Aviation

  Bloomberg Saudi budget airline Flynas plans to seek regulatory approval this year for an initial public offering that would make it the first carrier to be listed on the country’s stock exchange, part of a broader effort to diversity the economy in the face of weak oil prices. The closely held carrier, which announced an deal for 80 Airbus ...

  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Asia’s biggest international airline, plans to shorten its fuel-hedging program and revamp its workforce as part of a new business strategy to halt a slide in earnings. The shares jumped the most in nine months. The carrier “won’t hedge as far forward as we have in the past” and will “rethink its workforce,” Chief ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Emirates is opening up its lounges at its Dubai hub to lower-tier frequent flyer members in what is the latest move by the world’s largest long-haul airline to look for new ways to boost revenues. Emirates had previously restricted access to these lounges to higher-tier frequent flier members and business or first class travellers. In an ...

  Bloomberg A UK aerospace company that designs rotary engines used in jet-equipped backpacks has sold a minority stake to Kuang-Chi Group, a Chinese technology investor. Gilo Industries Group, based in Dorset, has sold a 40 percent stake for $30 million. The funds will be used to expand Gilo’s business in Asia, according to a company statement on Monday. Founded ...

  RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabian budget carrier flynas is to buy 80 Airbus A320neo narrow body jets in a deal worth $8.6 billion that includes upgrading an earlier order, it said on Monday. The 80 A320neo order is valued at $8.6 billion, flynas Chairman Ayed Al Jeaid said at press conference in Riyadh on Monday. The order is for ...

  PARIS / Reuters Qatar Airways is seeking strict guarantees as it talks to CFM International about supplying engines for a revamped order for Airbus narrow-body jets, which it expects to finalise ‘soon’, its chief executive said. The Gulf airline has cancelled four A320neo jets powered by alternative Pratt & Whitney engines and expects to swap the overall aircraft order, ...

  Bloomberg Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. returned to the skies with a flawless delivery of communications satellites into orbit, its first flight since a September 1 fireball destroyed a rocket and its payload on a Florida launch pad. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 10 Iridium Communications Inc. satellites rumbled aloft from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s central ...

  Bloomberg London’s Heathrow airport, which has operated close to the capacity of its two runways since the start of the decade, eked out a further 700,000 passengers to extend its lead as Europe’s top travel hub in 2016 as growth in Paris stuttered and Istanbul and Frankfurt fell back. Heathrow’s traveller tally increased 1 percent to 75.7 million, while ...

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM Group Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Janaillac delivered a downbeat assessment of the carrier’s prospects for 2017, saying it faces ‘difficult’ times in the year ahead amid rising oil prices and an ongoing struggle to rein in expenses. Weak margins combined with high debt remain the greatest challenges to Europe’s biggest airline, Janaillac said in an address ...

  Bloomberg Boeing Co. won a $22 billion deal from budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd., notching the planemaker’s largest-ever order from an Indian airline and strengthening its hold in a market dominated by Europe’s Airbus Group SE. The order includes 100 of Boeing’s 737 Max single-aisle jets and renegotiated terms for 55 previously ordered aircraft, SpiceJet said in a statement. The ...