CAPA News Briefs

French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) reported (22-Aug-2019) the following traffic highlights for Jul-2019:

• Passengers: +3.2% year-on-year;
  • Domestic: +0.5%;
    • Within Metropolitan France: +0.3%;
    • Metropolitan France to French overseas territories: +1.5%;
    • Within French overseas territories: +1.0%;
  • International: +3.8%;
    • From Metropolitan France: +3.9%;
    • America: +5.4%;
      • EU28: +4.2%;
      • Europe excluding EU28: +4.2%;
      • Asia Pacific: stable;
      • Africa: -4.5%;
    • From French overseas territories: +0.9%. [more - original PR - French]

Singapore Changi Airport reported (23-Aug-2019) the following traffic highlights for Jul-2019:

• Passengers: 5.9 million, +3.3% year-on-year;
• Cargo: 170,000 tonnes, -4.8%;
• Aircraft movements: 32,400, -7.2%. [more - original PR]

Airbus Aerial forecast (22-Aug-2019) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and operation over people (OOP) are "the only way to appreciate a significant increase in ROI with UAS (unmanned aerial systems) technology and as the scale grows". The company continued by stating the lessons learned and benefits from these operations will "expand into new markets". [more - original PR]

CAAC reported (22-Sep-2019) the following traffic highlights for Jun-2019:

• Passengers: 53.4 million, +8.2% year-on-year;
  • Domestic: 47.3 million, +7.2%;
    • Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan: 1.0 million, +11.7%;
  • International: 6.1 million, +16.5
• Passenger load factor: 83.2%, -0.2ppt;
• Cargo: 607,000 tonnes, -1.1%;
  • Domestic: 411,000 tonnes, -0.2%;
    • Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan: 19,000 tonnes, -3.5%;
  • International: 196,000 tonnes, -2.9%. [more - original PR - Chinese]

Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) announced (22-Aug-2019) the following details for the group's FY2020 outlook:

• Some ongoing uncertainty in key markets, due to "Brexit in the UK, soft market growth in Australia, unrest in Hong Kong and the US-China trade war";
• Longer term total transaction value growth target of +7%. [more - original PR]

AirAsia X Berhad reported (22-Aug-2019) the following financial and operational highlights for 2Q2019:

• CASK remains "unchanged" at MYR 12.99 sen (USD0.03), excluding impact of a one off adjustment for the disposal of three aircraft via sale and leaseback in Apr-2019;
• CASK ex fuel improved by 4% year-on-year to MYR 7.74 sen (USD0.02) despite a weakening Malaysian ringgit;
• MYR77 million (USD18 million) loss before taxation, after adjusting disposal of three aircraft;
• Net loss reduced to MYR32 million (USD7.6 million), with "room for further improvement" as Indonesia AirAsia X's two aircraft began wet lease in Jul-2019;
• Thai AirAsia X recorded a net loss of USD8.8 million, given that the new routes remain in "infancy stage". [more - original PR]

Hawaiian Airlines issued (22-Aug-2019) its 90th anniversary Economic Impact Report, which found the carrier generated the equivalent of USD9.3 billion in economic benefits for Hawaii and supported more than 60,000 jobs in 2018. The carrier also transported 1.9 million visitors to Hawaii in 2018 and exported 500 tons of cargo and imported 765 tons of cargo to/from the mainland every week. Hawaiian Airlines now employs more than 7300 staff and operates more than 260 daily flights. [more - original PR]

Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) announced (22-Aug-2019) the arrival of a commission in Abkhazia to assess the technical state of Sukhumi Babushara Airport and establish directions of future work on the resumption of air services. The preparation of the first phase of a master plan for the airport is nearing completion. Sukhumi Babushara Airport investment project head Yegor Solomatin said economic feasibility studies are based on the assumption the airport will handle up to four daily passenger and cargo frequencies during the high season. In accordance with Abkhazia's aviation rules, the airport was assigned the code URAS. [more - original PR - Russian]

Air New Zealand outgoing CEO Christopher Luxon (22-Aug-2019) reported the company's FY2019 result of NZD374 million (USD239 million) in earnings before taxation "reflects a significant fuel price headwind", temporary impacts of "the global Rolls-Royce engine issues on some of our operational costs and as we observed in the second half of the financial year, slowing demand growth". Mr Luxon noted the company is "uniquely positioned to observe changing demand trends due to our forward bookings profile" and while the carrier has "not seen any further downward shift, we are taking the necessary steps to adjust our business". [more - original PR]

Cayman Islands Airports Authority rescheduled (14-Aug-2019) the date to commence runway upgrade works at Grand Cayman Island Owen Roberts International Airport due to unexpected extended contract negotiations. The airfield upgrade project consists of five sub-projects, namely:

• Milling and repaving of the existing runway surface;
• Runway extension to the west of threshold 08;
• Filling of the ponds within the airfield perimeter;
• Establishing a robust airfield perimeter road;
• Expanding the aircraft parking ramp in an easterly direction to provide additional aircraft parking.

The project was scheduled to last eight consecutive Tuesdays starting in Sep-2019. The milling and repaving of the existing runway surface works will have to be rescheduled. The airport runway will now remain open on those eight Tuesdays in Sep/Oct-2019, and the works will be carried out at a later date, in the evenings, outside of the normal operating hours of the airport. [more - original PR]

IATA, in its Aug-2019 North Asia regional briefing, stated (22-Aug-2019) confidence in the Hong Kong economy had its steepest decline in a decade, reflecting softening demand conditions due to the broader impacts of the ongoing US-China trade tensions and the social disruptions in the special administrative region. However, overall Chinese business confidence improved in Jul-2019, reflecting the positive impact of tax reductions supporting the economy. [more - original PR]

IATA, in its Aug-2019 Europe regional briefing, reported (22-Aug-2019) Europe based carriers continued to outperform the industry wide outcome in terms of RPK growth, achieving 5.7% year-on-year growth in Jun-2019. The largest market, within Europe, maintained strength, with an 8.6% increase in RPKs. Passenger demand remained solid in the domestic Russia market, recorded the 11th consecutive month of double digit growth, with the support of lower fares. For the smaller markets, RPK growth on Europe-Africa routes increased from 8.0% in May-2019 to 14.6% in Jun-2019, while Europe-Middle East rebounded from a modest slow down of -0.7% in May-2019 to 11.1% in Jun-2019. [more - original PR]