Ryanair forecast that earnings growth will slow this year as a spate of terror attacks combines with lower fuel prices to prompt European airlines to cut fares. Net income will increase by about 13% in the 12 months through March 2017 following a 43% surge in the previous fiscal year, the carrier said Monday. Ticket prices are set to fall 7%. Fares are on the slide as “an incessant drip of terrorist activity” weighs on demand just as the global decline in fuel costs encourages network carriers to add more seats in an effort to defend market share, Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary said. Lufthansa and IAG have already warned of excess capacity following shootings in Paris in November and March’s bombings in Brussels. O’Leary said the pace of fare declines will accelerate next winter. <br/>
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VietJet has agreed a firm order of 100 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft worth US$11.3b at list prices, making it one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing LCCs. The deal, signed during US president Barack Obama's visit to Vietnam, represents a coup for Boeing, as VietJet has only operated Airbus A320s since it began operations in Dec 2011. The airline also signed a $3.04b deal for Pratt & Whitney engines for the 63 Airbus planes of the 99 it ordered since 2013. VietJet says it now has 36 Airbuses in service, and the delivery of the Boeing planes, expected during 2019 to 2023, will bring the fleet to more than 200 aircraft by the end of 2023, potentially surpassing Vietnam Airlines which now has 89 operating aircraft. Vietnam Airlines ordered 19 Boeing 787 and 14 Airbus A350s, with 11 of those delivered. <br/>
SpiceJet is considering hedging jet fuel for the first time since 2009-10 as the carrier expects crude oil prices to rise further, people with direct knowledge of the plans said. Oil has surged more than 70% from a 12-year low reached in January on signs the global surplus will ease as US output declines. Indian budget airlines, including market leader IndiGo, do not usually hedge aviation turbine fuel. They were able to take full advantage of a crash in global crude prices unlike other carriers in Asia that suffered hedging losses. SpiceJet has also renewed talks with private oil refiners to directly import jet fuel, as provincial taxes of as much as 30% make the fuel the costliest in Asia, the people said. Importing jet fuel directly can save 6-7% of the carrier’s fuel bill, one person said. <br/>
Indonesian transportation minister Ignasius Jonan has imposed significant sanctions on Lion Air and Indonesia AirAsia, following a pledge to crack down on domestic operators who contravened standard operating procedures. A Transportation Ministry spokesman said both carriers would be subject to a suspension of permits to use their own ground handling facilities at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International (Lion Air) and Bali’s Ngurah Rai International (AirAsia Indonesia). Both carriers recently experienced issues with international passengers being deplaned at domestic terminals without passing immigration. In the interim, both carriers would be required to source and use other approved ground handling services. The ITM said the sanctions were given “to allow the airline time to improve its management”. <br/>
It’s yet another embarrassing incident that calls aviation safety in India to question. Two pilots of IndiGo were dismissed from duty this weekend for trying to land on a road, thinking it was the runway. In the incident Feb 27, the aircraft, an Airbus A320, was barely a few hundred feet from landing on a road which runs parallel to Jaipur airport in the western state of Rajasthan. The manoeuvre set off a “too-low terrain warning” that prompted the pilots to get into action, IndiGo said Sunday. The captain-in-command “immediately took a precautionary measure and carried a go-around” with the aircraft subsequently landing safely on the runway, the airline said. The near-miss is one of the several dangerous or embarrassing mishaps reported in recent months, putting India’s safety score under the spotlight. <br/>