January, 2019

• 5 January

  ‘Heathrow plans to add 25,000 flights’

  

  Bloomberg London’s Heathrow Airport plans to increase the number of flights by 5 percent before opening a third runway as part of a 16-billion-pound ($20 billion) expansion plan, the Times reported, citing a spokeswoman. The airport expects to add 68 more take-offs and landings a day in the next few years, which would exceed an existing flight limit set two …

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• 5 January

  FedEx drops Cuba-US air-freight service plan

  

  Bloomberg FedEx Corp dropped a plan to begin cargo flights to Cuba, as an opening between the US and the communist country has foundered. The courier “will not be filing for an extension of the startup date for US–Cuba cargo air service between Miami and Varadero,” FedEx said. The company is abandoning its right to fly five weekly frequencies and …

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• 5 January

  Ryanair passenger growth slowest since 2015 after its strike turmoil

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc posted another year of slower passenger growth as the discount carrier’s battle with unions, bad weather and industrywide air-traffic-control strikes took a toll. Passenger numbers for the 12 months through December rose 8 percent to 139.2 million tickets sold, Ryanair said. Even with the addition of Austria’s Laudamotion, the increase was smaller than 2017’s 10 percent …

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• 5 January

  Next offers Christmas retail cheer as investors seek relief

  

  Bloomberg Next Plc shares rose after surprisingly robust Christmas retail figures cheered investors who were fearing the worst after months of gloom in the sector. Strong sales in the weeks before the holiday helped make up for disappointing results in November, the UK clothing retailer said, a result that was better than some analysts anticipated. At the same time, the …

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• 5 January

  Europe gas market set for slump as buyers watch for Russia flows

  

  Bloomberg European natural gas prices look set to fall for the first time in four years in 2019 as buyers keep a close eye on flows from Russia that reached a record last year. With a healthy amount of fuel in storage after a mild start to this winter, the outlook is bearish. That’s being exacerbated by an expected increase …

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• 5 January

  Venezuelan oil exports slump to 28-year low

  

  Bloomberg Venezuela, once Latin America’s largest oil exporter, ended 2018 with a whimper as overseas sales dropped to the lowest in nearly three decades. Home to the world’s biggest crude reserves, the country exported 1.245 million barrels a day last year, the lowest since 1990, as production tumbles amid an economic and humanitarian crisis. Financial sanctions imposed by the US …

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• 5 January

  Zimbabwe gets more time to pay for fuel

  

  Bloomberg Zimbabwe has reached flexible payment arrangements with some gasoline importers that will ensure it stabilises supplies amid a forei- gn-currency shortage that threatens economic growth. The government has struck a deal with a unit of Trafigura Beheer BV and Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) of Kuwait Ltd to extend payment periods for gasoline supplies to as many as six months …

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• 5 January

  New Petrobras CEO rejects govt intervention

  Bloomberg The new head of Brazil’s state-controlled oil company criticised its history of government interference and vowed to pursue policies that will boost profit, echoing a wider pledge by President Jair Bolsonaro to reduce the state’s role in Latin America’s largest economy. Roberto Castello Branco, who was sworn in as chief executive officer of Petrobras, said he was “revolted” by …

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• 5 January

  Amazon, Google and smart-home offerings

  

  Bloomberg As he browsed digital store shelves last month in search of an aromatherapy diffuser, entrepreneur David Berger had a single requirement for his wife’s Christmas gift: It had to work with Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa software. “She’s really into making the house smell beautiful, and I’m really into Alexa,” says Berger who lives in Weston, Connecticut. “So this is a …

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• 5 January

  Slump in iPhone demand hits lens maker Largan’s Dec sales

  

  Bloomberg Largan Precision Co., which supplies camera lenses to Apple Inc, said revenue in December fell by a third amid weakening appetite for iPhones in China. Sales dropped 33.9 percent from a year to NT$3.23 billion ($104.9 million), and were in line with Largan’s estimates, a company spokeswoman said on Saturday. The company, which also makes lenses for Huawei Technologies …

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