Yearbook 2000 cargolux Association of European Airlines Association of European Airlines . Avenue Louise 350 B - 1050 Brussels Tel. +32 (0)2 639 89 89 Fax 639 89 99 E-mail [email protected] July 2000 Dear Reader of the AEA Yearbook, _____ This year sees a change in the ‘look’ negotiating – or should we say non- of the AEA Yearbook. I hope it negotiating – position, in the Air meets with your approval. Much of Traffic Control debate. No change the content follows the tried and in the way we do business, they tested format: a commentary on say, or safety will be compromised. last year, and a review of the main issues which the airlines address We – the airlines – have through their Association. You will commercialised in recent years, find, however, significant ‘added embracing competition, cutting back value’ in our Airline Profiles section. ruthlessly on costs and abandoning the lifebelt of State ownership. And Here, however, I would like to touch we have continued to improve our on a subject which is not extensively safety record. It is no accident, if covered in the Yearbook: Safety. you will pardon the pun, that the Or, to be more precise, what I might areas of the world with the best call the Politics of Safety. safety records are those where liberalisation is most advanced. In 1999, AEA brokered an agreement on what will become an Air Traffic Control keeps aircraft industry standard on Working Time, apart from each other. Other to ensure occupational health and professionals keep them in the air. safety for air crews. This rounded- No single sector of the industry has off a long dialogue which became a monopoly on safety; it is the very difficult at times because the priority of each and every one of us interests of some circles were often in this business wherever we work. hidden behind alleged safety concerns – and playing this ‘safety card’ proved quite effective: safety is simply not negotiable in aviation. Right now, we are seeing other interested circles using a similar K-H Neumeister Adria Airways, Aer Lingus, Air France, Air Malta, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Balkan, British Airways, British Midland, Cargolux, Croatia Airlines, CSA, Cyprus Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Icelandair, JAT, KLM, Lufthansa, Luxair, Malev, Olympic Airways, Sabena, SAS, Swissair, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines. CONTENTS SECTION I - AEA AIRLINES’ PERFORMANCE 1999 I-1 1999 At a Glance I-3 Traffic & Capacity - Overview I-4 Traffic & Capacity - Europe I-5 Traffic Trends - North Atlantic I-7 Traffic & Capacity - Asia I-9 Air Cargo I-10 Punctuality Performance - Overview I-11 Punctuality Performance - Airports I-12 Punctuality Performance - Air Traffic Control I-13 Alliances I-15 Fleet Development I-16 Operating Results I-17 SECTION II - TOPICS II-1 Airline Delays - The consumer deserves better! II-2 Congestion and Delay - What next? II-3 Air Traffic Control - The debate continues II-5 Aircraft Noise - The hushkit debate II-6 Aircraft Emissions - Combatting global warming II-7 Aviation Fuel Tax - A blunt weapon II-8 A Transatlantic Free-Trade Area for Aviation II-9 A Commitment to the Consumer II-10 SECTION III - SPOTLIGHT ON THE AEA III-1 AEA Highlights of 1999 III-3 Mission Statement III-5 Membership Criteria III-5 Structure of the AEA III-7 Airline Profiles & 1999 Review III-8 SECTION IV - KEY STATISTICS IV-1 Key Statistics - Total AEA IV-2 AEA Fast Facts IV-4 Key Statistics - By Carrier IV-5 What do we mean by…? IV-13 I - 1 AEA AIRLINES' TRAFFIC CAPACITY AND YIELD 1997 1998 1999 % change International Routes per Calendar Year 99/98 Passengers (000) 164,246 174,960 184,933 5.7 Passenger Kilometres (mill) 452,620 485,354 516,046 6.3 Seat Kilometres (mill) 625,566 674,027 723,216 7.3 Passenger Load Factor % 72.4 72.0 71.4 -0.6 pt Passenger Yield (current US cent/RPK) 10.2 9.9 9.1 -8.1 Average Nº of Seats per Aircraft 207.5 212.2 214.8 1.2 Average Stage Distance (Kms) 1,505 1,549 1,565 1.0 Freight Tonne-Kilometres (mill) 26,882 26,906 27,936 3.8 % Freight on Freighter Services 57.8 57.2 57.3 0.1 pt Freight Yield (current US cent/RFTK) 30.8 29.9 27.1 -9.4 AEA AIRLINES' OPERATING RESULT % change International Routes per Financial Year 1997 1998 1999 est. 99/98 Overall Load Factor % 68.9 68.6 67.9 -0.7 pt Break-even Load Factor % 65.2 64.0 67.2 3.2 pt Yield (current US cent/RTK) 76.9 73.7 68.5 -7.0 Unit Cost (current US cent/ATK) 49.4 47.2 46.4 -2.4 Operating Ratio before Interest 106.8 107.2 103.5 -3.7 pt Net Interest Rate % 2.3 2.6 2.5 -0.1 pt Operating Ratio after Interest 104.5 104.4 103.5 -0.9 pt Profit/Loss after Interest (current US$ mill) 2,333 2,276 619 TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY GROWTH IN 1999 20% 20% 10 10 0 20% -1.5 0 62.3 1.1 10 20% 77.0 20 % 20% 10 0 2.4 0 20% growth 99/98 10 10 67.2 2.1 R 10 A 76.4 P S 0 0 K 0 K -3.5 -1.5 73.1 73.3 + pt 99/98 - % load factor I - 2 1999 AT A GLANCE 1999 was a year when delays went off EUROPEAN DEPARTURE DELAYS the scale. 35% flights delayed more than 15 minutes For fuller details, including where and 30 why, turn to page I-11. 25 20 15 10 7 month moving average 5 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 Once again, the industry felt the shock of WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES Source: EIA rocketing oil prices. 40 current US$ per barrel The impact on their fuel bills, and their 35 bottom line, is assessed on page I-18. 30 25 20 15 10 5 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 The AEA airlines in 1999 managed to OPERATING PROFIT/LOSS - Int'l routes break even, but not much more. 2.5 billion current US$ after interest 2.0 To relate ‘profit’ to ‘profitability’, there is a wealth of analysis on page I-17. 1.5 1.0 est. 0.5 0 -0.5 -1.0 -1.5 -2.0 -2.5 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 I - 3 TRAFFIC & CAPACITY - OVERVIEW 1999 saw a divergence in the growth 1999 load factors were generally down trends for the AEA airlines’ three main on the previous year’s level, although the operating regions, which had followed a Total International figure of 71.4% was similar pattern to each other for much of still within a percentage point of the all- the decade. time high, recorded in 1997. On Far East/Australasia, the increase of Substantial extra capacity was added on 2.6% was virtually unchanged from the North Atlantic routes, amounting to very low level recorded in 1998. Two 12.4% over the year. The result was and a half years on from the start of the that, despite the strong traffic growth, ‘Asian crisis’, there is still little sign of a load factors decreased slightly, from 77% revitalisation of the market. to 75.9%. In Europe, the growth rate tumbled to To the Far East, capacity was actually 1.7%, although this figure was influenced slightly reduced, by 0.2%, with the result by the circumstance that one airline that load factors were boosted by 2.1 (Finnair) re-classified its substantial points to 76.4%. leisure-market product from scheduled to charter. European load factors were depressed by the very low level of traffic growth, Discounting the effect of this change, the despite capacity being held at a modest underlying growth rate would have been plus 4.2%. about 3.8% - in any case, still the lowest annual figure since the 1991 Gulf War In the less heavily-travelled regions, shock. there was very strong traffic growth on North African (+24.6%) and Middle On the North Atlantic, in contrast, the Eastern (+14.0%) services, and on South growth rate for the year reached 10.8%. Atlantic routes, which grew 12.8%. This was the highest annual figure since Growth rates on the Mid Atlantic and to the 1992 recovery from the Gulf War the rest of Africa were more modest. slump. GROWTH RATES IN REVENUE PASSENGER KILOMETRES 20% growth in RPK's 15 North Atlantic 10 Europe 5 Far East 0 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 I - 4 TRAFFIC & CAPACITY - EUROPE The 1.7% increase in passenger- Traffic decreases were posted by Turkey kilometres on intra-European routes in (-7%), in the aftermath of the August 1999 translated into a growth in earthquake, and Norway (-1%). passenger numbers of 4.5%. In the larger markets, above-average 25% growth growth was recorded in Germany, Slovenia France, Netherlands and Spain, all of TRAFFIC DEVELOPMENT which grew 7%, and Switzerland with a % GROWTH plus 6%. Italy and the UK had rather 1999 OVER 1998 lower growth, at plus 4%. 20 AEA scheduled international passengers These figures, of course, refer only to between 'AEA countries' AEA member airlines’ traffic. While traffic Average increase 4.5% figures for other segments of the industry are unavailable, capacity shares can be 15 determined from published schedule information.