Aviation

BLOOMBERG Qantas Airways illegally sacked 1,700 ground workers during the pandemic, Australia’s top court ruled, delivering a further blow to the reputation of the country’s most-complained-about business. The High Court of Australia dismissed Qantas’ appeal against an earlier judgment that found the airline axed the employees unlawfully. Qantas now faces penalties and compensation payments to affected workers. Qantas outsourced ground-handling ...

BLOOMBERG US passenger airline shares sank by the most since July after American Airlines Group Inc and discount carriers warned that higher fuel costs, labour costs and flagging interest in domestic travel were hurting their bottom lines. American slashed its third-quarter earnings outlook on a jump in jet fuel prices and payment of roughly $230 million in retroactive salary under ...

BRUSSELS / WAM Members of European Parliament (MEPs) approved a new law to increase the uptake of sustainable fuels, such as advanced biofuels or hydrogen, in the aviation sector. The RefuelEU aviation rules are part of the “Fit for 55 package”, the EU’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and ...

BLOOMBERG Hungary has submitted a formal offer to buy a majority stake in Budapest Airport in a transaction that could be valued at about €4 billion ($4.3 billion), according to a person familiar with the matter, potentially ending years of wrangling over the hub’s fate. The two parties are expected to now enter into formal discussions, said the person, who ...

BLOOMBERG Qantas Airways Ltd’s woes deepened after the government said it’s looking to shake up the way takeoff and landing slots are granted in Sydney in order to help smaller rivals like Rex and Bonza. Airline access to Australia’s biggest aviation hub “has not kept pace with global developments,” a review of the aviation sector said. The government wants to ...

HANOI / WAM Vietnam Airlines continues to increase flight frequency on routes to Europe, Australia, and China, restoring nearly 90% of its pre-pandemic international flight network, according to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA). Specifically, from September 23, it will increase the frequency of flights between Hanoi and Beijing (China) from three to four weekly. Currently, the airline is still operating ...

BLOOMBERG Airlines will need all of the world’s synthetic aviation fuel, meaning there won’t be any left for cars, the head of Europe’s biggest airline group told Germany’s automakers. Deutsche Lufthansa AG Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said so-called sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) offer the only workable path to decarbonising air travel, though supplies are tight. “With no technology in ...

BLOOMBERG United Airlines Holdings Inc suffered a temporary grounding of its aircraft nationwide due to a software update that caused a “widespread slowdown” in its technology systems. The Chicago-based carrier requested the grounding for its main operation and regional after its aircraft were unable to contact flight dispatchers using normal means, according to a posting on the Federal Aviation Administration’s ...

BLOOMBERG Ryanair Holdings said it was forced to cancel more than 350 flights over two days late last month when air-traffic control in the UK was hit by an outage, disrupting air space across the country. The Irish low-cost airline said in a traffic statistics release that 63,000 of its passengers faced cancellations on August 28 and 29 because of ...

BLOOMBERG IndiGo is setting up an aircraft-leasing subsidiary in the western Indian state of Gujarat, following a similar move by Air India as the country’s two biggest carriers enlarge their fleets. The budget airline, which has a market share of 63% in India, also plans to order 10 additional Airbus SE A320neo aircraft, expanding a 300-jet deal inked in 2019, ...