ANA Holdings achieved another strong profit rise in its fiscal year ended March 31, driven mainly by a sharp increase in international revenue. The group reported a record net profit of JPY143.8b (US$1.3b) for the fiscal year, up 45.6% from JPY98.8b in the previous year. Revenue rose 11.7% to JPY1.97t, expenses were up 11.6%, and operating profit increased by 13% to JPY164.5b. The result was better than the carrier forecast in February. At that time, ANA estimated its net profit would be JPY132b, with a revenue projection that was slightly lower than the final total. This was a conservative estimate, which had not been adjusted from its previous update. International revenue rose 15.6% year-on-year; capacity grew 7% and traffic was up 7.7%. This resulted in load factor increasing slightly to 76.3%. <br/>
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United Airlines has increased its stake in Azul to 8%, citing connectivity with the Brazilian carrier for the move. United bought the shares, which raise its stake by 4.3 percentage points from 3.7%, from Hainan Airlines, Azul and United say jointly. Hainan maintains a 17% stake in Azul. "Following our initial investment in 2015, connecting traffic between our airlines is at an all-time high, significantly benefiting our customers traveling between the US and Brazil," says Andrew Levy, CFO of United. "Azul's strong network in Brazil, unique business model and exceptional customer service make this transaction a good long-term investment." Azul and United have both expressed interest in forming a joint venture, something that's possible with the approval of US-Brazil open skies by the latter country in March. <br/>
One year later. Have customers forgiven United Airlines for the David Dao incident? In April 2017, United Airlines faced a crisis that went viral on social media in a matter of hours, brought an out-of-court settlement and, eventually, an apology from the CE Oscar Munoz. It’s a painful reminder of how a PR disaster in the social media age can spread so fast. Many customers have moved on, but a new survey found that some have yet to put the issue to rest. It didn’t help that in the year since the Dao incident the airline experienced several incidents of pets on-board that have either been injured or died. Consumer perception of United is still far below what it was this time last year. It currently stands at -6.9 compared to 17 in the days before the incident, according to consumer perception firm YouGov BrandIndex. <br/>
Ethiopian Airlines has placed a firm order for 10 Bombardier Q400s, further building Bombardier's backlog and marking continued interest in the turboprop by Africa's largest Q400 operator. The agreement, which includes rights for Ethiopian to purchase 5 additional Q400s, calls for deliveries to begin in Q2 2019, says Bombardier. The deal has a value at list prices of US$332m, Bombardier says. The sale brings Bombardier's number of outstanding Q400 orders to 58, up from just 23 aircraft one year ago. Ethiopian has now ordered the turboprops on 5 occasions, Bombardier says. The airline operates 17 Q400s and, including Friday’s news, has outstanding orders for another 12 of the aircraft. <br/>