Airlines are completely ****ed with higher oil price and global recession. :eek:
Printable View
Airlines are completely ****ed with higher oil price and global recession. :eek:
Higher oil price? Have you been celebrating too much?
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/rjetsin5m.htm
Air NZ's green flight makes history
It was a history-making flight but it looked all very ordinary - and that's just how Air New Zealand wanted it.
The airline yesterday completed the world's first commercial aviation test flight using biofuel to power one of its Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce engines.
The biofuel is a 50:50 blend of jatropha and Jet A1 fuel
The jatropha plant - which Air New Zealand sourced from Africa and India - produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil, which is used to produce fuel.
Air New Zealand chief pilot Captain Dave Morgan told reporters and Air New Zealand staff by satellite phone that the flight was uneventful - and he couldn't have been more pleased.
"The performance of the aircraft is very good. Nothing has occurred that we didn't anticipate ... It's notable for the lack of nothing - and that's the way we like it."
When he emerged from the plane he said it had performed "beautifully".
"We couldn't be more pleased with this significant and major milestone for the aviation industry," he said.
There's still a lot of analysis to be done but we achieved a lot with the test flight and the manoeuvres we've done. The aircraft performed flawlessly."
Captain Morgan said the performance on the biofuel blend was indistinguishable from that on normal Jet A1 fuel. Engineers would spend the next few days assessing the engine and fuel system to see if any changes had resulted from the use of biofuel.
"Overall it's been a successful day for Air New Zealand. We're very pleased with the data we've recorded."
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said the test flight showed the airline was at the forefront of making biofuel commercially viable. It was another step in the long-term goal to become the world's most environmentally sustainable airline.
The two-hour flight over Auckland's Hauraki Gulf put the jet through a punishing series of tests at various altitudes.
It took off at full thrust and performed acceleration tests as well as simulated a missed approach at 8000ft.
Prime Minister John Key congratulated Air New Zealand on the successful test flight.
"The fortunes of Air New Zealand and New Zealand's tourism industry are closely tied," he said.
"As we promote ourselves to the world as 100 per cent Pure, it's great to see Air New Zealand showing environmental leadership."
Mr Key said it was a historic day and he was proud the airline was working with world leaders in their fields to develop more sustainable fuels.
The test flight was a joint initiative by Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell's UOP.
It was planned for early this month but was postponed after an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 crashed off Perpignan, France, on November 27.
* Jatropha
The Jatropha plant grows to about 3m high and produces seeds containing oil that can be used to produce fuel.
Each seed produces between 30 and 40 per cent of its mass in oil.
It can be grown in a range of difficult conditions.
It is refined in the United States to produce jet fuel that can serve as a replacement to traditional petroleum-based fuel.
Air NZ online sales a record $34.3m last week.
www.stuff.co.nz/4825818a13.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4825818a13.html
Your title wasnt very representative SKOL. Good numbers online though...
Rule # 5 Skol, never fall in love with a company or sector ;)
Analysts concerned over Qantas traffic figures
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer | January 23, 2009
Article from: The Australian
ANALYSTS have expressed concern about growing weakness in Qantas traffic figures as some of the world's biggest airlines this week announced heavy losses.
The analysts expect yields at the Australian airline to come under increasing pressure as economic conditions deteriorate and it is forced to discount more tickets as demand softens.
JPMorgan analyst Matt Crowe said November traffic figures released this week suggested domestic yield had suffered its biggest monthly decline, 4.8 per cent since June last year.
Noting this had come before the domestic fuel surcharge was abolished in December, he said: "We expect an accelerating decline in domestic yields in the second half."
Mr Crowe, who is predicting a 2008-09 net profit of $348 million and has a neutral rating on the stock, said international yields had grown by 4.9 per cent for the year to date, suggesting a 1.1 per cent increase in November compared with a year ago.
This was reasonable in an environment of falling fuel prices, he said, but it was the weakest growth since November 2004.
Group load factors continued to fall, with the differences between this year's and last year's loads growing and looking set to widen in December.
Mr Crowe was also not upbeat on any advantages to Qantas resulting from lower fuel prices.
The airline is 40 per cent fuel-hedged in the 2010 financial year at $US98 a barrel and has option-based contracts that allow it to participate in 82 per cent of the benefit of falling fuel prices.
"But it is incorrect to see the weak oil price as positive for Qantas," he said.
"The slowing global economy is depressing demand for air travel just as much as it is depressing demand for oil."
ABN AMRO analysts, who are predicting a $305 million 2008-09 net profit and rate Qantas a hold, also highlighted the particularly weak domestic result and growing pressures on yields.
"The rate of decline continues to increase in international operations, with a 6 per cent fall in total passenger numbers," analysts Mark Williams and Michael Newbold said.
"Weak US and British economies are affecting demand for Qantas's premium product, although Jetstar International is also showing some weakness on its leisure routes. As expected, international yields are coming under increasing pressure."
Deutsche Bank's Cameron McDonald, who has a sell recommendation on Qantas and is tipping a 2008-09 net profit of $334 million, warned that the unprecedented reduction in the Australian domestic market was a lead indicator of troubles ahead for Qantas.
"With DB economists forecasting a deep global recession in 2009, we anticipate further price-stimulated demand management will further dilute Qantas's 2009 financial year profitability," Mr McDonald said.
The Qantas concerns came as Air New Zealand was tipped to join the growing list of airlines battered by hedging losses, with one analyst predicting it would cost the Kiwi carrier about $NZ333 million ($268 million) this financial year.
Heavy losses for the parent companies of American Airlines and United Airlines -- including a $US936 million ($1.43 billion) fuel hedging blunder by United -- also highlighted the depth of the downturn in global aviation.
The December quarter losses came as Air France-KLM, Europe's biggest airline, said it was likely to post an operating loss of about E200 million ($397 million) for the same period.
AMR, parent of American, the second-biggest US airline, and UAL, parent of third-placed United, yesterday signalled further reductions to their schedules and job cuts after unveiling losses bigger than market expectations.
AMR lost $US340 million in the period. Excluding costs of $US23 million for grounding planes, employee severance and facility write-offs related to capacity cuts and $US103 million for a pension settlement because of pilot early retirements, the loss was $US214 million. Sales fell 3.8 per cent to $US5.47 billion, the first decline in six quarters.
UAL lost $US1.3 billion, or $US555 million, excluding items related to fuel hedge contracts and other one-time costs. Sales fell 9.6 per cent to $US4.55 billion.
United's attempt to protect itself against soaring jet fuel costs early last year backfired when rates collapsed and left it paying more than spot market prices. So-called hedging contracts have kept United and other carriers from fully benefiting from a 67 per cent drop in the price of jet fuel since a July 3 record.
UAL's fourth-quarter results include $US370 million in cash losses on fuel contracts that settled in the quarter and $US566 million in non-cash losses to adjust contracts to current market values.
United has already cut 1500 management positions and said yesterday it was close to finishing 6500 unionised cuts, more than its initial forecast last year of 5500.
"These are difficult actions, as they affect our people, but they are responsible steps in an environment of reduced capacity and demand," chief executive Glenn Tilton said in an email to employees.
United chief operating officer John Tague said the airline would cut capacity by 9.5 per cent this year, but was "in a better position to deal with this recession than ever before". American said eight Boeing 737 jet deliveries were being delayed by a few months because of a strike at the planemaker last year. That will reduce its capacity by 6.5 per cent, one percentage point more than previously planned.
American and United are the first major US carriers to report their fourth-quarter results. Delta Air Lines, the largest, is scheduled to release results next Tuesday.
Additional reporting: Bloomberg