Emirates Airline on Tuesday reported a record net profit of $1.9b for 2015-16, underlining how it is thriving as one of the most disruptive forces in global aviation. The fast-growing Dubai-based airline recorded a robust performance even as it was hit by the negative effects of a strong US dollar and economic slowdowns in oil-producing countries. State-controlled Emirates, founded in 1985, has over the past 20 years put pressure on longer established airlines in Europe and Asia, and is now increasing its presence in the US. This has prompted some of these airlines to demand actions by governments against Emirates and the other fast-growing Gulf carriers — Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. In the most recent dispute, US carriers last year claimed the three Gulf carriers had received $42bn in hidden subsidies over the past decade, and said these violated aviation agreements between the US and the UAE and Qatar. The Gulf carriers deny the claims.<br/>For the year to March 31, Emirates reported a net profit of Dh7.1b ($1.9b), up 56% compared with 2014-15, as its fuel bill fell 31% because of the sharp decline in oil prices. However, Emirates’s revenue fell 4% to Dh85b, partly because of the US dollar’s strength against other currencies. This is because the Dubai dirham is pegged to the dollar, and Emirates records significant sales in Asian and European currencies. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates chairman, said the fall in oil prices was a “double edged sword” — a boon for operating costs, but a bane for business and consumer confidence. “Looking at the year ahead, we expect that the low oil prices will continue to be a double-edged sword . . . The strong US dollar against major currencies will remain a challenge, as will the looming threat of protectionism in some countries.”<br/>
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Emirates will buy more A380s even if Airbus decides not to move ahead with a version with new engines, Emirates President Tim Clark said. Emirates is the biggest operator of the A380 and most vocal supporter within the airline industry of the world's largest passenger jet. The airline has ordered 142 A380s, of which 77 are in operation. A potential upgraded version with more fuel efficient engines, dubbed the A380neo, has been shelved for the time-being, however, as Airbus concentrates on a bigger version of the A350. "If they decide not to bring the neo into play, we will buy more of the current A380," Clark said. "As the first batch comes up to retirement we will want to replace those with more 380s… If you replace over time it's a continuum of orders." The superjumbo, which typically seats 544 passengers, has helped Emirates ease runway constraints at its Dubai hub, but Airbus plans to cut production due to weak sales. Clark said Emirates could increase its A380 fleet to 200 when the airline moves to Dubai's second airport, although that switch is unlikely before 2023. "Whether that's enough to persuade Airbus to keep the line going is up to them, they have got to sell more and are trying very hard to do that," said Clark.<br/>
British budget airline easyJet said strong demand for beach holidays was making up for a drop in travelling in the wake of recent attacks in Europe, and raised its dividend in a sign of its confidence. Europe's No.2 low-cost carrier is facing an increasingly competitive market as larger rival Ryanair and others add capacity and low fuel prices help all airlines to cut fares. But the company said Tuesday it remained confident about future growth, announcing plans to increase its dividend payout ratio by a quarter to 50% of post-tax income, subject to approval at its annual shareholder meeting. "Second half pricing guidance implies easyJet is much more confident on the peak summer quarter, citing beach routes in particular," Barclays analyst Oliver Sleath said. For the 12 months to Sept. 30, easyJet expects to post pretax profit in line with analyst estimates of GBP721m ($1b), despite reporting a GBP24m loss in H1, swinging into the red after making a GBP7m profit in the period last year. Attacks in Paris in November and in Brussels in March hit demand for flights, prompting easyJet to cut prices to encourage bookings and weighing on the results. EasyJet's first-half results also suffered from cancelled flights to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh over security concerns and air traffic control strikes in France. "This half has had external events that we haven't seen come close together in this way for over a decade," CE Carolyn McCall said. "April was particularity awful on yields because of Brussels and the tail-end of Paris, but there's an improving trajectory on that for May and June." The airline was seeing strong demand for beach holidays in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, McCall added.<br/>
Four female pilots are filing discrimination charges against Frontier Airlines, alleging the company's policies on pregnancy and nursing fail to accommodate breastfeeding requirements. The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed the formal complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Denver-based pilots, who are all employed at Frontier, claim that upon returning from maternity leave, the airline did not provide proper accommodations to pump breast milk. In their charge, Shannon Kiedrowski, Brandy Beck, Erin Zielinski and Randi Freyer say their employer did not give them a designated location to breastfeed at the airport, nor on the aircraft. The group also says Frontier did not offer temporary work reassignments in the final stages of their pregnancies, when they were unable to fly. Instead, they were forced to take eight to 10 weeks of unpaid leave, they claim. "There's a very clear law that requires employers to provide breaks and non-bathroom locations for employees to express breast milk," said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project. "None of these were available to the pilots." Six percent of commercial pilots are women, Sherwin said. Frontier Airlines challenged the claims.<br/>
No-frills Thai AirAsia (TAA) carried 18% more passengers in Q1 to a record 4.37 million. The growth outstripped the 11% rise in capacity as a result of five Airbus 320s being added to its fleet in the quarter to take its total to 47. The operating figures released by parent AirAsia Group also showed TAA gaining five percentage points in passenger load factor in the period to 88%. <br/>The load factor, a measurement of seats sold on each flight, was consistent with the four other AirAsia carriers in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and India, which were in the high 80% range. As a group, AirAsia recorded a load factor of 86%, up nine percentage points, with the passengers carried in the first quarter rising 17% to 13.9m, well ahead of the 6% increase in capacity. <br/>