Aviation

Bloomberg You can buy almost anything on Taobao, China’s biggest e-commerce platform, even a jumbo jet. While most Chinese consumers traffic the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. app for groceries, clothes, or the odd knickknack, SF Airlines Co. took Taobao shopping to a whole other level. The Chinese carrier bid more than 320 million yuan ($48 million) for two Boeing 747 …

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc said its fares are set to gain this winter, buoyed by the collapse of carriers including UK-based Monarch Airlines Ltd. and capacity cuts at main European rival Ryanair Holdings Plc. The demise of Monarch and Germany’s Air Berlin Plc, a bankruptcy filing at Italy’s Alitalia SpA and Ryanair’s move to scrap part of its timetable amid a …

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc, which doesn’t recognise trade unions, lurched further towards collective bargaining after pilots in its home market of Ireland founded a new body and demanded negotiations with the discount operator. Management should engage exclusively on national matters with the “Ryanair Company Council,” the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association said in a letter to Michael O’Leary, the carrier’s …

Reuters EgyptAir will swing to a profit this year, buoyed by an increase in passengers and cost cutting, the chairman of the state-owned airline’s holding company said. EgyptAir has struggled to rebound from the 2008 global financial crisis and two revolutions that have hobbled Egypt’s economy since. “This year the company will transfer from a loss,” EgyptAir Holding Chairman Safwat …

Bloomberg The Air Force’s classified next-generation bomber programme began with a solid plan for meeting cost goals and warfighting requirements, which include an option to fly unmanned missions, according to a newly declassified audit from the Pentagon’s inspector general. The challenge will be sticking to that plan. The early praise for the $80 billion B-21 programme came about a month …

Bloomberg At 80 years old, the self-proclaimed father of the ultra-discount airline model is still swinging for the fences, stealing the spotlight at this year’s Dubai Airshow with the biggest order ever placed for Airbus SE commercial aircraft. William Augustus Franke, co-founder and managing partner of private equity firm Indigo Partners, joined Airbus in announcing the deal for 430 aircraft, …

Bloomberg Senate Republicans say their tax bill will bring big tax cuts for middle-class families and businesses. It’ll also make sure that owners of private jets don’t get hit with the same taxes that commercial carriers face. The revised bill that emerged from the Senate Finance Committee has a provision that scraps excise taxes on management services for private aircraft. …

Bloomberg Airbus SE might yet win a long-anticipated A380 superjumbo order from Gulf carrier Emirates before the end of the year, but must pledge to extend the ailing programme for a further decade in order to secure the deal. The European planemaker had planned to announce the sale at the recently concluded Dubai Airshow, Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier confirmed …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump has compared landing at Los Angeles International and other US airports to arriving in a third-world country. But a provision in the tax bill passed by the House of Representatives would eliminate a tool central to his $1 trillion pledge to upgrade airports and other public works. The House measure would eliminate a form of tax-exempt …

Bloomberg There’s some simple math when it comes to airfares: the higher the price, the bigger the profit. And the most expensive tickets tend to be those sold at the very last minute—specifically those picked up by business travellers with schedules dictated by sudden deals and unexpected client meetings. And not coincidentally, these fares are usually paid for by the …