Category Archives: Airline industry

Qantas delivers record $2.47bn profit on back of soaring demand and high ticket prices

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CEO Alan Joyce hails ‘remarkable turnaround’ for airline whose results were a stark change from a year earlier, when it fell to a $1.86bn loss

Qantas Airways has soared out of the disrupted pandemic era to post a record $2.47bn full-year underlying profit, backed by strong travel demand and high ticket prices.

The 2022-23 results mark a stark change from a year earlier, when it fell to a $1.86bn loss.

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Qantas accused of misleading conduct over advertising flight own sales staff could not find

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Airline denies misleading conduct after customer was unable to find flight to London for advertised $2,455 return price

Qantas has denied it is engaging in misleading conduct despite promoting a special return fare to London on its website that was scarcely available and which its own sales staff were unable to book for customers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is considering a complaint which alleges Qantas breached Australia’s consumer law by advertising return economy airfares from Sydney to London’s Heathrow airport as one of its “top offers”, with prices from $2,455 per adult.

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American Airlines sues travel website Skiplagged over ticket price ‘loophole’

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Lawsuit accuses website of deception as it allows travelers to book typically cheaper connecting flight and get off after first leg

American Airlines has filed a lawsuit against Skiplagged, a travel website for cheap flights that shows “hidden-city” ticketing trips.

The lawsuit, which American filed this week in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, accuses Skiplagged of deception, as the website allows travelers to book a connecting flight that is typically cheaper than a non-stop flight and not flying to the route’s final destination.

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Rhodes wildfires are climate wake-up call, says UK minister

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Patrick Courtown sounds warning as evacuation flights head to Greek island to rescue stranded Britons

Wildfires in Rhodes are a “wake-up call” on the effects of the climate crisis, a UK government minister has said, as empty planes were sent to the Greek island to help bring home stranded Britons.

After a mass evacuation from parts of Rhodes, members of the House of Lords were told the situation was “stabilising” and there was no immediate need for the government to advise people to stop travelling there.

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‘A near-death experience’: UK tourists describe escape from Rhodes wildfires

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Travellers say they faced ‘absolute chaos’ as they were forced to flee with luggage still at hotels

Dean Mason, 56, from Rothley in Leicestershire, described getting caught up in the Rhodes wildfires as a “near-death experience”.

Mason arrived at a hotel in Kiotari beach a week ago with his wife, daughter, and four-year-old granddaughter.

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Three-hour delays at Dover as bad weather and train strikes hit summer getaway

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Saturday expected to be busiest day for travel this year as millions take to UK’s roads, airports and ports

Holidaymakers face delays of up to three hours at the Port of Dover as poor weather and train strikes hit Britain’s summer getaway.

Saturday is predicted to be the year’s busiest day for travel after schools in England and Wales broke up for the six-week summer holiday. Abta, the travel association, said more than 2 million UK holidaymakers will head overseas this weekend.

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Heathrow failed to meet minimum accessibility standards, CAA report finds

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Airport only one to be rated as ‘poor’ and ‘needs improvement’ over all four quarters in year to March

Heathrow failed to meet the minimum accessibility standards for disabled passengers in the year to March, the sector’s regulator has said.

The airport was the only one in the UK to be rated as “poor” and “needs improvement” by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) over all four quarters in the period, according to the report.

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Europe heatwave fails to deter holidaymakers as easyJet demand booms

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No-frills carrier reports record quarterly £200m profit as rebound in travel industry gathers pace

Holidaymakers are not being deterred by the ongoing heatwave in Europe, as travellers continue to jet off on their summer vacations amid booming demand for travel, according to easyJet.

The airline reported a record pretax profit of £203m for the three months to the end of June, surpassing analysts’ forecasts, as the demand for summer travel rebounds.

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Green energy tycoon to launch UK’s first electric airline

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But Dale Vince’s Ecojet plane will run on kerosene-based fuel in 2024 to enable quick start to project

The green energy tycoon Dale Vince is planning to launch Britain’s first electric airline in a move designed to prove polluting industries can decarbonise.

Ecojet, styled as a “flag carrier for green Britain”, will launch early next year with a 19-seater plane travelling on a route between Edinburgh and Southampton.

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Qantas and Virgin duopoly dwarfs the Australian banking and supermarket industries, airport peak body says

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Australian Airports Association tells parliamentary inquiry market dominance has allowed the two airlines to jack up profit margins

Qantas and Virgin now account for 95% of Australia’s domestic aviation market, a dominance that dwarfs industries such as banking and supermarkets and has allowed the airlines to jack up profit margins, the national airport body has warned.

The continued duopoly of Qantas Group – which includes budget carrier Jetstar – and Virgin Australia in the domestic aviation sector has also allowed air fares to rise above pre-pandemic levels even when adjusting for inflation, the Australian Airports Association (AAA) said in its submission to a parliamentary inquiry.

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US passport application delays ground summer travelers

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Applicants are facing the brunt of pandemic-related staffing issues and the agency flooded with a record 500,000 applications a week

Seeking a valid US passport for that 2023 trip? Buckle up, wishful traveler, for a very different journey before you venture to the airport.

A much-feared backup of US passport applications has hit a wall of government bureaucracy as worldwide post-pandemic travel rebounds – with too few humans to handle the load.

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United canceled flights for thousands of passengers while the CEO took a private plane

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Scott Kirby apologized but blamed the disruptions last weekend on a shortage of FAA air traffic controllers

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby apologized Friday for hopping on a private plane to get out of the New York area earlier this week while thousands of United passengers were stranded because the airline canceled so many flights.

“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement issued by the airline. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days – often through severe weather – to take care of our customers.”

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Strong winds cause travel chaos in Sydney as passengers hospitalised after ‘severe turbulence’ on Hawaii flight

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Airlines warn of disruptions as Sydney airport braces for single runway operations for a second day due to worsening conditions

Strong winds in Sydney continued to cause chaos for holiday travel plans around Australia on Saturday, while passengers have been hospitalised after “severe turbulence” on a flight arriving from Honolulu.

Airlines were warning of flight disruptions on Saturday morning, as they braced for one of Sydney airport’s runways to be closed for the second time in as many days after a warning from air traffic controllers of worsening winds.

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Texas airport worker dies after being sucked into Delta jet engine

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Identity of worker killed on Friday evening at San Antonio international airport has not been publicly released

A worker at San Antonio’s international airport died after being sucked into a jet’s engine late on Friday.

A source who was briefed directly on the case told the Guardian on Sunday that it appeared the worker had “intentionally stepped in front of the live engine” on the jet and that police were investigating that aspect. But the cause of worker’s death hadn’t officially been determined Sunday, and the source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation into the case was still pending.

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From Brexit to Beyoncé: why UK inflation is still so painfully high

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The cost of living is falling in Europe and the US but is still rising in Britain. We look at the major culprits

The Bank of England has struggled to understand why inflation remains high in the UK. It has fallen in France, Germany, the US and especially Spain, where inflation dropped to 2.9% in May compared with the UK figure of 8.7%. Here we look at the many reasons for the current crisis.

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Soft power: Saudi Arabia flexes muscles with launch of new Gulf airline Riyadh Air

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Launch comes amid resurgent demand for air travel after end of Covid lockdowns

As the deafening roar of an F35 fighter jet washes over the Paris air show, Tony Douglas allows himself a moment of nostalgia: he was formerly responsible for the UK government agency charged with buying the planes.

Now he is in charge of a different aviation proposition, leading the launch of a new commercial airline belonging to the Saudi Arabian state.

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BA, Boots and BBC staff details targeted in Russia-linked cyber-attack

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Hack attributed to criminal gang hit MOVEit software used by third-party payroll provider Zellis

British Airways, Boots and the BBC are investigating the potential theft of personal details of staff after the companies were hit by a cyber-attack attributed to a Russia-linked criminal gang.

BA confirmed it was one of the companies affected by the hack, which targeted software called MOVEit used by Zellis, a payroll provider.

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Rex and Bonza call for immediate overhaul of Sydney airport laws to increase competition

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Exclusive: aviation leaders make plea to federal government, saying higher airfares and poorer service will persist without change

Rex Airlines, Bonza and Australia’s airports body are calling on the federal government to immediately make it easier for airlines to introduce flights at Sydney airport and challenge Qantas and Virgin, warning that higher air fares and poorer service will persist if nothing changes.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week savaged policy shortcomings that are shutting out meaningful competition and have allowed for a duopoly to develop in Australia’s aviation market.

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Qantas and Virgin given little incentive to cheapen air fares, watchdog warns

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ACCC warns airline industry is at ‘critical juncture’ with a developing duopoly stunting competition

Australian aviation is at a “critical juncture”, with policy shortcomings allowing for a duopoly marked by higher air fares and poorer service, the consumer watchdog warns, as it loses extra resources to scrutinise the sector.

Qantas Group – including budget carrier Jetstar – and Virgin Australia have carried 90% of domestic passengers over the past two decades, and as many as 94% in April this year, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s quarterly domestic aviation monitoring report released on Monday, the final edition of the three-year task.

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ACCC’s airline monitoring program to conclude despite growing claims of fare overcharging

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Exclusive: consumer and aviation figures call for continued scrutiny as Australian companies post multibillion-dollar profits and prices remain high

A key government program monitoring Australian airlines’ behaviour is ending just as carriers face claims they are overcharging passengers, prompting consumer and aviation figures to call for a dedicated and ongoing inquiry to probe the industry.

Calls for greater scrutiny from Australian Airports Association chief executive, James Goodwin, and former competition tsar Rod Sims come as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s domestic aviation monitoring taskforce expires at the end of June.

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