Lufthansa Group delivered a first-half net profit of E672m (US$766.7m), up 56.6% from a net profit of E429m a year ago. The carrier said the results were primarily attributed to strong demand and lower unit costs at the group’s passenger airlines. “We have achieved the best first half-year result in our company’s history,” CFO Ulrik Svensson said. First-half revenue grew 12.7% year-over-year to E17b. Traffic revenues were up 14.2% to E13.3b. Unit costs, excluding fuel and currency effect, decreased 1.2% YOY. Adjusted EBIT was roughly doubled to over E1b (1H 2016: E529m). Cash flow from 1H operating activities rose 47.1% YOY to E3.2b, driven by the positive results and more advance bookings for the Q3 period. <br/>
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Lufthansa's CFO said the group is interested in helping to shape the Italian aviation market but is not willing to take over struggling Alitalia in its current shape. "It is indeed a very interesting market and we will see how we can play an active role. We are not willing to indicate in what way we can play that role," Ulrik Svensson said. Svensson declined to be drawn on whether the group has made a non-binding offer but said that Lufthansa was not interested in Alitalia as it looks today. Ryanair said last week it was among bidders for Alitalia but that it would only pursue a deal if the airline was restructured and govt influence removed. Svensson also reiterated the carrier would be interested in leasing more jets and crew from Air Berlin, but said that hurdles remained to a full takeover. <br/>
ANA Holdings reported a net profit of JPY51b (US$453.9m) for its 2017 fiscal Q1, nearly an eightfold increase over the company’s JPY6.6b net income for its fiscal 1Q 2016. ANA Group attributed its net result to “extraordinary income from the inclusion of Peach Aviation as a consolidated subsidiary” in this fiscal year’s reporting. ANA’s consolidated revenue for the quarter was JPY451.7b, up 11.7%, as consolidated expenses came to JPY426.2b, up 9.2% YOY, resulting in JPY25.4b in consolidated operating income for the quarter, up 80.1% compared to JPY14.1b a year ago. ANA’s air transportation business segment posted JPY396.8b in revenue for the quarter, up 13.1% year-over-year, and JPY23.1b in operating income, up 83.3% YOY. <br/>
The Cabinet committee of economic affairs (CCEA) has finalised a 3-pronged strategy for the disinvestment of Air India — demerger and strategic disinvestment of 3 profit making subsidiaries, hiving off of certain assets into a special purpose vehicle and treatment of unsustainable debts of the ailing carrier. The 3 profit-making subsidiaries are Air India Express, the ground handling company Air India Air Transport Services Limited and Air India’s joint venture with SATS Limited for ground handling activities in Delhi, Mumbai, Trivandrum and Bengaluru. The process will be piloted by the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) comprising finance minister Arun Jaitley, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, transport minister Nitin Gadkari, Railways minister Suresh Prabhu and power minister Piyush Goyal. <br/>
An Air Canada plane that nearly landed on a taxiway in San Francisco last month passed only 59 feet above the ground before aborting its approach and averting a crash, US investigators said Wednesday. The Airbus A320 may have missed one or more of the planes in its path on the ground by just a few feet in the July 7 incident. The Airbus was preparing to land not on the intended runway but on an adjacent taxiway, where other aircraft had lined up as they waited for take-off. The pilots told NTSB investigators they thought they were about to land on 1 of 2 parallel runways at San Francisco International airport. "They did not recall seeing aircraft on taxiway C" but "something did not look right to them," the NTSB said in an update of its probe. <br/>
A teenage passenger was taken for a medical evaluation after he opened an emergency door on an airplane when it landed in San Francisco then slid down the wing to the tarmac, an official said Wednesday. The teen was not injured during the Tuesday incident that occurred at San Francisco International minutes after Copa Airlines Flight 208 arrived from Panama City, an airport spokesperson said. The teen — a US citizen — was travelling alone and appeared to be in emotional distress during the flight. After jumping from the plane, he was held by an airfield construction crew until police arrived and arrested him. Witnesses said the teen seemed fidgety and anxious throughout the 7-hour flight. He was already on the ground and running by the time passengers realised the door had been opened. <br/>
Union members of Croatian Airlines have warned of a strike action starting Aug 8, according to Croatia Week. Employees of the carrier will hold a strike in the height of the tourist season over the lack of a collective agreement on pay rise and working hours. Representatives of the union tried to negotiate with the company's board on a new agreement to replace the one that expired at the end of last year, but talks were unsuccessful. The airline stated Wednesday that it would do everything possible to transport passengers according to the planned timetable during the strike. Company director Kresimir Kucko said he was expecting only 50 out of 923 employers to strike, but that to ensure there is no traffic disruption, the company would rent planes with a staff. <br/>