Singapore Airlines, the world's most profitable carrier, has said it will slash passenger capacity by 11 per cent as the global recession continues to drag down air passenger and cargo demand. The airline will take 17 passenger planes out of its fleet in the fiscal year beginning April until March 2010, it said in a statement this week. The carrier had earlier planned to remove four planes from its fleet of 102 aircraft before the recession deepened - one for conversion to a freighter, and three … [Read more...] about SIA parks one freighter and 17 pax planes
Carriers
China Air and EVA park freighters
China Airlines and EVA Airways Corp, Taiwan's top two air carriers, will park some of their B747 freighters in the Californian desert, as a result of the global economic downturn. As the cargo load factor has fallen to below 65 per cent from 75 per cent, CAL and EVA intend to store three and two Boeing 747 cargo planes in the desert, respectively, the first time the nation¡¯s air carriers have decided to put planes in storage because of disappointing operating results. Both carriers said they … [Read more...] about China Air and EVA park freighters
Lufthansa Cargo goes to short working hours
Lufthansa Cargo has taken an unusual step in getting agreement from about 2,600 ground staff employed by Lufthansa Cargo in Germany to go on short-time working from 1 March 2009. A company agreement to this effect was signed on Thursday in Frankfurt by the Lufthansa Cargo Executive Board and the Works Council. The envisaged measures will enable the company to adapt its staffing capacities flexibly to accommodate declining demand in the air cargo business, Lufthansa Cargo said. Under the terms of … [Read more...] about Lufthansa Cargo goes to short working hours
Air France-KLM plunges into red
Air France-KLM has plunged into a third-quarter operating loss of €194 million euros, reflecting what the airline described as a deepening economic crisis. The losses were expected after Europe's largest airline group warned of a quarterly loss of 200 million euros last month, as the global economic crisis pulls the airline sector deep into the red. Overcapacity and evaporating fuel surcharges put pressure on cargo pricing in the third quarter, driving down unit revenue as freight traffic fell … [Read more...] about Air France-KLM plunges into red
Cathay and Dragonair continue to suffer
January continued the downward plunge for Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair whose combined traffic figures for the month indicated another hefty fall in cargo and mail tonnage. The two airlines carried a total of 101,154 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, down 26 per cent on January 2008, while capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, fell by 15.9 per cent. The cargo and mail load factor dropped by 4.5 percentage points to 59.1 per cent. … [Read more...] about Cathay and Dragonair continue to suffer
Changi relief package includes cargo
Changi relief package includes cargo The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has announced a further S$70 million (US$46.2 million) relief package to help airlines and airport partners cope with the economic crisis. The new package is in addition to the S$130 million Air Hub Development Fund (AHDF) that CAAS had already extended to airlines and airport partners. Included in the relief package are enhancements to the AHDF to establish a Cargo Incentive Scheme. Under this scheme, CAAS¡¯ … [Read more...] about Changi relief package includes cargo
