Ryanair profits at record high despite fuel cost rise: BBC News

[BBC News] Discount airline Ryanair has reported record full-year profits and rising revenues, despite soaring fuel costs.

Profits after tax rose 13% to 569m euros (£481m) on revenues of 4.88bn euros for the year to 31 March.

“Ultra-low cost carrier” Ryanair has big expansion plans and has ordered 175 new planes. Photo: Wikipedia

Passenger traffic grew 5% to 79.3 million as the airline added 217 new routes to its roster, bringing the total to 1,600.

But fuel costs rose by more than 290m euros, the company statement said, and now account for 45% of total costs.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “Delivering a 13% increase in profits and 5% traffic growth despite high oil prices during a European recession is testimony to the strength of Ryanair’s ultra-low cost model.”

But he warned that growth would be slower in the 2013-14 financial year at Europe’s largest budget airline, thanks to rising oil prices and “unjustified higher Eurocontrol and Spanish airport charges”.

The company is forecasting net profits in the range of 570m to 600m euros for the coming year.

In March, Ryanair placed an order with Boeing for 175 planes worth £10.3bn ($15.6bn) to be delivered between 2014 and 2018.

The deal will increase its fleet by a third to 400 planes.

Read the full story at BBC News…..

---

BBC News
20th May, 2013

---

Berlin’s New Airport Can’t Switch Lights Off: Sky News

[Sky News] Billed as one of the most technically advanced airports in the world, the German capital‘s delayed new hub has a fresh glitch.

The airport site has no means to switch the lights off, officials have confessed. Photo: Wikipedia

Berlin’s troubled new airport has been plagued with delays and now has a fresh technical hang-up – no-one can turn the lights off.

While the German capital has experienced one of the bleakest winters on record, there is no lack of light in Schonefeld where the new airport is being built.

The terminal lights burn around the clock because the workers on site have no means to switch them off, officials have confessed.

“It has to do with the fact that we haven’t progressed far enough with our lighting system that we can control it,” Horst Amann, the airport’s technical director, told Spiegel Online.

Planned to replace Tegel and Schonefeld airports in 2011, Berlin Brandenburg Airport – also to be known as Willy Brandt Airport – has been under construction since September 2005.

But a catalogue of technical glitches, design errors and concerns about safety equipment has delayed its opening to the point where officials dare not give a date for its completion for fear of another deadline being broken.

“I will only name a date when I can take responsibility for it,” added Mr Amann.

The cost of the project has also risen from around 2bn euros (£1.7bn) to…..

Read the full story at Sky News…..

---

Sky News
1st Mar, 2013

---

Related articles

• Berlin airport opening delayed (bbc.co.uk)
• Berlin airport CEO fired after delays to opening (miamiherald.com)

Heathrow trials biometric self-boarding: Biometricupdate.com

[Biometricupdate.com] Terminal 1 passengers at London’s Heathrowairport are being invited to take part in a two-month ‘self-boarding’ trial in partnership with South African Airways.

“We are working in partnership with our airlines to trial this technology….. ” Ian Hanson, Heathrow’s Terminal 1 Director said. Photo: Geograph,org

Using these self-boarding gates, passengers pass through an automatic electronic barrier which takes an infra-red scan of their face. This information is checked against the biometric data that was taken at the check-in stage. If the data matches, the barrier opens and the passenger can pass through and board their flight.

According to a statement from the airport, this now means that a passenger’s identity needs to be checked by airline staff only once in the entire departure process.

“We are working in partnership with our airlines to trial this technology which should help make our passengers’ journeys smoother and simpler. Since its introduction we have had positive feedback from both airlines and passengers,” Ian Hanson, Heathrow’s Terminal 1 director said.

Reported in BiometricUpdate.com, similar self-service gates at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have by now processed over one million passengers.

The gates at the Schiphol airport were made by Vision-Box, a Portuguese company specializing in automated border control systems and have also recently installed self-service gates at Riga International in Latvia.

Likewise, the Gardermoen Airport in Oslo, Norway, is allowing passengers to check themselves through the gates using a biometric EasyPASS gate system.

Read the original story at Biometricupdate.com…..

---

Biometricupdate.com
26th Feb, 2013

---

Related articles

• Brazilian carrier TAM to offer mobile check-in for Heathrow: Travolution (airportinformer.wordpress.com)
• Heathrow profit rises on airline tariffs: Reuters (airportinformer.wordpress.com)

KLM is to charge for checked-in baggage: Business Traveller

[Business Traveller] Until now Europe’s traditional airlines such as Air France, British Airways, KLM and Lufthansa have prided themselves on not burdening passengers with ancillary charges as do the budget carriers.

Dutch carrier KLM is the first to break ranks & charge for checked baggage. Photo: Wikipedia

But Dutch carrier KLM is the first to break ranks. Reports today in the Dutch media, now confirmed by KLM, state that starting in April KLM will charge short-haul passengers fees of either €15 (when paid in advance) or €30 (when paid at the airport) for pieces of checked baggage.

Hand luggage will remain free and the charges will not apply to passengers flying long-haul. All members of KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty scheme will also escape the new fees.

At the same time, it’s understood KLM will strictly enforce rules for hand baggage. According to the reports, any bag which doesn’t meet KLM’s 55x25x35 cm, 12 kilos allowance will be placed in the hold and the unlucky passenger will be charged €30 at the gate.

In its defence KLM says that 60 to 70 per cent of its short-haul passengers carry only hand luggage. The airline says that passengers would prefer to pay less for their flights and that is why it has decided to bring in the fee.

Most large airlines lose money flying within Europe yet cannot…..

Read the full story at Business Traveller…..

---

Report by Alex McWhirter,
Business Traveller
13th Feb, 2013

---

Related articles

• Air France-KLM losses widen as fuel costs rise: BBC News (airportinformer.wordpress.com)

Air France-KLM losses widen as fuel costs rise: BBC News

[BBC News] Air France-KLM, the Franco-Dutch airline, says it made a big loss in 2012, blaming sharply rising fuel costs and trouble with its cargo business.

Air France-KLM has been struggling to reduce its debt mountain in the face of high fuel costs. Photo: Wikipedia

Net losses increased 47% to 1.19bn euros (£1bn; $1.57bn), after a 471m-euro restructuring charge and a 890m-euro increase in its fuel bill.

But operating losses fell to 300m euros, from 353m euros the year before.

Revenues rose 5.2% to 25.6bn euros, thanks in part to increased prices on its North Atlantic routes.

Debt fell from 6.51bn to 5.97bn euros after sell-offs and spending cuts – the company plans to reduce its net debt by 2bn euros by the end of 2014.

Chief executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta said in a statement: “The year 2012 was characterised by a slowdown in global growth and recession in Europe, but nevertheless saw a sharp increase in the fuel price.

“In 2013, we will maintain strict discipline in terms of capacity management, investments and costs.”

Air France-KLM is renegotiating pay and conditions with its staff and cutting more than 5,000 jobs, as high fuel costs and competition from low-cost airlines take their toll on the debt-laden company.

The airline managed to increase…..

Read the full story at BBC News…..

---

BBC News
22nd Feb, 2013

---

Related articles

• Air France-KLM poised to take over Alitalia (thehimalayantimes.com)

Thomas Cook shakes up it’s airline business: Reuters

[Reuters] British travel group Thomas Cook plans to merge its German, British and Belgian airline operations, appointing a new airline management board to run the business.

Condor, Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium will become one airline segment within the group from 1st March. Photo: Wikipedia

The world’s oldest travel group said on Tuesday that Condor, its German airline brand, Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium would become one airline segment within the group from March 1.

The move is part of a turnaround plan, the effects of which began to kick-in late last year. The company, which was thrown a lifeline by lenders last May, has seen a steady improvement in its finances and a pick-up in demand in recent months.

The new airline management board will be chaired jointly by Christoph Debus, group head of air travel, and Ralf Teckentrup, Condor’s chief executive, the company said. Former easyJet and KLM executive Cor Vrieswijk will take the reins as chief operating officer of Thomas Cook Airlines UK next month.

“At time when the European airline industry is experiencing major change, we believe that our airline will be stronger as one integrated business,” said Debus.

Frank Pullman will retire as managing director of Thomas Cook Airlines UK next month, the company said…..

Read the full story at Reuters…..

---

Reuters
5th Feb, 2013

---

New Berlin airport opening date is in danger – Transport Minister: The Local

[The Local] Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer has admitted that the much-delayed new Berlin BER international airport may miss its October 2013 opening deadline, yet indirectly criticised the capital’s mayor for the continuing fiasco. 

Initially the airport’s opening date was set for 30 October 2011. In June 2010. Photo: Wikipedia

“The co-owner, the federal government, sees signs that the opening date of October 27, 2013 might possibly not be met,” Ramsauer told Die Welt newspaper on Wednesday.

The state governments of Brandenburg and Berlin are the other two owners of the airport which is being built to replace the Schönefeld and Tegel airports, and was last expected to open in the summer.

The latest official reason for the non-opening of the airport was that the fire warning system was not working, and Ramsauer said many tests were still needed to see whether it was now going to function.

He said the BER supervisory board, chaired by Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, was responsible for the management of the project – but also that they were reliant on the managers providing all necessary information.

The main problem with the project has been that, “not all decisive facts have been laid on the table of the supervisory board,” said Ramsauer.

Yet the transport minister, who is also responsible for construction, said such problems were not unique to publicly-run projects. “Public and private building contractors cook with the same water – both give out contracts to companies,” he said.

“There are botches, delays and cost increases. That does not excuse anything for public projects, but one should not make it worse than it is,” he said.

Read the original story at The Local – Germany’s News in English

---

The Local
26th Dec, 2012

---

Related articles

• Little progress made at Berlin’s new airport (thelocal.de)
• Ach! No End In Sight For Berlin Airport Woes (npr.org)

Seconds from disaster: Ryanair plane nearly crashes in Germany after pilots altered landing approach: Daily Mail

[Daily Mail] A Ryanair plane carrying 141 people from Manchester came within seconds and feet of disaster at a German airport after the pilots tried to make up lost time on their landing, according to an official air safety report. 

A Ryanair 737 nearly crashed over Germany after pilots tried a new manoeuvre in a bid to make up 30 minutes of lost time. Photo: Wikipedia

Investigators said the late-running Boeing 737 – with 153 passengers and six crew – almost crashed when landing at Memmingen Airport in Bavaria on September 23 when the 30-year-old pilot and his co-pilot, 29, tried to ‘make good on some of the time lost in Manchester’.

It triggered a series of increasingly urgent automated warnings to the pilots to pull up to avoid hitting the ground before reaching the runway.

The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation in Braunschweig classified the drama as a ‘serious incident’ that happened ‘within seconds’.

Setting out how the drama unfolded, the official report said that, some five miles out from the airport, the pilots noticed the plane was descending too quickly.

At one point, the plane was just 450ft (150m) above the ground while dropping at a rate of 500ft/sec, according to the interim report.

The auto-pilot was deactivated and moments later an alarm sounded in the cockpit warning the pilots of the plane’s proximity to the ground.

The official report said that, according to the flight recorder, a warning sounded in the cockpit at 16.39 and 42 seconds with the words: ‘Terrain, terrain. Pull up.’

The pilot then instigated a procedure known as a ‘go-around’ which involves pulling up sharply from the runway descent and then attempting the landing afresh.

The report highlights a series of increasingly urgent warnings from the plane’s ‘Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System’.

The first alarm came at 16.39 and 20 seconds when the plane was at 1,319ft. Then, 17 seconds later, ‘the auto-pilot was deactivated’.

Three seconds after that another warning urged ‘Caution Terrain’ when the jet was at just 480ft from the ground.

A second later, the plane reached its lowest flight altitude of 450ft and a second after that the ground warning system barked: ‘Terrain, Terrain. Pull up, pull up!’

The crew was then forced to conduct a ‘missed approach procedure‘ before coming into land safely……

Read the full story at The Daily Mail Online…..

 

---

Daily Mail - By ALLAN HALL and RAY MASSEY

10th Dec, 2012

---

Related articles

• Ryanair boss says you don’t need seatbelts on planes (thesun.co.uk)

Ryanair ordered to ‘review’ fuel policy after THREE emergency landings because planes almost ran out: Mail

[Daily Mail] Budget airline Ryanair has been ordered to ‘review’ the amount of fuel it carries after three of its planes – including one from the UK -  were forced to make ‘Mayday’ emergency landings in Spain when  they started to run out .

Ryanair was operating with a level of fuel that was ‘close to the minimum’ required in the case of a diversion. Photo: Wikipedia

The airline was operating with a level of fuel that was ‘close to the minimum’ required in the case of a diversion, they said.

Three Ryanair Boeing 737-800 aircraft heading to Madrid were forced to make emergency landings after being diverted to Valencia because of thunderstorms over the Spanish capital.

One of the three affected  planes was heading from Stansted Airport to Madrid when the diversions and emergency landings occurred at Valencia on July 26 this year.

The Irish Aviation Authority Report noted: ‘All three aircraft declared an Emergency (Mayday) when the calculated useable fuel on landing at Valencia was less than the final reserve.’

The watchdogs accept that  all three Ryanair planes left for Madrid ‘with fuel in excess of Flight plan requirements’  and also with fuel ‘in excess of the minimum diversion fuel’ required, so remained strictly  within the rules.

However, the IAA also noted: ‘Diverting with fuel  close to the minimum diversion fuel in the circumstances presented on the evening in question was likely to present challenges for the crew.’

It has also questioned whether the current fuel limit rules give passenger jets enough latitude  land safely in the event of a diversion from Madrid – and asked Spanish aviation chiefs to look at them again.

Spanish pilot union leaders have accused Ryanair of…..

Read the full story at Mail Online…..

---

Mail Online
21st Sept, 2012

---

Another Berlin Airport delay announced costing extra €1.2BN: Insight

[Global Airport Cities] The opening of Berlin‘s newest airport, Brandenburg, has now been delayed for a further 7 months in addition to previous opening delays announced earlier in the year.

A further 7 months delay to the opening of the airport will cost €1.2BN. Photo: Wikipedia

Horst Amann, the new chief operating officer (COO) of Berlin Airport, has announced that the ammended opening date for the long awaited Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport (BER), has now been set for 27 October 2013.

The new date is seven months later than the previously revised opening date of 17 March 2013, and 16 months later than the originally intended grand opening in June 2012.

The airport authority said that the delays will cost the gateway an additional €1.2 billion by the time it does finally open.

The scheduled opening of Berlin-Brandenburg Airport – designed to replace Tegel Airport in western Berlin and Schoenefeld Airport in the east – on June 3 this year was scrapped just weeks before due to problems with fire safety systems.

The airport authorities said this was due to “safety concerns”, and in particular that the completion of the fire safety systems, and their subsequent structural approval, could no longer be accomplished in time.

At the time airport authorities then aimed for a date of 17 March, 2013, but this also became unrealistic given the need for fresh planning and testing.

According to Amann, the first priority was to “finalise all remaining actions plans”, with construction works due to resume in the autumn.

Construction should then be concluded by summer 2013, so that the official approval procedures can be finalised in time for a trial period of several months, he added.

Presenting his findings to the airport’s Supervisory Board, Amann said that……

Read the full story at Global Airport Cities…..

---

Global Airport Cities
19th Sept, 2012

---

Related articles

• Berlin: Cool Your Jets: Berlin’s New Airport Stays Empty for Now (jaunted.com)