Kuwait Airways, via its official Twitter account, announced (21-Oct-2018) the appointment of Kamel Hassan Al Awadhi as CEO, effective 01-Nov-2018. Mr Al Awadhi succeeds Abdullah Ahmed Al Sharhan, who was appointed acting CEO in Apr-2018.
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There are 652 commercial aircraft with operators in India at 17-Oct-2018 (including 34 in storage), according to the CAPA Fleet Database. Of these, 531 aircraft are leased, which is 81% of the total. This compares with a leased aircraft share of 52% in Asia overall and 53% globally. Indian airlines' leasing dependency reflects their relative youth and/or financial fragility.
However, there are no indigenous Indian lessors and many of the world's biggest aircraft leasing companies have only small fleets with the country's airlines. Available data on aircraft orders for Indian operators show that only a very small percentage are currently through lessors. Nevertheless, leasing looks likely to continue to dominate aircraft financing in India and this share of orders will rise, for example through sale and leaseback.
CAPA India published a report in Sep-2018 examining the prospects for an Indian Aircraft Leasing Sector, noting Indian government initiatives to explore ways to stimulate the creation of resident aircraft leasing in the country. Building on that report, this report provides data from the CAPA Fleet Database to put some parameters around the scale of the opportunity for lessors in India, whether home-grown or offshore.
Rapid LCC expansion and the introduction of premium economy at full service airlines have dramatically changed the corporate travel landscape in Asia Pacific. The increasing use of LCCs and premium economy products by corporate buyers will be addressed at the CAPA-ACTE Global Summit and Corporate Lodging Forum in Sydney on 3/4-Dec-2018.
Corporate travel buyers in the region are slowly starting to embrace LCCs for short haul and, in some cases, even long haul travel. With LCCs dominating some Asian markets and often offering the best schedules, it was inevitable they would start to gain traction in the corporate space.
Corporate buyers in some Asia Pacific markets, such as Australia and New Zealand, have embraced premium economy for several years. However, with the introduction of premium economy products by more airlines in recent years there are now premium economy options in more markets, giving corporates the opportunity to review their travel policies.
The CAPA World Aviation Summit in Berlin on 27-28 November 2018 will bring together representatives of airline management and pilot unions to debate the question: can aviation unions be a force for good?
A CAPA analysis published in Sep-2018 examined the growing imbalance between demand and the supply of new airline pilots. Global aviation has enjoyed strong traffic growth in recent years, implying that supply has been sufficient. However, this growth is tightening the supply of labour and the airline industry faces challenges in recruiting qualified pilots in the numbers needed to cope with future expansion.
Pilots are not the only labour group in the industry, but they are by far the most expensive and highly skilled. The looming shortage of pilots is strengthening their negotiating position. The discussion in Berlin will consider the challenge of servicing aviation's growth with an adequate supply of human resources.
It will also discuss whether unions have the industry's interests at heart, whether airlines are too focused on a wage race to the bottom, and whether unions can adapt to rapid change. Cost reduction remains a key priority for management, but this may be more difficult when skilled labour is in short supply.
Foreign ownership laws in North America have undergone minor changes within the past year, including the Canadian government’s decision to increase foreign ownership limits to 49% (with no foreign entity holding more than 25% of voting shares).
Legislation introduced in the US earlier in 2018 to remove ownership restrictions on the country’s airlines has – unsurprisingly – gained little traction. But at least the proposal created an opportunity for discussing changes to US airline foreign ownership stipulations.
The needle on foreign ownership levels of US airlines is not likely to move anytime soon, and the increase in foreign ownership levels in Canada’s airlines have not resulted in drastic changes in the country’s aviation landscape. The result is the status quo will remain in place for the foreseeable future as age old protectionist policies show no signs of changing.
By comparison with Western Europe, Eastern/Central Europe has very few airports with long haul connections. According to data from OAG Schedules Analyser for the week of 8-Oct-2019, there are 62 airports in Western Europe with direct flights to long haul destinations and only 16 in Eastern/Central Europe.
Moreover, while Western Europe has 25 airports with 10 or more long haul routes (and six with more than 50), in Eastern/Central Europe only the two leading Moscow airports have a double digit number of long haul routes.
Moscow Sheremetyevo has the greatest number of short haul to long haul connections in E/C Europe, mainly operated by Aeroflot. Outside Russia/CIS, Warsaw has the greatest number of short haul to long haul connections, with LOT Polish its leading operator. At Prague and Budapest, short haul to long haul connectivity is mainly provided by airlines from elsewhere.
Recorded at CAPA Low Cost Long Haul Global Summit, 4-5 Oct 2018
CAPA Low Cost Long Haul Global Summit 2018 Highlights
The CAPA Low Cost Long Haul Global Summit is the only strategy event dedicated to the new frontier of low cost travel: long haul. New aircraft technologies, evolving passenger preferences and stable fuel prices are pushing LCCs (and restructuring full service airlines) to consider new growth opportunities. High fare long haul markets are ripe for disruption and airports/destinations are aggressively courting new routes. New city pairs are emerging, and secondary airports are featuring regularly in the long haul low cost networks. But it’s not just fuel efficient widebody equipment that’s changing the game – the new long haul narrowbodies are opening up vast new opportunities for airlines – and they’ll be entering the fleets of airlines around the world in large numbers in the coming years. The implications are profound, touching the entire travel value chain from airports to accommodation, ground transportation, distribution/payment and technology – and even corporate travel.
- The role of low cost long haul subsidiaries in full service carrier groups
- The viability of independent low cost long haul carriers vs those that belong to large LCC groupings
- The LCCs’ evolving relationships with airports
- Low cost long haul to short haul connectivity
- Virtual interlining, and the role of new-generation equipment in enabling the growth of the model – including the impact of long haul narrowbodies on traditional high fare markets
CAPA Asia Aviation SummitMore
Upcoming Event
8-9
Nov
Singapore: CAPA Asia Aviation Summit
The summit will bring together up to 30 CEOs of leading carriers based in Asia, as well as those serving the world’s most vibrant aviation region. It will also have a dedicated day on corporate travel focusing on the biggest corporate travel spend: air
CAPA Asia Corporate Travel SummitMore
Upcoming Event
8
Nov
Singapore: CAPA Asia Corporate Travel Summit
The summit will bring together up to 30 CEOs of leading carriers based in Asia, as well as those serving the world’s most vibrant aviation region. It will also have a dedicated day on corporate travel focusing on the biggest corporate travel spend: air
Airports of Thailand reported (22-Oct-2018) the following traffic highlights for Sep-2018:
- Passengers: 9.9 million, +0.5% year-on-year;
- Domestic: 4.2 million, stable;
- International: 5.7 million, +0.9%;
- Cargo: 143,324 tonnes, +0.2%;
- Domestic: 7068 tonnes, -17.0%;
- International: 136,256 tonnes, +1.3%;
- Aircraft movements: 68,902, +4.4%;
- Domestic: 32,280, +1.4%;
- International: 36,622, +7.1%. [more - original PR]
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23-Oct-2018 10:07 AM
Etihad and Saudia announce codeshare partnership and plans for greater cooperation
Etihad Airways and Saudia announced (22-Oct-2018) a new codeshare partnership covering 41 destinations and plans for greater cooperation in other areas, including frequent flyer programmes, cargo and engineering and maintenance. Details include:
- The codeshare covers the following destinations:
- Served by Etihad: Abu Dhabi, Ahmedabad, Baku, Belgrade, Chengdu, Chicago O'Hare, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Nagoya, Riyadh, Seychelles and Tokyo Narita;
- Served by Saudia: Abha, Abu Dhabi, Al-Baha, Alexandria, Alula, Arar, Bisha, Dammam, Dawadmi, Gassim, Gizan, Gurayat, Hail, Hofuf, Jeddah, Jouf, Madinah, Multan, Peshawar, Port Sudan, Qaisumah, Rafha, Riyadh, Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharurah, Tabuk, Taif, Tunis, Turaif, Wadi-Ad-Dawasir, Wedjh and Yanbo;
- The Alfursan and Etihad Guest frequent flyer programme teams are finalising discussions to offer reciprocal 'earn and burn' opportunities to members;
- Etihad Airways Engineering will provide select maintenance services for Saudia aircraft at its MRO facility in Abu Dhabi;
- The airline's cargo divisions are in talks for greater cooperation. Discussions are taking place to explore commercial cargo joint opportunities. [more - original PR]
CAAC reported (22-Oct-2018) the following traffic highlights for Chinese airports for Aug-2018:
- Passengers: 117.0 million, +11.0% year-on-year;
- Eastern region airports: 60.8 million, +11.4%;
- Western region airports: 35.5 million, +9.4%;
- Central region airports: 13.2 million, +14.9%;
- Northeast region airports: 7.4 million, +8.8%;
- Cargo: 1.4 million tonnes, +5.3%;
- Eastern region airports: 1.0 million tonnes, +4.8%;
- Western region airports: 221,000 tonnes, +5.3%;
- Central region airports: 94,000 tonnes, +12.6%;
- Northeast region airports: 44,000 tonnes, +2.8%;
- Aircraft movements: 975,000, +8.3%;
-
- Eastern region airports: 436,000, +5.6%;
- Central region airports: 142,000, +12.1%;
- Western region airports: 332,000, +9.1%;
- Northeast region airports: 66,000, +16.1%. [more - original PR - Chinese]
CAAC reported (22-Oct-2018) the following traffic highlights for Aug-2018:
- Passengers: 56.6 million, +12.1% year-on-year;
- Passenger load factor: 86.5%, +1.4ppts;
- Cargo: 607,000 tonnes, +6.4%;
-
- Domestic: 404,000 tonnes, +3.8%;
- Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan: 21,000 tonnes, -0.1%;
- International: 203,000 tonnes, +11.9%. [more - original PR - Chinese]
- Domestic: 404,000 tonnes, +3.8%;
EuroAirport's board of directors appointed (22-Oct-2018) Luc Gaillet as president, effective 17-Oct-2018. He replaces Jean-Pierre Lavielle, who passed away on 02-Aug-2018. Mr Gaillet was previously project manager of the extension of the EuroAirport runway during his time at the Departmental Public Works Directorate of the Upper Rhine and headed the new EuroAirport rail link project from 2011 to Apr-2018. [more - original PR]
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