Update Sunday 30 October 22:30 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Travellers’ alert: a court has ordered Qantas to resume flights and workers to go back to work after thousands were stranded by a strike Saturday. The Australian airline says it will resume flights Monday afternoon 31 October, Australian time.
Saturday 29 October grounded all flights worldwide, effective immediately, as it locked out three of its labour unions, including pilots and baggage handlers. The company is asking passengers not to go to the airport until further notice, but says it will refund ticket holders who want to cancel their flights.
PARIS, FRANCE – Air France cabin crew filed a preliminary notice Monday of plans for a four-day strike from 29 July-1 August. The strike is expected to cover long-haul as well as flights within France, according to Le Monde (Fre), which details the labour dispute between unions and the company.
The strike is designed to force Air France back to the negotiating table over work conditions.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Perth, in western Australia, became the latest victim of a cloud of ash from a volcano in Chile Wednesday, with the airport stopping flights as a precautionary measure, starting at 13:00 and lasting at least a day, with disruptions to international as well as national flights. Qantas, Virgin Australia and other airlines have been cancelling flights in and out of Australia and New Zealdn due to the ash from the volcano 9,000km away.
The disruptions to air travel throughout the country has many Australians puzzled, local media report: Puyehue volcano in southern Chile’s Andes mountains began erupting 4 June and shows no signs of a let-up, affecting air travel in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil, but also Australia.
The ash cloud takes about six days to reach Australia, but there are concerns that airlines will be hit just as families prepare for school holidays that start 1 July. The Meteorology Bureau in Australia notes that “Volcanic ash particles come in a range of sizes and while the biggest will fall to the ground quickly, very small particles take a long time to settle out of the atmosphere. This eruption ejected these small particles very high in the atmosphere, to a region of stronger winds known as the jet stream. The jet stream has then carried the ash particles great distances to the east.”
It is not unprecedented for volcanic ash to remain suspended for long time periods.
Perth’s situation is different from that on the east coast. “The base of the plume is at a lower level than the ash cloud that has disrupted air travel on Australia’s east coast, making it harder for pilots to fly around or below the danger,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald. “Airservices Australia spokesman Matt Wardell told AAP the plume approaching Perth covered a band between 15,000 and 35,000 feet (4.5km to 10.5km) and was approaching Perth from the southwest.
Links to other sites: Australian national weather service, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – It will cost you only about CHF100 to go 300kph in China, on the Beijing-Shanghai route, but you won’t be behind the wheel, you’ll be in a passenger seat on the new high-speed train. The Chinese government 14 June unveiled the price schedule for the trains, which go into operation at the end of June, cutting travel time from the current high-speed train trip of 10 hours to under 5 hours.
China’s railway company will run 126 trains at 300kph every day and 54 trains at 250kph, as well as continuing to run 136 “normal” trains for the 1,318km journey. The fastest trains were originally scheduled to run at 350kph but the government decided to reduce the speed for cost and safety reasons.
Ticket prices in yuan will be RMB555 for second-class seats and RMB1,750 for first-class, for the 4-hour 48-minute journey. By comparison, a regular full-fare airplane ticket costs nearly RMB1,400 and the flight takes one hour, 40 minutes flying time.
Xinhua, the official news agency, issued a puzzling statement based on remarks by Vice Minister of Railways Hu Yadong at a press conference, that “Prices will float according to the market and for the good of passengers.”
China will continue to run 250kph trains, with tickets costing RMB410 to 650 for second and first class, respectively.
The new high-speed lines will also make it possible to “increase cargo transportation capacity by 140,000 tons per day and 50 million tons per year, according to Xinhua.
Flying in still-troubled skies
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Tony Tyler, former chief executive of Cathay Pacific, will succeed Giovanni Bisignani as Iata’s (International Air Transport Association) director general and CEO, effective 1 July 2011, the organization’s member companies voted 7 June.
Tyler steps into a job that won’t get any easier this year, with Iata also announcing this week that it is sharply cutting its forecast for airline profits for 2011 to $4 billion, a 54 percent fall compared with the $8.6 billion profit forecast in March.
Tom Tyler, Iata's new CEO
Giovanni Bisigniani, outgoing head of Iata
It will be a 78 percent drop compared with the $18 billion net profit (revised from $16 billion) recorded in 2010, Iata noted in a statement Monday. “On expected revenues of $598 billion, a $4 billion profit equates to a 0.7% margin.”
Natural disasters, oil prices, unrest creating “unprecedented shocks”
Bisignani handed out the glum assessment. “Natural disasters in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, plus the sharp rise in oil prices have slashed industry profit expectations to $4 billion this year. That we are making any money at all in a year with this combination of unprecedented shocks is a result of a very fragile balance. The efficiency gains of the last decade and the strengthening global economic environment are balancing the high price of fuel. But with a dismal 0.7 percent margin, there is little buffer left against further shocks,” the outgoing director says.
Airline profit factors not the same as in 2008
The gloomy picture is not, however, a repeat of 2008, when the global economic crisis caused major problems for the airlines. A number of factors have changed significantly.
- Fuel is again a factor but the price spike, with an expected high of $115 a barrel this year, is different. Oil inventories are low, but there is ” substantial spare OPEC and refinery capacity, which was not the case three years ago. Second, the monetary expansion that fuelled a surge in financial investments in commodities is ending, which will remove a major upward pressure on fuel prices.”
- Passenger and cargo demand are both on the rise, thanks to higher GDP (gross domestic product), both the increases are smaller than earlier projected, and the “price-sensitive leisure” travellers market fell by 3-4 percent in the first five months of the year as fuel prices rose
- Passenger load factors were “hovering around 77 percent” by April, “more than a full percentage point below the 78.4 percent achieved for international traffic in 2010″, with capacity growing (5.8 percent) faster than demand (4.7 percent)
- Global economic growth is the key risk factor: “High energy prices will certainly have a slowing impact on economic growth. However, the impact will be mitigated by two factors. First, while high oil prices previously triggered recessions, today’s economies (which generate a unit of GDP using just half the energy required in the mid-1970s) are less sensitive. Second, the corporate sector is cash-rich, business confidence is high, and world trade continues to expand at around 9 percent annually. The International Monetary Fund and others have raised global growth projections, which would indicate a recovery in demand growth to the historical 5.6 percent level for the second half of 2011. IATA’s forecast for continued, albeit lower, airline profits despite $110 a barrel oil prices, is dependant on a strong economy to generate sufficient revenues to partially offset higher fuel costs.
Iata shows off the Checkpoint of the Future, for more "civilized" air travel
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Shorter lines yet greater security at airports, the stuff of dreams? Not so, says the airline industry, determined to push travel into a smoother future, as early as 2013 or 2014. To prove it, the “checkpoint of the future” has just been unveiled in Singapore 7 June by Geneva-based Iata (International Air Traffic Association), the industry’s membership association.
It could mean the end of removing clothes and unpacking carry-on bags, as well as faster lines.
Governments will need to give it their backing, but Iata says it is working closely, through the International Civil Aviation Organization, with 19 governments, including the US, to define standards for the new checkpoint.
“We spend $7.4 billion a year to keep aviation secure. But our passengers only see hassle,” Giovanni Bisignani, Iata director general and chief executive told delegates to the organization’s annual general meeting Tuesday. “Passengers should be able to get from curb to boarding gate with dignity. That means without stopping, stripping or unpacking, and certainly not groping. That is the mission for the Checkpoint of the Future. We must make coordinated investments for civilized flying.”
Iata also published, 6 June, a dramatic reduction in profits forecast for the airline industry; it is easy to see why the airlines want to woo passengers with better boarding conditions.
Biometric travel documents will take on greater significance with the new checkpoints, since a passport’s “biometric identifier” will determine which of three lines a passenger will be directed to: known traveler, normal, and enhanced security.
Iata describes the system:
“‘Known travelers’ who have registered and completed background checks with government authorities will have expedited access.
“‘Normal screening’ would be for the majority of travelers.
“And those passengers for whom less information is available, who are randomly selected or who are deemed to be an ‘Elevated risk’ would have an additional level of screening.”Screening technology is being developed that will allow passengers to walk through the checkpoint without having to remove clothes or unpack their belongings. Moreover, it is envisioned that the security process could be combined with outbound customs and immigration procedures, further streamlining the passenger experience.”
Click on images to view larger
Where to put the bottles, in the bag or on the plane: mix of rules after 29 April
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Federal Aviation Office will not change current policy covering what liquids airline passengers may carry on board, it announced Thursday 21 April.
Some European Union countries are easing their policies, the Swiss office notes, but Switzerland, after reviewing the situation, will maintain current regulations.
The decision means that passengers transfering through Switzerland, who have boarded in a country where more liquids, purchased in duty free zones, are allowed on board, will not be able to board in Switzerland with those liquids.
Switzerland reviewed its regulations for security risks following a decision by the European Union to allow passengers, starting 29 April, to carry on board more than 100cc (1dl) of liquids purchased in airport duty free zones. Its decision not to follow the EU change follows similar decisions by France, Italy and the UK to maintain their tighter security restrictions.
The recent differing decisions means that passengers will be faced with a patchwork of regulations covering what liquids may or may not be taken onto a plane. Switzerland will allow passengers who have purchased liquids on board a plane from the following countries to take them on board when transferring: from the EU, US, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Norway, Iceland and Croatia.
The decision comes just days after the expected announcement that passengers will be able to buy duty free goods on arrival, and not just departure, from Swiss airports.
California, from a Southwest airplane
Southwest Airlines have found cracks in the fuselage of a further three of its Boeing 737′s, during a round of emergency aircraft checks after Friday’s crash-landing due to cracks, in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
After a sudden drop in cabin pressure due to a crack in the plane’s fuselage, a Southwest Boeing 737 was forced to make a crash landing Friday 1 April, just minutes after taking off. None of the 118 passengers were harmed. Subsequent checks on Southwest planes prompted 600 flight cancellations over the weekend, with a further 60 jets due to be checked before Tuesday evening.
“We are taking every precaution we can to ensure that our operation is safe,” Mike Van de Ven, Southwest’s executive vice-president, confirmed in a statement last night after media reports drew attention to possible maintenance lapses.
This is not the first time Southwest has got into scrapes over plane-maintenance: in 2008 the company faced a $10.2 million penalty (later reduced to $7.5 million) from the Federal Aviation Administration for failing to carry out mandatory fuselage inspections on a number of its Boeing 737′s.
Links to other sites: BBC, Guardian, New York Times, Southwest Media, Houston Chronicle
Australians hold their breath as Cyclone Yasi nears
It’s water in Queensland, but snow in the US: the latest storm, being called a megastorm by some, cut a north-south path that stretch down to Texas and up past Chicago, a city accustomed to snow that nevertheless saw its two airports shut down. NPR reports that some 6,000 flights were cancelled across the country, with American Airlines alone canceling 1,900, nearly half of its daily schedule. Snow and wind are causing problems, but the biggest worry is the damage that can be caused by ice storms, which have struck many areas. Power outages, falling trees and collapsing roofs are already being reported but another worry looms for TV sports addicts: will football’s Super Bowl go ahead as planned next Sunday? Dallas-Forth Worth Airport closed for an hour Tuesday due to the storm and the playing field was described as an ice rink by one newspaper that took an upbeat note: plenty of ice for Super Bowl parties.
Australia’s Queensland area faces what could be the worst cyclone in a century, reports the Sydney Morning Herald, with 296 kph winds. The storm has already ruined weather monitoring equipment on Willis Island, off Cairns, where the storm is expected to land, and its strength means it will be felt far inland. Residents have been told by authorities they will be on their own during the storm, with emergency services unavailable in order to protect their safety.
Links to other sites: Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Minneapolis Star & Tribune
United Airlines has agreed to buy Continental in what the two are calling a merger of equals, for about $3.2 billion. The new airline, to be called United, will fly to 59 countries, 389 destinations, and it will be the world’s largest airline, with more passengers than Delta, the current leader. It will have $29 billion in annual revenue, based on 2009 figures. Chicago, hometown to United, will be its base and the CEO of Continental, Jefferey Smisek, will be the new boss of the combined airline. The deal must be approved by the two companies’ unions and US antitrust authorities.
Links to other sites: Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Guardian, Houston Chronicle, United Continental merger site
©2010 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
No takeoff yet, flights halted in Switzerland
Swiss air space closed until at least Tuesday 20 April 08:00
Swiss skies open under 11,000 metres (36,000 feet)
Note to travelers: Check our earlier stories for useful links to airports and more, plus background
Update 11:00 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss civil aviation authorities said Monday morning 19 April that Swiss air space will remain closed until at least 08:00 Tuesday, with the ash cloud from Iceland’s volcano still over Switzerland. Some countries, including Austria and the Czech Republic are starting to reopen, at least partially, their airspace Monday morning.
Planes that fly using sight rather than instruments are allowed to fly under 11,000 metres and Sunday the skies over the Alps and around cities such as Zurich were filled with pleasure craft as a result. Planes that fly by instrument are largely commercial craft.
Spain, which holds the EU presidency, called Saturday for European transport ministers to meet today, Monday – by video conference, given the impossibility of joining each other. They are reviewing the airports situation and coordinating a solution once airports throughout Europe are allowed to open. The closures have affected 6.8 million air passengers.
CNN video added
USEFUL LINKS FOR SWISS AND FRENCH TRAVELERS: Geneva Airport, Zurich Airport, Swiss airline, CFF Swiss trains, SNCF French trains, MeteoSwiss, Eurocontrol, and World Radio Geneva updates
Morning haze or a hint of volcanic ash over the Swiss Alps and Rhone valley (18 April)?
Alternative travel services: car rental addresses in Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich and long-distance bus station in Geneva
Update 17:10 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss airports are closed until at least 14:00 (2pm) Monday 19 April.
The next update from Swiss civil aviation authorities is scheduled for 09:00 Monday.
CNN video: flying close to Iceland’s erupting volcano while Europe’s airspace is shut down (may need a moment to load)
Rail, bus and car rental services are all being heavily used in Switzerland. Avis has announced that during the airport closings period it will not apply its usual fees for non-cancellation.
If you’re sneezing, don’t assume it’s volcanic dust: the pollen level in central and western Switzerland is high Sunday 18 April.
More details, including train information and the health impact of Iceland’s volcanic ash, Swiss air travel update 17 April.
A rarity: Saturday morning air traffic usually crisscrosses the skies above the Swiss Alps. Not a single streak in the sky 17 April!
Check for the latest updates on GenevaLunch
USEFUL LINKS FOR SWISS AND FRENCH TRAVELERS: Geneva Airport, Zurich Airport, Swiss airline, CFF Swiss trains, SNCF French trains, MeteoSwiss, Eurocontrol, and World Radio Geneva updates
Update 23:00, 17 April Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss civil aviation authorities announced Saturday late afternoon that Swiss air space will remain closed until at least 14:00 (2pm) Sunday, and the time is likely to be extended. The airline Swiss is canceling all flights on Saturday and Sunday. Travelers should not go to the airport.
Health impact: The WHO (World Health Organization) in Geneva says that as long as there are no concentrations of ash in the lower atmosphere the fine particles pose no significant health problems. Nevertheless, “people with chronic respiratory conditions like asthma, emphysema or bronchitis may be more susceptible to irritation if ash is in the lower atmosphere in high concentrations,” according to the WHO web site.
“‘Since the ash concentration may vary from country to country depending on the wind and air temperatures, our advice is to listen to local public health officials for the best guidance for individual situations,’ says Dr Maria Neira, head of public and environmental health. ‘If people are outside and notice irritation in their throat and lungs, a runny nose or itchy eyes, they should return indoors and limit their outdoor activities.’”
MeteoSwiss has not published any alerts and recommends that people who are interested follow the UK Met office’s map of the cloud, updated every few hours. Its web page, in French, carries images of the cloud early Saturday, and its team notes that the cloud moved lower during the night, to 3,600 metres above Payerne.
All three airports in Paris will remain closed until Monday morning. The SNCF says Saturday evening that rail traffic, affected by a strike, is nearly back to normal except in the southeast of the country.
Security and air safety targeted
Seeking safer skies: greater international cooperation
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The United States announced Friday 2 April that it is ending its close scrutiny of airline travelers from 14 countries, a programme that has been in place since 25 December 2009. New security measures instead “will screen all passengers based on real-time intelligence, thereby eliminating emergency measures that had focused on citizens from certain countries,” the US Department of Homeland Security says.
The change in policy is the result of Janet Napolitano, Homeland secretary, participating in recent months in several regional aviation security meetings. The US was criticized by some in the aviation industry for taking unilateral security measures that were often ineffective, at a Geneva Iata (International Air Transport Association) meeting in January 2009.
Geneva's Cointrin International Airport, departure lounge
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The spring schedule for Cointrin Airport in Geneva went into effect Sunday 28 March with several companies adding flights and two near airlines coming to Geneva. Ukraine Int’l offers three flights a week to Kiev, a new destination for Geneva. And Twin Jet has 10 flights a week to Milan’s Malpensa Airport.
Among the destinations added or increased:
Inter-Europe air traffic remains weak
Worldwide improvement is concentrated in Asia, Latin America
Brands, not flags, must guide the industry to profitability, says Iata head
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The airline industry is expected to have an overall loss of $9.4 billion for 2009, according to Iata, the Geneva-based air transport industry organization, which released new figures Thursday 11 March. The loss is lower than Iata’s December projected figure of $11b. “More significantly, we now forecast smaller losses in 2010 of $2.8b, compared to our previous forecast of $5.6b.”
The improvement is due to year-end growth in traffic that carried on into January, but it was much led by Asia and Latin America, with the US and Europe far more sluggish.
Growth in passenger demand, world airlines 2006-2009 (Iata)
Click on image to view larger
“We can be optimistic but with due caution,” Giovanni Bisignani, CEO and director-general says. “Important risks remain. Oil is a wild-card, over-capacity is still a danger, and costs must be kept under control – throughout the value chain and with labour.”
Asian and Latin American carriers posted international passenger demand gains of 6.5 percent and 11.0 percent respectively in January. North America and Europe lagged, with international passenger demand gains of 2.1 and 3.1 percent.
Greek airspace and airports as well as ferries are closed Thursday 11 March, with Greek workers from the country’s two largest unions calling a third general strike in the past month, the second in just a week. The unions are fighting the country’s austerity measures, designed to cut the public debt, which is four times higher than that allowed by the European Union.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The exceedingly turbulent 2009 is a year many airlines will be happy to forget, with traffic down and finances in dismal shape, but Swiss ended the year with small increases in passenger traffic, and the number of flights also rose slightly.December proved to be a relatively good month, with 6.7 percent more passengers than in December 2008, and seat load factor climbed from 76.3 percent to 81.0 percent.
The airline carried 13.8 million passengers last year, a 2.4 percent increase on
the 13.5 million carried in 2008. Swiss operated 136 536 flights in 2009, an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous year.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The US began tightening security checks on international flights into the country Monday 4 January, including using more body scans, but the number of voices objecting to the scannerss is growing. Britain’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, Sunday promised to gradually introduce more of the scanners, but privacy and civil liberties groups say using the machines may break child pornography laws, reports the Guardian. A US congressman, Jason Chaffetz, argues that a bill is needed to protect privacy in the US. The bill has passed the House in Congress and is now under consideration by the US Senate.
The new measures are being taken in the wake of the 25 December suicide bomber attack on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan in the US.
The world had 2.2 billion air passengers in the 12 months to September 2009, 820 million of which were international travelers, and 140 million of these were international travelers on US routes.
The US Monday 4 January is starting “enhanced” scans, including more full body scans, on many flights into the US and for passengers from a list of countries which has not been officially released. CNN reports, however, that it was given the list by an unidentified government official and the countries are: Cuba, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. Passengers traveling from or through those countries to the US can expect tougher security measures.
Random scans on all international flights into the US are also being stepped up. Pilots are being given more discretionary power to insist passengers cannot travel with pillows or blankets on their laps during some flights and to limit movement in the cabin for those flights.
Ken Dunlap, IATA
Geneva's Cointrin airport, 15 December 2009
See all of GenevaLunch’s articles on the annual airline industry Iata meeting in Geneva 15 December
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The ban on liquids carried onto airplanes could end, but probably not sooner than in two years, says Ken Dunlap, director of security for North America at Iata (International Air Transport Association). Dunlap was talking to journalists in Geneva about industry security plans to return passengers to the more relaxed situation that existed before 2006.
A 2006 terrorist plot targeted 10 international flights, and “the impact on passengers was quick and dramatic,” says Dunlap. “But I don’t think anybody at the time thought these temporary measures would become permanent.”
The key is getting x-ray machines to the point where they will detect liquid explosives.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The hottest change in the airline industry is the rapid move to BCBP, bar code boarding passes, whose use has nearly doubled in the past year. By the end of 2010 airports should have 100 percent BCBP coverage, meaning that airlines should be able to adopt this service if they want to, allowing anyone with any type of mobile phone to check in by showing the bar code from his or her phone: the end of the paper check-ins. The change is a particular boon for people who are traveling and who don’t have easy access to printers, possibly most airline passengers. Currently, 115 airlines use this and another 23 plan to.
Iata, at its annual media conference in Geneva Tuesday 15 December outlines some of the other improvements passengers will see in coming months, with the goal of moving people through airports faster.
Giovanni Bisignani, Iata
Cointrin Airport, Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The world’s airlines are expected to lose $5.6 billion in 2010, nearly twice earlier forecasts of $3.8b. The losses will come on the heels of an “Annus Horribilis” in 2009 where losses will likely be $11b for the industry worldwide, IATA (International Air and Transport Association) announced Tuesday 15 December. Between 2000 and 2009 airlines lost $49.1b, a Decennis Horribilis, according to Giovanni Bisignani, the industry group’s director general and CEO.
Bisignani, at the group’s annual press conference in Geneva, pleaded for less government regulation and a more competitive environment to ensure that the industry does not suffer another decade with this level of losses. “Government regulation is keeping the airline industry financially crippled,” he noted. “It is 30 percent cheaper to fly today than a decade ago. This is a very competitive industry but governments still refuse to let airlines operate competititively.”
Read more…
Swiss plane at Geneva airport, October 2009
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss, the airpline, has reported a CHF113 million operating profit in the first nine months of 2009, a decline of 70 percent over last year, the company announced 29 October. For the third quarter, operating profits were positive, too, at CHF47m. Fewer people are flying first and business class, and competition is putting pressure on prices, reducing yields overall.
Swiss carried more passengers, 10.3 million of them, or 1.3 percent more than in the same period last year, but its freight business declined considerably, the company says.
Passengers flying on British airline BA will have to pay to select the seats they want, starting 7 October. The exception is seats selected in the 24 hours before departure. The new policy includes passengers traveling together who want seats side by side. Prices range from £10-60, with long-haul selected seats costing £20 each and emergency exit seats £60. BBC and BA official notice
Zurich, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Zurich Airport has reported a 6.6% increase in passenger traffic in 2008, with 22.1 million passengers moving through Kloten. Geneva’s Cointrin Airport also had a strong 2008, GenevaLunch reported 6 January, with 11.8 million passengers. Zurich serves as a transit airport for many passengers traveling in and out of Geneva.
