Airlines
Air Transport Symposium Set for Abu Dhabi
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is reminding travel trade personnel that the first World Financial Symposium (WFS) for the airline industry will be held in Abu Dhabi Sept. 17-18. More than 600 financial executives and specialists are expected to attend the event, which is hosted by Etihad Airways. Experts in revenue accounting, treasury, risk management, fraud prevention and other areas will exchange ideas to identify successful strategies for improved airline financial health. “Aviation has a global economic impact of $2.4 trillion and transports 35% of goods...
Ethiopian Airlines, United Launch Codeshare Agreement
Ethiopian Airlines has entered into a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, effective Aug. 30. Ethiopian, the largest airline in Africa, currently flies to 83 international destinations across five continents. It operates the youngest and most modern fleet in Africa, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777 LR aircraft. Ethiopian provides daily services to Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) on the B777 or B787 aircraft, with convenient connections through the airline’s main hub in Addis Ababa (ADD) to 49 cities across Africa. The new codeshare agreement between the two Star...
Sunwing Set to Fly From Buffalo
Travellers from Southern Ontario looking to escape to the beach this winter will have more options with the introduction of two new services from Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations. Departing from Buffalo Niagara International Airport [BUF] on Saturdays, services to Cancun will begin Jan. 17, 2015 and operate until May 9, 2015. Flights to Punta Cana will be available from Buffalo between Feb. 14, 2015 and May 9, 2015. Andrew Dawson, chief operating officer of Sunwing Travel Group, commented, “Sunwing's introduction of direct flights from Buffalo marks a huge milestone in our...
LOT ‘Crazy Fare Sale’
LOT Polish Airlines has introduced a “crazy fare sale” available through Aug. 20 for travel from Oct.1 to Dec.15 and Jan. 16, 2015 to March 31, 2015 from Toronto to Poland and beyond. Special ares are available in all classes of service: Business class, Premium Economy and Economy class aboard LOT’s Dreamliner aircraft. For example, the round trip fare between Toronto and Tallinn is $754 in Economy, $1,545 in Premium Economy and $2,845 in Business. All fares include taxes and surcharges and are subject to availability. Economy class fares require a minimum Saturday...
Khazanah Set To Take All Of MAS
Malaysia Airlines is going to be de-listed after the airlines' board of directors agreed to table a proposed offer from its majority shareholder, Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”). That proposal will be presented to MAS shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting which will be scheduled at a later date. Khazanah's is proposing to undertake a selective capital reduction and repayment exercise (“Proposed SCR”) of MAS’ ordinary shares. The proposal will enable minority ordinary shareholders of MAS to receive a capital repayment amount of RM0.27 per ordinary share, which...
DOT Gives 787 Final Approval
After all of the sound and fury, the US Department of Transportation has given final approval to IATA Resolution 787. Not surprisingly, it is a decision that IATA welcomes wholeheartedly, considering that 787 is the “foundation document” for the airline industry association's New Distribution Capability (NDC). IATA director general and CEO, Tony Tyler said that DOT's approval is “a very exciting development for air travellers, airlines, intermediaries, and for competition.” The final approval leaves unchanged DOT’s tentative decision approving Resolution 787, which...
Emirates, BA Suspend Flights
Due to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Emirates has suspended service to Conakry, Guinea, until further notice. The airline is continuing operations to Dakar, Senegal. And, in related news, British Airways has cancelled flights to and Liberia and Sierra Leone until Aug. 31. The World Health Organization reported that as of Aug. 1, there was a total of 1,603 suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola in West Africa, and 887...
Encouraging Numbers From IATA
IATA reports that global passenger traffic results for June were showing what it described as “a modest deceleration in demand growth” when compared to the previous month. The industry association indicated that total revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) rose 4.7% over the same period a year ago, which was below the 6.2% year-on-year increase recorded in May 2014. June capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) increased by 5.0%, causing load factor to slip 0.2 percentage points to 81.5%. Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO, commented, “June traffic growth at 4.7% is...