Based in London, Alan is Europe & Middle East correspondent at Air Transport World.
A daily newspaper journalist in the UK and Middle East for 15 years, he then joined the UK's most successful corporate publishing company before setting up his own company in 2004. He has worked with ATW since 2014.
A strong fourth quarter in terms of commercial airliner deliveries enabled Airbus to deliver against its 2016 financial guidance, but company figures were dragged down by a €2.2 billion ($2.3 billion) write-off associated with a military transport aircraft.
Ireland-based lessor AerCap turned in a net profit of $1.04 billion on a reported basis for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, compared to $1.17 billion for the preceding year.
More competition for lucrative transatlantic first-class passengers is imminent with the appearance of a new operator—New York-based Bliss Jet—selling individual seats on high-end business jets.