general

Hundreds of O'Hare International Airport workers have voted to go on strike ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Service Employees International Union Local 1 officials said Thursday that about 500 workers have committed to strike. Union spokeswoman Izabela Miltko-Ivkovich said the strike "will definitely take place in the coming days," though she didn't specify which day it will start. The workers involved have been trying to organize with the union's help. They work mainly for private contractors at the airport. "They don't expect to shut the airport down," SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff said. "That's not what they're trying to do. Oh, there will be disruption." Balanoff said a walk out could slow but not shut down airport operations. He said what workers are trying to do "is get the powers that be to hear their voice." The workers who plan to strike include baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors and wheelchair attendants. They are seeking a $15 per hour wage.<br/>

Berlin's Schönefeld Airport reopened Thursday afternoon after a light aircraft suffered technical problems and blocked the runway. The two people onboard the light plane were uninjured the airport said, but the aircraft blocked the runway and had to be towed. Flights were diverted to Berlin Tegel and Leipzig airports during the incident. Schönefeld later said that “The runway at SXF is free, flight operations will resume immediately. Further delays are possible.”<br/>

Three cases of close encounters between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and airliners heading for London Heathrow Airport were recorded in three consecutive days in July, according to the UK Airprox Board. Reports filed by flightdeck crew said that, in one case, the UAV came within two metres vertically and 20 metres horizontally of the aircraft. The drone operator was not traced in any of the three cases. The growing problem of UAVs coming into conflict with airliners is set out in the latest reports from the Board. A small staff compiles airprox reports, which are then graded monthly by a group of around 20 volunteer experts, including air traffic controllers and pilots, in terms of potential risk to the aircraft. The problem of aircraft experiencing a major equipment failure on approach to Heathrow has worried security and safety experts for years, as the prevailing westerly wind means that aircraft generally approach over the densely inhabited centre of London. The risk of UAVs being sucked into a turbofan has added to concerns. <br/>

There are now seven China based carriers serving Australian cities, China Eastern, Air China, Hainan Airlines, China Southern, Xiamen Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines and Sichuan Airlines. Between them they offer non-stop services from at least one Australian city to more than 10 cities in China, with more on the radar. Hainan Airlines began non-stop flights from Melbourne to Xi'An at the beginning of the month. In September, Beijing Capital Airlines launched a Melbourne-Qingdao-Shenyang service. In January, Air China will begin a non-stop service between Melbourne and Shenzhen. China Eastern Airlines will begin a non-stop service between Sydney and Kunming on November 24. The thrice-weekly flights come on top of China Eastern Airlines' Sydney-Hangzhou service that began on November 16. Driving this push from Chinese airlines into Australia's airspace is the rise and rise of Chinese tourism. According to the China Tourism Research Institute, 120m Chinese citizens travelled abroad in 2015. That's just a squeak more than the 117m who travelled outside China the year before although Australia is easily outpacing that increase. In the year ending June 30, 2016, Australia had 1.136m visitors from China, a lift of 22% on the previous year. Those figures go a long way to explaining the enthusiasm among Chinese carriers for services to Australia. Traffic from Australian tourists to China is respectable, although nothing like as big. The Chinese airlines are highly competitive. Chinese carriers regularly show up on flight search engines if you're looking for the cheapest fares to Europe. Off-peak economy saver fares from Melbourne or Sydney to Paris start at less than A$1000 with Air China, and fares like that put pressure on other airlines to keep prices low.<br/>

A dramatic increase in passenger numbers has resulted in some of Russia’s leading airlines achieving millions of dollars in additional revenue and profits in the first three quarters of 2016, reversing the overall downwards trend of the nation’s aviation market. Such success is a direct result of the demise of Transaero that used to be Russia’s second largest airline a year ago, and growing concentration on local air transport market. Ural Airlines, the country’s fifth largest operator, carried 4.98m passengers, a 17% improvement, between January and September. The increase helped Ural grow its revenues by 3.4% to 690m and double its net income. During the period, Russia’s second largest carrier S7 Airlines grew its net income by a multiple of 3.8 to 2.9bn rubles. It saw passenger numbers increase by 19% to 7.5m and revenues climb by 3.4% to 85.3bn rubles over the same period in 2015. The net profits of national flag carrier Aeroflot increased almost six-fold, whilst UTair, currently Russia’s fourth leading airline, managed to break even as both airlines saw passenger numbers climb.<br/>

Low-cost carriers have further strengthened their hold on Thailand's total airline business at the expense of full service carriers. LCCs represented 44.5% of total passenger traffic through Thailand's six major airports in the first nine months of this year, numbering 91m. Budget airlines carried 20.7% more passengers in January-September than the same period last year to record 40.5m, according to figures compiled by the Airports of Thailand. The growth in LCC passenger volume outstripped overall passenger movements through AoT-operated airports, including Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang, which edged up 12.49% in the first nine months. The LCC proliferation reflects the growing popularity of budget airlines due to offering lower fares than FSCs, roughly by a margin of 30%, their growing networks, additional frequencies and heavy sales promotions. LCC international passenger movements jumped by 34.6% in the first nine months of this year to 14.5m. <br/>

Cambodia is considering adopting an aviation tax for flights leaving the kingdom, local media reported yesterday. The announcement came as Environment Minister Say Samal delivered remarks at the COP22 UN Climate Conference in Morocco. The conference comes one year after the historic signing of the Paris Agreement by nearly 200 countries pledging to reduce carbon emissions. An aviation tax is typically a small payment levied on consumers and has been adopted in some developed countries to offset emissions and is used in many developing ones as an extra source of government income.<br/>