Aviation

  Bloomberg United Continental Holdings Inc.’s first-quarter profit exceeded analysts’ estimates as tumbling oil prices handed the carrier a break on fuel costs. Adjusted earnings fell to $1.23 a share, the airline said in a statement. That topped the $1.18 average of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales declined 4.8 percent to $8.2 billion, matching analysts’ expectations. The Chicago-based carrier ...

  NEW YORK / Reuters The US aviation regulator has ordered an urgent fix for General Electric engines on upto 150 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, a step to avoid engine failure in icy conditions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was requiring modifications to prevent fan blades from rubbing against the engine casing, which can cause “damage and a possible ...

  Bloomberg Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is seeking US backing for an expansion of its UK-based long-haul operations that would allow the discount carrier to offer services such as South Africa to New York via London. A successful outcome following an application to the US Department of Transportation could lead Norwegian Air to exercise an option to buy 10 more ...

  Shanghai / AFP China’s homegrown regional jet should have made its first commercial flight weeks ago, but the ARJ21 has still not flown any fare-paying passengers, dealing yet another setback to the country’s ambitious plans for domestically produced planes. Chengdu Airlines received the aircraft from manufacturer the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) in November, already years behind schedule, ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia Airlines Bhd. said Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller will leave the company before his term ends, posing a new challenge to turn around the carrier after two plane crashes in 2014 dented its sales and reputation. Mueller requested to step down before the end of his three-year contract for personal reasons, the carrier said in a statement. ...

  Paris / REUTERS A growing backlog of undelivered Airbus passenger jets, stranded outside their factories due to supplier problems, is putting pressure on the planemaker’s cash generation for the start of the year, industry sources and analysts said. After a slow first quarter in deliveries, parking space at Toulouse airport in France, and at Hamburg in Germany, is increasingly ...

  Paris / AFP Airbus said that Indonesian carrier Garuda had signed a firm purchase order for 14 of its new generation wide-bodied A330-900neo airliner for $4 billion. The deal, sealed in London for the re-engined version of Airbus’ popular A330 airliner, is designed to bolster Garuda’s expansion. Airbus said the order, for delivery from 2019, replaces and extends an ...

  SINGAPORE / Reuters Asian skies are getting busier and the impact is set to be felt in the jet fuel market as brisk demand for air travel, due to rising incomes and more flights, cuts the region’s aviation fuel surplus in 2017 by the most in at least five years. About 100 million new passengers take to the Asian ...

  Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd. fell the most in more than two years after Australia’s largest carrier cut its planned domestic capacity expansion as the prospect of a federal election and a drop in consumer confidence weigh on demand. The shares fell as much as 14 percent and were trading 11.6 percent lower at A$3.59 in Sydney, the biggest intraday ...

  COPENHAGEN / REUTERS Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) announced last week that it had agreed to buy Irish leasing company Aldus Aviation, which manages a fleet of 30 jets. However, no financial details were disclosed by the company. Denmark-based NAC, the world’s largest turboprop lessor recently announced its expansion into regional jet leasing with the purchase of Jetscape, another jet ...