Air Berlin's CE blamed long delays in the opening of a new Berlin airport for the airline's insolvency in an interview in Die Zeit. "Air Berlin is also a victim of the constant postponements of the new airport," the weekly newspaper Wednesday quoted Thomas Winkelmann as saying. Winkelmann's comments came a day after Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy protection after key shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses. The German capital's new airport was meant to open in 2011, replacing Air Berlin's home airport Tegel and Schoenefeld. "We have Berlin in our name, are the prime carrier here and have designed our whole concept based on transfer traffic at this new airport. That is not possible at Tegel, my predecessors made that painful experience," he added. <br/>
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Air Berlin's administrators will focus on selling its attractive take-off and landing slots in Germany, a source familiar with the process said, potentially opening up the market to new players. Loss-making Air Berlin has until now helped to shield Lufthansa and Germany, where a booming economy is fuelling demand for travel, from LCCs. But the fight is now on for German passengers after Air Berlin filed for insolvency Tuesday, with Lufthansa seeking to shore up its own position against Ryanair and EasyJet. Some doubt that the German govt will allow the demise of the country's second largest carrier to change the balance of power, highlighting Berlin's willingness to give Air Berlin a loan to keep planes in the air while it negotiates the sale of parts of its business. <br/>
German taxpayers will very likely not have to pay for a rescue of Air Berlin, chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, a day after the airline filed for bankruptcy protection. Berlin has granted a bridging loan of E150m (US$175.68m) to allow Air Berlin to keep its planes in the air for 3 months and secure the jobs of its 7,200 workers in Germany while negotiations continue. Asked in a YouTube interview how big the risk is that taxpayers would pay for a rescue, Merkel replied: "That is quite low otherwise we would not have been allowed to grant this bridge loan ... We can say that in all likelihood the taxpayer will not have to pay for that." <br/>
Cathay Pacific has plunged further into the red for the first half of 2017, and is pinning its hopes on a transformation plan to help counter surging competition. The carrier reported a net loss of HKD2.1b (US$268.2m) for the 6 months through June 30, a dramatic reversal from a HKD353m net profit in the same period last year. The prospect of a full-year loss appears likely, which would be Cathay’s second in a row. The airline’s 2016 full-year net loss of HKD575m was its first since 2008. Cathay’s biggest problem is increasing competition in many of its markets, particularly from mainland China’s major airlines. However, rising fuel prices are also adding to Cathay’s headaches. Fuel costs—including lower hedging losses—rose by HKD1.7b, or 12.7%, in the first half. <br/>
US airline employment is trending up. Airline employment nationwide increased 2.8% in June to 698,901 people. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines posted employment gains of 2.3% and 5.8%, respectively, according to statistics from the US DoT. American Airlines employed 107,032 people in June, with 94,110 full-time employees and 12,922 part-time employees. Southwest Airlines had 56,255 employees in June, with 54,439 full-time and 1,816 part-time workers. US airline employment was comprised of 583,404 full-time employees and 115,497 part-time employees. <br/>
An Australian scientific body says it believes it has identified the area in which Malaysia Airlines MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean “with unprecedented precision and certainty.” The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said it believed that the likely resting place of the Boeing 777-200ER was to the northeast of the 120,000 sq km area exhaustively searched by Australian, Malaysian and Chinese vessels. The new report’s findings support conclusions of an earlier review of the evidence that the most likely location of MH370 is 35.6 degrees south, 92.8 degrees east. Evidence was pieced together by CSIRO scientists, combining a re-examination of satellite imagery of the region taken in the early days of the search, together with new, refined models of drift patterns in that region. <br/>
Royal Jordanian has announced a series of measures to strengthen its income as the airline faces increasing competition in its home market. The carrier, as one of the smaller flag carriers in the region, has found itself under increasing pressure in recent years on 2 fronts: The “Middle East 3”—Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways—have deployed their rapidly growing fleets to Amman and other points on Royal Jordanian’s route network, while several regional LCCs have also been siphoning traffic from RJ’s revenue pool. The airline has unveiled several measures it hopes will attract more passengers, including an online bidding system by which passengers holding confirmed economy-class tickets can bid for an upgrade, and a Paid-for executive lounge pass at Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport. <br/>