Lufthansa warned that a series of terrorist attacks have caused passengers to scrap travel plans, leading to an expected decline in full-year earnings. The airline said Wednesday that advance bookings, especially on long-haul routes to Europe, “have declined significantly, in particular due to repeated terrorist attacks in Europe and to greater political and economic uncertainty” since it made its original financial projections in March. The company said its board “regards a complete recovery as not likely anymore.” Lufthansa earlier this year already pared capacity growth plans in response to economic headwinds, including weak Latin American demand. Lufthansa said Wednesday that it expected unit revenue in the July through December period to fall between 8% and 9%. <br/>
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United Airlines is slowing capacity growth in the second half of 2016, and on transatlantic routes will cut capacity by 1% to 2% in Q4 compared to the 2015 December quarter. The capacity adjustments come as United faces a continued weak revenue environment highlighted by flat corporate travel demand. United’s Q2 unit revenue, as measured in PRASM, fell 6.9% year-over-year to 11.36 cents and United is providing guidance for PRASM to decline 5.5% to 7.5% year-over-year in Q3. The transatlantic adjustments also come in the aftermath of the Brexit vote in the UK. United executives said that full-year 2016 capacity will grow just 1% to 1.5% compared to 2015, down from prior guidance of 1.5% to 2.5% capacity growth for the year. Senior executives indicated that more capacity adjustments should be expected in the future. <br/>
United Continental Holdings rose to its highest value in almost 3 months after CE Oscar Munoz said he is reviewing all aspects of the airline’s operations in an effort to boost profitability. “It is a top-to-bottom, full-scale view on everything that we do,” Munoz said Wednesday. “It’s something that we have to do and acknowledge, and that involves management structure.” In a note to employees Wednesday, Munoz said the company will examine the mission of its hubs and smaller “spoke” airports while also seeking ways to modernise operations and information technology. United, which is trying to become as profitable as other major US airlines, announced a strategy last month to create or save an extra US$3.1b by 2018 through selling more premium-cabin seats, using larger jets and other measures. <br/>
Air NZ has teamed up with Hollywood actress Anna Faris and New Zealand actor and comedian Rhys Darby for its latest safety video, Safety in Hollywood. The video, shot at Warner Bros in Los Angeles, explores several different Hollywood film genres as Darby tries to convince the star of the hit TV show Mom and the Scary Movie films to play a role in Air NZ's new safety video with him. Safety in Hollywood was filmed at 4 different sets with some of the filming locations seen in legendary movies such as Jurassic Park, Casablanca, War of the Worlds and TV series True Blood. Air NZ head of global brand Jodi Williams said: "Our inflight safety videos are now world famous and we know people anticipate their release. The interest in them has been phenomenal and collectively they've attracted more than 83m views online". <br/>
Air NZ has traced a problem that forced a Dreamliner to return to Auckland Airport. Emergency services were scrambled Saturday after reports of a smell ''like electrical burning.'' Flight NZ103 was bound for Sydney before it had to return shortly after take-off. A spokeswoman said the smell on the aircraft was caused by an issue with part of the air conditioning system. The aircraft returned to service later the same day. That incident followed a problem July 12 when another Sydney-bound Air NZ Dreamliner flight was aborted shortly before take-off. Air NZ chief flight operations and safety officer David Morgan said then that following extensive testing it was determined what was being observed was a normal vapour which is released by this model of engine. <br/>
The EU Union is within its rights to apply carbon taxes to flights between Switzerland and the EU even though flights from other countries outside the area are currently exempt, a legal advisor to the European Court of Justice said. The ECJ is considering a case brought by SWISS, which says it is "peculiarly badly affected" by the current system and is not being treated equally. "The principle of equal treatment simply does not apply to the treatment that the EU accords to various third countries," advocate general Henrik Saugmandsgaard Oe wrote in a legal opinion. The European court still has to issue a ruling on the issue but it generally follows the recommendations of its adviser. SWISS is seeking to recover over 600,000 carbon permits, worth millions of euros. <br/>