Japanese airline group ANA Holdings is expected to report a year-on-year decline of more than 20% in operating income for the April-September half, suffering a fall in business passengers as corporations tightened their travel budgets. The US-China trade war also took a toll, causing a slump in air cargo including semiconductors and auto parts. More manufacturers and other corporate customers have shifted to economy class for business travel to the US, Europe and other long-haul destinations. For travel within Asia, many manufacturers appear to have refrained from business trips. Just this August, ANA introduced wider business-class seats on flights to London in hopes of capturing more demand for such travel. The parent of All Nippon Airways announces its H1 results Tuesday. Operating income likely will come in around 80b yen ($736m), below the 98.7b yen average of analyst forecasts tallied by QUICK Consensus. Revenue looks to rise about 1% to 1.05t yen, driven mainly by the launch of new routes, but still fall short of the market forecast of 1.07t yen. ANA does not disclose its estimates for fiscal H1 earnings. Demand for international cargo service missed ANA's targets.<br/>
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TAP Air Portugal has retired its last Airbus A340 as part of its transition to an all-A321LR and A330neo long-haul fleet, which will be completed by the end of 2019. TAP has operated the A340 since the 1990s, performing over 63,000 flights and carrying 12m customers to more than 55 destinations. After 25 years of operation, TAP bid farewell to the last of its four A340s during an internal ceremony in one of the airline’s hangars, attended by hundreds of TAP staff. TAP said the retirement marked an important milestone in its long-haul fleet renewal, which will see the A340s replaced by A321LRs and A330neos. TAP was the A330neo launch operator. “By the end of 2019, TAP’s long-haul fleet will be completely renewed with the entry of neos and retrofit of the remaining previous-generation aircraft,” TAP said. “The new fleet allows TAP to open new routes, strengthen its destination network and diversify the markets in which it operates.”<br/>