CAPA News Briefs

Kuwait's Directorate General for Civil Aviation contracted (22-Feb-2019) Obermeyer Middle East (OME)) to provide project management services to assist implementing the '2012 Master Plan' projects at Kuwait International Airport. The contract is valid for five years and includes management of current and planned ventures such as building a third runway and a new observation post. The company stated they have an interest in also overhauling the western runway, building three others in the future, additional two observation towers and five passenger terminals after finishing the T2 terminal. [more - original PR]

Greece's Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Spirtzis announced (21-Feb-2019) the signing and parliament ratification contract with GEK Terna for construction and concession of Kasteli/New Heraklion Airport. The new airport project covers construction of a 72,000sqm terminal, 3200m runway, apron area with more than 30 remote and contact parking positions and connecting roadways and commercial zone, as previously reported by CAPA. [more - original PR - Greek] [more - original PR - II - Greek]

Heathrow reported (21-Feb-2019) the following financial highlights for 12 months ended 31-Dec-2018: 

• Revenue: GBP2970 million, +3.0% year-on-year;
  • Aeronautical: GBP1745 million, +1.7%;
  • Retail: GBP716 million, +8.6%
    • Retail concessions: GBP323 million, +6.3%;
    • Catering: GBP61 million, +8.9%
    • Other retail: GBP128 million, +17.4%;
    • Car parking: GBP126 million, +5.0%;
• Adjusted EBITDA: GBP1837 million, +4.4%;
• EBITDA: GBP1954 million, +2.4%;
• Net profit: GBP333 million, -31.2%;
• Retail revenue per passenger: GBP8.94, +5.8%;
• Total assets: GBP15,667 million;
• Cash and cash equivalents: GBP591 million;
• Total liabilities: GBP18,303 million. [more - original PR]

US Department of Transportation (DoT) issued (21-Feb-2019) an order tentatively acknowledging it is in the public interest for the DoT to terminate the effectiveness of certain wet lease statements of authorisation issued to foreign air carriers of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The wet lease statements permit the foreign carriers to engage as wet lessors in lease operations to other affected carriers. The DoT proposes to undertake the following actions regarding EU-EU carrier statements of authorisation, effective immediately: 

• Terminate all applicable statements of authorisation held by certain carriers that have exceeded 14 months and remain in effect due to a pending renewal application citing APA rights. Carriers have until 30-Mar-2019 to end these operations;
• Terminate all applicable statements of authorisation held by affected carriers exceeding 14 months and granted for an indefinite period. Carriers have until 30-Mar-2019 to end these operations;
• All authorisations for applicable wet lease operations by affected carriers will be limited to 14 months. The limitation applies to past operations for which the DoT has granted authorisation effective 03-Oct-2012 or later, all ongoing applicable operations for which the DoT has granted authorisations and all future operations from affected carriers for applicable operations. [more - original PR]

All Nippon Airways (ANA) SVP Europe and GM London Akira Nakamura said the carrier sees further growth potential for its European network (ATW, 20-Feb-2019). He said: "We definitely believe more European destinations will be required in the future. We have some white spots in Europe, but this depends on the available airport slots". He also said ANA's JVs with Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and SWISS has been an important factor in its success in Europe.

Auckland International Airport Ltd reported (21-Feb-2019) the following financial highlights for the six months ended 31-Dec-2018:

• Revenue: NZD370.6 million (USD256.5 million), +11.5% year-on-year;
  • Airfield: NZD64.3 million (USD44.5 million), +7.3%;
  • Passenger services charge: NZD93.3 million (USD64.6 million), +4.7%;
  • Retail: NZD110.8 million (USD136.2 million), +24.6%;
  • Car park: NZD32.9 million (USD22.8 million), +4.8%;
• EBITDAFI: NZD277.1 million (USD191.8 million), +10.8%;
• EBIT: NZD242.7 million (USD168.0 million), -6.3%;
• Net Profit: NZD147.2 million (USD101.9 million), -11.3%;
• Passengers: 10.6 million;
  • Domestic: 4.8 million, +4.0%;
  • International: 5.3 million, +4.4%;
  • International transits: 500,000, -5.2%;
• Total assets: NZD8197 million (USD5857 million);
• Cash and cash equivalents: NZD106.7 million (USD76.2 million);
• Total liabilities: NZD2515 million (USD1797 million). [more - original PR]

*Based on the average conversion rate at NZD1 = USD0.6921

IATA reported (21-Feb-2019) airlines in sub-Saharan Africa experienced zero jet hull losses and zero fatalities in jet operations for a third consecutive year in 2018. The all accident rate was 2.71 major accidents per one million flights, a significant improvement over the average rate of 6.80 for the previous five years. Africa was the only region to see a decline in the all-accident rate compared to 2017. However, the region experienced two fatal turboprop accidents in 2018, neither of which involved a scheduled passenger flight. IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac called on African governments must accelerate the implementation of ICAO's safety-related standards and recommended practices (SARPS). Mr de Juniac also noted that the performance of African airlines on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry was more than twice as good as non-IOSA airlines in the region. [more - original PR]

Cargojet Airways president and CEO Ajay Virmani stated (21-Feb-2019) the airline "continued to produce strong revenue and EBITDA growth in 2018". Mr Virmani added: "We are very pleased with our financial and operating results as we prudently manage our capacity to meet air cargo demand particularly related to e-commerce growth in Canada as well as our expanding ACMI and ad-hoc charter business". [more - original PR]

IATA released (21-Feb-2019) its commercial airline industry safety performance data the 2018. The association reported the industry is showing continuing safety improvements over the long term, although there was an increase in accidents compared to 2017. Key highlights includes:

• All accident rate of 1.35 per million flights. This was an improvement over the all accident rate of 1.79 for the previous five year period (2013-2017), but a decline compared to 2017's record performance of 1.11;
• 2018 rate for major jet accidents (jet hull losses per one million flights) was 0.19. This was an improvement over the rate for the previous five year period of 0.29 but not as good as the rate of 0.12 in 2017;
• 2018 turboprop hull loss rate was 0.60 per million flights, which was an improvement over 1.23 in 2017 and also over the 5-year rate (2013-2017) of 1.83. All regions except for Middle East and North Africa saw their turboprop safety performance improve in 2018 when compared to their respective five year rates. Accidents involving turboprop aircraft represented 24% of all accidents in 2018 and 45% of fatal accidents;
• There were 11 fatal accidents with 523 fatalities among passengers and crew in 2018. This compares with an average of 8.8 fatal accidents and approximately 234 fatalities per year in the previous five year period (2013-2017). In 2017, the industry experienced six fatal accidents with 19 fatalities, which was a record low. One accident in 2017 also resulted in the deaths of 35 persons on the ground. [more - original PR]

Airports of Thailand reported (21-Feb-2019) the following traffic highlights for Jan-2019:

• Passengers: 13.4 million, +4.5% year-on-year;
  • Domestic: 5.4 million, -0.5%;
  • International: 8.0 million, +8.2%;
• Cargo: 125,381 tonnes, -4.9%;
  • Domestic: 6931 tonnes, -7.6%;
  • International: 118,450 tonnes, -4.8%;
• Aircraft movements: 80,668, +6.4%;
• • Domestic: 36,931, +3.8%;
  • International: 43,727, +8.6%. [more - original PR]

Sydney Airport reported (21-Feb-2019) the following financial highlights for 12 months ended 31-Dec-2018:

• Revenue: AUD1585 million (USD1184 million), +6.8% year-on-year;
  • Aeronautical: AUD721.7 million (USD539.4 million), +7.6%;
  • Aeronautical security recovery: AUD98.7 million (USD73.8 million), +8.1%;
  • Retail: AUD357.0 million (USD266.8 million), +7.2%;
  • Property and car rental revenue: AUD238.1 million (USD178.0 million), +7.5%;
  • Parking and ground transport revenue: AUD162.1 million (USD121.2 million), +1.6%;
• Total operating costs: AUD302.3 million (USD225.9 million), +6.3%;
• EBITDA: AUD1283 million (USD958.6 million), +7.2%;
• Net profit: AUD371.0 million (USD277.3 million), +6.4%;
• Capital expenditure: AUD378.5 million (USD282.9 million), -11.7%;
• Passengers: 44.4 million, +2.5%;
  • Domestic: 27.5 million, +1.2%;
  • International: 16.9 million, +4.7%;
    • Greater China: 3.2 million, +9.8%;
    • Asia: 5.2 million, +0.7%;
    • New Zealand, Pacific and other: 3.5 million, +3.2%;
    • Americas: 2.5 million, +1.9%;
    • Europe and Middle East: 2.3 million, +14.8%;
• Aircraft movements: 344,149, -0.3%;
• Total assets: AUD13,054 million (USD9757 million);
  • Cash and cash equivalents: AUD476.3 million (USD356.0 million);
• Total liabilities: AUD12,982 million (USD9636 million).  [more - original PR]

*Based on the average conversion rate at AUD1 = USD0.7474

AirAsia X Group CEO Nadda Buranasiri stated (21-Feb-2019) "our focus in data leadership will enable leveraging of our existing assets and customer pool" to secure sustainable growth and increased profit per seat. Mr Buranasiri added it will "further drive up ancillary income towards our vision in becoming a digital travel technology company". He said "improved balance sheet and solid forward bookings" will provide the necessary cash flow required to continue to strategically expand our network". [more - original PR]