Air Transport World

The Philippine Department of Transportation has approved a proposal by San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC) to construct a four-runway airport in the Bulacan province, north of downtown Manila.
Airports & Networks

By Sean Broderick
Spirit AeroSystems plans to continue producing Boeing 737 fuselages at a 52/month rate for the foreseeable future, storing extra inventory now and burning it off once Boeing ramps production up sometime in 2020.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Senior officials from the FAA defended the US agency’s certification of the Boeing 737 MAX as “fundamentally sound” during a US Senate Appropriations Committee hearing July 31.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Losses at its subsidiary airlines contributed to Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group posting a nearly 21% decline in first-quarter net income.
Airlines & Lessors

By Lee Ann Shay
American Airlines’ fleet of 28 MD-80s is nearing its final flying days.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Sean Broderick
Dublin-based lessor AerCap posted second-quarter net income of $331.5 million, up 23% year-over-year (YOY).
Airlines & Lessors

Allegiant Air’s decision to switch to an all-Airbus fleet continued to pay off in the second quarter as the airline’s net income jumped 41% despite having six fewer aircraft from the year-ago period.
Airlines & Lessors

By Bradley Perrett
The Chinese government is suspending a program that allowed individual tourists to visit Taiwan, restricting travel to the island to groups organized by travel agencies.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Alan Dron
Airbus reported a considerable jump in first-half net profit, which more than doubled to almost €1.2 billion ($1.36 billion), compared to €496 million a year ago.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Tim Clark
It was no surprise last week that US President Donald Trump told the CEOs of the “big three” US airlines—American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines—either to file a complaint under the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act of 1974 (IATFCPA) or stop their relentless, multimillion dollar lobbying campaign against Gulf carrier competitors such as Emirates Airline.
Airports & Networks

By Helen Massy-Beresford
Air France-KLM posted a second-quarter operating profit of €400 million ($446 million), a nearly 16% increase from €346 million a year ago, as revenue gains and lower unit costs offset a higher fuel bill.
Airlines & Lessors

By Adrian Schofield
Hawaiian Airlines reported a decline in net profit for the second quarter, as the airline comes under increasing competitive pressure in some of its key markets.
Airlines & Lessors

By Alan Dron
British Airways (BA) has lost its latest attempt July 31 to block pilots from staging a strike, as the likelihood of industrial action increased at the height of the summer holiday season.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Helen Massy-Beresford
The top 10 airlines by ancillary revenue worldwide generated $35.2 billion from non-ticket sources in 2018, up from just $2.1 billion in 2007, according to a new report from IdeaWorksCompany.
Airlines & Lessors

In a bid to meet a growing demand for staff in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing aviation markets, FLC Group’s Bamboo Airways broke ground in July on a new training center in Quy Nhon in central Vietnam.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Sean Broderick
Air Canada shook off the absence of its Boeing 737 MAXs to post record second-quarter revenue and boost capacity.
Airlines & Lessors

By Helen Massy-Beresford
Air France-KLM confirmed its transformation plans for the Air France fleet July 30 by signing an MOU for at least 60 Airbus A220s while also announcing it will retire the airline’s 10 A380s by 2022.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Adrian Schofield
All Nippon Airways (ANA) saw its first-quarter net profit decline 29% to ¥11.4 billion ($104.9 million), compared to ¥16.1 in the year-ago period, partly the result of higher costs as the airline prepares for a growth phase in 2020.
Airlines & Lessors

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has appointed Gilbert Santa Maria as its new president and COO.
Airlines & Lessors

The much-delayed Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)—which is still on track to open in October 2020—has begun final technical tests, a prerequisite for opening.
Airports & Networks

Lufthansa Group delivered a 2019 first-half net loss of €116 million ($132 million), reversed from a €713 million net profit a year ago.
Airlines & Lessors

Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft gross orders for 2019 year-to-date, sorted by most-recent date of order placement with manufacturer.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft deliveries for 2019 year-to-date, sorted by most-recent delivery date.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Sean Broderick
Shifting macro trends will combine to keep Airbus and Boeing from raising production rates past currently announced levels and hold book-to-bill rates below 1 for the next few years, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) conclude.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Canadian LCC WestJet posted a C$44.3 million ($33.6 million) net profit in the second quarter (2Q), reversing a C$15.8 million loss in the year-ago period, despite the grounding of the airline’s 13 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Airlines & Lessors