Air France KLM said anti-government protests in France had hit its revenue, taking the shine off a rise in its overall December passenger traffic figures and knocking its shares. Analysts said the latest passenger data showed that the Dutch KLM airline was again doing better than Air France, with KLM and the smaller Transavia division flying fuller planes. “The rise in passenger numbers was essentially led by KLM and Transavia, whereas the performance at Air France was more flat,” said Gregoire Laverne of Roche Brune Asset Management. Air France KLM said the “yellow vest” protests, which have been marred by violence and disrupted shopping areas and the transport network, were estimated to have had a negative revenue impact of around E15m. A spokeswoman for Air France KLM said it had arrived at the estimate by taking into account last minute cancellations of bookings that had occurred as a result of the protests, which started in mid-November but intensified and grew more violent over the course of December. The airline said that it carried around 7.7m passengers in December, up 3.6% from a year earlier, while for the whole of 2018 it flew around 101m passengers, 2.8% higher than the previous year.<br/>
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Juneyao Airlines has completed the transfer of a 7% stake to China Eastern Airlines' parent company, China Eastern Air Holding. In a Hong Kong stock exchange disclosure, China Eastern states that the transaction closed on 8 January. CEA Holding will also invest up to US$461m to purchase up to 169 million Shanghai-listed A-shares that Juneyao will issue through a separate private placement. That will see it ultimately hold around a 15% stake in Juneyao. "The transfer of existing shares of Juneyao Airlines by Eastern Investment is significant in further enhancing and deepening the strategic partnership between CEA Holding and Juneyao Group, establishing Shanghai as an aviation hub," says China Eastern.<br/>
Delta has ordered 15 additional Airbus A220-300s and converted orders for 35 A220-100s to the larger variant -- deals that stand to bring Delta's A220 fleet to 90 aircraft. The carrier expects to take delivery of its first A220-300 in 2020. The aircraft will be configured with 130 seats, including first-class seats, economy seats and extra-legroom economy seats Delta calls "Comfort+". "These additional A220 aircraft will continue to strategically enable Delta to refresh our fleet, drive further advances in the customer experience and serve as an excellent investment for our customers, employees and shareowners for Delta into the next decade," says Delta COO Gil West. With the new orders and conversions, Delta holds orders for 40 A220-100s and 50 A220-300s. The airline has taken delivery of four A220-100s, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. It plans to place the aircraft into revenue service later this month.<br/>