The first all-new order for Airbus’ mainstay A320 jet of this week’s Farnborough International Airshow was distinctly lacking in the hoopla that usually accompanies deals unveiled at the world’s leading aviation expo. The $2b transaction from Latam Airlines Group of Chile was communicated by email at 8 a.m. in the UK, when most show delegates were still at their hotels. Airbus’s slim order haul and publicity restraint contrasts with previous shows, where the European manufacturer made a big splash with commercial announcements to a packed audience, often in rapid succession. Management relished the closing press conference, where executives needled the US competition and touted their wins before heading back to Toulouse with a bulging order book. This time round, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and his sales chief, Christian Scherer, had left the event even before the final day and Airbus confirmed Thursday that it would hold no formal closing media conference. The duo’s early exit came amid a dearth of orders for the European planemaker and as rival Boeing trotted out a raft of deals including three-figure sales for its 737 Max narrowbody, which competes with the A320neo. Agency Partners analyst Nick Cunningham said that, overall, the order haul from an event so keenly anticipated after a long-time absence of such gatherings due to the coronavirus crisis has been “pretty modest” by historical standards. Boeing “did a little better than expected,” he said, even as it grapples with glitches with the 787 Dreamliner and years of delays to the 777X.<br/>
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Ryanair said on Thursday it reached a five-year agreement with labour unions representing pilots in France and in Spain to improve work conditions. The agreements, ratified by both parties on Monday, include a return to pre-COVID salaries and "allow wage improvements and other benefits beyond the full return to salaries for Ryanair pilots based in France and in Spain," the airline said. Spanish pilot union SEPLA said details still have to be ironed out before a final labour agreement is signed.<br/>
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has urged the government to take a more "practical, common sense" approach to post-Brexit policy, to allow more workers from Europe to fill vacancies. O'Leary said he could hire people from continental Europe for jobs that he cannot fill with British workers, but is unable to get visas for them. Facilitating such visas would help ease disruption to air travel, he said. The government said it wanted firms to invest in workers from the UK. O'Leary said: "I can hire thousands of people in Portugal, in Italy, France, Germany at exactly the same wages that I'm paying in the UK and I just can't hire them in the UK at the moment. And we have this bizarre situation at the moment that in the UK I can get visas to bring Moroccans to come in and work as cabin crew. But I can't get visas for Portuguese or Italians or Slovakian youngsters. We just need a bit of more common sense and a practical approach to how we implement Brexit," he told BBC Radio 4. He said enabling such visas would help ease the disruption currently being felt at some airports, and ease skill shortages in other areas. "There are not enough people in the UK willing to do these jobs… particularly during peak periods of the summer and airports in particular. Airport handling staff and airport security staff are really struggling to recruit, particularly in the southeast, at airports like Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester."<br/>
Icelandair Group has generated a second-quarter profit of $4 million, and is optimistic that its second half will be profitable and include a “significantly stronger” third quarter. The company says it achieved positive earnings despite fuel prices more than doubling. Icelandair Group expects capacity to recover to 10% down on pre-crisis levels in Q4, and 17% in the third, compared with 24% in Q2 and more than 40% down in the first. “It is good to see such strong demand to Iceland and the transatlantic market recovering well,” says CE Bogi Nils Bogason. Icelandair Group says it recruited nearly 1,000 employees during the three months ending 30 June. “Turning a profit in the second quarter is a major milestone on our road to financial sustainability,” says Bogason. “Utilising the flexibility of our network and robust infrastructure has allowed us to rapidly increase capacity in line with high demand, achieving improved load factor and higher yields.” He says the company has managed this despite higher fuel prices and other external elements. Bogason says the carrier has encountered situations including staff shortages at airports and supply-chain issues which have held up aircraft returning from maintenance. “We are, however, in a good position to respond to such disruptions with our extensive flight schedule and frequency of flights,” he adds.<br/>
The pilot of a passenger airplane in Indonesia suffered a health emergency 15 minutes after take-off on Thursday and was forced to return to the airport before being rushed to a hospital where he later died. The Citilink Indonesia flight — an Airbus A320 carrying more than 100 passengers — had departed from Surabaya’s international airport in East Java province and was headed to Ujung Pandang city in South Sulawesi province. The cause of the pilot’s death was not immediately known. The airline said it had conducted health checks prior to the flight for all crew on duty and that they were “declared fit or airworthy,” according to a statement from Dewa Kadek Rai, the president director of PT Citilink Indonesia. The passengers and the rest of the crew were safe and the flight later reached its destination with a new aircraft and crew. Citilink Indonesia is a low-cost carrier and a subsidiary of state-owned carrier Garuda Indonesia Group. It serves more than 100 routes to 47 domestic and international destinations. Indonesian airlines were banned in 2007 from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, though several were allowed to resume services in the following decade. The ban was completely lifted in 2018. <br/>
The administration of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City has suspended a security screening officer for failing to detect a passenger bringing a knife in her carry-on luggage onto a plane. The passenger used the 20cm knife to peel fruit while aboard a plane, violating flight safety and security regulations. The incident took place on flight VN208 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi on July 18. The Southern Airport Authority said during the screening process, the officer failed to detect the knife which was put in a hard-to-see position in her hand luggage. The camera system showed that the officer had followed regulations when conducting the screening. Tan Son Nhat International Airport is currently experiencing a surge of passengers, accommodating an estimated 100,000 visitors each day, causing great pressure on screening tasks. However, the aviation authorities said ensuring security was the top priority.<br/>