South African Airways mapped out its turnaround strategy to make the struggling airline more competitive and cost-efficient after reporting a hefty annual loss Thursday. SAA, which has not generated profit since 2011, is regularly cited by ratings agencies as a drain on the govt purse and survives on state guarantees totalling nearly ZAR20b (US$1.69b). The company’s results for the year to March 31, 2017 — which had been delayed after the company received a ZAR10b govt bailout last year — showed a deepening loss of ZAR5.6b, a more than threefold increase from the previous year’s ZAR1.5b loss. However, the National Treasury is hopeful that new executive leadership led by Vuyani Jarana, a former executive at telecoms company Vodacom, would return the airline to profitability. <br/>
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Lufthansa Group is looking to add more capacity into Asia-Pacific as demand for air travel grows in the region. "We are focusing on the development in Asia-Pacific. China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India will be the main drivers for growth," Lufthansa's VP of sales for Asia and Pacific Dieter Vranckx said. He adds that growth in China - particularly at Beijing - has been strong, while Chengdu, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shenyang that "are on our watch list". In the shorter-term, the Group is looking to expand its presence at Tokyo Haneda International. Austrian Airlines will reinstate its Vienna-Tokyo link in mid-May, around 20 months after suspending it. Vranckx's comments come after Lufthansa recommenced a 5-times weekly Singapore-Munich service using Airbus A350-900s March 28 following a 6-year hiatus. <br/>
Air Canada flight attendants allege they were lined up in a hallway during training and marked on their appearance — how they wear the uniform, their bodies, their makeup, their nails. They were told their “eyes were too small” and their skin colour “too white,” according to a human rights complaint recently submitted by their union. Inappropriate conduct is one of more than a dozen alleged instances of harassment and discrimination outlined in a 13-page complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission by the Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), on behalf of their members who work as cabin personnel (the majority of whom are female). An Air Canada spokesman said that there is a process for dealing with such allegations, adding: “There is no systemic issue at Air Canada”. <br/>
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said Air India underreported its FY 2017 loss by INR35.46b due to the treatment of certain receivables as other income, lower provisioning and overstatement of deferred tax assets. The govt auditor's report is a part of the airline's FY 2017 accounts which was tabled before the Parliament Wednesday. Last fiscal the airline made a net loss of INR57.6b on a total revenue of INR221b. Net Loss for the year widened from INR38.3b in FY 16. In its observations, CAG has said the loss for FY17 should have been higher and has also made certain comments with regard to the turnaround plan and its 'going concern' status. On its part Air India has claimed there was no violation of accounting practices and thus no understatement of loss. <br/>