Selling theatre tickets for musicals Les Miserables and Wicked is not normally associated with the airlines. But as the oil price has risen and fares stay competitive, ancillary revenues are becoming essential to the airline business model. “2018 may well be a defining moment in aviation as airlines begin to report more revenue from their retailing than the cost of the initial air ticket,” said John Grant, partner at consultancy Midas Aviation. Ancillary revenues have soared in the decade to 2017. The top 10 global airlines, ranked by total ancillary revenue, increased them from US$2.1b to $29.7b in the 10 years to 2017. Grant cited ultra-low-cost carriers such as Spirit Airlines, where ticket revenue for 2017 was $328m and non-ticket revenue was $329m, as an example where this trend towards emphasis on ancillary revenues is accelerating. <br/>
general
Airbus has launched an ab initio pilot training program as the airline industry faces the prospect of a growing deficit of trained flight deck personnel in coming years. The “Airbus Pilot Cadet Training Programme” is being launched in partnership with Escuela de Aviacion Mexico (EAM), located close to the Airbus Mexico Training Centre. After completing their initial training with EAM, cadets will qualify at the centre to become Airbus A320 pilots. EAM trains 200 cadets per year. The new Airbus program will be open to young people over 18 who have graduated from high school; candidates will undergo screening tests both online and on-site. The first batch of cadets should start training in Jan 2019, graduating in July 2020. Airbus said it plans similar partnerships worldwide in coming years. <br/>
Drunk passengers have been warned they could face fines of up to GBP80,000 should a plane have to divert because of disruptive behaviour. Ministers have backed a campaign from the aviation industry to tackle problem drinking, which airlines say shows no sign of abating, despite previous initiatives. Early morning bar openings and duty free sales at airports have been blamed by airlines for a series of costly and potentially dangerous incidents in the air. The One Too Many campaign, which highlights the problems a drunk passenger can cause, will target holidaymakers at airports across Britain this summer. As well as reminding passengers they can be denied boarding if inebriated, an offence on a plane, it warns that penalties could include up to 2 years in prison and being banned from future flights. <br/>
Chinese regulators appear to have rejected a possible attempt by US airlines at a compromise over Beijing's demand to call self-ruled Taiwan a part of China, an order Washington opposed. The communist mainland's latest effort to use China's growing economic clout to isolate Taiwan's democratically elected govt is further straining ties between Beijing and the US amid a deepening trade dispute. The Chinese airline regulator says United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines missed a Wednesday deadline to change their websites while 40 other carriers obeyed. The US carriers had hoped that listing Taipei without a country would be good enough because Korean Air took a similar approach. Korean Air, however, began changing its website far ahead of this week's deadline. <br/>