and Canada. "They [Canada] should decide how to get along with us on this very sensitive issue," said Mr al Suwaidi.

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Singapore Airlines Q3 profit slumps on cargo fines

SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Friday its fiscal third-quarter net profit fell by almost 29 per cent, mainly due to the anti-trust fines imposed by the European Union, United States and South Korea.

Net profit fell to $288.3 million in the October-December quarter from the $403.7 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.

SIA said it had to set aside $199.1 million to pay fines due to alleged price fixing by its cargo unit. The European Commission, the South Korean Fair Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division had imposed the fines. The airline said it had appealed against the decisions made by the European Commission and the Korean body.

Excluding the provision for the fines, the airline's net profit would have improved by 21 per cent.

Meanwhile, group revenue rose 12 per cent to $3.84 billion from $3.42 billion in the year-ago period.

Looking ahead, the company said that advance passenger bookings for the final quarter of the 2010-11 financial year were levelling off.

For air cargo, regional differences would continue to be marked in 2011, with strength in the Asia-Pacific region but uncertainties in Europe markets. Growth for air freight was expected to continue for the rest of the financial year, albeit at a slower rate.

The carrier said fuel cost remained its biggest expense item, with jet fuel prices at two-year highs and trending upwards.

Mr Siva Govindasamy, Asia managing editor at Flightglobal, said the fundamental business for SIA remained premium and long-haul. As long as these two markets remain buoyant the airline would continue to do well, he said.

In a separate statement on Friday, SIA's 33-per-cent owned Tiger Airways said fiscal third-quarter net profit rose by about 60 per cent year-on-year due to higher average passenger fares and strict cost management.

The budget carrier made a net profit of $22.6 million in the October-December quarter, up from $14.1 million in the year-ago period. Revenue for the airline, which operates across Asia and Australia, grew 22.2 per cent to $170.4 million during the period.

Tiger said it would maintain its plan to grow its fleet by 40 per cent from 25 aircraft currently to 35 aircraft by March next year.

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Flights to Bali to resume after volcanic ash halt

AIRLINES will resume flights to Bali after being told ash from an Indonesian volcano is no longer posing a threat to aircraft.

Virgin Blue said its first flight would be at 11.35 (AEST) from Brisbane to Denpasar.

A spokesman said that while there would be some adjustment to the schedule it was anticipated all flights to Bali would leave today.

In a statement, Jetstar said its Perth to Denpasar flight was expected to leave at 12.35pm (WST).

The airline will seek advice from the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre regarding flights to Bali from Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin scheduled for later today.

The eruption of 2329-metre-high Tengger Caldera, in east Java, had led to the cancellation of flights for two days running, stranding passengers bound for Bali from Australia, as well as those headed in the opposite direction.

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Emirates cancels Tunis flights

Dubai: Emirates on Tuesday announced that it has cancelled its flights to and from Tunis on January 16 and 17 due to political unrest.

The airline said in a statement it is "monitoring the situation closely and aims to give customers as much notice as possible if there are any further changes to our operations."

All passengers due to travel to or from Tunis in the next few days are advised to check the status of their flight before departing for the airport. 

Emirates said it will waive administrative fees for rebooking; re-issue and cancellation charges for passengers ticketed to travel to Tunis up to January 21.

Etihad and flydubai have no services to Tunis.

Air Arabia flies from its hub in Casablanca to Tunis. Its next scheduled flight is on January 18.

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Air Canada wanted daily Emirates flights

Ottawa:

Ottawa: Air Canada wanted Emirates to fly daily into Toronto, a document obtained by Gulf News shows.

According to the proposal dated October 17, 2006, the Canadian airline even proposed the landing times for Emirates flights in Toronto so as to maximise the number of Air Canada passengers using the service.

In return for the arrangement, Air Canada wanted 50 per cent of all of Emirates's profits on the route. Emirates rejected the proposal. Air Canada and Emirates did not comment.

Since the 2006 deal was rejected, both Emirates and Etihad have been limited to three flights a week to Toronto, and the UAE carriers have been refused more landing slots and have been stalled in their efforts to fly to other Canadian destinations of Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Air Canada, however, while believing the proposed arrangement would be profitable in 2006, has since consistently claimed that thousands of jobs would be lost if more UAE flights are granted. "Clearly, this document shows the duplicity of Air Canada and the Canadian government in this whole affair," Dan McTeague, the opposition Liberal party's critic on foreign and consular affairs, told Gulf News. "The government is acting in the interests of Air Canada."

McTeague said that if Air Canada wanted more flights, then its current view on jobs doesn't told water. An Emirates study says that daily flights to Toronto would create nearly 2,000 new jobs and would contribute $26 million (Dh94 million) annually in tax revenue for federal and provincial governments.

wanted Emirates to fly daily into Toronto, a document obtained by Gulf News shows.

According to the proposal dated October 17, 2006, the Canadian airline even proposed the landing times for Emirates flights in Toronto so as to maximise the number of Air Canada passengers using the service.

In return for the arrangement, Air Canada wanted 50 per cent of all of Emirates's profits on the route. Emirates rejected the proposal. Air Canada and Emirates did not comment.

Since the 2006 deal was rejected, both Emirates and Etihad have been limited to three flights a week to Toronto, and the UAE carriers have been refused more landing slots and have been stalled in their efforts to fly to other Canadian destinations of Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Air Canada, however, while believing the proposed arrangement would be profitable in 2006, has since consistently claimed that thousands of jobs would be lost if more UAE flights are granted. "Clearly, this document shows the duplicity of Air Canada and the Canadian government in this whole affair," Dan McTeague, the opposition Liberal party's critic on foreign and consular affairs, told Gulf News. "The government is acting in the interests of Air Canada."

McTeague said that if Air Canada wanted more flights, then its current view on jobs doesn't told water. An Emirates study says that daily flights to Toronto would create nearly 2,000 new jobs and would contribute $26 million (Dh94 million) annually in tax revenue for federal and provincial governments.

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Emirates, Etihad get France clearance

Paris: Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways won clearance to add 22 weekly flights to France in bilateral government talks.

Emirates and Etihad will each receive permission for an additional four weekly Paris flights and seven to smaller cities, said a French Transport Ministry spokeswoman who declined to be identified, citing government rules.

Flying rights

Air France-KLM Group, Europe's biggest carrier based on traffic, had pressed the government to refuse any new flying rights to Emirates and Etihad, arguing that lower taxes and airports fees at their hubs amount to an unfair advantage.

The French carrier had no comment on the agreement, Nicolas Petteau, a spokesman at the company's Paris headquarters, said yesterday.

Emirates said in an e-mailed statement that it was "encouraged by these developments."

Emirates is the biggest customer for the Airbus A380, with 90 of the superjumbos on order or flying.

The airline overtook Deutsche Lufthansa AG in 2009 as the biggest carrier on international flights following a sixfold increase in traffic since 2000, when it ranked 24th.

La Tribune newspaper reported on the aviation agreement earlier yesterday, without citing anyone.

Resume talks

The newspaper said the stalled talks on a UAE order for Rafale fighter jets from Paris-based Dassault Aviation would resume following the deal.

The French ministry spokeswoman declined to comment.

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