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Aimia, operator of loyalty program Aeroplan, plunged as much as 65% after Air Canada said it will cut ties with the company in 2020 and launch its own rewards plan. Aimia faces the risk that other Aeroplan members may decide to terminate their membership because Air Canada is the "backbone," said Martin Landry, an analyst with GMP Securities. The airline amounts to about 10% of Aimia’s revenue, but more than 75% of Aeroplan miles are redeemed with the carrier. Air Canada’s contract with Aimia runs through June 29, 2020. Until then, Aeroplan members will be able to earn and redeem miles under the program. Air Canada expects the net present value of the program repatriation to exceed C$2b (US$1.5b) over 15 years. <br/>

Lufthansa Group flew 11.2m passengers during April, a 25.1% increase from the same month of 2016. Passenger traffic in RPKs increased at a similar rate, 25.2%, on ASK capacity increase of 15.8%. Load factor was up 6.2 percentage points to 82.3% as a result. All group airlines reported traffic increases, with Austrian Airlines RPK traffic up 21.6%, SWISS up 18.2%, and Lufthansa up 12%. Point-to-point airlines, which include Eurowings and now 100% owned Brussels Airlines, saw traffic gains of 148.4% as ASK capacity rose 129.7% with the inclusion of the Belgian carrier. Lufthansa Group’s cargo traffic grew 6% in revenue cargo tonne km terms during April. Cargo capacity in available tonne kms was 3.8% higher, leading to a 1.4 percentage point increase in freight load factor to 69.4%. <br/>