Strikes by Italian air traffic controllers and some Alitalia staff on Sunday May 28 are expected to cause delays and some flight cancellations. The air traffic controllers will strike from 13:00 to 17:00 local time (1pm - 5pm) on Sunday, with the CUB Trasporti, USB, Confael and Assovolo unions at Alitalia walking off the job from 10:00 to 18:00 (10am - 6pm). Alitalia has cancelled several domestic and international flights on Sunday, and is rebooking passengers onto alternative flights. It said 80% of passengers affected by the strike have already been rebooked. The carrier, which applied for special administration earlier this month, said additional ground staff would be available at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate airports to assist customers. <br/>
sky
The joint cooperation agreement between Delta and Aeroméxico is bearing fruit as the carriers announce new routes and additional flights on existing routes. Subject to government approval, Delta and Aeroméxico will launch five new routes and add flights in four existing markets. The new routes are Atlanta to Merida and Queretaro; Los Angeles to Leon; Seattle to Mexico City; and Portland, OR to Mexico City. Additional flights will be added on Los Angeles-Los Cabos, New York JFK-Cancun, Atlanta-Leon, and Atlanta-Guadalajara routes. The new routes and additional flights are subject to regulatory approval. The airlines said they intend to increase transborder seat capacity by 10 percent by the end of the year and upgrade aircraft serving the two markets. “The changes we are announcing today underscore the level of integration, customer focus and commitment we bring to the transborder market,” Aeromexico/Delta Joint Business VP Nicolas Ferri said.<br/>
Kenya Airways expects to unveil a big capital restructuring in the next two months as part of its turnround strategy after returning to operational profitability following four years of losses. Mbuvi Ngunze, who steps down as CE next week, said the airline, which slashed its loss before tax by 61% in the year to March 2017, “is not out of the woods yet”. But unveiling the full-year figures he insisted: “The turnround is happening and the results are reflected in these [financial] results.” Operational profit was Ks897m (US$8.7m), up from a loss of Ks4.1b the previous year. If one-off impairments are removed, the operating profit was Ks4.4b. Losses before tax declined to Ks10.2b from Ks26.1b in the previous year. Kenya Airways began a big expansion in 2012, but hit turbulence the following year after the terrorist attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall and the Ebola outbreak in west Africa. It was also hit hard by the slump in oil prices, having hedged most of its fuel purchases when prices were about $90 per barrel. Ngunze said the financial improvement was driven by passenger numbers increasing to a record 4.5m during the year and the cabin load factor, which measures average occupancy, rising from 68 to 72%. The airline is benefiting from a rebound in tourist arrivals to its home market and Kenya’s economy performing better than most of its regional peers. <br/>
Aeroflot reported strong growth in passenger traffic numbers for April and the first four months of the year. Aeroflot carried 2.6m passengers in April, a 15.3% increase from the previous year period. International passenger numbers saw a 20.7% increase, with domestic up a more modest 10%. For January to April the Russian flag carrier carried 9.6m passengers, a 13.3% lift. Again, international flights led the way in passenger growth with an 18% boost, with domestic routes growing by 8.5%. Traffic in revenue passenger km (RPK) terms rose 13.2% in April, on a 9.1% available seat km (ASK) capacity increase. The resulting load factor rose 3 percentage points to 83.5%. For the year to date, Aeroflot increased ASK capacity by 10% and saw an RPK traffic increase of 12.3%. Load factor was up 1.7 percentage points to 79.2%. <br/>