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CAPA News Briefs

CAPA publishes more than 400 global News Briefs every weekday, covering all aspects of the aviation and travel industry. It’s the most comprehensive source of market intelligence in the world, with around 50 per cent of content translated from non-English sources. The breadth of our coverage means you won’t need any other news sources to monitor competitors and stay informed about the latest developments in the wider aviation sector.

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Our daily News Briefs are only available to CAPA Members. Membership provides access to more than 400 News Briefs every weekday, with quick links to our Analysis Reports, Research Publications, Data Centre and more.

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Below is a sample of the latest news headlines. 299 news briefs have been published for CAPA Members in the past 2 days.

I-Jet Aviation PT acquired (28-Nov-2019) euroAtlantic airways effective 15-Nov-2019 for an undisclosed sum. The transaction was completely financed by I-Jet Aviation PT. euroAtlantic airways founder and CEO Tomaz Metello will step down from his executive role and will join I-Jet Aviation PT's board. [more - original PR - Portuguese]

Bangalore Kempegowda International Airport commissioned (06-Dec-2019) its second runway, making Bangalore the first airport in India to operate independent, parallel runways. The 4000m x 45m runway will handle limited movements initially and gradually increase to full scale operations. Bangalore will initially operate the runway with CAT I instrument landing system certification and will gradually expand to CAT IIIB certification "as operations stabilise". [more - original PR]

US Travel Association forecast (06-Dec-2019) US long haul travel will grow 2.4% p/a through 2023, compared to the projected global long haul travel growth of 4.8% p/a. This difference is expected to further reduce the US share in the long haul travel market to 10.4% by 2023, compared to 13.7% in 2015. The 2019 to 2023 market share is also expected to result in the US economy suffering a loss of USD78 million in visitor spending and 130,000 American jobs. US Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow stated: "Right now, the country is not capturing the full economic potential of overseas travel, but there are some turnkey policy solutions that could help to address that - starting with congressional reauthorisation of the Brand USA tourism marketing organisation". [more - original PR]

Qantas announced (09-Dec-2019) Qantas Frequent Flyer members are eligible to access reward seats, earn Qantas Points and receive tier benefits across the entire Air France-KLM network as part of a new agreement between the airlines. The comprehensive agreement allows Qantas Frequent Flyers to travel to more than 65 new destinations in 19 countries. [more - original PR]

Hong Kong Airlines announced (07-Dec-2019) it has been notified by the Air Transport Licensing Authority that the authority would not take further action against the airline "for the time being". Hong Kong Airlines stated it has a cash injection plan following "urgent consultations with our stakeholders", adding that funding for operation will be injected in phases. The carrier also said it will continue to drive consolidation and strengthen its internal structure to operate more efficiently and improve revenue. [more - original PR]

US' Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported (06-Dec-2019) the following financial highlights for US scheduled service passenger airlines for the three months ending Sep-2019:

  • Operating revenue: USD51.3 billion;
    • Domestic: USD38.2 billion;
      • Airfare: USD27.3 billion;
      • Baggage fees: USD1.2 billion;
      • Reservation change fees: USD524 million;
    • International: USD13.1 billion;
      • Airfare: USD11.0 billion;
      • Baggage fees: USD323 million;
      • Reservation change fees: USD223 million;
  • Operating expense: USD44.9 billion;
    • Domestic: USD33.5 billion;
      • Labour: USD11.2 billion;
      • Fuel: USD5.7 billion;
    • International: USD11.4 billion;
      • Labour: USD4.2 billion;
      • Fuel: USD2.8 billion;
  • Net profit: USD4.6 billion, +21.5% year-on-year;
    • Domestic: USD3.2 billion, +37.9%;
    • International: USD1.3 billion, -6.2%;
  • Net profit margin: 8.9%, +1.3ppts;

LATAM Airlines Group announced (06-Dec-2019) IAG and LATAM Airlines Group decided they will not implement the announced joint business agreement (JBA), terminating the contracts associated with said transaction dated 02-Dec-2019. The other contracts in force, such as interline agreements, codeshare agreements, contracts of access to VIP lounges and FFP between the airlines remain valid, without any impact on passengers. [more - original PR]

airBaltic achieved (06-Dec-2019) a 37% market share in the Baltics in 2019, with a 60% market share in Latvia and 21% share in Estonia. CEO Martin Gauss said: "We at airBaltic have had yet another year of intense work and successful growth. We have continued developing our services, modernising the fleet and widening the route network for better connectivity". CAPA chairman emeritus Peter Harbison said: "Its growth and return to profit, built on a strong market share in its home market of Latvia and the wider Baltic region, should certainly attract investor interest". [more - original PR]

Haikou Hainan Meilan International Airport sold (04-Dec-2019) a 1% stake in Hainan Airlines for CNY315.0 million (USD44.7 million) between 14-Aug-2019 and 02-Dec-2019. The airport's total shareholding in Hainan Airlines declined from 5.1% to 4.1%. [more - original PR - Chinese]

SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson reported (05-Dec-2019) "uncertain economic outlook and emerging slowdown in key economies will negatively impact customer demand" and "we therefore foresee significantly lower growth, both from a demand and a supply perspective". Mr Gustafson said weakness of the Swedish Krona against the US dollar and the Euro "also remains a challenge". Mr Gustafson stated the higher cost of aircraft, increased training volumes and the implementation of IFRS 16, SAS expects to deliver an EBIT margin of 3%-5% for fiscal year 2020, as well as an increased loss year-on-year for 1Q2020. [more - original PR]

South Africa's Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan stated (05-Dec-2019) the business rescue process for South African Airways (SAA) commenced on 05-Dec-2019 and will incorporate the following:

  • A business rescue practitioner will be appointed to take charge of the business and operate the airline with the assistance of management;
  • Existing lenders will provide ZAR2 billion (USD136.6 million) to SAA as post commencement finance (PCF), guaranteed by the government and repayable from future budget appropriations. The funds will enable the business rescue process to commence and allow SAA to continue to operate;
  • The National Treasury will provide an additional ZAR2 billion in PCF "in a fiscally neutral manner";
  • Business rescue will not impact the full recovery of capital and interest on existing debt provided to SAA by existing lenders, which is the subject of existing government guarantees;
  • The process will provide an opportunity to review the airline's cost structure, while attempting to maintain as many jobs as possible;
  • Business rescue will prevent "a disorderly collapse of the airline" and provides an opportunity to reorganise state aviation assets to be more sustainable and more attractive to an investment partner. [more - original PR]

Airbus announced (05-Dec-2019) it logged orders for 222 commercial aircraft in Nov-2019. Key orders included: