Once dubbed as symbols of European aerospace prowess, 2 of Airbus's unwanted A380 superjumbos face the ignominy of being broken up for spare parts after failing to find an airline willing to keep flying them. German investment company Dr Peters Group said Tuesday that the 2 double-deckers could be "parted out" to recover engines and other spares worth at least US$100m (E85.4m) per plane if second-hand operators for the passenger planes couldn't be found in coming months. The group owns 4 A380s due to be returned between October and June by SIA following the expiration of 10-year lease deals. Dr Peters Group CE Anselm Gehling said some airlines, including a US carrier and IAG, were continuing to evaluate deploying used A380s and would prefer buying the planes as a whole. <br/>
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The airline industry is pushing for new technology and initiatives to streamline border processing for passengers, with trials underway at some airports. Airport passenger flow rates will need to increase significantly to cope with forecast growth in air travel, IATA director of airports and fuel Hemant Mistry said Wednesday. This means improving visa processes and making passenger identity checks more efficient through data sharing and other methods. IATA has developed a New Experience Travel Technologies initiative, which also involves the Airports Council International. One goal is to encourage off-airport passenger processing, for example at a downtown check-in site remote from the airport. The program is looking at “how much [passenger] processing could be done before they get to the airport itself,” Mistry said. <br/>
Airlines are betting that a new system for showcasing their wares on travel agents' screens will help sell fancier seats, tastier meals, lounge access and flight options - and give profits a lift. Airlines typically sell about 70% of their tickets via third parties, such as travel agents and websites. But in recent years, with more emphasis on selling extras on top of bookings, simply presenting fares and flight times in text wasn't enough, an industry association said. Instead, a more engaging visual approach to marketing was needed: airlines wanted potential passengers to be able to view their planes, seats and even meals as though they were browsing a shopping site. The resulting system, new distribution capability (NDC), is beginning to show results 3 years after it was introduced, airlines say. <br/>
Airline profitability remains uneven geographically, with carriers in much of the world struggling to earn a profit even as the overall industry continues to generate record revenue and earn robust annual income. IATA issued its latest 2018 global airline profit forecast June 4. The new forecast cuts expected profit by 12% to US$33.8b, with higher-than-expected fuel prices the main factor. This will still make 2018 one of the industry’s the strongest financial years, with the world’s airlines expected to generate a record $834b in revenue. However, nearly half of the forecast profit will come from the $15b North American airlines are projected to earn, while airlines in 3 regions combined—Africa, Latin America and the Middle East—will earn just over $2b this year. African airlines are expected to be in the red collectively in 2018. <br/>
The Trump administration has urge US carriers to ignore Chinese demands over how they refer to Taiwan, in the latest example of mounting friction between the US and China. US officials have asked United, American Airlines and Delta not to comply with a Chinese demand to write “Taiwan, China” instead of Taiwan on their websites and maps, according to people familiar with the issue. The request came after China ordered 36 foreign airlines to remove any language which implied that Taiwan was not part of China. While the White House argues that it can help provide cover for the US carriers, the Chinese threat poses a big problem for the airlines since they could lose landing spots in China for not complying. It also comes as the Chinese market becomes increasingly important for the global aviation market. <br/>
European countries are pushing back against any weakening of the rules underpinning a landmark global agreement to cap airline emissions at 2020 levels, especially those related to the types of aviation biofuels that can be used. France, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands have written to ICAO to say they would have to reconsider their support should the compromise be weakened. This related particularly to criteria for the sustainability of alternative fuels and the carbon credits used to offset CO2 emissions. "If some countries were to call into question certain aspects of the compromise, notably with regards to the emissions units and the sustainability of alternative fuels, the support given by France to this version of the text would be compromised," France wrote in a letter to ICAO. <br/>
With global passenger numbers forecast to almost double to US$7.8b by 2036, runways, airports and even airspace could rapidly become too crowded to cope. In Asia, which will contribute more than half of the extra flyers, many terminals are already full to bursting. “Infrastructure is a bigger threat to the growth of airlines than the price of oil,” Qatar Airways CE Akbar Al Baker said Tuesday. “There is today a capacity shortage of more than a billion passengers across the globe.” At stake is the $2.7t that IATA estimates the industry contributes each year to the wider global economy, as well as the expansion plans of planemakers and major airlines. “It’s not just runways, it’s also taxiing areas, it’s parking stands,” said one transport expert. “Economies will get slowed down by not having sufficient capacity.” <br/>
Transport secretary Chris Grayling has given the go-ahead for the GBP14b third runway at Heathrow, but rejected a proposal by a group of airlines led by British Airways to build it. It was reported that IATA and the Heathrow Airline Operators Committee had put forward plans for a special-purpose company — co-owned by Heathrow, the airlines and other investors — to build the project. Grayling, announcing the publication of a “national policy statement” — which gives a green light to the project — acknowledged that some stakeholders had asked the govt to consider alternative models of ownership. But he told the Commons: “My current assessment is that caution is needed at this stage . . . the management are currently the only credible promoter who could deliver this scheme in its entirety.” <br/>