New Jersey lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a jet-fuel tax that would force United Continental Holdings to pay for expanded passenger rail at Newark Liberty International Airport. Airlines are exempt from the state’s gross-receipts tax on petroleum products, with the exception of the fuel used during taxiing and take-off. A bill approved by the Senate budget committee would change that by taxing all the fuel used by companies that carrying at least 8 million passengers annually. The proceeds would pay for a train service operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. United is the only operator large enough to be affected, with 14.6m passengers boarding at Newark annually, according to its website. The bill must be passed by the legislature and signed by the governor to become law. <br/>
star
SAA is making progress with its plan to reach profitability in the next three years, even as it faces challenges such as a jump in fuel prices, CEO Vuyani Jarana said. Jarana said he expects losses until the company can break even or achieve profitability at the end of the 2021 financial year as the embattled state-owned airline improves its revenue. “I’m still quite comfortable about the execution of the plan," Jarana said Sunday. The airline reported a loss of US$398m in the year ended in March, more than double what it had budgeted, and received a government bailout last year to avoid a default on debt owed to Citigroup. The management is considering a sale of the airline’s catering unit, Air Chefs, and outsourcing or selling SAA Cargo, the Johannesburg-based City Press reported Sunday, citing an internal report. The CEO said the leaked document outlines scenarios but no final decisions have been made. He pointed out the the company’s own corporate plan forecasts losses for the next several years. “On revenue we’re quite happy, but other aspects are more difficult,” he said. SAA is watching to see what competitors do about fuel hedging strategy, an unanticipated issue that’s emerged with higher oil prices, he said. The airline has used a hedging policy, “but it’s not an aggressive one,” Jarana said.<br/>
Taiwan’s EVA Air has launched its new business class in line with the delivery of its new Boeing 787-9/10 Dreamliner. Known as the Royal Laurel Class, EVA Air opted for new cabin configuration, designers and suppliers from the previous Boeing 777-300ER product. The carrier engaged BMW’s Designworks to design and style the seats and cabin, moving away from the 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration to the forward facing 1-2-1 arrangement. The 23-inch wide Vantage XL seats are supplied by Thompson Aero Seating, featuring 76-inch long flat-bed and 18-inch touchscreen high definition personal monitor. In all, there will be 26 seats in the Royal Laurel Class and 278 in economy. EVA Air will take delivery of its first 787-9 at Boeing’s Charleston facility Oct. 2, and will be the first operator in the island to fly the Dreamliner. Boeing would delivery three more by the end of 2018, and the first Boeing 787-10 in Q2 2019 and the airline expects to have 24 Boeing 787s by 2022.<br/>
Singapore Airlines’ first Airbus A350-900ULR demonstrated its long-haul capabilities during an unusual delivery flight during which the aircraft routed over the Arctic. The aircraft departed Toulouse for Singapore on 22 September. But rather than following the great circle route – around 5,900nm overflying Italy, the Black Sea, Caspian Sea and India – the aircraft took a flightpath north to Norway and Spitsbergen. It crossed the Arctic Circle and eventually turned south into Russian airspace, landing at Singapore at around 16:40 local time. The duration of the flight, close to 16h 30min, was about one-third longer than the typical 12h for an A350-900 ferry on the same route. Singapore Airlines is planning to put the aircraft into service on a 9,000nm nonstop link to New York’s Newark airport on 11 October, a flight time of some 18h 45min, before opening a nonstop Los Angeles service in November.<br/>