BA is evaluating its routes to Nigeria, adding to aviation-industry pressure on the government as sister carrier Iberia and US competitor United halt flights to the oil-based market as traffic stutters and currency controls delay access to revenue. The UK carrier is struggling to repatriate its share of the $575m that Nigeria currently owes to airlines globally from tickets sold in the West African nation, said Kola Olayinka, country manager for BA’ and Iberia’s parent company, IAG. Madrid-based Iberia halted flights on May 12 to Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city, “due to very difficult operating circumstances and dwindling passenger numbers,” he said. IATA CEO Tony Tyler met with Nigerian VP Yemi Osinbajo this week, the lobby group said Wednesday, warning that Lagos could lose its role as a hub to West Africa. United informed employees on Wednesday that it would end flights from the US to Nigeria on June 30 because of a lack of demand and difficulty in collecting payments. IAG CEO Willie Walsh said last month that Iberia would stop serving Lagos after the low price of oil caused Nigeria’s economy to contract for the first time since 2004 in Q1. Limits on dollar repatriation have been imposed by the Nigerian Central Bank as reserves slip to $26.5b, the lowest in more than a decade, from more than $30b in early 2015.<br/>
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Finnair Oyj CEO Pekka Vauramo’s expansion strategy and push upmarket are helping to position the Nordic carrier for further merger activity within the European aviation industry. “Consolidation moves on,” Vauramo said Monday. “We are a small carrier and there are not too many national carriers in Europe left. It will, in one way or another, affect us at one point.” Vauramo is meanwhile seeking to shape Finnair into a stronger potential partner. The carrier, an ally of acquisitive BA parent IAG in the Oneworld group, has five Airbus Group SE A350s after becoming the jet’s first European operator, with two more due this year. It will also keep eight A330s instead of selling them in order to boost frequencies and add new destinations. Finnair’s strategy has established it as an important niche player, the executive said, with Helsinki acting as a hub for flights to and from the rest of Europe and Japan, South Korea and northwest China. The plan exploits the city’s position on the shortest great-circle routes between the regions. Keeping more A330s will allowing the carrier to double capacity on Asian routes two years earlier than planned, it told analysts and investors at a capital markets day Wednesday. While Finnair is growing, it must also improve its financial performance, Vauramo said. The carrier had an operating margin of only 1% in 2015, and is expanding just as European rivals lift capacity to tap lower fuel costs. That’s led to a slump in fares across the region. Vauramo is also working to improve standards with a business-class overhaul featuring menus from Finnish chefs and what he calls a Nordic experience. “Every airline has had a very tight focus on costs,” he said “But we feel that there is room for good service. Service that really stands out.”<br/>
MAS, now a government-controlled entity of Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, said in its May Quarterly Progress Update (QPU) it was seeing “strong indications [of] positive results” as a result of ongoing restructuring. The Malaysian flag carrier said it was experiencing “good progress” on its turnaround plan, with a 23.4% rise in yield to MYR 0.23 ($0.6) per passenger on the back of a significant 32.9% cut in operating costs over the quarter. However, the QPU indicated that 1Q overall revenue was down 21.7% with ASKs also dropping by 30.2%, partly due to the grounding of the majority of the carrier’s long-haul fleet. The airline reported 3.2m passengers carried in 1Q 2016, with a relatively low load factor of 68.9%; however, MAB said this was now “trending upward.” Lower fuel requirements and a lower oil price contributed “significantly” to an improved cost position, the airline said. It also said improved work efficiency and a significant headcount reduction resulted in a 40.5% cut in payroll costs before exceptional items. The carrier said these improvements had helped it become “ahead of budget at [both] operating and EBITDAR levels” as at the end of Q1 2016. However, it said it expected a weaker Q2 2016, and a probable overall loss at end 2016. Nonetheless, MAB CEO Christoph Mueller said he was “delighted” at overall progress at the airline, even though he would not be able to complete his full term as CEO.<br/>
Wildlife campaigners kept up the pressure on Cathay Pacific Airways to stop carrying shark fin cargo by staging a protest at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday, days after HK Express became the first local carrier to ban shipments. Nine protesters wearing shark costumes held posters and slogans at Cathay’s check-in area and later staged a sit-in to get their message across about what the airline calls its “sustainable” shark fin policy. The 45-minute protest led to a stand-off with airport and security staff and police. The airline has not imposed an outright ban but instead set up a panel of experts to decide on a case-by-case basis whether each shipment is from a sustainable source. Campaigners argue that it is often impossible to verify whether cargoes are sustainable or not. Cathay said the negativity was unwarranted as it was one of the first airlines in the world to raise awareness of the unsustainability of the global shark fin trade back in 2012.<br/>