general

The UN aviation agency is expected to include fossil fuels in a landmark global agreement to limit aircraft emissions, a move that could encourage airlines to purchase crude over more costly biojet fuels, sources familiar with the matter said. Countries at the ICAO are seeking to agree on rules that will govern how the overall deal, brokered by the ICAO in 2016, will be implemented. The US, backed by Saudi Arabia and other countries, has proposed giving airlines credit for using crude oil as well as aviation fuels from renewable sources like corn, provided they meet the deal’s lower-emissions criteria, two industry sources said. Europe will back the proposal next week at an ICAO meeting in Montreal, as long as the fossil fuels eligible under the deal deliver actual carbon savings, two EC officials said separately. ICAO experts would determine how many emissions each fuel emits to avoid any confusion. The emission levels of individual fuels need to be “very robust so there is no fooling around with what is the actual performance of one fuel over another”, one of the officials said.<br/>

The share of traffic and revenue coming from international premium passengers held steady in Q1 compared to year-ago figures despite apparent sluggishness in the key North Atlantic and Europe-Asia markets, IATA said. Premium-class passengers accounted for 5.5% of total international origin-destination traffic for the first three months of the year, matching 2017’s first quarter. Premium passengers generated 30.6% of international revenue during the quarter, down 0.5% year-over-year. The North Atlantic, which is traditionally weak during Q1 compared to the summer season, saw premium-fare growth lagging slightly behind the economy-fare growth pace, IATA said. Premium passenger growth was even further behind its economy-class counterpart. The Europe-Asia market delivered similar results, but with smaller margins between the two classes.<br/>

Home to some of the busiest flight routes in Europe, whisking passengers across a rugged and mountainous landscape, Norway’s aviation industry now readies to go electric. The country whose tourism sales pitch is “Powered by Nature” wants to be a pioneer in the market for electric planes. Wideroe, a local airline that operates small planes on short haul flights, sees no major technological barriers ahead and plans to launch its first commercial aircraft propelled by some form of electric power within the next 10 years. “Today, we fly the smallest aircraft on the shortest routes, based on an aging technology that was developed in the 1970’s,” Wideroe’s CEO Stein Nilsen said. “There’s been much development in the aviation sector, but not on the smallest aircraft.” Monday marks the inaugural flight of an electric two-seater plane, which will take off from Oslo Airport with the country’s transport minister as a passenger. The plane, made by Slovenian manufacturer Pipistrel, can fly for up to one hour. Avinor, a state-owned company that operates the country’s airports, say the short test flight will demonstrate the feasibility of pollution-free aviation. “The growth in both Norwegian and international aviation is one of the big drivers of climate change, which is completely out of control,” said Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace in Norway. “Even if there’s a small chance that we’ll be able to get some small electric aircraft in the air covering short distances, there’s no indication that we’ll be able to replace today’s medium and long haul distances with electric propulsion.”<br/>

Florida airport is expecting to see one million fewer passengers next year while it closes a runway for reconstruction. The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will close its north runway beginning next June for five months and is expecting to reduce the number of flights by 20 to 25%. The $74m project will divert all airport traffic to the south runway which opened in 2014. Airport officials say international flights won't be reduced because they don't want to see that growing segment affected. Instead, flights to destinations like Chicago and New York could be reduced, though officials are working with airlines to bring in large plans to accommodate more passengers per flight.<br/>

Investors Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) and Macquarie have settled a legal dispute over Brussels Airport, allowing the sale of the transport hub to go ahead after the summer, sources familiar with the situation said. OTPP has given up its preemption rights over the asset and agreed to information being circulated to potential buyers of Macquarie’s stake, one of the sources said, without specifying what conditions the Australian investor met in return. A spokesman for OTPP declined to comment. OTPP bought 39% of Brussels Airport in 2011 and rights of first refusal on Macquarie’s stake. It wanted Macquarie to provide limited information to prospective bidders as this may give a competitive advantage to those taking part in the initial stages of the process. JP Morgan is still mandated to sell the airport, which had nearly 2.25m passengers in April, a rise of 5% compared with the same month in 2017. Brussels Airport serves as a hub for Brussels Airlines.<br/>

Boeing has reorganised its sales operations as part of a push into services that has helped it take a lead over Airbus this year. Boeing set up a standalone division in 2017 to build a $50b business in services for civil and defense aircraft. These can include repairs, crew rostering, parts and even wind forecasts. It previously offered fewer, more dispersed services. Now sales of jetliner services have been brought under the same umbrella as plane sales, headed by senior vice president Ihssane Mounir, Boeing’s overall commercial sales chief. The previously unreported move, which started late last year, is designed to increase the number of deals and boost profits as it will make it easier for Boeing to sell high-margin services at the same time as it sells planes. The change comes as airlines try to keep a lid on costs by planning jet purchases and long-term operations together.<br/>

Engine problems at Britain’s Rolls-Royce have rattled the aviation industry but have not slowed sales of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s commercial sales chief said. The UK engineering company faces problems with parts of the Trent 1000 engine, leading to the grounding of some 787s for repairs, and separately plans to cut 4,600 jobs. “Does it rattle people? Yes it rattles people. Nobody likes that. Airplanes make money when they are in the air; they don’t make money when they are on the ground,” Ihssane Mounir, senior VP of commercial sales & marketing for Boeing said. “I haven’t seen any slowdown in sales right now. These are growing and teething pains for any product.” Privately, Boeing executives are said to be frustrated about the problems which have left dozens of 787s grounded. Boeing sees continued 787 demand but it is too early to think about raising output beyond existing plans, Mounir said. Boeing is expected to complete a plan to raise 787 output to 14 a month from 12 a month by March 2019. “We are sold out in 2019 right now, and we are doing just fine in 2020 and in the out years. We are taking it one step at a time,” Mounir said.<br/>