Aviation

DUBAI / Emirates Business Travel to and from Dubai is expected to reach another peak towards the end of this week, as Emirates anticipates yet another busy period of outbound travel after New Year’s celebrations and inbound travel for the Dubai Shopping Festival. More than 180,000 travellers will be making their way to Emirates’ dedicated Terminal 3 facilities from January ...

Bloomberg Vinci SA is doubling down on budget travel with the $3.7 billion purchase of a controlling stake in Gatwick Airport. London’s second-busiest hub has more than tripled in value since it was bought by Global Infrastructure Partners for about 1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) in 2009, mainly because of the surge in low-cost tourism. The skies looked very different ...

Bloomberg Vinci SA agreed to acquire control of Gatwick Airport for 2.9 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) as the French construction company jumped on the chance to add a major London hub to its aviation portfolio. The purchase of the 50.01 percent stake in the world’s second-busiest single runway airport from a group of investors will be financed with pound-denominated debt, ...

Bloomberg Flights from New York’s LaGuardia airport were operating normally on December 28 after some were delayed or diverted overnight because of an explosion at an electrical substation that temporarily cut off power. “We have normal flight activity,” the airport said in a tweet shortly after 9 am in New York. Travellers should still check with their carrier on the ...

Bloomberg With just a few days left before 2018 is over, Airbus SE says it’s working flat out to reach a goal of delivering 800 jetliners during the year. The Boeing Co. rival is maximising efforts to meet its target, which requires it to hand over at least 127 aircraft to customers in December. Marketing chief Christian Scherer and his ...

Bloomberg South African Airways, Kenya Airways Plc, Air Mauritius Ltd. and RwandAir are in talks to create an alliance, as they face mounting competition. “Air Mauritius took the initiative to join forces with three other African airlines in a bid to create an alliance that would develop air connectivity in the region,” Chief Executive Officer Somas Appavou said. “In a ...

Bloomberg A majority of bondholders accepted Mexico’s offer to buy back $1.8 billion in debt used to fund the construction of an international airport that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he’ll cancel. There was “overwhelming” acceptance by bondholders, said Mexico’s Finance Ministry. The acceptance by bondholders will allow the government to avoid a mandatory repayment of all $6 ...

Bloomberg US airports may be just as vulnerable as London’s Gatwick airport to the kind of illegal drone incursions that shut down the UK’s second-busiest hub last week. Counter-drone technology performed so poorly in US government tests in recent years that the systems couldn’t reliably identify rogue unmanned aircraft, casting doubts on whether there’s a viable short-term solution to the ...

Bloomberg As thousands rush to complete journeys disrupted by the recent drone incursions at London Gatwick airport, here’s a guide to how the aviation industry is responding, and what the long-term fallout might be. Airlines have a legal duty to get travellers to their destination, no matter if a flight is halted by the weather, strikes or the appearance of ...

Bloomberg Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA said its cash position is “satisfactory” and a cost-savings plan is bearing fruit as the debt-strapped budget carrier faces disruptions to its long-haul flights during the slow winter season. “To meet the competitive environment in a period with seasonally lower demand in Europe, the company has made several changes to its route portfolio as well ...