Debrief

Still on Cathay Pacific, the airline has posted a return to profitability, ending two consecutive years of losses.

The company reported a net profit of HK$2. 3 billion for the 12 months to December 31 2018, a turnaround from a loss of HK$1. 3 billion in the prior corresponding period. Revenue rose 14. 2 per cent to HK$111 billion, Cathay Pacific said in a regulatory filing to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on March 13.

Etihad Airways has reported a third consecutive annual loss in excess of US$1 billion. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier said on March 14 it lost US$1. 28 billion in calendar year 2018. While this was a 15 per cent improvement from an annual loss of US$1. 52 billion in the prior year, the result is still the third in as many years that the airline has suffered a loss of this magnitude, given the US$1. 87 billion loss in calendar 2016.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A380, featuring a striking blue livery showcasing the Hawaiian green sea turtle, known as the Honu, from the manufacturer’s headquarters in Toulouse. The Japanese carrier received the first of three A380s on order at the official handover ceremony on March 20. ANA, the 15th operator of the world’s largest passenger aircraft, plans to use the A380 between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu, with flights starting May 24 2019.

Malindo Air is adding a fourth Australian destination to its international network, with Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar-Adelaide flights due to begin on April 16. The four-timesa- week service would be operated by a mix of Boeing 737-800s and 737-900s featuring business and economy class seats. The Malaysia-based carrier currently serves Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

Singapore Airlines will operate the Airbus A350-900 on all four of its daily flights to Brisbane from the start of May. The A350-900 is already used on three of its four daily services to Brisbane, with the last remaining flight scheduled to switch from the Boeing 777-200 to the next-generation Airbus widebody on May 1, Singapore Airlines said on March 28.

Still on Singapore Airlines, the airline said on April 2 it had removed two Boeing 787-10s from service due to issues with the aircraft’s Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engines. The airline said “premature blade deterioration” was found on some engines during routine inspections, with substitute aircraft used on affected routes. The global Boeing 787 fleet has been affected by some durability issues on the intermediate pressure compressor (IPC) rotor blade for Trent 1000 engines.

Air New Zealand announced on March 28 it planned to defer three Airbus A321neo deliveries by 12 months, one A320neo by two years, and extend the timing of a replacement program for eight Boeing 777-200ERs in response to softer market conditions and to push out planned capital expenditure. The deferrals, as well as a slowing of capacity growth and a fresh cost-cutting exercise that is targeting NZ$60 million in annual savings, were the outcome of a company-wide review.

Still on Air New Zealand, the airline has launched new nonstop flights between Auckland and Seoul Incheon. The three-times-a-week service with Boeing 787-9 equipment was due to kick off on November 23 2019 and increase to five-times-a-week during peak periods.

Currently, Korean Air is the only airline offering nonstop flights between New Zealand and South Korea.

Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said the airline is optimistic about the growth prospects for 2019, with the global appetite for travel remaining resilient in spite of patchy economic growth and geopolitical turbulence.

Writing in the March 2019 edition of Emirates’ government affairs journal Open Sky, Sir Tim said the airline would have to stay agile in deploying capacity to best meet the market demand.

Further, he said overall passenger demand continued to rise, presenting opportunities to push revenues higher and partially offset yield pressures.

— Aviation services provider dnata announced on March 14 it has appointed Dirk Goovaerts as the company’s regional chief executive for Asia Pacific with responsibility for 6,000 employees in Australia, the Philippines and Singapore.

Previously Goovaerts worked at Saudi Ground Services Company (SGS), where he had been chief operations officer since 2016.

QANTAS GROUP NEWS

Jetstar is adding a second daily nonstop flight between Adelaide and Bali during a four-month period from July to October 2019. The Qantas-owned low-cost carrier (LCC) said on March 15 the seasonal increase added more than 2,000 seats on the Adelaide Bali route.

‘Emirates is optimistic about growth prospects for 2019’

Figures published by Qantas on March 26 showed the airline’s nonstop Perth- London Heathrow service carried 134,735 passengers – 67,298 on the outbound QF9 and 67,437 on the inbound QF10 – in a 10-month period between April 1 2018 and January 31 2019. The flights achieved average load factors – an industry term for how full the flights are – of 93 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the flight was profitable almost immediately and had exceeded internal expectations.

Qantas said on April 4 it is replacing two Boeing 747-400F freighters, operated on its behalf by Atlas Air under a wet lease arrangement, with the larger-capacity 747-8F from late July 2019. The change represented a 20 per cent increase in freight capacity, Qantas said, with the 747-8F able to carry an additional seven pallets compared with the 747-400F. The Qantas Freight 747 flights carry cargo between Australia, China, New Zealand and the United States, according to flight schedules on the Qantas Freight website.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA NEWS

Virgin Australia and Hawaiian Airlines said on April 1 they planned to expand their codeshare agreement on routes between Hawaii and Australia/New Zealand. Under the new arrangements, Hawaiian has added its HA airline code on Virgin Australia-operated flights from Brisbane and Sydney to Cairns, Mackay, Melbourne and Townsville from April 3, as well as on select trans-Tasman services, including Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and Wellington. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia added its VA airline code on Hawaiian Airlines’ Brisbane-Honolulu flight for travel from April 17, adding to an existing codeshare on the US carrier’s Sydney-Honolulu service.

Virgin Australia has described Qantas’s argument that its proposed codeshare with Cathay Pacific was focused only on connecting passengers and would not reduce competition in the Australia- Hong Kong market as simplistic and incorrect. Qantas is seeking approval from Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) to have Cathay Pacific add its CX airline code to 35 Qantas-operated flights a week from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to Hong Kong. Virgin Australia said Qantas’s assertion there would be no adverse impact on the competitive dynamics on point-to-point routes between Australia and Hong Kong glossed over the complexities of route profitability.

Airbus is updating the flight warning system on its A320 platform in response to a 2015 Virgin Australia Regional Airlines flight where pilots had to deal with multiple system failure messages, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in its final report on the incident published on April 4. Airbus told the ATSB that it had decided to prioritise alerts for navigation and air data failures above those of engine-related failures. The modification would be introduced on the next version of the flight warning system, with a worldwide retrofit anticipated.

AIRPORTS NEWS

Airline groups have called on Australia’s Productivity Commission (PC) to reconsider the evidence presented for its inquiry into the economic regulation of the nation’s airports. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on March 29 it had identified shortfalls in the analysis and approach taken by the PC to reach its conclusion that airports had not exercised their market power to the detriment of the community and remained fit for purpose.

Meanwhile, Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) said in its response to the draft report that PC has fallen short of the standard expected for such an inquiry and left many stakeholders, from airport users to politicians to regulatory, legal and economic experts, completely discouraged.

By contrast, the Australian Airports Association (AAA) noted it its response to the draft report on March 18 that this latest inquiry was the sixth time the PC had rejected calls for an industryspecific arbitration process to resolve disputes between airports and airlines.

The AAA said that in the absence of any systematic abuse of market power, the creation of new mechanisms would simply promote gaming and risk perverse and inefficient outcomes.

PC commissioner Paul Lindwall also defended the draft report, telling an industry event on March 19, according to a transcript published on the PC website, the fact that an airport had market power was insufficient to justify more heavy-handed regulation.

Further, Lindwall said an arbitration process would profoundly change the way in which contracts were negotiated between airports and airlines, disrupt investment and harm the community.

The 2019/20 federal budget handed down in Canberra on April 2 has included $100 million to upgrade infrastructure and deliver improved aviation safety and access at regional airports. The budget papers showed the program would comprise $10 million in 2019/20, $35 million in both 2020/21 and 2021/22, followed by a further $20 million in 2022/23. Information on how to apply would be published later in 2019.

Still on the budget, the federal government also allocated $75. 1 million over the next four financial years for the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development and Cities’ Regional Aviation Access program (RAAP). The program offers funding for upgrades to remote aerodromes (the Remote Access Upgrade Program, or RAU), inspection and related services at aerodromes in remote indigenous communities (Remote Aerodrome Inspections, or RAI), and subsidised flights to remote communities (the Remote Air Services Subsidy Scheme, or RASS).

Also, the budget papers said the government would spend $82. 3 million over 10 years on border facilities, including immigration, customs and biosecurity, at Hobart Airport to facilitate international services. The initiative was announced in February 2019 as part of the Hobart City Deal agreement between the Tasmanian and federal governments.

And the 2019/20 federal budget included spending on road infrastructure around Western Sydney Nancy-Bird Walton International Airport, including $50. 0 million for a business case for a North South Rail Link from St Marys to the Western Sydney Aerotropolis via the airport.

‘The budget delivered $100 million in funding for regional airports’

Busselton Margaret River Airport located about 110nm south of Perth has been designated an alternate international airport by the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, the City of Busselton Council said on April 1. The designation gives international airlines flying to Perth a closer alternate airport compared with other options such as Adelaide or Exmouth, the council said.

The airport has single runway 2,520m long and 45m wide runway capable of supporting widebody aircraft under Code 4E operations.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Australia will build a Mission Control Centre and a Space Discovery Centre alongside the country’s national Space Agency in Adelaide. The federal government announced the two new facilities, to be built at a cost of $12 million, on March 18. The Mission Control Centre would have facilities to control small satellite missions, while the Space Discovery Centre would provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for young people.

The federal government said on April 1 the amount those studying aviation can borrow under the vocational education and training (VET) student loans scheme would increase to $150,000 from January 2020, compared with $104,440 currently.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the increased limit would help students complete the multiple aviation courses required to gain their commercial pilot’s licence and help meet the aviation needs of tomorrow. The Australian Aviation Associations Forum (TAAAF) recommended an increase in a 2018 report and its chairman Jeff Boyd welcomed the move.

A new flight training school has commenced operations at Mildura Airport. Called The Academy, the flight school’s first 30 trainees started their flying courses on March 23, with enrolments set to reach 120 students by the end of the year, primarily from several leading Chinese airlines, Mildura Airport said in a statement. It said the school was part of the International Aviation Alliance group and currently had 14 aircraft on site.

United Arab Emirates-based Alpha Aviation Academy (AAA) announced on March 20 a partnership with flight training provider Airways Aviation.

Under the tie-up, AAA cadets will complete a three-month core flying portion of their multi-crew pilot licence (MPL) course, which involves 70 hours of flight training in a single-engine aircraft, at Airways Aviation’s Australia facilities located at Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has approved the delivery of food and non-prescription medicines to homes in northern Canberra using remotely piloted aircraft, more commonly known as drones. The green light for Wing Aviation, part of US-based company X that was founded by Alphabet (which owns Google), comes after an 18-month trial that involved 3,000 deliveries to homes in Bonython and Fernleigh Park in the Australia Capital Territory and Royalla, just across the border in New South Wales. CASA said the service will initially be restricted to 100 eligible homes in Gungahlin north of Canberra and be permitted to operate between 0700 and 2000 between Monday and Saturday, as well as between 0800 and 2000 on Sundays and public holidays.

DEFENCE NEWS

Australia will acquire four modified Gulfstream G550 business jets to strengthen the country’s electronic warfare capabilities. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne and Minister for Defence Industry Linda Reynolds announced the $2. 46 billion acquisition of the four modified G550s – to be designated the MC-55A Peregrine – for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) under Project AIR 555. The four jets would be based at RAAF Base Edinburgh near Adelaide alongside P-8A Poseidon, MQ-4C Triton and MQ-9 Predator/Reaper intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems.

Airbus Australia Pacific has confirmed it has responded to the Commonwealth’s request for information (RFI) for the Army’s Project LAND 2097 Phase 4 light deployable special forces support helicopter with its H145M. Under the project, the Army requires at least 16 helicopters for urban special forces operations that can be deployed rapidly via Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17A transports. Other potential responses to the four-tonne LAND 2097 Phase 4 requirement could include Boeing with its AH-6i Little Bird, Bell/ BAE Systems with the Bell 407GX/GT or the larger Bell 429, and Leonardo with its A119.

— Pyne and Reynolds further announced on March 27 that Australia would acquire a second Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton high-altitude longendurance maritime unmanned ISR air vehicle. The acquisition of a second MQ-4C follows the June 2018 Gate 2 milestone for Project AIR 7000 Phase 1B for the first of six Tritons for the RAAF. The government has said previously it expected the first MQ-4C to be delivered in 2023, with six aircraft to be in place by late 2025 and based at RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia.

The Australian government on March 28 named Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld as the new Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force. He replaces Air Marshal Leo Davies, who is retiring in July at the conclusion of his four-year stint as CAF.

Major General Greg Bilton, currently Commander Forces Command for the Australian Army, will be Air Marshal Hupfield’s replacement as the Australian Defence Force’s Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS).

Defence Minister Pyne said on April 1 the Australian Defence Force’s Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) for the Army and Navy has declared an initial operational capability (IOC). HATS is a combined Boeing/ Thales team offering 15 Airbus EC135 T2+ helicopters, new synthetic training devices and courseware adopted under Project AIR 9000 Phase 7. The aircraft are operated by Navy’s 723 Squadron at Nowra, including on training vessel MV Sycamore, while Boeing staff instruct students on the synthetic devices.

‘Australia will build a Mission Control and Space Discovery centre’

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has added two more F-35As to its locally-based fl eet of Joint Strike Fighters at RAAF Williamtown. The two aircraft, A35-011 and A35-012 touched down on Sunday April 7. The pair joins A35-009 and A35-010 and brings the total number of F-35As based in Australia to four.

Defence has confi rmed that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has leased three Dassault Falcon 7X business jets to replace the Bombardier Challenger CL-604 jets operated by 34SQN at Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra as VIP special purpose aircraft (SPA). The fi rst of the three aircraft was ferried from Dassault’s Merignac facility near Bordeaux, France to a cabin interior fi nishing centre in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 29 using the “ASY” callsign commonly used by RAAF air mobility group (AMG) aircraft. The aircraft was painted in familiar RAAF VIP fl eet colours.

OEM NEWS

Boeing and Embraer have announced John Slattery will lead the pair’s commercial aircraft joint-venture.

Slattery is currently the chief executive of Embraer Commercial Aviation.

Under the proposed deal, which has achieved Embraer shareholder approval and is awaiting the green light from antitrust authorities in Brazil and the United States, Boeing is buying 80 per cent of Embraer’s commercial aircraft business for US$3. 8 billion, with the Brazilian-based airframer to hold the remaining 20 per cent.

Still on Embraer, the company on April 9 nominated Francisco Gomes to replace Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva as its chief executive. Silva announced in March he would step down and end a two-decade career at Embraer on April 22. Gomes was previously chief executive at bus manufacturer Marcopolo SA.

The Bell 525 Relentless has moved a step closer to its entry into service after the helicopter’s GE Aviation CT7-2F1 engine received its type certifi cation from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

GE Aviation announced the certifi cation for the engine on March 25. Flight tests for the helicopter commenced in July 2015.

Piper Aircraft launched two new single-engine training aircraft, the Pilot 100 and Pilot 100i, at the Sun N’ Fun international fl y-in and expo at Lakeland in Florida on April 2. The two-aircraft family will be powered by Continental Aerospace Technologies’ Prime IO-370-D3A engines and feature Garmin G3X Touch Certifi ed avionics in a standard two-pilot interior confi guration, Piper said in a statement.

Both are VFR equipped, with an optional IFR upgrade available on the Pilot 100i.

RAAF SHOWS THE WAY

The UK Government has announced it will acquire fi ve Boeing 737-700-based E-7A Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft.

The announcement was made by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, and will see the RAF’s fi ve E-3D Sentry AWACS systems replaced by the E-7A in the “early 2020s” under a US$1. 98bn (A$2. 8bn) deal. The E-7A, known as the Wedgetail in RAAF service, is also operated by South Korea and Turkey.

“The E-7 provides a technological edge in an increasingly complex battlespace, allowing our pilots to track and target adversaries more effectively than ever. This deal also strengthens our vital military partnership with Australia,” Secretary Williamson said. “We will operate the same state-of-the-art F-35 jets and world-class Type-26 warships, and this announcement will help us work even more closely together to tackle the global threats we face. ” Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, added: “Today’s announcement about the procurement of fi ve E-7 ‘Wedgetail’ Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft is excellent news for both the RAF and wider Defence. This world-class capability, already proven with our Royal Australian Air Force partners, will signifi cantly enhance our ability to deliver decisive airborne command and control and builds on the reputation of our E-3D Sentry Force.

“Along with Defence’s investment in other cutting-edge aircraft, E-7 will form a core element of the Next Generation Air Force, able to overcome both current and future complex threats. ” In order to free resources for a smooth transition to the E-7A, the RAF will retire one of its fi ve operational E-3Ds immediately and consolidate its AEW&C operations. A sixth aircraft was retired several years ago and has been used as a spares hulk. An RAF rendering shows the E-7 fl ying over the Lincoln cathedral, which suggests the new aircraft will be based at nearby RAF Waddington, the RAF’s hub of Intelligence, Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) operations.

The Wedgetail agreement has been mooted since July 2018, and gathered pace after Australia’s announcement to acquire the BAE Systems Type 26-based Hunter class frigate prompted talks of closer defence ties and the possibility of a free trade agreement with the UK – especially with the UK’s exit from the European Union looming.

RAF personnel reportedly visited the RAAF E-7A’s home base of Williamtown last August for a full brief on the aircraft and the results of its many missions in recent years over Iraq and Syria in support of operations against ISIS.

“The Wedgetail is a true Australian success story – designed for the Royal Australian Air Force with investment by the Australian Government and the support of over 200 Australian companies,” Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne said in a statement. “It is now a world-best platform providing cutting edge airborne surveillance, communications and battle management systems. ”