Severe turbulence has injured 27 people on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Bangkok, with passengers thrown into the aircraft’s ceiling, leaving some with broken bones. The Boeing 777 hit a pocket of “clear air” turbulence – where there is no tell-tale cloud pattern or radar presence to warn pilots of the change in air pressure – as the flight prepared to land in Bangkok, shortly after midnight Monday. Aeroflot said none of the passengers were in a serious condition, and although several had broken bones, none had suffered spinal compression fractures, as had been reported earlier Monday. The turbulence hit about 40 minutes before the aircraft was due to land, and was “impossible to foresee”, with the crew unable to warn passengers to return to their seats and buckle their seatbelts, Aeroflot said. <br/>
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Most Chinese carriers are reporting declines in Q1 net profits because of rising fuel expenses that collectively increased 40%-50%. However, China Eastern Airlines posted a Q1 net profit of CNY2.8b (US$406m), up 8.3% over net income of CNY2.6b in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue for the Q1 rose 4.3% year-over-year (YOY) to CNY24.5b against a 16.2% increase in operating expenses to CNY21.5b. Air China reported a Q1 net income of CNY1.5b, down 39.8% over net income of CNY2.44b in the Q1 2016. Operating revenue rose 10% YOY to CNY29b against a 17% increase in operating expenses to CNY23.4b. Besides the higher fuel costs, the carrier also posted a CNY141.6m loss in equity investment, in contrast with the CNY330.7m profit in investment gains for the same period last year. <br/>
A sudden collapse of loss-making Alitalia would be a great shock for Italy's economy, Industry minister Carlo Calenda said Sunday. Rome has thrown the crisis-hit airline a short-term lifeline, a bridging loan of up to E400m (US$436m) to see it through a process whereby an administrator will decide if it can be sold as a going concern or should be liquidated. "It (sudden closure) would be a shock for GDP (economic output) much greater than the scenario that we are looking at: a brief period of 6 months covered by a bridging loan from the govt so as to find a buyer who could provide services that Italians need as travellers," he said. Rival airlines have shown little interest in buying Alitalia and creditors have refused to lend more money after workers last Monday rejected a rescue plan that would have reduced pay and cut 1,700 jobs. <br/>
Grupo Aeromexico reported a MXP258m (US$13.8m) net loss in the 2017 Q1, reversed from a MXP161m net profit in the year-ago quarter. The company said the Q1 financial results reflected the negative impact of a 64.4% increase in fuel prices year-over-year (YOY), combined with a 12.5% depreciation of the Mexican peso against the US dollar. March 10, Delta Air Lines purchased an additional 32% of Grupo Aeromexico’s outstanding shares, bringing Delta’s direct holding of the company to 36.2%. Delta holds options to acquire an additional 12.8% of Aeromexico’s shares, bringing Delta’s ownership stake to nearly 49%. The company’s Q1 revenue increased 17.5% to MXP17.2b while expenses rose 19.5% to MXP13.6b. The group’s operating profit for the quarter was MXP533m, down 17% YOY. <br/>