5102 52

Malaysia Airlines axes Australian route as it fights to survive

MALAYSIA Airlines will axe its service between Brisbane and Kuala

Lumpur from August as part of a massive cost-cutting drive. Cutbacks to services were flagged by new CEO Christoph Mueller

at the start of the month, but he insisted they were unlikely to

significantly impact Australia because of its importance as a travel

market. Today the airline has confirmed its last service to Brisbane will be

on August 8. Anyone with tickets after that date, is advised they will be eligible

for a refund, or will be accommodated on other flights.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said Malaysia Airlines had revised its flight network in Australia to focus on profitable destinations

and services. Commencing 9 August, 2015, Malaysia Airlines will no longer fly the Brisbane-Kuala Lumpur route, said the statement. Malaysia Airlines regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers as a result of these changes, and assures customers

holding tickets to and from Brisbane will be eligible for a refund or

re-accommodated on alternative flights.

http://www.news.com.au

The spokeswoman said connectivity would be maintained via Malaysia

Airlines flights to other destinations, and with connections to oneworld

partner Qantas Airways, to and from Brisbane. Passengers connecting to onward international flights will be granted accommodation if a layover in Kuala Lumpur exceeds six hours, she said. Passengers booked on suspended services are encouraged to contact Malaysia Airlines on 132 627 or 1300 655 324. Brisbane Airport Corporation media manager Leonie Vandeven said they

were disappointed and surprised to learn their 25-year partnership with Malaysia Airlines was suddenly over. This is a loss for Queensland and for Malaysian travellers to Queensland, said Ms Vandeven. Nonetheless, we wish Malaysia Airlines well and remain committed to the market.

Malaysia Airlines has struggled to recover from last years twin tragedies of MH370 and MH17. Six Australians, including four people from Brisbane were on board

MH370 when it flew off course on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing

on March 8, 2014, and disappeared. A $60 million search for the Boeing 777 in the Southern Indian Ocean is

yet to find any trace of the missing aircraft, or the 239 people on board. On July 17, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Ukraine, apparently by a Buk missile. All 298 people on board were killed including 39 from Australia. Mr Mueller said constant references to both disasters had made it

difficult for Malaysia Airlines to recover. As well as axing routes, the airline planned to slash around 6000 jobs

and consolidate its offices in Kuala Lumpur to one building. A rebranding of the airline is also in the planning, that may include a

new name in an effort to distance the carrier from MH17 and MH370.

http://www.news.com.au

How Equatorial Congo Airlines Flew

Around The E.U. Aviation Blacklist

Equatorial Congo Airlines is on a 26-page list of airlines mostly African that are banned from flying into airports in the European Union, but ECAir found ways to

.eTurbonewsget around the blacklist, according to a report in In 2006, the European Union banned 92 airlines the vast majority from African countries saying they were unsafe according to international standards. They were not permitted to land at European airports. The E.U. created the blacklist in response to fatal airline crashes in Egypt, Italy and

, the list had grown to 2010 . ByInfoPlease, according to 2005and 2004 Greece in

more than 278 airlines and has since been updated. Airlines from at least 16 African countries are banned from landing in E.U. airports,

website. These Mobility & Transportthe European Commissions according toinclude: Madagascar, DRC, Ghana, Gabon, Cormoros, Angola, Zambia, Sudan,

Sierra Leone, So Tom and Prncipe, Mozambique, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Benin, Angola, Equatorial Congo Airlines, with headquarters in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo,

holds the presidency for the African Airline Association for 2014-2015. It will play host the organizations 47th annual general assembly Nov. 8-10. The airline was in Paris at one of Frances key trade shows, eTurboNews reports. ECAir has been flying to Paris since 2012, beating E.U. blacklists by flying in

on foreign-registered and foreign-maintained Boeing 757s the U.S.-based manufacturers largest single-aisle passenger aircraft and Boeing 767s, long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliners. Paris and Dubai are among ECAirs key destinations. Trade and travel between Congo Brazzaville and former colonial power France is said to be thriving,

according to eTurboNews. Recently the airline launched flights to Beirut to cater to a large number of

Lebanese investors and residents, bringing Equatorial Congo Airlines destinations Cotonou, Benin; Douala, include, these 2015. As of March, 12to a total of

Cameroon; Dubai, U.A.E.; Libreville, Gabon; Oyo and Pointe-Noire, Republic of the

Congo; Bamako, Mali; and Dakar, Senegal. More destinations are in the pipeline, eTurboNews reports, including Abidjan, Cte dIvoire; Yaound, Cameroon; Luanda, Angola; Bangui, CAR; and NDjamena, Chad - See more at: http://afkinsider.com/98851/how-equatorial-congo-airlines-flew-

around-the-e-u-aviation-blacklist/#sthash.QKP7xmMz.dpuf

http://afkinsider.com

Gulf carriers are not airlines, theyre gov'ts, says Delta CEO

The chief executive of Delta Airlines has once again lashed out at Gulf

carriers accused of receiving what he considers unfair subsidies from

their governments, claiming they are not airlines, theyre governments. Delta is one of the big three US carriers that is lobbying the Obama

administration to rethink open skies aviation agreements with Gulf rivals

Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways. Along with American and United Airlines, Delta claims the Gulf carriers

have received $42 billion of subsidies from the governments of Qatar and

the United Arab Emirates, distorting the marketplace and undermining

fair competition. Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club before an audience of local

business leaders, Delta CEO Richard Anderson said that Emirates, Etihad

and Qatar airlines are not airlines, theyre governments.

He called the dispute with Gulf airlines our greatest challenge and said this unfair trade practice [of allegedly receiving government subsidies] will resonate with Detroit and the devastating effects the

automotive trade imbalance had with Japan. Thousands of Detroit jobs are under threat by the continued expansion

of the Gulf airlines, he claimed, going on to say that Qatar and the

UAEs airlines have ordered over 500 widebody aircraft. In comparison, Chinas airlines, which service over 1.5 billion people, have only ordered 60 widebody aircraft. Every one of the non-stop, widebody flights [Delta] puts to Asia supports about 900 to 1,000 jobs. We are supporters of fair trade [] but like many trade relationships there are outliers. We support open skies, we support open and free

trade but in this instance we have bilateral agreements that are being

violated by those countries. Anderson also emphasised the importance of Detroit to his airline,

noting that there will be about 130,000 departures this year from Detroit with over 12 million passengers travelling through the airport making Detroit the gateway into Asia.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com

Delta Air Lines CEO: subsidised GCC carriers pose airline industrys greatest challenge Thousands of US jobs are being

threatened because of the GCC airlines,

alleges Richard Anderson

In a continuation of the GCC-US airline subsidy row, Delta Air

Lines CEO Richard Anderson has said that subsidised Gulf carriers pose the greatest challenge to the airline industry. Speaking at an event in the city of Detroit, he again reiterated

the allegations made by the big three US carriers that

Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have received

more than $42bn in subsidies from their respective

government. Delta, along with American Airlines and United Airlines are

trying to persuade the US government to scrap open skies

agreements with the UAE and Qatar, citing unfair competition. The Gulf carriers have denied the charges, saying US carriers

are losing marketshare because of inferior services. We are supporters of fair trade [] but like many trade relationships there are outliers, Anderson said. We support open skies, we support open and free trade but in this

instance we have bilateral agreements that are being violated

by those countries.

https://gulfbusiness.com

The three Gulf airlines have grown four times faster than US carriers

without stimulating new market demand and are expanding at the

expense of the American airlines, he alleged. He also warned that thousands of US jobs were being threatened by the massive subsidisation of the Gulf carriers. What weve discovered at Delta Air Lines is we compete against a lot of state-owned and state-subsidised enterprises. When the

playing field is relatively level, we win because we have these great

people that are committed to their company and committed to their

customers. But when the playing field is so far tilted, it is difficult in any industry to be able to compete against governments, Anderson added. All the three GCC airlines have responded strongly against the

allegations. In a detailed report submitted to the US government earlier this

month, Etihad Airways said that the US open skies policy did not

prohibit airlines from receiving shareholder loans. The airline said it

is required to repay the loan given by the Abu Dhabi government, its

sole shareholder. The Abu Dhabi carrier will also contribute $2.9bn to the US economy

and support 23,400 American jobs this year, the airline has said,

citing research by the consultancy Oxford Economics. The study projects that by 2020, the airlines operating expenditure and capital investments will almost double to support 46,200 jobs

and add $6.2bn to the US economy annually. Emirates president Sir Tim Clark has also hit back against the US

carriers stating that the airlines success has made it a scapegoat.

https://gulfbusiness.com

The real issue at hand is that the three biggest US carriers, who together with their joint venture partners

already control about two-thirds of international flights

from the US, want to further limit the international air

transport choices available to American consumers,

airports, local and regional economies, he said in May. Meanwhile Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker has warned

that any change in open skies agreements could lead to

protectionism. Any rollback of liberal market access and open skies policies will reverberate across the whole world and will

lead to retaliatory protectionism affecting all aspects of

trade, he said at the International Air Transport Association annual meeting.

https://gulfbusiness.com

Cairo Airport Duty Free discloses tender details

Cairo Airport Duty Free (CADF) General Manager, Magued Mounir has

confirmed to TRBusiness that Cairo Airport Company (CAC) will be issuing tenders for duty free, F&B and other retail concessions,

shortly. Mounir has informed TRBusiness that while the tenders are open to all retailers, CADF and EgyptAir have made it clear that they are

interested in increasing their retail space at the airport. EgyptAir is a

state-owned company, 100% owned by the Government of Egypt. Following the completion of retail developments at Terminal

2, Mounir tells TRBusiness that there will be a soft opening taking place in January 2016. When fully reopened Terminal 2 will serve Sky Team airlines which include Russian Airlines, Air France, KLM Airlines, Middle East

Airlines and Saudi Airlines. It will also serve British Airways, Qatar

Airways, Royal Jordanian, Gulf Air, Kuwait Air, Emirates, Oman Air

and Etihad. All the mentioned airlines are now located in T1 and will be transferred to T2, says Mounir who tells TRBusiness that the total number of passengers served by the terminal is close to 4m.

T2 started its renovation processes on 2009, and all duty free shop operators have had valid contracts since then, adds Mounir. They had to freeze these contracts until the end of the renovation and will resume them again after the reopening. According to Mounir there are two core duty free packages; one

comprises 597sq m airside and 970sq m landside. The second

comprises 325sq m airside and 980sq m landside.

http://www.trbusiness.com

Mounir says there are four food and beverage packages; the

first package includes 780sq m, spread across landside and

airside while the second package totals 417sq m, again

spread across both landside and airside. The third package covers 680sq m and the fourth package is

spread across eleven areas equal to 1,541sq m, most of them in the last minute airside shops says Mounir. Regarding other retail (duty paid) most of the areas are

located airside and known as last minute & arrival before immigration with a total of 1,067sq m. Mounir specifies that there is a five-year contract term for these retail concessions. Mounir pointed out that this tender is open, so any retailer is

welcome to enter providing they meet certain criteria, which will be provided by CAC. For the time being Cairo Airport Duty Free and EgyptAir are interested to increase

their areas at the airport, adds Mounir.

http://www.trbusiness.com

-