Airlines can look forward to continuing low oil prices for at least this year, helping to boost profits and drive demand for travel, but need to be wary of a swift rebound and focus on staff costs, experts said Monday. Low oil brings non-fuel costs at airlines into the spotlight, and highlights the difference between legacy carriers such as Lufthansa and Air France-KLM and low-cost airlines like Ryanair, analysts said. Oil prices hit their lowest since 2003 on Monday, as the market braced for additional Iranian exports after sanctions against the country were lifted over the weekend. Mike Corley, head of Mercatus Energy Advisors, said at the Airline Economics conference in Dublin he would not be surprised to see oil prices drop by another US$5-US$10 a barrel, but cautioned that prices could bounce back quicker than people expect. IAG CEO Willie Walsh said the group would continue to focus on costs in 2016 and labor would probably be the biggest part of its cost base this year as fuel comes down. "We compete with the likes of Ryanair, the most aggressive low-cost airline in Europe. We've got to have a cost base that enables us to compete in an effective manner," he said. Low prices are also prompting more airlines to look into their fuel hedging strategies, with some wanting to hedge and others scaling back existing programs, Mercatus' Corley said.<br/>
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Japan’s airlines are set to remove fuel surcharges with oil trading around a 12-year low, ending a decade of high jet kerosene costs that had added as much as 66,000 yen ($563) to the price of a round-trip ticket to the US or Europe. The current price of Singapore kerosene is below the minimum level for adding surcharges, Hiroshi Hasegawa and Osuke Itazaki, analysts in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., wrote in a Jan. 15 report. Airlines are cutting fuel surcharges as oil prices slump amid China’s economic slowdown and an expected bump in supply as Iran sanctions are lifted. The surge in prices since 2004 had turned fuel into airlines’ single largest cost. “With Singapore kerosene prices breaking significantly below the lower bound of the fuel surcharge table, we think airlines could enjoy major earnings advantages if fuel prices remain at current levels,” Hasegawa and Itazaki wrote in the report. ANA Holdings says on its website that if the two-month average of Singapore kerosene-type jet fuel falls below 6,000 yen for flights originating from Japan, or below $60 for flights originating elsewhere, then it won’t collect a fuel surcharge. JAL sets the same limits. If Japanese airlines do remove surcharges, they would merely be catching up with some of their counterparts elsewhere.<br/>
Britain's export finance agency is ready to offer financing to civilian aircraft exports to Iran, the head of its aviation finance section said, after sanctions against the country were lifted over the weekend. "We are open for business in Iran," Gordon Welsh, head of aircraft financing at UK Export Finance, a department of the British government, told the Airline Economic conference in Dublin. "We haven't said what we are prepared to do other than that we're open, but we'll see what demand looks like. It's an interesting part of the world and we're there."<br/>
The number of foreign passengers on international flights using Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture topped 10 million in 2015 for the first time since it opened in 1994. The figure surged 59% from the previous year to 10.01m, exceeding the number of Japanese users for the first time, which stood at 6.07m, down 6.0 %, New Kansai International Airport Co. said Monday. The total number of passengers at the airport marked a record 23.21m. The number of people on international flight jumped 24% to 16.25m, also a record high. Meanwhile, the number of passengers on domestic flights grew 11% to 6.96m.<br/>
Ukrainian authorities will review the security of government computer systems, including at airports and train stations, after a cyber attack on Kiev's main airport was launched from a server in Russia. Malware similar to that which attacked three Ukrainian power firms in late December was detected last week in a computer in the IT network of Kiev's main airport, Boryspil. The network includes the airport's air traffic control. Although there is no suggestion at this stage that Russia's government was involved, the cyber attacks have come at a time of badly strained relations between Ukraine and Russia over a nearly two-year-long separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. "In connection with the case in Boryspil, the ministry intends to initiate a review of anti-virus databases in the companies which are under the responsibility of the ministry," said Irina Kustovska, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's infrastructure ministry, which oversees airports, railways and ports. Ukraine's state-run Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA) issued a warning on Monday of the threat of more attacks.<br/>
Heavy snowfall has swept northwestern Turkey, grounding hundreds of flights, disrupting ground transport and closing schools in Istanbul. Turkish Airlines announced the cancellation of 250 international and domestic flights to and from Istanbul's Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports on Monday. The airline also cancelled at least 149 flights scheduled for Tuesday. The snow began Sunday evening and is expected to continue until Tuesday night, according to Turkey's General Directorate of Meteorology, which also warned of heavy rainfall and a risk of flooding in southern Turkey. The governor of Istanbul, Vasip Sahin, said schools would remain closed on Monday.<br/>
The Philippines plans to install a $1m satellite-based system to track commercial flights over the disputed South China Sea, after China landed its first test flights this month on a reef it built in the Spratly islands. China's increasing military presence in the Spratlys has stirred fears it could lead to an air defense zone the country controls, which would escalate tension with other claimants, and the United States, in one of the world's most volatile areas. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge oil and gas deposits, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, through which about $5t in trade passes every year. "In the absence of a radar in the area, the system will help track aircraft movements, enhancing safety and security," said Rodante Joya, a deputy director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. Joya said the Philippines would install the surveillance system on the island of Thitu, calling it by its Philippine name of Pagasa, to track about 200 commercial flights through the area each day. The area in the South China Sea is among the blind spots in the Philippines' airspace, he added.<br/>
Early boarding privileges, waived checked bag fees, free flights and upgrades from the back of the plane to the front are just some of the benefits air travellers have come to expect from airline loyalty programs. Yet program changes rolled out last year by some major US carriers (notably Delta and United) made attaining the status needed to earn those perks much harder to achieve. Experts say that in 2016, the estimated 65m US travellers who are loyalty program participants should expect more of the same. "The programs are becoming more complicated," said Gary Leff, a travel expert. Leff said fliers are being rewarded more on how much they spend, not on how many miles they've flown, "and they're getting less rewarding." Many cabin award tickets, especially the premium variety, now cost more on Delta, United and — starting in March — on American Airlines, as well. Still, the news isn't all bad. Some airlines, such as Alaska and Hawaiian, continue to award points based on miles flown. Others are adding new benefits for elite members, and adding more ways for members to spend banked miles they can't use in the air.<br/>
Incredible pictures have shown what happens when a bird collies with a passenger plane. Story has pictures showing a huge hole left in an Airbus A319 after it struck a bird on landing last week. The Air Namibia passenger plane was landing at Hosea Kutako International Airport in Namibia when it struck the animal. Images shared on Twitter by a passenger on the flight show a large hole ripped through the A319-100 aircraft’s underbody panels, with feathers hanging from the torn metal sheets. Paul Nakawa, a spokesperson for the airline said the aircraft, which has a capacity of 112 passengers, landed safely and engineers have since been flown in from South Africa to repair the plane. There were some delays in departures from the airport after the incident. <br/>