ISSUE ALL THE NEWS FROM MONDAY 24 JUNE 2018 INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT Andre Viljoen flanked by Pekka Vauramo (left) and Rob Gurney 12.6% Growth in Chinese domestic passenger traffic over first four months of 2018 9.6% Increase in airline seat capacity on Chinese routes this June Airline capacity between China and North America has more than doubled since 2013 Chinese airlines operate FiJi FiRSt tO RiSE WitH 149 freighters, up from ONEWORLD cONNEct 135 one year ago Fiji Airways has signed as the first with three of the operators, while mal membership,” he says. partner for Oneworld’s new affiliate discussions are underway with BA Oneworld board chairman and 3,201 membership Connect programme. to establish a bilateral relationship. Finnair chief Pekka Vauramo, says The programme will see Fiji Air- Fiji Airways chief executive the maturity of the alliance means it Commercial aircraft in ways offer passengers with One- Andre Viljoen says the Connect will focus on niche expansion op- service with Chinese world Emerald and Sapphire status programme is a better fit for smaller portunities. “Oneworld will target carriers, over 300 more priority services, while additional carriers, compared to the costs and as full members large airlines that than a year ago benefits will be available on servic- complexity that full alliance mem- have a significant presence in the es its sponsoring partners Qantas, bership would bring. “The whole alliance’s prime target market, pro- Sources: IATA, Flight Fleets British Airways, American Airlines idea of the connect programme is viding connections between the Analyzer, FlightGlobal and Cathay Pacific. It codeshares that it is a lot cheaper than the nor- world’s leading business centres.” schedules data Inside this issue Hawaiian ready for new era...............…………………….…3 Cathay’s Hogg targets profit return……………………….14 Meet the darlings of the industry……......…………………..4 How the new IATA board lines up…………………………16 Ethiopian sets sights on fleet vision…………………………9 What new rules in China means for long-haul…………….18 Airbus and Boeing await new Qantas dawn………………10 Gulf majors take new shape………………………………..22 Colourful night – 4 Flight Airline Business IATA daily online: flightglobal.com/iata #IATAagm GEARED FOR THE FUTURE. TRANSFORMING AVIATION TODAY. PRATT & WHITNEY’S GEARED TURBOFAN™ ENGINE Airline operators are excited about the breakthrough fuel savings and significant noise reduction they’re seeing from the GTF innovation today. Cleaner, greener and quieter. Experience the engine that’s geared for the future — flying today. Learn more at pw.utc.com NEWS American watchful on Gulf deals American Airlines chief Doug Parker believes it is too early to tell if the recent settlements of air services disputes between the USA and Qatar and United Arab Emirates will be positive for US carriers. He told reporters at the AGM that “we need to see more”. But he also expressed support for the US government’s efforts. “We’re very pleased with the result of the talks between the US government and the UAE and Qatar,” he says. “We are grateful for what the US gov- ernment was able to accomplish there.” American and the other US major carriers had campaigned strongly for the government to limit the growth of Middle East carriers, most of which operate under open skies arrangements, amid a long-running dispute over alleged subsidies. In particular, they opposed the granting of fifth-freedom rights to Middle East airlines, of which only Emirates operates such routes. All existing rights, including fifth-freedom, remain in place. But Parker notes: “We were pleased with what we saw from the agreements which include, not commitments but statements, from those carriers that they don’t have any intention to fly fifth-freedom routes, and that BillyPix gives us comfort.” Hawaiian new fleet finding its feet Airline boss sees A321neos performing well despite delays, though replacing 717s may prove more challenging ew Hawaiian Airlines chief the carrier in March, has high NPeter Ingram points to the praise for the twin-engined type. good performance of its Airbus “We fly them high-cycle, with six A321neos and still expects to million passengers annually, up to have 11 of the type in its fleet by 15-16 cycles a day over short dis- the end of the year, tances. The 717 is great for that “We’ve had delays that pushed because it has good cycle costs back deliveries in the early part of from an engine perspective, a du- the year, but we expect to be large- rable airframe, and can withstand ly caught up by the end of the the rigours of going up and down summer,” he says. Deliveries of all day long for many years.” Pratt & Whitney PW1000G-pow- The challenge is that Boeing ered A320 family jet have suffered and Airbus have tended to focus delays this year owing to durabili- on longer range in their 737 and ty issues and other problems with A320 products. Turboprops do the new engine. not work for the airline because “It is unfortunate from the point they lack sufficient seat capacity of not having the aircraft available and Hawaiian operates too many for our peak summer period,” he frequencies. “At some point we’ll says. “But the message we’ve been have to replace them, but it will be telling the team internally is that a challenge because they’re not this is an airplane we’ll have for building airplanes exactly for that 25 years.” He says the type, which mission anymore,” he says. will replace its Boeing 767s, has The Bombardier CSeries or Em- performed as expected, and will BillyPix braer E2 E-Jet could fit the bill, but allow it to address mainland USA Ingram: Delays unfortunate but A321neos will fly for 25 years Ingram wants to learn more about markets that had insufficient de- how their geared turbofan engines mand for widebodies. Ultimately fleet by the end of 2019. with 128 seats and used for short perform in high cycle operations. Hawaiian will operate 18 A321s. A longer-term challenge will be island hopping routes of 100- Both jets are powered by variants All of the carrier’s seven 767- the replacement of Hawaiian’s 20 250nm (185km-463km). of the PW1000 that powers the 300ERs will exit the Hawaiian Boeing 717s, which are equipped Ingram, who took the helm of carrier’s A321neos. ■ 4 June 2018 | Flight Airline Business | 3 RECEPTION Catching up: (left- right) Beatrice Lim, Angela Gittens and Janice Antonson Darlings of the industry Last night the great and the good of the airline business enjoyed a lively start to this year’s AGM overlooking Darling Habour in Sydney, as the Welcome Reception sponsored by Airbus kicked into life. Aptly for an industry continuing to enjoy its most sustained run of profits, spirits were high as the DJ played tunes into the night 4 | Flight Airline Business | 4 June 2018 Wizards of Oz: Airline and industry leaders alike were enjoying themselves last night at the opening reception, tasting local delights and shooting the breeze with friends and colleagues before the serious busi- ness begins 4 June 2018 | Flight Airline Business | 5 RECEPTION Fun networking: delegates met against the backdrop of Darling Harbour 6 | Flight Airline Business | 5 June 2017 Say yes to new payment methods. Accepting alternative forms of payment opens doors to new markets and new customers. Our low-cost payment programs and easy integration with your current systems can help quickly make what’s new feel very familiar. And very profitable. Growing revenue starts with UATP. Learn more at UATP.com. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Your Global Gateway Amsterdam • Beijing • Calgary • Cancún • Cologne • Dubai • Dublin • Edmonton • Frankfurt • Guadalajara • Hong Kong • Kelowna • London-Gatwick • London-Heathrow • Los Cabos • Manchester • Mexico City • Paris • Puerto Vallarta • Reykjavík • Seoul • Shanghai • Shenzhen • Taipei • Tokyo • Toronto • Vancouver • Victoria NEWS Gebremariam: Embarking on Sabre readies Vision 2030 after the path for outgrowing plan NDC move Global distribution platform Sabre plans to offer more New Distribution Channel (NDC) functionality in 2018. “Intelligent retailing that lever- ages Sabre’s data, depth and in- dustry leadership will bring value to airlines and agencies, and cus- tomers will have the ability to BillyPix offer personalised shopping ex- periences similar to world-class retailers in other industries,” says Sabre in a statement. Ethiopian widens its vision The announcement of new functionality follows Sabre’s Carrier poised to decide on regional aircraft aircraft order as targets fleet growth to 150 attainment of NDC Level 3 functionality in February. This thiopian Airlines expects to Max 8s, four 777 Freighters, two ing “the summer”, while the re- recognised Sabre’s NDC Eoperate more than 150 air- 787-9s, and 12 Bombardier Q400s. launch of Zambia Airways is set to capabilities, including the ability craft across its group fleet under In addition to the new aircraft, follow in October. That followed to perform end-to-end offers its ‘Vision 2030’ strategic plan. the plan calls for more hubs and an agreement earlier this year to and order fulfillment and As the fast-growing Star Alli- airlines to be added to its stable, invest in the relaunched Zambian servicing – through both direct ance carrier prepares to receive its transporting more passengers, and operation. It, together with partner and indirect channels. 100th aircraft this month, chief adding new destinations. ASKY, also this year agreed a part- At the recent Technology & executive Tewolde Gebremariam “Vision 2030 was initiated as nership with Guinea Airlines, Innovation in Airline Distribution says it is in the final stages of se- we had exceeded the targets for which is in the process of obtain- conference in Bangkok, Yanik lecting either Bombardier CS100s Vision 2025,” he says.