CAPA News Briefs

Aircastle terminated (10-Dec-2018) leases and began exercising remedies to repossess 10 A320-200 and one A330-200 aircraft that were on lease to Avianca Brazil in 4Q2018. The A320-200 aircraft have an average age of 3.5 years, while the A330-200 is 4.1 years old. Aircastle had been working through a delinquent receivables issue with Avianca Brazil. Aircastle has been in remarketing discussions with several potential customers. The lease terminations for the 11 aircraft will have an impact on Aircastle's 4Q2018 results, reducing lease rental revenue estimates from between USD187 million and USD191 million to between USD182 million and USD184 million. Maintenance revenue was also revised from between USD14 million and USD18 million to between USD90 million and USD94 million. [more - original PR]

CAPA Fleet Database reported (11-Dec-2018) the following Boeing fleet reconciliation for Nov-2018: 

Lufthansa Group reported (11-Dec-2018) the following traffic highlights for Nov-2018:

• Passengers: 10.6 million, +6.0% year-on-year;
  • Lufthansa German airlines (includes regional airlines): 5.5 million, +2.7%;
  • SWISS (includes Edelweiss Air): 1.5 million, +8.0%;
  • Austrian Airlines: 1.0 million, +9.7%;
  • Eurowings (includes Brussels Airlines): 2.7 million, +10.6%;
• Passenger load factor: 78.1%, +0.3ppt;
  • Lufthansa Passenger Airlines: 78.8%, -0.5ppt;
  • SWISS: 78.9%, +1.7ppts;
  • Austrian Airlines: 76.3%, +3.6ppts
  • Eurowings: 75.6%, +0.4ppt. [more - original PR - English/German]

Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) reported (11-Dec-2018) the following traffic highlights for Russian carriers, according to operational data:

• 11 months ended Nov-2018:
  • Passenger numbers: 107.8 million, +10.6% year-on-year;
  • Passenger traffic (RPKs): 265.6 billion, +10.6%;
  • Load factor: 84.2%, +0.7%;
• Nov-2018:
  • Passenger numbers: 8.6 million, +13.9%;
  • Passenger traffic (RPKs): 21.7 billion, +14.5%;
  • Passenger numbers for individual carriers:
    • Aeroflot: 2.9 million, +13.8%;
    • S7 Airlines: 830,700, +12.8%;
    • Rossiya - Russian Airlines: 647,000, +1.2%;
    • Ural Airlines: 616,200, +6.8%. [more - original PR - Russian]

Airlines for America (A4A) projected (11-Dec-2018) 45.7 million passengers will travel on US airlines over the 18 day winter holiday travel period from 20-Dec-2018 to 06-Jan-2019, marking a 5.2% increase year-on-year. A4A stated airlines are expected to offer an additional 143,000 seats per day to accommodate the expected average of 2.54 million passengers per day. Daily passenger volumes are projected to range from 2.1 million to 2.9 million. The busiest expected travel days in ranked order 21-Dec-2018, 20-Dec-2018 and 26-Dec-2018. [more - original PR] 

Malaysia Airlines rebranded (11-Dec-2018) its first class cabins on A350-900 and A380 aircraft as 'Business Suite', effective 12-Dec-2018. The cabin will be available on London, Osaka and Tokyo services year round and on Seoul and Sydney services during the winter season. The airline said 'Business Suite' is a response to high business traveller traffic and the product will offer "an enhanced business class service at an attractive price point". The product includes a dedicated check in counter, access to the airline's first class lounge, 50kg baggage allowance and a "fine-dining experience" on board. Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Izham Ismail said: "Our target is to enable the frequent flyer, looking for enhanced comfort, to now be able to enjoy a premium experience at competitive prices. We are confident that our new Business Suite will change the way people travel in business class". Details include:

• A350:
  • Four seats in a 1-2-1 layout;
  • 83in seat pitch, full flat bed length of 83in and width of 23in;
  • Capacitive seat control offering personalised lounge position, independent adjustable leg rest, massage and lumbar system;
  • 24in high definition touchscreen IFE display;
• A380:
  • Eight seats in a 1-2-1 layout on the main deck;
  • 89in seat pitch, full flat bed length of 87in and width of 40in;
  • 23in widescreen IFE display;
  • Personal closet for each seat. [more - original PR]

Royal Air Maroc received (11-Dec-2018) its first of four Boeing 787-9 aircraft on 11-Dec-2018. The airline plans to deploy the 787-9 on routes such as Casablanca-Paris Orly, as well as New York and Sao Paulo, as it seeks to expand service. Royal Air Maroc plans to begin modernising its narrowbody fleet when it takes delivery of its first 737 MAX later in Dec-2018. The carrier also uses Boeing Global Services to enhance its operations through offerings such as software distribution manager. [more - original PR]

Airports Authority of India (AAI) reported (07-Dec-2018) the following traffic highlights for Oct-2018:

• Passengers: 28.8 million, +11.3% year-on-year;
  • Domestic: 23.3 million, +13.1%;
  • International: 5.5 million, +4.4%;
• Cargo: 321,122 tonnes, +14.2%;
  • Domestic: 128,491 tonnes, +23.9%;
  • International: 192,631 tonnes, +8.5%;
• Aircraft movements: 226,318, +13.5%;
  • Domestic: 188,784, +16.1%;
  • International: 37,534, +2.1%.

According to the CAPA Airport Traffic Database, Oct-2018 marked the AAI's highest October passenger traffic since 2008. [more - original PR]

Avinor reported (07-Dec-2018) the following traffic highlights for Nov-2018:

• Passengers: 4.4 million, +3.2% year-on-year;
• • Domestic: 2.7 million, +2.3%;
  • International: 1.6 million, +4.9%;
• Aircraft movements: 66,086, +0.4%;
  • Domestic: 40,600, -3.2%;
  • International: 14,926, +6.8%. [more - original PR]

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) reported (10-Dec-2018) the following traffic highlights for Nov-2018:

• Passengers: 8.3 million, +4.3% year-on-year;
  • Domestic: 4.0 million, +4.6%;
  • International: 4.3 million, +4.0%;
• Aircraft movements: 72,594, +5.1%;
  • Domestic: 43,488, +5.9%;
  • International: 29,106, +4.0%. [more - original PR]

Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority reported (10-Dec-2018) the following traffic highlights for Oct-2018:

• Passengers:
  • Domestic: 2.4 million, +30.1% year-on-year;
    • Avianca: 1.3 million, +68.7%;
    • LAN Colombia: 487,789, -4.5%;
    • VivaColombia: 267,977, +9.2%;
    • SATENA: 98,899, +0.7%;
    • Easyfly: 112,738, +14.3%;
    • ADA - Aerolinea de Antioquia: 15,489, -16.7%;
    • Copa Airlines Columbia: 33,271, -16.6%;
  • International: 1.2 million, +14.5%. [more - original PR]

ACI Europe reported (10-Dec-2018) European passenger traffic increased 6.5% year-on-year in Oct-2018. EU airport traffic increased 6.3%, with Austria and Luxembourg recording double digit growth driven by LCC expansion at Vienna International Airport (+18.2%) and Luxembourg Findel Airport (+12.1%). Larger and core markets of Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Finland and Spain outperformed European averages, which in part reflected impacts in ATM disruptions. Berlin Tegel Airport traffic increased 31.9%. Sweden was the only European country to register a traffic decrease (-1.1%) due to a new aviation tax and SEK depreciation. Non EU airport traffic increased 7.2%, although weakness in domestic traffic at Turkish airports limited growth. Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and Iceland had the largest increases, with strong growth at Kiev (+24.6%), Tbilisi (+17.9%), Minsk (+16.5%) and Keflavik (+16.3). [more - original PR]