issue 75 may 2013 official monthly bulletin of aaco nashra - may 2013.pdf · we estimate...

Issue 75 - May 2013 Official Monthly Bulletin of AACO

GLOBAL ARAB AVIATION

SPREADING OUT p: 26

COLLABORATION p: 39

ENVIRONMENT p: 41

REGULATORY TONE p: 46

AN AVIATION MARKET IN FOCUS: SAUDI ARABIA p: 50

WORLD NEWS p: 52

PARTNER AIRLINES p: 58 - 71

INDUSTRY PARTNERS p: 72 - 91

AACO & RTC CALENDARS p: 92 - 95

AACO MEMBERS & PARTNERS p: 96 - 99

Issue -75 May 2013

AVIATION WITHIN THE ARAB WORLD

GROWTH p: 10

EXPANSION p: 14

LAURELS p: 20

TECHNOLOGY & E-COMMERCE p: 20

MRO p: 21

NEW APPOINTMENTS p: 14

Arab world marks an increase of 8.2% in April 2013 in international passen-ger numbers - p. 7

IATA AGM endorses a resolution on Carbon-Neutral Growth - p. 44

IATA members reaffirm support for NDC initiative- p. 52

Daily news on www.aaco.org

ARAB AIRLINES ECONOMICS p: 11

ARAB AIRPORTS p: 22

TOURISM p: 37

New

New

Three important industry issues were highlighted at the recent IATA AGM held in CapeTown; Aviation and Climate Change, Pas-senger Rights, and the New Distri-bution Capability.

Climate Change has actually been on top of the aviation agenda for some time, and will reach its peak of discussions at the next ICAO Assembly in September 2013, where ICAO is expected to reach a global agreement on how to manage aviation’s carbon emis-sions. The IATA AGM resolution is basically a suggestion for a global approach to the application of a single Market Based Measure (MBM) to manage the industry’s climate change impact. The ap-proach is a single mandatory car-bon offsetting scheme.

Three Industry Issues Highlighted in CapeTown

Daily news on www.aaco.org Issue 75 - May 2013 5

The aim of the scheme is to achieve the Carbon Neutral Growth tar-get post 2020 that was endorsed earlier by the industry as one of three environment targets. The approach sets individual airline tar-gets and industry-wide targets, takes into consideration efforts done by early movers, requirements of new entrants, and fast growing car-riers. The approach also sets criteria for reporting and verification of carbon emissions, and a periodic CNG2020 performance review cycle that revises individual elements and parameters as appropriate. So the industry has done its share of paving the way for governments to reach an agreement at the next ICAO Assembly.

Second, difficulties to airlines and confusion among passengers are two of the many cons of having a proliferation of passenger rights regimes around the world. Around 50 regimes have come into effect around the world during the past 10 years. IATA AGM endorsed a set of core principles for governments to consider when adopting con-sumer protection regulations. The detailed principles are on page 48 It’s worth noting that AACO scrutinizes the developments of passen-ger rights regulations around the world especially in the EU and the US where such regulations have, in most cases, led to confusion, ar-bitrations, and liability unfairly imposed on airlines. AACO is also co-operating with IATA on urging states to become party to the Montreal Convention 1999, an international air carrier liability regime.

Lately the EU has been working on amending EC Regulation 261/2004, where the EC has proposed a set of amendments that are being discussed at the level of the Parliament and the Council. AACO has engaged with IATA in order to highlight to the EU institutions some provisions in the suggested amendments that could lead to dif-ficulty of implementation, would open room for ambiguity, would

Issue 75 - May 2013 7

interfere - in some cases - in airlines’ pricing, could have a negative impact on interlining, and could have extra-territorial application in other cases. The amended EC Reg261/2004 is expected to come into force by the end of this year. In brief, engagement of the airline com-munity in setting such regulations by politicians is very important as it highlights to the regulators the extent of practicality and applicability of proposed regulations. The third important issue highlighted in CapeTown is IATA’s New Dis-tribution Capability initiative. This will develop an open, XML-based distribution standard for data exchange between airlines and travel agents which will help consumers benefit from being able to make choices based on enriched content and the ability to compare and transact airline offers in a transparent fashion.

So, the message is clear: Aviation is a global industry that requires global solutions and approaches towards issues. Climate Change and passenger rights are only two of the many industry issues that require global approaches in order to meet the desired targets in a clear, fair and balanced way. On the other hand, airlines are as well looking for global solutions to better reach out to the consumer. The New Dis-tribution Capability is a step in that direction, where the consumer would enjoy access to enriched airline content through all channels which would allow the airlines to better serve the needs of that con-sumer.


OVERALL TRAFFIC - ARAB WORLD

We estimate international passenger numbers to, from, & within the Arab world to have increased by 8.2% in April 2013 compared to April 2012, which follows an increase of 12.8% in March 2013 compared to March 2012.

In April 2013, AACO members increased the number of seats offered to, from, and within the Arab world by 1.12%, while other airlines increased the number by 7.7% which resulted in a growth of 10.8% in the total number of offered seats to and from the Arab world.

Source: AACO, IATA *Estimated

-2%0%2%4%6%8%

10%12%14%

Monthly International Passenger Numbers' Change to, from and within the Arab World May 12 to Apr13* compared to same month in previous year

YoY Growth 12-Month Average Growth

AVIATIONWITHIN THEARAB WORLD

Passenger numbers within the Arab world reported a 12.3% increase between February 13 & April 13* compared to same period in the previous year.

Aviation in the Arab World


PASSENGER TRAFFICInternational passenger numbers within the Arab world are estimated to have increased by 10.9% in April 2013 compared to April 2012 following an increase of 15.0% in March 2013 over March 2012.

GROWTH

Issue 75 - May 2013 11

Emirates Group announces 25th consecutive year of profit: The Emirates Group has announced on 9 May its 25th consecutive year of profit and com-pany-wide growth ending the year in a strong position despite continuing high fuel prices and a weak global economic environment. The financial year also ended with some very positive newly reached capacity milestones throughout the business. Released in the Group’s 2012-13 Annual Report, the company posted a USD 845 million net profit, up 34% from last year. Even with external challenges, the Group’s revenue reached USD 21.1 billion, an increase of 17% over last year’s results. The Group’s cash balance grew by 53% reaching a solid USD 7.3 billion. Despite a difficult operating environment, the Group continued to invest in and expand on its employee base, increasing its overall staff count by 12% to 68,000. Emirates continued with its growth plan and during the financial year saw the largest increase in capacity in the airline’s history receiv-ing a staggering 34 new aircraft, the highest in any single year and an unprec-edented achievement. These aircraft were funded by raising more than USD 7.8 billion, also a first, through a variety of financing structures. Overall capac-ity measured in Available Ton Kilometers (ATKMs) increased by 5.5 billion ton-kilometers. Other significant capacity increases include launching 10 new des-tinations across six continents, shipping more than 2 million tons of cargo for the first time and carrying an additional 5.4 million passengers over last year, the highest increase in a financial year. In the 2012-13 financial year Emirates’ fuel bill increased by 15% over last year to reach USD 7.6 billion. With total op-erating costs increasing by 16% compared to a revenue increase of 17% over last year.

Passenger traffic within the Arab Sub Regions April 13* over April 12Within North Africa 30.6%Within Arabian Peninsula 26.0%Within Near East 7.2%Between Arabian Peninsula & North Africa (0.8%)Between Arabian Peninsula & Near East (1.2%)Between the Near East and North Africa 1.6%



Passenger numbers within the Arab world reported a 13.6% growth during the first quarter of 2013 compared to same period in the previous year.


ARAB AIRLINES ECONOMICS

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

withinArabian

Pen

within NEast within N

Africa N EastArabian

Pen

N East NAfrica N Africa

ArabianPen

International Passenger Numbers' Change Within the Arab WorldJan13-Mar13 & Feb13-Apr13* compared to same period in previous year

Jan13-Mar13

Feb13-Apr13*

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

Monthly International Passenger Numbers' Change within the Arab World May 12 to Apr13* compared to same month in previous year




Highlighting its sound financials and investor confidence, Emirates raised more than USD 7.8 billion in new funding mainly to secure its on-going fleet expan-sion, a record amount for the airline. This impressive total included USD 587.5 million financing for additional A380s with a bond that used the debt capital market in the U.S., a first for a non-U.S. airline in years. Emirates also issued a 10-year amortized Sukuk for USD 1 billion and raised USD 750 million with a 12-year amortized bond matched to the payment cycle for the aircraft. It fur-ther includes more than USD 5.4 billion raised through finance and operating leases. Emirates revenue reached a record high of USD 19.9 billion growing by 17% when compared to the 2011-12 financial year. Although the average price of jet fuel did not increase over last year, it remains high and has impacted Emirates’ bottom line with the airline’s profit at USD 622 million representing an increase of 52% over last year’s results. Carrying a record 39.4 million passengers, an increase of 16%, Emirates logged a robust Passenger Seat Factor, at 80%, remaining consistent with last year’s results. With an increase in seat capacity-Available Seat Kilometers (ASKMs) of18% the result highlights a strong consumer desire to fly on Emirates’ aircraft.Passenger yield remained steady with 8.3 US cents per Revenue Passenger Kilometer (RPKM). With a further 198 aircraft on order worth over USD 71 billion, combined with the airline’s increasing worldwide passenger traffic, Emirates’ is set to contin-ue to drive considerable economic growth in the countries that it serves. Forging ahead with its intricately planned expansion, Emirates received 34 new wide-body aircraft during the year including 20 Boeing 777-300ERs, 10 Airbus A380s and 4 Boeing 777LRFs compared with last year’s 22 aircraft. With an increased fleet, Emirates launched 10 new destinations in 2012-13 includ-ing Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona, Lisbon, Erbil, Washington, DC, Adelaide, Lyon, Phuket, Warsaw and Algiers.

Jet Airways approves Etihad Airways stake: Jet Airways shareholders have ap-proved plans for Etihad Airways to take a major stake in the Indian carrier.At an extraordinary general meeting in Mumbai on 21 May, the shareholders agreed to allow Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways to take a 24% holding in pref-erential shares. The allotment of the shares is subject to fulfilment of certain conditions, including the approval of India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the nation’s Competition Commission.The two airlines signed their agreement last month, with Etihad paying USD 379 million for its shareholding as well as investing a further USD 220 million in Jet. The agreement will bring expanded codesharing, integrated frequent flyer programs, plus new routes between India and Abu Dhabi. Source: ATW

Etihad Airways acquires 3 airport services companies: Etihad Airways has finalized the agreement to acquire three airport services companies which will accelerate and consolidate the development of in-flight catering services, ground handling and cargo operations at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Issue 75 - May 2013 13

Formerly part of Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), the three companies, Abu Dhabi Airport Services (ADAS), Abu Dhabi In-Flight Catering (ADIFC), and Abu Dhabi Cargo Company (ADCC), are being incorporated, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, into Etihad Airport Services, a wholly owned subsid-iary of Etihad Airways.The companies, which employ more than 4,000 people, are being integrated into the airline’s existing organizational structure to maximize synergies and operational scale. The re-engineered business units will continue to provide the full range of ground handling, catering and cargo services to Etihad Airways and other air-lines at Abu Dhabi International Airport, dedicated to customer excellence and commercial viability.

Air Arabia’s Q1 2013 net profit increases 20% to USD 16 million: Air Arabia announced its financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2013, demonstrating the airline’s strong financial position and outstanding perfor-mance. Air Arabia reported a net profit of USD 16 million for the three months ending March 31, 2013, exceeding analysts’ forecast and registering an in-crease of 20% compared to USD 13.3 million in the corresponding quarter in 2012. The airline attributes the impressive growth to its appealing product offering and strong operational performance.In the first quarter of this year, Air Arabia posted a turnover of USD 196.5 mil-lion, an increase of 22% compared to USD 161.7 million in the same period of 2012. In April, Air Arabia reported that it carried a record 1.4 million pas-sengers in first quarter of this year, the highest number of passengers that the airline handled in a quarter since inception in 2003. The passenger number represents 18% growth compared to the same period last year. The average seat load factor stood at an impressive 82%.The first quarter of this year saw Air Arabia taking delivery of two aircraft from Airbus. The airline will receive four more A320 aircraft this year, which is in line with Air Arabia’s growth plan to further expand its geographic network and significantly grow the size of its fleet by 2016.

Royal Air Maroc reports best ever results in 2012: Royal Air Maroc reported on 15 May an operating profit of USD 83.2 million in 2012, from an operating loss of USD 57.8 million in 2011, the best performance in the carrier’s history and far exceeding the goals set in the programme contract it signed with the government in September 2011, according to CEO Mr. Driss Benhima. The carrier increased its investment from USD 64.4 million in 2011 to USD 173.7 million in 2012, much of which has been earmarked for the acquisition of new aircraft.

nasair to be first Middle East and North African airline to launch passenger operations from Dubai World Central: nasair announced that it will be the first Middle East and North African airline to launch passenger operations

Issue 75 - May 2013 15



from the new Dubai World Central on 28 October 2013. The airline also shared remarkable growth figures among attendees of the 20th annual Arabian Travel Market. Furthermore, the airline also announced that it has recorded a 20% increase in passenger numbers since the beginning of 2013 compared to 2012; and its number of flights has increased by 11% compared to the same period.

Syrian Arab Airlines appoints Dr. Eng. Mousaab Arslan as Director General: Dr. Eng. Mousaab Khaled Arslan, who worked as Deputy Director General of Syrian Arab Airlines, has been appointed as Director General of the Airline as of 4 June 2013.

Mr. Abd ElMahmoud Suleiman Mohammed new Managing Director of Sudan Airways: Mr. Abd ElMahmoud Suleiman Mohammed has been appointed as the Managing Director of Sudan Airways starting 12 May 2013.

Royal Jordanian appoints new Chief Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience Officer: Mr. Saad Beseiso has been appointed as Royal Jordanian’s new Chief Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience Officer.

Gulf Air appoints new Acting Chief Commercial Officer: Mr. Ahmed Abdulla Janahi has been appointed as Gulf Air’s new Acting Chief Commercial Officer.

EXPANSIONROUTES

Airline From To Date Weekly Frequency Aircraft Type

EK Dubai Tripoli 1 Sep. 13 3x B777-200ER

EY Abu DhabiAmman

15 Jun. 1314x to 18x N/A

Cairo 18x to 21x N/AMuscat 20x to 23x N/A

G9 Sharjah Abha May 13 2x A320ME Beirut Najaf 15 May 13 2x A321MS Cairo Al Qasim 1 Jun. 13 7x N/A

QR Doha

Salalah May 13 4x N/ATripoli

1 Jun. 137x A320

Casablanca 7x A330Basra 3 Jun. 13 4x A320

Emirates resumes services to Libya: Emirates will restart passenger flights to Tripoli from 1st September 2013. Emirates’ three-weekly flights to Tripoli,

served by a Boeing 777-200ER in a 3-class configuration, will make a quick stop in Malta.

Etihad Airways increases frequencies to key regional destinations: Etihad Airways will increase frequencies on services to Amman, Cairo & Muscat from June 15, 2013. Services to Muscat will increase from 20 to 23 weekly flights, better linking the Omani capital with Etihad Airways’ North Asian network and some key world destinations, such as Japan, China and South Korea.In addition, Etihad Airways is adding four overnight flights per week to its existing double-daily operations to and from Amman, providing seamless connectivity to destinations in South East Asia and Australia.Flights to Cairo will increase from the current 18 weekly services to three times a day.

Air Arabia takes off to Abha, Saudi Arabia: Air Arabia inaugural flight touched down in Abha, Saudi Arabia, from its primary hub in Sharjah. The new service from the carrier’s primary hub in Sharjah marks Air Arabia’s eighth destination in the Kingdom and 85th worldwide. Air Arabia offers two weekly flights to Abha, making it easier and more convenient for passengers to travel between the two cities. In addition to Abha, Air Arabia operates non-stop flights the Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina, Dammam, Qassim, Yanbu, and Taif in Saudi Arabia.

Middle East Airlines takes off to Najaf: Middle East Airlines commenced op-erations on the 900-kilometre route from Beirut to Najaf in Iraq on 15 May. The carrier, which already serves two Iraqi cities (Baghdad and Erbil) with daily flights, offers a twice-weekly schedule on the newly launched route. A321s are used by MEA on the route.

EgyptAir starts its new daily services to Al Qasim: EgyptAir announced the start of its new daily regular flights between Cairo and Al Qasim, Saudi Arabia as at 1 of June 2013.

Qatar Airways launches second destination in Sultanate of Oman: Qatar Air-ways has commenced services to Salalah, joining Muscat as the airline’s sec-ond destination in the Sultanate of Oman.Salalah, south of the Arabian Peninsula, becomes the Doha-based airline’s fifth new route of the year taking the carrier’s global reach to 127 destinations.With the Omani capital Muscat already served 31-times-a-week and the new four-a-week services to Salalah, Qatar Airways now flies a total of 35 services to the Sultanate each week.

Qatar Airways increases capacity to North Africa as at 1 June: Qatar Airways announced an increase in capacity between Qatar and North Africa with its flights to Tripoli and Casablanca going non-stop. As at 1 June, scheduled ser-vices to the Libyan capital Tripoli were de-linked from the Egyptian city of Alex-andria offering additional seats to both cities.

NEW APPOINTMENTS


Issue 75 - May 2013Daily news on www.aaco.org 17

On the same day, Casablanca started to have direct non-stop services from the airline’s Doha hub. Previously the route was served via the Tunisian capital of Tunis. With the de-linking and re-introduction of non-stop flights, Qatar Air-ways is giving passengers travelling to the four North African cities with more choice and flexibility when planning their travels.Initially, the route was served three-times-a-week, via Alexandria, and due to popular demand increased to daily services in August 2012. Qatar Airways also serves Libya’s second largest city Benghazi with four weekly flights from Doha. The airline currently serves Tripoli with an A320, featuring 12 seats in Business Class and up to 132 seats in Economy. The Casablanca route is operated with an A330 in a two-class con-figuration of up to 248 seats in Economy and up to 36 seats in Business Class.

Qatar Airways launches fourth destination in Iraq: Qatar Airways launched flights to its fourth destination in the Republic of Iraq – to the southern port city of Basra. The new non-stop service is operated four times a week.The Doha – Basra route is being operated by an A320 featuring 144 seats in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy.

Qatar Airways to launch Saudi operations with 10 aircraft: Qatar Airways has said it will operate under a different name in Saudi Arabia as one of two operators that won in December 2012 licenses to serve the kingdom’s domes-tic market, Arab News has reported. The airline will begin operations with 10 narrow-body aircraft, with hubs in Riyadh and Jeddah, said CEO H.E. Akbar Al-Baker. Bahrain’s Gulf Air won the second license.

Capacity* of top 10 carriers within the Arab World (Int’l Operations)Airline ASKs (Million) Departures Seats

EK 1,082.4 2,386 744,743 MS 824.6 2,780 523,934 SV 725.5 2,355 479,334 FZ 601.5 3,034 573,426 QR 600.5 3,602 596,107 EY 445.3 1,974 314,878 G9 337.5 1,689 273,618 RJ 278.8 1,820 226,682 GF 233.8 2,510 352,794 XY 228.9 1,100 176,884

Grand Total 7,292.8 32,859 5,794,705

FLEETQuarterly Development of Arab Airlines’ FleetJul 12 over Apr 12 Oct 12 over Jul 12 Jan 13 over Oct 12 Apr 13 over Jan 13Added A/C

Removed A/C

Added A/C

Removed A/C

Added A/C*

Removed A/C**

Added A/C

Removed A/C

8 A320 2 A300 1 A300 6 A300 4 A300 4 A320 1 A329 2 A3192 A321 1 A310 9 A320 1 A310 1 A310 2 A330 9 A320 4 A3203 B737 4 A320 3 A321 4 A320 1 A319 2 ATR 72 5 A321 4 A3305 B747 6 A321 1 A330 4 A330 22 A320 5 B737 4 A330 4 A3405 B777 1 A330 2 A380 4 B737 3 A330 2 CRJ200 5 B737 1 B7371 CRJ200 4 A340 2 ATR 72 25 B747 1 A340 2 CRJ702 9 B777 2 B7771 F50 6 B737 5 B737 1 B767 8 A380 3 B787

2 B747 1 B747 1 B777 1 AN-124 (Freighter)

2 E190

1 MD-11 8 B777 1 CRJ200 5 B7371 E175 2 E170 1 B747

1 G450 11 B7771 MD-11 3 B787

3 CRJ9008 DHC8 (Freighter)1 E1756 E1901 E1952 IL-76 (Freighter)

* 9P, MXU, SF and XY Fleet added ** FO Fleet Removed

CAPACITY AND DEMANDPassenger Air Services within the Arab World - April 2013 - SRS AnalyzerAACO members increased the number of their offered seats within the Arab world by 14.9%, while other airlines decreased their number of seats offered by (2.6%), leading to 11.8% year-on-year increase in the total number of seats offered.Available Seats within the Arab world for International and domestic routes constituted 24.7% and 10.0% respectively of the total Available Seats to, from, and within the Arab world in April 2013.

* Includes scheduled capacity and not actual flown capacity Source: AACO, SRS Analyzer



Royal Air Maroc to begin E-Jet trial: Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is to introduce two former Gulf Air Embraer E190s into its fleet this summer as it completes an in-service evaluation of the aircraft ahead of a likely order for up to ten aircraft. RAM has been considering introducing a regional jet type to its operation for the last year but has now agreed a tentative deal with Dutch ACMI provider Denim Air to fly these two aircraft on its behalf for an undetermined period. A formal contract is expected to be signed.According to sources close to the African airline, there will initially be a two or three month trial of the jets before any potential order is placed with the Bra-zilian manufacturer. Embraer already has a sizeable order book for the E-Jet family and with a couple of new orders already proposed for the second half of this year holding delivery slots for 2014, it is unlikely RAM would receive any aircraft until late 2014 or early 2015.The two E190s are currently parked at Exeter in the UK and are undergoing modification and line maintenance ahead of their delivery to Denim Air. The aircraft are tentatively set to enter passenger operation on routes from Mo-hammed V International Airport in Casablanca. RAM’s GDS schedule was up-dated to show the introduction of the aircraft to its fleet and tentatively shows a June 15, 2013 launch with a weekly rotation from Casablanca to Las Palmas. The aircraft type will also be used on routes to Berlin, Bissau, Bordeaux, Co-penhagen, Strasbourg and Toulouse with between one and four weekly flights.Source: Routes Online

Air Arabia to raise USD 450 million in loans to finance fleet expansion: Air Arabia has said it plans to raise USD 400 million to USD 450 million in bank loans to finance aircraft purchases, Bloomberg has reported. “We will be get-ting deliveries till the end of 2015,” Air Arabia CEO, Mr. Adel Ali told the news service. “After that, we will need airplanes to expand and we will need re-placement airplanes for the ones that have been in service for three years.” Air Arabia has already raised USD 150 million in loans that will be spent this year, Mr. Ali said. The carrier, which will receive 10 aircraft next year as it adds des-tinations, will decide in the next 18 months on its next aircraft order, including which models, he said.

Gulf Air customer for 10 unidentified Bombardier CS100s: Bombardier has confirmed that Gulf Air is the customer for 10 CSeries 100s, with six options. The firm order was announced at the Paris Air Show in June 2011.

Kuwait Airways signs initial deal with Airbus: Reuters reported that Kuwait Airways announced that it had signed an initial agreement with Airbus to buy 25 new aircraft and take an option on 10 more in the biggest overhaul of its fleet since 1990.The order for the new planes would include 15 A320neo narrowbody jets and 10 of Airbus’s new A350-900 XWB, Chairman of Kuwait Airways Mr. Sami Al Nesf told a news conference on 16 May.

The airline expects Airbus to start delivering the aircraft in 2019.The airline wants to take out of service 11 jets from its old fleet of 17, in which the planes’ average age is 18 years.The options are for five more A320neo and five more A350-900 XWB, Mr. Al Nesf said. He added that under the deal, which has government approval, the airline would also lease a further 22 Airbus aircraft.

Qatar Airways Cargo welcomes three new airbus A330 freighters to fleet: Qa-tar Airways Cargo has welcomed three new Airbus A330-200F freighters to its fleet of seven aircraft. The new A330’s have replaced 3 A300s freighters that the airline has phased out of the fleet to make way for the new aircraft. Qatar Airways Cargo will deploy the A330-200F on routes including Amster-dam, Amman, Cairo, Colombo and Chennai, complimenting the operations of the fleet’s Boeing 777F aircraft.The fleet of Qatar Airways Cargo will expand further in June, with the arrival of the airline’s fifth Boeing 777 freighter.

Qatar Airways in talks for up to 15 A330s: ATW reported that Qatar Airways CEO H.E. Akbar Al Baker has told reporters in Dubai that he is in talks for 10-15 Airbus A330s.Speaking to Reuters at the Arabian Travel Market, H.E. Al Baker is reported as saying: “We are talking to Airbus about A330s to fill in the gap that the Dream-liner delays have caused Qatar Airways.”H.E. Al Baker added that this would be a new order, for “anywhere between 10 and 15” aircraft to be placed by the Paris Air Show which begins June 17.Other publications reported that Qatar may also firm up some of its 30 787 purchase rights and “there is a possibility” it will acquire more Airbus A380s.

Saudia receives a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft: Boeing delivered a 777-300ER aircraft to Saudia on May 17, 2013. The aircraft, the first of its type to be fitted with a three-class cabin configuration for Saudia, was delivered to the airline at a ceremony in Everett, Wash.

Oman Air orders three A330 aircraft: Oman Air ordered for three A330-300 aircraft from Airbus, as announced by the manufacturer on 22 May.The order, which Airbus said would bring Oman Air’s A330 fleet to 10 aircraft, is worth about USD 720 million based on list prices.The planes will be operated on long-haul routes and can seat close to 300 pas-sengers.

Oman Air orders five Boeing 737-900ERs: Oman Air has ordered five Boeing 737-900ERs, CEO Mr. Wayne Pearce told ATW on 2 June on the sidelines of the 2013 IATA AGM in Cape Town.Oman Air becomes the first airline in the Gulf region to order the -900 variant. In May also, the carrier placed an order for three Airbus A330-300s.



Etihad Airways’ innovative ‘Virtual Currency’ solution wins Industry recogni-tion: PointsPay®, the innovative solution enabling members of Etihad Guest, Etihad Airways’ loyalty program, to convert their Etihad Guest Miles to cash, has gained industry recognition with Loylogic - the developer of PointsPay and an innovator of loyalty e-commerce and e-payment solutions, winning the Loy-alty category at the 2013 Contactless & Mobile Awards (CMA) in London on April 30. The awards were in recognition of the PointsPay application, an exclusive, real-time transaction solution that was developed in close partnership between Etihad Airways and Loylogic to enable Etihad Guest Members to convert their miles into cash, with unlimited freedom to spend in-store or online at over 30 million outlets worldwide. PointsPay was launched globally to Etihad Guest members in late September 2012, and has since proved to be a tremendous success with nearly 20,000 registered users redeeming more than 100 million miles at more than 5,000 online and in-store merchants around the world.To convert their Etihad Guest Miles into cash, Etihad Guest members simply use their smartphone or visit the PointsPay website to arrange for their Etihad Guest Miles to be transferred into cash, and loaded directly to their PointsPay Visa card before using the card either in-store or online. For online shop-ping, they don’t even need a physical card, as the system produces a Virtual PointsPay® card for them to use directly on the web.The PointsPay® application is safe to use as it incorporates robust security standards including automatic information encryption, password protection and notifications whenever miles are converted to credit. Best Cabin Crew award for Qatar Airways: Qatar Airways has been honored with the world’s ‘Best Cabin Crew’ as voted by readers of the Middle East edi-tion of Business Traveler, an industry magazine.Guests from across the regional and global travel, tourism and hospitality in-dustries attended the annual event.

Etihad Cargo launches CargoConnect loyalty program: Etihad Cargo has unveiled its new loyalty program for freight forwarders called CargoConnect, a free mileage earning program that rewards companies for every booking made with the UAE cargo operator.Built on a similar platform to Etihad Guest frequent flyer program, CargoConnect is targeted at the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) segment of the global cargo business. The program allows CargoConnect members to earn Etihad Guest Miles for net revenue paid on Etihad Cargo, and some of the benefits include being able to redeem miles for flights, upgrades, or chose from more than 6,000 items in the Etihad Guest Rewards Shop.

Royal Jordanian and PayPal offer a new, convenient method of payment: Travelers booking on Royal Jordanian website can now benefit from added convenience and security, paying through PayPal.The partnership agreement Royal Jordanian signed with PayPal means that all Royal Jordanian customers flying to and from Jordan can opt to buy tickets on-line by using PayPal for payment. This service covers Royal Jordanian custom-ers purchasing their tickets in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.Royal Jordanian entered into a service agreement with PayPal to broaden in-ternet sales payment options, introducing the safe and easy-to-use PayPal service. This allows Royal Jordanian customers to pay any way they prefer, in-cluding through credit cards, bank accounts, buyer credit or account balances, without having to share financial information. Before using PayPal, one needs to register with the service and choose a method of payment through it, such as a credit or debit card.

Air Arabia Egypt selects AJW Aviation for its A320 “power-by-the-hour” sup-port: AJW Aviation has been chosen by Air Arabia Egypt (E5) to provide “pow-er-by-the-hour” support and leased inventory for two of its A320 aircraft.Air Arabia Egypt is a joint venture between Air Arabia and the travel and tour-ism company Travco Group. With flights targeted to Africa, the Middle East and Europe, the airline began commercial operations in June 2010 with three A320-214 aircraft and has since added another to its fleet, currently on order.

Qatar Executive upgrades business aviation service portfolio for base main-tenance services at its Doha hangar facility: The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority granted regulatory approvals for Qatar Airways’ private jet division Qatar Ex-ecutive to conduct Base Maintenance services for Bombardier Challenger 604 and 605s and the manufacturer’s Global series of aircraft.Fuelled by exceptional customer response, Qatar Executive’s Technical Opera-tions received demand for services for its existing Line Maintenance services from business aviation operators and private jet owners. The corporate jet subsidiary has now expanded its service offering with heavy maintenance checks at its 6,400 square meter dedicated hangar at Doha airport.Qatar Executive completed its first 1C and 2C Check on its Global 5000. In par-allel to the C Check, Service Bulletins were incorporated, bright work polished and Teflon paint protection applied resulting in an investment of 620 man-hours. The enhanced maintenance offering underpins Qatar Executive’s status as a Bombardier Authorized Service Facility (ASF) in the Middle East with its existing Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) and EASA-Part 145 certifications to support European and Qatari registered Bombardier aircraft.

LAURELS

TECHNOLOGY & E-COMMERCE

MRO: MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, & OVERHAUL



Top 20 Airports by International Seats Offered on Operations To, From, and Within the Arab world - April 2013

Top 20 Airports by Int’l Seats Offered on Opeartions To, From, and Witihin the Arab world

Airport Number of Seats Airport Number of SeatsDXB 7,337,754 CMN 719,383 DOH 2,536,303 AMM 714,081 AUH 1,678,219 IST 712,117 JED 1,617,421 LHR 692,244 CAI 1,504,542 BEY 685,016 RUH 1,069,244 TUN 610,925 KWI 1,055,988 ALG 518,743 BAH 889,995 CDG 516,103 MCT 877,309 BOM 467,618 SHJ 732,011 DMM 465,791

Queen Alia International Airport passenger traffic increases for fourth consecutive month in April 2013: Continuing its upward traffic trend, Airport International Group (AIG) reported positive results for passenger traffic (PAX) at QAIA for April 2013.Up by %1.4 compared to April 2012, PAX reached 536,559 this April as opposed to the 529,220 PAX recorded during the same month last year, bringing year-to-date (YTD) PAX to 2,009,083 - a %4.4+ increase when considering that YTD PAX in 2012 stood at 1,924,228. On the other hand, aircraft movement (ACM) decreased by a marginal %1.9 to reach 5,500 ACM in April 2013 compared to the 5,607 ACM achieved in April 2012. Despite this slight downturn in traffic, 2013 YTD ACM increased by %2.1 to 21,421 in comparison to YTD ACM over the same period in 2012, which accounted for 20,980 ACM.

SITA to provide additional airport services to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport: SITA has been selected by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Authority (DGCA) and Middle East Airlines - Air Liban (MEA) to provide airport services at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport for the next five years.SITA has been the sole provider of common-use (CUTE) services at the airport since 1998 and the new contract includes passenger processing with the SITA AirportConnect Open platform and PassengerBagDrop, which allows passengers on any airline who have checked in online to drop their baggage on arrival at the airport. SITA›s unique WorldTracer kiosks, which allow passengers to register if their baggage has been delayed without the need to stand in line to speak with an airline representative, will also, be introduced

at the airport. The new system, which meets the latest industry common use passenger processing systems (CUPPS) standards, will be used at 168 workstations at the check-in areas, boarding gates, baggage hall, transit desk, VIP lounge and lost and found area, while there are WorldTracer kiosks near the lost and found office.Through this deal with the DGCA, SITA AirportConnect Open is enabling MEA, and the airlines it handles, to access their individual IT applications, both com-mon-use and proprietary, in real time on best-of-breed equipment. This allows airlines to share workstation positions, such as check-in counters and gates, and to run airline-specific applications in a shared environment. SITA Airport-Connect Open provides security, redundancy and it is CUPPS certified, thus meeting all IATA recommendations.

Abu Dhabi International Airport traffic grows by 14% in the first 4 months of 2013: Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) announced the traffic figures for the first 4 months of 2013 highlighting a double digit increase of 14% in pas-senger traffic compared to the same period last year, as more than 5.2 mil-lion passengers were welcomed at the airport. In the period between January and April of 2013, the airport welcomed 42,735 flights, representing a 9.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Cargo traffic also increased with 209,880 tons of cargo passing through the airport representing a 20.2% increase compared to the first four months of 2012.In March & April, Abu Dhabi International Airport received over 1.3 million passengers each month, recording a double digit growth of 15% in March, whilst April recorded an 8.6% growth compared to the same period last year. In parallel, the airport handled over 10,000 aircraft movements in each of the months of March and April 2013, recording a 10% increase in March and a 7.9% increase in April versus the respective months in 2012. In 2013, cargo volume reached 59,474 tons in March, representing a 25.6% increase; whilst in April, volumes reached 51,511 tons representing a 7.9% increase versus the same period last year.

Abu Dhabi Airports Company moves to electronic procurement system: Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) announced a five year contract with Tejari to implement eProcurement technology across all contracting and supply man-agement systems. ADAC will use the technology to enhance buyer and sup-plier interaction throughout the organization.

Nine consecutive months of double-digit growth for Dubai International: Dubai International has registered nine straight months of double-digit growth according to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports on 27 May.Dubai International recorded 5,418,946 passengers in April, an increase of 18.7% compared to 4,566,673 during the corresponding month in 2012. April was the fifth consecutive month with more than five million passengers pass-ing through Dubai International. The year to date traffic increased by 16.3% to

Source: AACO, SRS Analyzer

ARAB AIRPORTS



21,905,363 compared to 18,828,279 recorded in the first four months of 2012. Aircraft movements at Dubai International increased by 6.9% to 30,469 compared to 28,503 recorded in April 2012. Year to date aircraft movements totaled 121,599, an increase of 6.2% compared to 114,517 during the same period in 2012. During the month under review, freight volumes increased by 7.3% to 199,985 tonnes compared to 186,385 tonnes in April 2012. The year to date cargo totaled 784,832 tonnes, up 11.5% to 703,826 tonnes during the first four months of 2012.

Dubai Airport’s Terminal 3 to get 14 more e-gates: The smart e-gate system which went operational at Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3 from 1 January 2013 is being expanded with 14 new e-gates becoming operational in June, taking the number of smart e-gates to 28, according to emaratech, the company which has engineered and powered the project.

Dubai Airports to upgrade runways in 2014: Dubai Airports announced that it will conduct an extensive runway enhancement project at Dubai International Airport (DXB) during an 80-day period commencing May 1, 2014. To safeguard service levels while the work is taking place, scheduled passenger flights at its hub airport will be reduced and all freighter, charter and general aviation flights will be diverted to Dubai World Central (DWC).

Cargo volumes rise 7.8% at Dubai World Central: Dubai World Central (DWC) saw cargo volumes increase 7.8% in the first quarter of 2013, according to a traffic report issued by Dubai Airports.Dubai World Central, which is being prepared for the launch of passenger operations in October later this year, handled a total of 53,974 tons of freight in the first three months of 2013, a year on year increase of 7.8% compared to 50,062 tons that passed through the facility during the corresponding period in 2012. The moderate growth is the result of the high base of traffic devel-oped following two years of rapid expansion as well as the periodic fluctua-tions of freight volumes carried by charter-driven operations during the period under review. Air traffic movements at the airport rose 16.8% to 4,104 in the first three months of 2013 compared to 3,513 movements during Q1 of 2012.Dubai Airports’ total cargo volumes are expected to top 3 million tons by 2015 and an increasing portion of that growth is expected to spill over to DWC

Dubai Airports wins two awards at MENA HR Excellence Awards 2013: Dubai Airports has won the award for Best Employee Engagement, while the compa-ny’s Vice President of Learning & Development, Samya Ketait was recognised as the HR Professional of the Year (public sector) at the 5th Annual GCC HR Excellence Awards 2011 organised by the business information group naseba.

USD 400 million Riyadh airport deal for TAV: Turkey’s TAV Construction has re-ceived the design and construction tender worth USD 400 million for the King Khaled Airport Terminal 5 in Riyadh.

Riyadh airport wins ‘Best Cargo Airport’ award: Riyadh’s King Khalid Interna-tional Airport has been awarded the “Best Cargo Airport” at Cargo Airline of the Year 2013, Saudi Airlines Cargo announced.The award, based on annual cargo tonnage, was granted for the category 100,000 to 350,000 metric tons of cargo in recognition of the airport’s success in increasing its total cargo by 17% from 2011 to 2012.Organized by Air Cargo News, the 30th anniversary of Cargo Airline of the Year - known as the ‘Oscars’ of the industry - was held in London.Cargo at the Riyadh station has shown double-digit growth over the past three years, with Saudia Cargo making enhancements to its handling facility in order to accommodate this growth. The airline, which has the capability of handling all cargo products, is planning to build a brand new facility - expected to be ready in three years’ time - which will enable it to increase the current capac-ity threefold.

Omani airports report air traffic, cargo freight growth: According to figures by Oman’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA), total passenger traffic through Muscat International Airport jumped by 10% to 2,737,437 passengers, as of the end of April this year, compared with 2,482,449 passengers during the same period in 2012, Muscat Daily has reported. Air-freight traffic at the airport also saw an increase of 3% in the total loaded and unloaded freight, with total shipment weight standing at 40,329 metric tons, compared with 39,025 metric tons during the same period last year.The Salalah Airport has witnessed an increase of 11% in the total number of arriving and departing passengers to reach 216,537 passengers, compared with 195,183 passengers during the same period in 2012.

Sharjah International passenger traffic soars 14% in April: Passenger traffic at the Sharjah International Airport jumped to 14% with a total of 716,951 passengers recorded this April compared to the 629,444 passengers recorded in April 2012, according to the traffic report issued by the Sharjah Airport Au-thority. Sharjah International Airport recorded a total of 5,380 aircraft move-ments in April 2013, slipping by 2.5% compared to the 5,518 movements re-corded in April 2012. The report also revealed that the airport handled around 24,246 tons of cargo in April 2013. Also, Sea-Air Cargo registered 2,051 tons.

GLOBALARABAVIATION

Passenger numbers within the Arab world market reported a 8.4% increase between February 13 & April 13* compared to the same period in previous year.

Global Arab Aviation


PASSENGER TRAFFICPassenger numbers on routes to and from the Arab world are expected to have increased by 7.3% in April 2013 compared to April 2012, after a growth of 12.0% in March 2013 over March 2012.

SPREADING OUT

Issue 75 - May 2013 29

ROUTES

Traffic to and from the Arab world April 13* over April 12With the Americas 6.4%With Europe 8.0%With Mid Asia 3.5%With Far East and Australasia 11.8%With Sub Saharan Africa 18.1%


Source: AACO, IATA *EstimatedPassenger numbers within the Arab world market reported a 8.6% growth during Q1 2013 compared to the same period in previous year.


Airline From To Date Weekly frequency Aircraft type

EK Dubai

Haneda 3 Jun. 13 7x B777-200LRColombo 30 Jun. 13 Extra 3x B777-300ER

Brisbane – Auckland 1 Oct. 13 14x

(unchanged)7x A380

7x B777-300ER

EY Abu DhabiAmsterdam 15 May 13 N/A A330-200Sao Paulo 1 Jun. 13 3x A340-500Islamabad 15 Jun. 13 7x to 9x N/A

IA Sulamaniyah Düsseldorf 7 May 13 N/A A320ME Beirut Yerevan 5 Jul. 13 2x A320MS Cairo Abidjan 1 Jul. 13 7x N/A

QR Doha

Karachi1 Jun. 13

7x to 14x N/ALahore 4x to 7x N/A

Peshawar 2x to 3x N/AParis 5 Jun. 13 18x to 21x A340

Addis Ababa 18 Sep. 13 N/A N/AClark Int’l

Airport 28 Oct. 13 N/A N/A

Philadelphia 1 Mar. 14 N/A N/A

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

With theAmericas With Europe

With Mid AsiaWith

AustralAsia With Sub-Saharan

Africa

Passenger Numbers' Change To and From the Arab WorldJan 13-Mar 13 & Feb 13-Apr 13* compared to same period in previous year

Jan13-Mar13

Feb13-Apr13*

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

Monthly Passenger Numbers' Change to and from the Arab worldMay 12 to Apr13* compared to same month in previous year




Airline From To Launch date

Weekly frequency Aircraft type

RJ Amman Accra via Lagos 3 Jul. 13 2x A330

9W Kochi Abu Dhabi via Kuwait 16 May 13 10x to 17x N/A

TK Istanbul Al-Qasim 3 Jun. 13 4x N/AFGE Tbilisi Baghdad May 13 2x A319

XQ Izmir Salalah Sep. 13 – Jun. 14 1x N/A

H9 Istanbul Doha 16 Jun. 13 3x N/AJUB Mogadishu Dubai 30 Jun. 13 1x N/A6E Mumbai Muscat 16 Jun. 13 4x to 7x A320

Dubai to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) on 3 June. With the new daily flight to Haneda, Emirates SkyCargo is able to add about 23 tons per flight, which accounts for about 160 tons of additional cargo capacity per week.The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft operating the route is equipped with eight pri-vate suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business, and 216 passengers in Economy.Emirates’ partnership with Japan Airlines has been expanded to include a code share on the new Dubai-Haneda-Dubai services. The flights will be identified with the Emirates ‘EK’ code as well as with Japan Airlines ‘JL’ code.

Etihad Airways’ maiden Amsterdam flight takes off: The inaugural flight of Etihad Airways has taken off for the Netherlands’ capital, Amsterdam. Flight EY77, carrying the KL code of KLM, departed Abu Dhabi airport on 15 May. This service is operated by an A330-200 aircraft, configured to carry 262 pas-sengers, 22 in Pearl Business Class and 240 in Coral Economy Class.

Etihad Airways increases frequency to Islamabad: Etihad Airways will increase frequency of services to and from Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad from 15 June. Flights will increase from seven to nine per week, enhancing connectiv-ity over the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub to destinations across the Middle East and Europe.

Etihad Airways launches flights to Brazil: Etihad Airways has launched non-stop flights between Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo, Brazil, the airline’s first destina-tion in South America, on 1 June.The new Brazil service marks Etihad Airways’ entry into its sixth continent and an important move in increasing its presence across BRIC* high growth na-tions.Etihad Airways operates an Airbus A340-500 aircraft to Sao Paulo, seating a to-tal of 240 passengers across three cabins - 12 in Diamond First, 28 Pearl Busi-ness and 200 Coral Economy class seats.* The BRIC group is made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Iraqi Airways lands in Düsseldorf: Iraqi Airways added a second non-stop European destination to its network, as it launched weekly services on the 3,500-kilometre route from Sulamaniyah (ISU) to Düsseldorf (DUS) on 7 May. The airline, which already offers single weekly frequencies from the northern Iraqi city to Malmö, operates the newly launched service using A320 aircraft. In addition, Iraqi Airways also operates to London Gatwick, as an extension of its Malmö service.

MEA to launch Beirut – Yerevan service from July 2013: Middle East Airlines will be offering 2 weekly flights to Armenia on Beirut – Yerevan route on board Airbus A320 aircraft as of 5 July 2013. This route fills the market void after Ar-mavia ceased operation earlier in 2013.

Emirates’ Airbus A380 to be launched to Brisbane and Auckland: Brisbane is set to become Emirates’ third Australian destination to welcome the airline’s flagship Airbus A380, with the announcement that Emirates will operate the A380 on the Dubai to Brisbane and Auckland route from 1 October 2013. Adding the A380 to one of Emirates’ two daily Brisbane services will see an increase in capacity of 135 seats for sale per flight and 1,890 a week, reinforc-ing Emirates’ commitment to its Queensland and Auckland passengers. The double-daily service is currently operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Together with Qantas, from October a total of six daily A380 services will oper-ate to Dubai, offering a seamless A380 experience through Dubai International Airport’s Concourse A, the world’s first purpose built A380 concourse, to 21 A380 serviced destinations on the network including London Heathrow, Man-chester, Paris and Rome. This announcement caps off a range of recent upgrades to Emirates’ Australian services, including the introduction of a daily Melbourne A380, a daily Ad-elaide service and a three times daily Perth service. A second A380 for Sydney from June has been announced.

Emirates to increase flights to Colombo from 30 June: Emirates will increase capacity on its services to Colombo from 30 June 2013, with the addition of three more flights per week. The three new flights will be operated with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in two class configuration, adding 126 Business Class and 1,158 Economy Class seats each way per week on the route, as well as 23 tonnes of additional capacity for cargo per flight. As with all Emirates flights, passengers on the new Dubai - Colombo services will enjoy the extra generous Emirates baggage allowance of 30kg in Economy Class and 40 kg in Business Class.

Emirates takes off to Haneda: Emirates started daily, non-stop service from



FlyGeorgia launches flights to Baghdad: FlyGeorgia has inaugurated a new service from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to Baghdad, Routes Online has re-ported. FlyGeorgia will operate 2 weekly flights on board an Airbus A319.

Germany’s Sun Express to launch weekly Izmir-Salalah flights: Sun Express is set to launch services to Oman from the end of September until June 2014, Oman Daily Observer has reported. Sun Express will operate weekly charter service for tour operator FTI between Izmir’s Adnan Menderes and Salalah airports.

Pegasus Airlines adds Doha to its network: Pegasus Airlines has added Doha to its destinations.The new flights to Doha from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport will be launched on 16 June 2013 running three days a week.

Jubba Airways adds Mogadishu – Dubai nonstop service from June 2013: Jubba Airways is launching nonstop Mogadishu – Dubai service on 30 June 2013, where it will operate the once a week to and from Dubai.

IndiGo to operate daily flights on Muscat-Mumbai route: IndiGo announced that it is set to increase the frequency of its flights on Muscat-Mumbai route from June 16, 2013, as per a Times of Oman report. The airline which started its flights to Oman in October 2011 with four weekly flights to Muscat will now operate daily flights from Mumbai.The flight is operated by an A320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 economy class seats.

EgyptAir starts its new daily services to Abidjan: EgyptAir announced the start of its new daily regular flights between Cairo and Abidjan, Cote d’ivoire as at 1 of July 2013.The new EgyptAir operations will be added to the current African destinations in addition to other destinations served by code-share partner airlines.

Qatar Airways announces expansion on three continents: Qatar Airways an-nounced route expansion on three continents together with a huge increase in capacity in Pakistan.The Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa will become the carrier’s 20th destina-tion on the African continent, launching on September 18, followed a month later by Clark International Airport in the Philippines from October 28.Effective 1 March 2014, Philadelphia will become the airline’s fifth US gate-way. In addition, Qatar Airways is significantly increasing capacity to Pakistan where it currently operates 17 flights each week across four cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. Moreover, Qatar Airways, as at 1 June 2013, stepped up frequency to Pakistan by 60% to 28 flights each week – Karachi up from daily to double daily; Lahore from four to seven flights a week; and Pe-shawar securing an additional flight to three services each week.

Qatar Airways introduces triple daily flights to Paris ahead of peak summer travel season: Qatar Airways has stepped up frequency on the Paris – Doha route to triple daily flights ahead of the peak summer travel season.Increasing from 18 to 21 scheduled flights a week, the additional capacity means travelers to and from France will have even greater choice, improved connectivity, more flexibility and extra convenience when planning their holi-days.

Royal Jordanian adds Lagos and Accra to route network starting July 3: Royal Jordanian announced that it will add two new destinations to its route net-work, Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria and Accra, the capital of Ghana, starting July 3, 2013.The company will operate the route (Amman-Lagos-Accra-Lagos-Amman) twice weekly with its wide-bodied, 280-seat Airbus A330s.

Jet Airways to launch daily flight from Abu Dhabi to Kochi: Jet Airways launched a new daily flight from Abu Dhabi to Cochin International Airport in Kochi via Kuwait, on May 16, The New Indian Express has reported. With the new service, the number of weekly flights to Kuwait from Kochi will rise to 17 from the present 10 flights.

Turkish Airlines adds Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia: With existing services to Medi-na, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Yanbu and Ta’if, Turkish Airlines added flights to Al-Qassim as its 7th destination in Saudi Arabia. Al-Qassim flights are operated 4 times per week.

CAPACITY AND DEMANDPassenger Air Services to & from the Arab world - April 2013 - SRS AnalyzerAACO members increased the number of seats offered to and from the Arab world by 10.2%, while other airlines increased the number by 10.3% which resulted in a growth of 10.2% in the total number of offered seats to and from the Arab world.

Percentage of the Total Available Seats To and From the Arab WorldWith the Americas 2.3%With Europe 30.4%With Mid Asia 18.2%With Australasia 9.8%With Sub Saharan Africa 4.4%

Source: AACO, SRS Analyzer *Estimated



Capacity* of top 10 carriers ( Arab World & Europe)Airline ASKs (Million) Departures Seats

EK 6,733.5 3,418 1,363,040 QR 2,175.8 2,096 480,480 EY 1,405.0 1,166 278,904 TK 898.4 2,463 455,365 BA 819.8 858 190,535 LH 790.2 1,136 222,888 AT 757.5 2,618 402,234 MS 612.3 1,354 231,838 AF 507.9 1,318 222,794 U2 418.5 962 161,064

Grand Total 22,810.3 35,359 7,130,692

Capacity* of top 10 carriers ( Arab World & Australasia)Airline ASKs (Million) Departures Seats

EK 6,528.3 2,284 929,006 QR 2,553.0 1,321 381,723 EY 2,039.3 926 288,415 SV 921.5 332 123,501 QF 639.2 120 54,000 GA 448.5 158 57,668 MS 434.4 162 54,582 CX 344.5 180 55,980 JT 237.0 60 29,760 SQ 205.5 110 34,170

Grand Total 16,077.7 6,739 2,298,734



Capacity* of top 10 carriers ( Arab World & Mid Asia)Airline ASKs (Million) Departures Seats

EK 2,032.3 2,663 871,174 SV 979.5 1,119 332,578 QR 972.9 1,883 351,250 G9 700.0 1,713 277,506 AI 677.5 1,208 239,064

9W 564.2 1,472 230,112 IX 532.4 1,108 199,440 PK 439.1 737 180,947 WY 438.1 1,303 197,990 FZ 426.7 962 181,818

Grand Total 10,673.9 21,724 4,267,042

Capacity* of top 10 carriers ( Arab World & Sub Saharan Africa)Airline ASKs (Million) Departures Seats

EK 2,255.3 1,205 416,129 QR 376.0 478 83,948 MS 298.0 436 75,418 AT 290.3 632 98,626 EY 258.3 267 54,949 ET 212.0 601 97,896 SV 79.9 164 29,392 KQ 79.6 145 24,224 AH 73.3 154 25,484 TU 67.0 112 19,218

Grand Total 4,283.4 4,890 1,039,959 * Includes scheduled capacity and not actual flown capacity Source: AACO, SRS Analyzer




Capacity* of top 10 carriers ( Arab World & the Americas)Airline ASKs (Million) Departures Seats

EK 2,892.7 626 239,408 QR 987.1 284 86,020 EY 721.8 206 63,424 UA 358.4 120 32,640 SV 308.8 120 29,280 RJ 205.8 84 21,742 DL 197.4 60 16,140 MS 137.5 44 15,224 AT 134.9 102 23,460 KU 71.4 24 6,984

Grand Total 6,061.9 1,700 541,262 * Includes scheduled capacity and not actual flown capacity Source: AACO, SRS Analyzer

The top 10 ranking of destinations by receipts remained virtually unchanged in 2012, with the United States, Spain, France, China and Italy leading, followed by Macau (China), Germany, United Kingdom, Hong Kong (China) & Australia.A number of the more mature destinations among the world’s top 10 earners showed remarkable results: the United States (+11%), France (+7%), Germany (+6%), the United Kingdom (+5%) and Hong Kong (China) (+14%). Other ad-vanced economy destinations with growth rates of 10% or above include Swe-den (+17%), Japan (+33%), the Republic of Korea (+14%) and Finland (+16%)Among the emerging economy destinations highest receipts growth was re-ported by Thailand (+25%), India (+22%), Poland (+13%), South Africa (+18%), Egypt (+14%), Vietnam (+18%) and Ukraine (+13%).Source: UNWTO

Key Figures for MENA and Other Regions Extracted From the Barometer:International Tourist Arrivals (World, North Africa & Middle East regions)

Full Year Share Percentage Change2000 2005 2010 2011 2012* 2012* 09/10 10/11 11/*12 2013*

(million) (%) YTDWorld 678 809 950 996 1,035 100 6.4 4.8 4 3.6North Africa 10.2 13.9 18.8 17.1 18.5 1.8 6.7 (9.1) 8.7 (2.4)

Middle East 24.1 36.3 58.2 54.9 52 5 11.6 (5.6) (5.4) 4.6

TOURISM

Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

International tourism receipts grew by 4% in 2012: Receipts from internation-al tourism in destinations around the world grew by 4% in 2012 reaching USD 1,075 billion. This growth is equal to the 4% increase in international tourist arrivals which reached 1035 million in 2012. An additional USD 219 billion was recorded in receipts from international passenger transport, bringing total ex-ports generated by international tourism in 2012 to USD 1.3 trillion.According to April 2013 UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tour-ism receipts hit a new record in 2012, reaching an estimated USD 1,075 billion worldwide, up 4% in real terms, from USD 1042 billion in 2011.By regions, the Americas (+7%) recorded the largest increase in receipts, fol-lowed by Asia and the Pacific (+6%), Africa (+5%) and Europe (2%). Receipts in the Middle East were still down (-2%); yet report a steady improvement com-pared to the decline recorded in 2011.In absolute values, Europe saw USD 457 billion in tourism earnings equiva-lent to 43% of the world’s total tourism receipts, the largest share by region. Destinations in Asia and the Pacific (USD 323 billion) account for 30% of inter-national tourism receipts and the Americas (USD 215 billion) for 20%. In the Middle East (4% share) total tourism receipts reached USD 47 billion and in Africa (3% share) USD 34 billion.International tourism (travel and passenger transport) accounts for 30% of the world’s exports of services and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks fifth after fuels, chemicals, food and automotive products, while ranking first in many developing countries.

Outlook of International Tourists 20132009 2010 2011 2012 2013*

real full year, change projection between

World (3.9%) 6.40% 4.80% 4% 3% and 4%Africa 3.40% 8.80% (1%) 5.40% 4% and 6%Middle East (5.2%) 11.60% (5.6%) (5.3%) 0% and 5%Europe (5%) 3% 6.20% 3.60% 3% and 4%Asia and the Pacific (1.6%) 13.20% 6.40% 7.10% 5% and 6%

Americas (%4.7) %6.40 %4.10 %4.10 3% and 4%Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) *estimated

*estimated



COLLABORATION

Issue 75 - May 2013 39

Emirates and JetBlue to expand partnership agreement with bilateral codeshare: Emirates and JetBlue announced intent to expand their current partnership to include bilateral codesharing, pending FAA and DOT regulatory approval and subject to receipt of foreign government operating authority. Under the expanded agreement, JetBlue will place its “B6” airline code on all flights currently operated by Emirates between the U.S. and Dubai International Airport, as well as between New York (JFK) and Milan. The agreement deepens a three-year partnership between Emirates & JetBlue. Emirates’ extensive network gives travellers in the U.S. access not only to the carrier’s home of Dubai but also to cities across Africa, India, and throughout Asia Pacific.

Etihad Airways, Alitalia increase frequency on Rome-Abu Dhabi, expand codeshare destinations: Codeshare partners Alitalia and Etihad Airways an-nounced an increase in direct Rome-Abu Dhabi services from four flights per week to five, in addition to an expansion of codeshare destinations for cus-tomers of each airline.As at June 13, Alitalia started operating the increased frequency Rome-Abu Dhabi return flights using a new 230-seat Airbus A330 aircraft. The flights op-erate on an enhanced split schedule, ensuring maximum connectivity over each airline’s hub. In preparation for the extra Rome-Abu Dhabi services, Ali-talia customers already have greater onward codeshare connectivity options via Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi hub. This includes flights to Bahrain, Bangkok, Colombo, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Kuala Lumpur, the Maldives, Mel-bourne, Muscat, Nairobi, the Seychelles, Singapore and Sydney.At the same time, Etihad Airways has extended its onward codeshare connec-tions over Alitalia’s Rome Fiumicino hub to now comprise Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Frankfurt, Geneva, Madrid, Malaga, Malta, Milan, Munich, Sofia, Tirana, Venice, Vienna and Zurich.

Etihad Airways increases Minsk service to daily and signs codeshare with Belavia: Etihad Airways will increase its Abu Dhabi-Minsk service from three flights per week to a daily schedule from June 15, 2013. The carrier will also now offer onward connections from Minsk to the cities of Kiev, Moscow and Saint Petersburg through a new codeshare agreement with Belavia. The codeshare agreement will in turn see Belavia placing its B2 flight code on Etihad Airways’ flights from Minsk to Abu Dhabi, and onwards to Ho Chi Minh City, Melbourne and Sydney, subject to regulatory approvals.

Air Seychelles codeshares to Australia with Etihad Airways: Air Seychelles ex-tended its codeshare agreement with equity alliance partner Etihad Airways to include new connections to Australia. The new codeshare flights offer seam-less connections to Seychelles from Melbourne & Sydney, via Abu Dhabi.

International Tourist Arrivals by (sub)region and selected countries and ter-ritories of destination

2005 2010 2011 2012* 11/10 12*/11Full Year Change(1,000) (%)

North Africa 13,911 18,756 17,055 18,536 (9.1) 8.7 Algeria 1,443 2,070 2,395 - 15.7 -Morocco 5,843 9,288 9,342 9,375 0.6 0.3 Sudan 246 495 536 - 8.3 -Tunisia 6,378 6,902 4,782 5,950 (30.7) 24.4 Middle East 36,339 58,181 54,898 51,951 (5.6) (5.4)Egypt 8,244 14,051 9,497 11,196 (32.4) 17.9 Jordan 2,987 4,207 3,960 4,162 (5.9) 5.1 Kuwait 104 207 269 - 30.0 -Lebanon 1,140 2,168 1,655 1,365 (23.7) (17.5)Palestine 88 522 449 488 (14.1) 8.8 Qatar 913 1,519 2,527 - 66.4 -Saudi Arabia 8,037 10,850 17,498 13,664 61.3 (21.9)Syria 3,571 8,546 5,070 - (40.7) -UAE* 5,833 7,432 8,129 8,977 9.4 10.4 Yemen 336 1,025 829 - (19.1) -

Egypt’s tourist numbers up 14.4% in Q1 2013: Egypt’s Minister of Tourism H.E. Hisham Zaazou has said the country has received around 2.86 million tourists during the first quarter of 2013, up 14.4% compared with the same period of last year, the Ahram Newspaper has reported. The increase shows that the sector is recovering, and is expected to reach 2010 levels, when an estimated 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt generating USD 12.5 billion in revenue, H.E. Zaazou said. According to official data, around 11.5 million tourists visited the country in 2012 and generated some USD 10 billion in revenue.

Abu Dhabi’s Western Region sees a rise in tourism figures: According to Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), hotel guest numbers in Al Gharbia, the emirate’s Western Region, grew by 205% in the period from 2008 to 2013, reaching 92,000, while guest room nights rose by 113% to 288,000, confirming the region’s increasing popularity among travellers to the UAE.Total revenue generated by Western Region hotels has doubled since 2009, with TCA Abu Dhabi predicting that 2013 figures will top USD 64 million.In 2012, hotel guests in Al Gharbia stayed 3.13 days on average.

* Dubai OnlySource: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)



Virgin Australia expands codeshare on Etihad Airways to Milan and Amster-dam: Virgin Australia announced flights to Milan, Italy and Amsterdam, Neth-erlands will be added to its codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways as at 3 June 2013.The announcement follows recent regulatory approvals being granted allowing Virgin Australia to codeshare on flights into Italy and the Netherlands.The codeshare flight between Abu Dhabi and Milan will be operated by a two-class Airbus A330- 200 seven times per week. Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam will be operated by a two-class Airbus A330-200 seven times per week. Etihad and Virgin Australia fly 28 times per week from Australia to Abu Dhabi, connecting to 14 codeshare destinations in Europe.

Gulf Air codeshare agreement with Royal Jordanian generates significant increase of 216% in passenger numbers over a year: Gulf Air and Royal Jorda-nian announced that the number of passengers transported by Gulf Air be-tween Bahrain and Amman surged by 216% after a year of signing a codeshare partnership between the two carriers.In a joint press statement, Gulf Air and Royal Jordanian expressed satisfaction with the successful agreement, whereby flights between Jordan and Bahrain are operated by Gulf Air but marketed by both carriers. Royal Jordanian’s re-lationship with Gulf Air dates back to 2004 – when the two carriers signed the first codeshare partnership – later modified in 2012.

Qatar Airways announces codeshare flights with Bangkok Airways: Qatar Airways announced a new codeshare agreement with Bangkok Airways to des-tinations across Thailand and the capital cities of neighboring Cambodia and Myanmar.Effective as at May 15, the agreement sees Qatar Airways’ QR flight code on services beyond the Thai capital with Bangkok Airways to a raft of destinations giving passengers more convenient and greater access to markets.The domestic Thai codeshare destinations to and from Bangkok’s Suvarnab-humi International Airport are Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Trat, Sukhothai, Lampang, Krabi. In addition, Qatar Airways will also codeshare with Bangkok Airways on flights from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and Yangon, the capital cities of Cambodia and Myanmar respectively.Passengers traveling from many of Qatar Airways’ key markets in Europe, North America, South America, Africa and the Middle East to and from south-east Asia can take advantage of the new codeshare agreement with Bangkok Airways for greater access to more markets.Qatar Airways currently operates non-stop flights between Doha and Bangkok four-times-daily and also serves Phuket in Thailand daily from the Qatari capi-tal. In addition, Qatar Airways serves Phnom Penh & Yangon daily from Doha.

Etihad Cargo and Atlas Air partner to operate round-the-world freighter ser-vice: Etihad Cargo has announced its first round-the-world freighter routing in conjunction with Atlas Air Worldwide.

The jointly operated routing began on 30 May, connecting Etihad Cargo’s Abu Dhabi hub with destinations in Asia, the United States, South America and Eu-rope.Miami (US), Viracopos (Brazil), and Quito (Ecuador) will become part the round-the-world Abu Dhabi-Hong Kong-Chicago-Miami-Viracopos-Quito-Am-sterdam-Abu Dhabi freighter service offered with an Etihad Cargo-liveried Boe-ing 747-8 Freighter.Earlier in May, Etihad Cargo signed a signed a multi-year Aircraft, Crew, Main-tenance and Insurance agreement with Atlas Air to provide the Boeing 747-8 Freighter with its 138-ton cargo capacity to operate the new schedule.The three new freighter destinations in the Americas will see Etihad Cargo’s network extend to 92 points across the globe. The carrier’s eight freighters operate to 28 of these destinations.In June, Etihad Cargo will add to its America’s operations when São Paulo, Bra-zil comes on stream through a new Airbus A340-500 passenger service from Abu Dhabi, on which bellyhold cargo capability will also be offered.The Boeing 747-8 Freighter is the largest in Etihad Cargo’s current freighter fleet. The airline also operates three Boeing B777F, one Boeing 747-400ERF, one Boeing 747-400F and two Airbus A330-200F.Etihad Cargo will take delivery of two additional freighters in 2013 and 2014, comprising two Airbus A330-200F.

ENVIRONMENT

CDM pipeline update 1 June 2013Status # of ProjectsAt Validation 1,817Request for Registration 97Request for Review 56Correction Requested 2Under Review 0Total in Registration Process 155

Status # of ProjectsWithdrawn 59Rejected by EB 247Validation Negative by DOE 259

Validation Terminated by DOE 1,534

Registered, no issuance of CERs 4,559

Registered, CER issued 2,337Total Registered 6,896

CDM pipeline update:

Source: UNEP RisØ

Settlement Price of ECX EUA and CER Futures on 3 June 2013Dec-13 Dec-14 Dec-15 Dec-16

EUAs € 3.92 € 4.10 € 4.28 € 4.49 CERs € 0.41 € 0.45 € 0.52 € 0.57

Source: IntercontinentalExchange



IATA AGM endorses a resolution on Carbon-Neutral Growth: The Internation-al Air Transport Association (IATA) 69th Annual General Meeting (AGM) over-whelmingly endorsed a resolution on “Implementation of the Aviation Carbon-Neutral Growth (CNG2020) Strategy.”The resolution provides governments with a set of principles on how govern-ments could:

— Establish procedures for a single market-based measure (MBM)— Integrate a single MBM as part of an overall package of measures to achieve CNG2020

“Airlines are committed to working with governments to build a solid platform for the future sustainable development of aviation. Today, they have come to-gether to recommend to governments the adoption of a single MBM for avia-tion and provide suggestions on how it might be applied to individual carriers. Now the ball is in the court of governments. We will be strongly supporting their leadership as they seek a global agreement through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at its Assembly later this year,” said Mr. Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.Environment will be at the top of the agenda for the 38th ICAO Assembly in September. The aviation industry urgently needs governments to agree, through ICAO, a global approach to managing aviation’s carbon emissions, including a single global MBM. IATA member airlines agreed that a single man-datory carbon offsetting scheme would be the simplest and most effective option for an MBM.Aviation is the first industry to suggest a global approach to the application of a single MBM to manage its climate change impact. This keeps aviation in the forefront of industries on managing carbon emissions. It was also the first to agree global targets. These are: improving fuel efficiency by 1.5% annually to 2020, capping net emissions with CNG2020, and cutting emissions in half by 2050 compared to 2005. And it was also the first to agree on a global strategy to achieve them.An MBM is one of the four pillars of the aviation industry’s united strategy on climate change. Improvements in technology, operations and infrastruc-ture will deliver the long-term solution for aviation’s sustainability. “Today’s agreement focuses on a single global MBM as part of a basket of measures. A single MBM will be critical in the short-term as a gap-filler until technology, operations and infrastructure solutions mature. So we cannot take our eye off the ball on developing sustainable low-carbon alternative fuels, achieving the Single European Sky or the host of other programs that will improve aviation’s environmental performance,” said Mr. Tyler.An MBM should be designed to deliver real emissions reductions, not revenue generation for governments. The principles agreed apply to emissions growth post-2020. “Airlines are delivering results against their climate change commit-ments. For example, we are on track to achieve our 1.5% average annual fuel efficiency target. We need governments to be serious partners as well. Devel-oping an MBM must not become an excuse for revenue generation by

cash-strapped governments, or for avoiding incentivizing investments in new technologies and sustainable low-carbon alternative fuels,” said Mr. Tyler.An MBM should be designed to deliver real emissions reductions, not revenue generation for governments. The principles agreed apply to emissions growth post-2020. A summary of the principles of the resolution includes the following:

— Setting the industry and individual carrier baselines using the average annual total emissions over the period 2018–2020;

– Agreeing to provisions/adjustments for ͳ Recognizing early movers, benchmarked for 2005–2020 with

a sunset by 2025 ͳ Accommodating new market entrants for their initial years of

operation ͳ Fast growing carriers

– Adopting an equitable balance for determining individual carrier responsibilities that includes consideration of:

ͳ An ‘emissions share’ element (reflecting the carrier’s share of total industry emissions) and ͳ A post-2020 ‘growth’ element (reflecting the carrier’s growth

above baseline emissions) – Reporting and verification of carbon emissions that is:

ͳ Based on a global standard to be developed by ICAO ͳ Simple and scalable based on the size and complexity of the

operator – Instituting a periodic CNG2020 performance review cycle that

revises individual elements and parameters as appropriateSource: IATA

Shell reports back on Qatar based gas-to-liquid jet fuel program: The Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre (QSRTC) has hosted a gas-to-liquid (GTL) Jet Fuel Forum to share the outcome and data of its research program con-ducted by its GTL Jet Fuel Consortium.GTL Jet Fuel is one of the main five products produced by the Qatar Petroleum - shell Pearl GTL plant in RasLaffan, the largest GTL plant in the world.The day-long forum addressed insights based upon three years of research and development by the research Consortium, which was funded by Qatar Science and Technology Park, and involved global industry leaders such as Qatar Air-ways, Airbus, Qatar Petroleum, Rolls-Royce plc, Woqod, along with Qatar Shell.A rare research collaboration, the Consortium discussed the benefits of the new blend of jet fuel in detail, which is the first new aviation fuel to be ap-proved for global markets in two decades. Data compiled during research on the process of making GTL Jet Fuel were shared for the first time during the Forum, as were certification protocols. At the Forum, Qatar Shell released a GTL Jet Fuel research summary, a publi-cation exploring the technical boundaries of GTL aviation fuels that will be of interest to industry observers.



The ability of GTL-containing jet fuels to power aircraft has been known for many years; however, the detailed research program of the Qatar GTL Aviation Fuels Consortium has helped confirm the fuel’s potential.The Consortium was put together four years ago with the express intention of looking above and beyond the capacity of GTL Fuels to fly planes. It aimed to fully quantify the impact on local air quality and fuel burning amid growing international concerns about the environment and the potential scarcity of fuels.According to Mr. Youssif Saleh, General Manager of Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre, this was the first multinational, global study on GTLs and has left a lasting legacy for Qatar and the wider knowledge and potential of GTL fuels.The GTL jet fuel was first approved for use in civil aviation in September 2009, followed by Qatar Airways operating the world’s first commercial flight using a 50/50 GTL jet fuel blend on a flight from London to Doha. Meanwhile, in Janu-ary 2013 Qatar Shell, Qatar Airways and Qatar Petroleum celebrated the first commercial introduction of GTL Jet A-1 with the inaugural fuelling of a Qatar Airways aircraft with the fuel at Doha.Source: Arabian Aerospace

ICAO and ATAG sign joint statement on sustainable approaches to emissions reduction: Recognizing that partnerships between ICAO Member States and the aviation industry are critical in moving toward a sustainable future for in-ternational aviation, ICAO and ATAG signed a special Joint Statement on sus-tainable approaches to emissions reduction. The signing ceremony took place after a special ATAG information session in advance of the 4th ICAO Sympo-sium on Aviation and the Environment.Source: ICAO

ICAO says emissions standard measure deal delayed until 2015: The Inter-national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said the airline industry agreement on a standard measure of aircraft greenhouse-gas emissions may be delayed at least a year for more research, Bloomberg has reported. “Standards, not to mention the broad consensus which effective ones require, take time to devel-op,” said spokesman for ICAO in Montreal, Mr. Anthony Philbin. “The present timetable looks to it being more fully resolved by end-2014 or possibly some-time in 2015.” ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection pro-posed using a plane’s maximum take-off weight (MTOW) to help gauge aircraft emissions and efficiency, the regulatory body said in July. The ICAO council was expected to approve the system this year, it said at the time.

State Action Plans to address international aviation emissions reductions prove a success story for ICAO: State Action Plans have become something of a success story for the UN agency’s climate change activities. Action plans are largely a product of ICAO Assembly Resolution A37-19 passed by the last As-sembly in 2010 in which member states were encouraged to submit

voluntary plans outlining their respective policies and actions to address CO2 emissions from international aviation. Since then, the ICAO Secretariat has conducted numerous workshops worldwide to guide and assist states in com-piling their plans. The effort has paid off and as of last month 59 states have submitted action plans, representing over 77% of international revenue tonne-kilometres (RTKs), with a further 23 states planning to submit plans before the end of the year.Source: GreenAir Online

EU ETS compliance level reaches over 98% of 2012 aviation carbon emis-sions, reports Commission: The European Commission reports that aircraft operators responsible for over 98% of the 2012 aviation emissions covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) have complied with the scheme’s requirements and surrendered the necessary allowances by the April 30 dead-line. Following the ‘stop the clock’ decision that came into force on April 25, operators that chose to limit their responsibility for 2012 to flights within Eu-rope had until May 27, to return free allocations of allowances for flights out-side Europe. According to Commission data, Ryanair reported the most carbon under the revised scheme in 2012 at just under 7.5 million tonnes, followed by Deutsche Lufthansa (4.9 million), easyJet (4.6 million) and Air France (3.8 mil-lion). A stand-off remains with airlines from China and India that are refusing to comply with the EU ETS, even on their intra-EU flights.Under instructions from their authorities, airlines from China and India that may have conducted intra-EU flights in 2012 have not complied with EU ETS regulations and are therefore at risk of fines from the EU states that adminis-ter them. It is understood that eight Chinese and two Indian carriers may be involved. There is a mandatory €100 (USD 130) per tonne civil penalty across EU states for non-compliance.The Chinese carriers could face fines totalling €2.4 million (USD 3.1 million), and the two Indian airlines combined fines of €30,000 (USD 39,000), reports the New York Times.The European Union Transaction Log shows other airlines that are in current non-compliance include Aeroflot (Russia), Evergreen (USA) and Pakistan Inter-national Airlines.Many small business jet operators have found the compliance process particu-larly difficult, admits Vukovic, with limited options to purchase the required small numbers of allowances, as most carbon traders deal in batches of over 100.Source: GreenAir Online



frequent flyer benefits and world-class travel experiences.Qantas and Emirates applied for authorization of the partnership in Septem-ber 2012 under the Civil Aviation Act. From Dubai, passengers can connect to 65 one-stop destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East (subject to regulatory approvals). Almost all of these connections to Europe and most to North Africa are available within 4 hours of landing in Dubai.

Italy grants Emirates Fifth Freedom rights for Milan-New York flights: Emir-ates has requested slots and traffic rights in order to be granted the right to extend one of its three daily flights from Dubai (DXB) to Milan Malpensa (MXP) onwards to New York’s John F. Kennedy International (JFK) from the 1st of Oc-tober 2013. On the 8th of April, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) has authorized the proposed services on an extra bilateral basis. Emirates will be operating three daily flights linking Dubai with New York. The one-stopper via Milan will complement Emirates’ twice daily non-stop A380 services.

The European Commission welcomes “historic” agreement on new trans-European transport network: Mr. Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice-President responsible for transport, welcomed the agreement between the Commission, the Council and the Parliament on proposals to transform the existing patchwork of European roads, railways, airports and canals into a uni-fied transport network (TEN-T).The agreement establishes a core transport network to be established by 2030 to act as the backbone for transportation within the Single Market. Transport financing under the Connecting Europe Fa-cility (for the period 2014–2020) will also focus on this core transport network, filling in cross-border missing links, removing bottlenecks and making the net-work smarter.The new core TEN-T network will be supported by a comprehensive network of routes, feeding into the core network at regional and national level. This will largely be financed by Member States, with some EU transport and regional funding possibilities, including with new innovative financing instruments. The aim is to ensure that progressively, and by 2050, the great majority of Europe’s citizens and businesses will be no more than 30 minutes’ travel time from this comprehensive network.Source: European Commission

European Parliament OKs closer ATM ties between EU and Eurocontrol: The European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism has given the green light to conclude an agreement giving enhanced cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Eurocontrol.The agreement will strengthen and consolidate cooperation between the two bodies to enable Eurocontrol to support the EU in the implementation of Sin-gle European Sky (SES) and related EU policies. It would also confirm Eurocon-trol as the technical and operational arm of the EU in SES development and

REGULATORY TONEIATA AGM endorses core principles for passenger rights regulation: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) 69th Annual General Meeting (AGM) unanimously endorsed a set of core principles for governments to consider when adopting consumer protection regulation.The IATA AGM resolution addresses a proliferation of uncoordinated and extra-territorial passenger rights legislation and regulation that is the cause of confusion among passengers. Some 50 countries have passenger rights requirements affecting air transport and several more are considering imposing them. In summary, the core principles call on governments to develop consumer protection regulations that:

– Are clear, unambiguous, aligned with international conventions, without extra-territorial implications and comparable with regimes in place for other modes of transport

– Allow airlines the ability to differentiate themselves through their customer service offerings above a basic common standard

– Ensure passenger access to ͳ Information concerning their rights, fares, including taxes and

charges (prior to purchasing a ticket), the actual operator of the flight, and regular situational updates in the case of service disruptions ͳ Appropriate assistance for those with reduced mobility ͳ Efficient complaint handling procedures that are clearly communi-

cated – Reflect the principle of proportionality and the impact of extraordinary

circumstances when determining compensation – Do not compromise the industry’s top priority of safety, and exonerate

airlines from liability for safety-related delays and cancellations

– In the case of denied boarding and cancellations, entitle passengers to re-routing, refunds or compensation where circumstances are within the airlines’ control.

– In the case of delays, entitle passengers to re-routing, refunds or care and assistance; and acknowledge that when such delays or disruptions are beyond the control of airlines, market forces should determine the care and assistance available to passengers.

– Ensure that the burden is allocated among the different service providers involved.

Source: IATA

Qantas and Emirates welcome New Zealand decision on partnership: Qantas and Emirates have welcomed the New Zealand Minister for Transport’s deci-sion to approve their partnership.The partnership will provide New Zealand customers with stronger links to Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the UK, as well as



implementation.In addition, the agreement will ensure synergies with, and avoid duplication of, the work of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in safety-related air traffic management matters and environmental issues.The agreement, which was signed in December 2012, has been applied provi-sionally since then. To conclude the agreement, the European Council needed the consent of the European Parliament.Source: ATW

US fingerprint scanner deployment approved: US officials have approved a new US airport security measure that would see all non-US residents being fingerprinted before they could fly home.Expressed through a 13-5 majority vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s approval was awarded to an ambitious proposal that would see new security technologies deployed at the top ten US airports, including JFK.The Department of Homeland Security would be tasked with getting this fin-gerprinting equipment out to these ten airport hotspots within a two-year timeframe and, thereafter, also deploy it at 20 more airports, including the likes of Newark Liberty and LaGuardia.

House proposes bill requiring airlines to sit families together: Four House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require airlines to put policies in place so families can sit next to each other on flights.The Families Flying Together Act, H.R. 2191, is a response to the growing dif-ficulties families face staying together on flights, as airlines have begun to charge for services such as making a specific seat request.Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the sponsor of the bill, said the only recourse families have today is relying on other passengers to switch seats, which he said is an “inconvenience” and “not an efficient business practice.”

Egypt shelves plan to shut down Cairo airport at night: Chairman of Egypt’s Airports Holding Company Magdi Abdul Hadi, said plans to shut two runways at Cairo’s international airport at night have been shelved temporarily, AFP has reported. “The idea is still under study. It will not be implemented until such time as appropriate conditions are in place that will not negatively affect passengers, airlines and the airport authority,” Hadi said. In April, Civil Aviation Minister H.E. Wael Al Maadawi said the runways would be shut for four hours each night from 1:30 AM as at 1 June, due to few in-coming flights and to save energy.

Saudi Arabia and United States sign open skies air transport agreement: Sau-di Arabia’s Deputy Director of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, Dr. Faisal bin Hamad Al-Sugair and U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mr. James Smith signed an open skies air transport agreement on 28 May in Jeddah, KSA.

The Saudi Arabia-United States open skies agreement will, following a transi-tion period, permit unrestricted air service by the airlines of both countries between and beyond the other’s territory, eliminating restrictions on how often the carriers fly, the kind of aircraft they use and the prices they charge. This agreement has been applied on the basis of comity and reciprocity since it was initialed on April 18, 2011.

UAE and Mozambique sign air transport accord: Mozambique and the United Arab Emirates signed in Dubai a bilateral accord covering air transport. The agreement will pave the way for airlines to launch services for the movement of passengers and cargo, and will serve as a basis for the growth of trade and investment and the development of partnerships in sectors such as tourism.

Qatar and Burundi finalize the Air Services Agreement: In a signing ceremony, the civil aviation authorities of the State of Qatar and the Republic of Burundi finalized the Air Services Agreement, which was initialed in March 2010. The agreement allows national carriers in the two countries to operate seven flights weekly for passengers and cargo services. It also allows code sharing and operating within both intermediate and beyond points.



Seat capacity offered within Saudi Arabia in April 2013More than 1.65 million seats were deployed within Saudi Arabia in April 2013.Flights between Saudi Arabia’s two main cities Riyadh and Jeddah oc-cupied the highest seat capacity deployed in the Kingdom with more than 0.47 million seats in April 2013.

Top 10 routes by seat capacity to & from Saudi Arabia in April 2013Dubai and Cairo resemble the two cities with the highest seat capacity deployed to and from Saudi Arabia respectively.

Source: AACO, Innovata’s FlightMaps AnalyticsSeat Capacity*

Dubai - Riyadh 216,645Dubai - Jeddah 191,601Cairo - Jeddah 180,556Jakarta - Jeddah 97,934Alexandria - Jeddah 93,727Damman - Dubai 83,486Cairo - Riyadh 71,390Abu Dhabi - Jeddah 64,866Amman - Jeddah 61,376Jeddah - Kuwait 58,725Jeddah - Khartoum 55,662

Source: AACO, Innovata’s FlightMaps Analytics* This includes seat capacity in both directions

Seat CapacitySaudi Airlines (SV) 4,069,880NAS Air (XY) 563,914EgyptAir (MS) 239,701Emirates (EK) 205,398Flydubai (FZ) 183,708Pakistan International Airlines (PK) 107,578

Qatar Airways (QR) 105,558Air Arabia (G9) 98,272Etihad Airways (EY) 92,690Turkish Airlines (TK) 91,156

Top 10 airlines operating by seat ca-pacity to, from, and within Saudi Ara-bia in April 2013

Source: AACO, Innovata’s FlightMaps Analytics

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia• Population: 29.19 million• Land area: approximately 2,250,000 km2• Number of commercial airports: 26 airports• Saudi-based airlines: Saudia (a SkyTeam member), NAS Air• Number of passengers in 2011: 33.17 million passengers• Domestic passengers in 2011: 14 million passengers (42.23% traffic share of total Saudi market)• International passengers in 2011: 19.16 million passengers (57.77% traf-fic share of total Saudi market)

- Saudi Arabia - Arab world (Int’l): 32.25% traffic share of total Saudi market

- Saudi Arabia - Asia Pacific: 19.62% traffic share of total Saudi market- Saudi Arabia - Europe: 4.74% traffic share of total Saudi market- Saudi Arabia - Africa: 0.8% traffic share of total Saudi market- Saudi Arabia - North America: 0.36% traffic share of total Saudi market

• Aviation Policy: - Market access is governed by bilateral air services agreements. - In 2012, Saudi Arabia’s General Civil Aviation Authority announced

opening the opportunity for foreign carriers to attain licenses for do-mestic and international operations to and from the kingdom’s air-ports.

- Qatar Airways and Gulf Air were granted licenses to operate domestic flights in the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia aviation market links 135 cities worldwide

AN AVIATION MARKET IN FOCUS: SAUDI ARABIA

Source: AACO, Innovata’s FlightMaps Analytics April 2013



with some facts:NDC will not contravene privacy laws. Nothing in the NDC standard requires passengers to supply personal information to receive an offer. But it does provide the opportunity for customers to identify them-selves—if they so choose—to have their loyalty recognized by the airlines.NDC will not bypass travel agents. It will enable them to sell all of what airlines have on offer.And, NDC will not eliminate comparison shopping. It will give customers better information on which to make decisions. NDC will support photographic prod-uct descriptions so that people can see what they are buying. And it will en-able passengers to compare the base fare as well as the cost of all the options that are available.”Source: IATA

Qatar Airways to host 70th International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual conference in June 2014: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced Qatar Airways as the host airline for the 70th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Transport Summit to be held in the Qatari capital Doha from June 1 – 3 next year.

International Civil Aviation Organization signs deal to keep HQ in Montreal until 2036: The International Civil Aviation Organization signed a deal with Canadian authorities that will keep the UN agency’s headquarters in Montreal until at least 2036.The announcement came a few days after Qatar withdrew its bid to relocate the agency’s headquarters to Doha from Montreal, where it has been head-quartered since its creation in 1947 after the end of World War II.

Mobile and video influence Middle East travelers, but technology restrains conversions: Google has unveiled data to show how travelers in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia travelers use mobile, video and search engines in their travel decisions. The search giant released its report at the Arabian Travel Market.Web leads when it comes to trip planningWeb plays a key role in the decision making process for both leisure and busi-ness travelers in the UAE and in KSA.Apart from direct advice from friends and family, internet is the number one source for trip planning for more than a third of leisure travelers surveyed (39% UAE, 38% KSA). This number rises for business travelers – in the UAE it jumps to 50%, while in KSA it jumps to 48%.In Saudi, leisure travelers rely on social networks and search engines as sourc-es of information; while in the UAE, they rely on search engines primarily, before online videos and maps as sources of information.This mirrors the US where search engines are the leading source for informa-tion. With smartphone ownership and improved connectivity continuing to grow

WORLD NEWSIATA Members reaffirm support for NDC initiative: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) 69th Annual General Meeting (AGM) reaffirmed its support for the New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative. This will develop an open, XML-based distribution standard for data exchange between airlines and travel agents.In a unanimously approved AGM Resolution, IATA members agreed that, “consumers will benefit from being able to make choices based on enriched content and the ability to compare and transact airline offers in a transparent fashion.”Consumers already have the ability to view rich content when they visit many airline websites, including bundled and no frills fare offers and personalization, as well as the ability to see graphic depictions of products and services available for sale. In most cases, however, travel agents do not have access to the same information and services through their systems. The XML-based NDC standard will close this merchandizing gap, providing consumers with the same shopping experience regardless of how and where they do their travel shopping.“Consumers want to be able to buy air travel products in the same way that they purchase other goods, with full access to product information, the ability to comparison-shop and to see the full value of the offer. And we want our travel agent partners to be able to offer it. NDC will enable this to happen,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.The AGM Resolution affirmed that NDC will support current shopping methods, including the ability for consumers to compare base fares and to do so without identifying themselves (“anonymous shopping”). The AGM Resolution also noted that consumers will be protected by data privacy protection laws and regulations regardless of how and where they choose to purchase air travel.Additionally, members confirmed that airlines and other industry players will be free to decide whether or not to adopt NDC to support some or all of their distribution needs, and that IATA would continue to support the existing legacy standard while demand for it exists.The AGM Resolution adds further momentum to the NDC initiative. The NDC foundation standard was agreed by the Passenger Service Conference in late 2012 and has been submitted to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for approval. IATA XML schemas to support NDC pilots are now available for download at www.iata.org and live pilots will be underway by year end.In his keynote State of the Industry address to the AGM, Tyler expressed confidence in regulators understanding the value that NDC will bring to consumers and supporting its development. Tyler noted that NDC faces some opposition for incumbent interests:“Frankly, some of our opponents are not telling the truth. Let me clear the air.



rapidly in the region, it is no surprise that travelers are using their mobile de-vices when planning trips.Among those that use the internet to plan their travel, 48% have used their smartphone in the past year to engage in a travel related activity, rising to 69% for smartphones or tablets specifically.Travel related activity includes everything from booking a flight or hotel, to writing reviews on travel sites; checking weather or maps for a travel destina-tion, searching destinations, watching or posting travel videos among other online activities. Saudis lead the way with their mobile usage when it comes to travel – with 50% of travelers accessing the web through smartphones, while it is 35% in the UAE.

ITA discontinues airline reservations system: ITA Software, a Google subsid-iary, said it will no longer pursue clients for its airline passenger services sys-tem.Passenger services systems include the technology needed to run an air-line, including reservations. Cape Air is ITA’s lone customer for the passenger services system, and ITA said it would “continue to work with them under our agreement.” With the discontinuation of the passenger services system, ITA said it can focus on its other products, including Google Flight Search and its airfare pricing/shopping engine.

IATA to set up regional office in Abu Dhabi: The UAE cabinet has approved an agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to open a regional office in Abu Dhabi to support its activities in the Gulf region, Arab News has reported. The approval formally establishes IATA’s presence in the GCC with an office covering activities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, in addition to the UAE. The Abu Dhabi office will report to the association’s Mid-dle East and North Africa regional office in Amman, Jordan, IATA said.

IATA - Travelport arbitration proceedings on ticketing data is settled by the parties: Travelport and IATA have, through arbitration proceedings, reached a confidential settlement agreement regarding the use by IATA of ticketing data transmitted by Travelport. No further disclosure will be made on the matter.Source: IATA

Asia Pacific airlines traffic results - April 2013: Preliminary traffic figures for the month of April released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed further growth in international air passenger traffic, whereas interna-tional air cargo markets remained subdued.Asia Pacific airlines carried a combined total of 17.8 million international pas-sengers in April, 3.4% more than the same month last year. In revenue passen-ger kilometre (RPK) terms, international passenger traffic grew by 2.5%, whilst available seat capacity expanded by 4.1%, leading to a 1.3 percentage point decline in the average international passenger load factor to 76.8% for April. For Asia Pacific carriers, international air cargo demand as measured in freight

tonne kilometres (FTK) registered a slight 0.8% decline compared to the same month last year. Offered freight capacity expanded by 0.9%, resulting in a 1.1 percentage point fall in the average international cargo load factor to 65.2%.Source: AAPA

ACI - Global passenger traffic posts strong performance in March with growth of 4.6%: The market for international travel remains buoyant for the month of March. The Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific all posted double digit gains in international passenger traffic of +16.4, +14.1 and +10.9% re-spectively. Although overall passenger traffic grew by +4.6%, domestic traffic showed signs of weakness for some regions for the month of March. On an ag-gregate basis, domestic traffic increased by +2.6%. With the ongoing economic slowdown across Europe, domestic passenger traffic saw a decline of -5.9%. However, Istanbul (IST) remains unperturbed by the European economy, as its passenger traffic grew by +23.8%.Freight traffic continues to exhibit signs of weakness with an overall year over year decline of -1%. Every region posted decreases in the volume of freight traffic except for the Middle East, which posted gains of +8.7%. Amidst the global slowdown, Dubai (DXB) was still able to attain growth of +14.7%. The top three freight hubs in the world, Hong Kong (HKG), Memphis (MEM) and Shanghai (PVG), all experienced declines of -2.2, -1.4 and -3% respectively.Source: ACI

IATA Figures - Demand for air travel stays firm but with regional variations: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for April showing a 3.2% increase in demand over the previous April. Emerging markets are continuing to lead air travel growth, with all re-gions reporting year-over-year gains.The timing of the Easter holiday (which occurred in March 2013 and in April 2012) is largely responsible for the apparent decline from March performance (when year-on-year demand showed a 6.2% increase). The seasonally adjusted rate for April showed demand up almost 5%, which is in line with the long term historical trend.Capacity rose 4.4% on the previous April which was slightly ahead of demand. This pushed the industry load factor downwards by 0.9 percentage points to 78.1%. If we adjust for the impacts of seasonality, the load factor remained near record highs of 80%.

Apr 2013 vs. Apr 2012 RPK Growth ASK Growth PLF

International 3% 4.3% 77.8Domestic 3.5% 4.7% 78.6Total Market 3.2% 4.4% 78.1



YTD 2013 vs. YTD 2012 RPK Growth ASK Growth PLF

International 4.3% 3.0% 78.0Domestic 3.7% 2.7% 78.8Total Market 4.1% 2.9% 78.3

International Passenger MarketsApril international passenger demand was up 3.0% compared to the year-ago period. Capacity rose 4.3% versus April 2012 and load factor dipped 1.0 per-centage point to 77.8%.

• Asia-Pacific carriers recorded an increase of 2.4% compared to April 2012. This compared to a 5.7% rise in March year-over-year. In addition to seasonal factors, this likely reflects the softening in regional economic indicators. China’s business confidence slipped in April to levels indicating stagnation in the manufacturing sector, and growth in Asian trade volumes has flattened after a pick-up toward the end of 2012. Capacity rose 3.7% and load factor slipped one percentage point to 76.9%. • European carriers recorded 2.0% growth compared to April 2012, down on March growth of 4.5% - largely owing to the downward impact of the timing of the Easter holiday. Although capacity growth of 2.9% pushed load factor down 0.7 percentage points to 79.4% compared to a year ago, the monthly trend showed improvement. • North American airlines’ international traffic shrank 0.5% in April versus the same month last year, the only region to experience a contraction in traffic growth. Capacity rose 1.3% and load factor fell 1.4 percentage points to 79.5%, still the highest for any region. Al though the underlying international growth trend for North American carriers had been showing improvement since late last year, more recently it has returned to levels in line with those of the fourth quarter of 2012. The impact of government spending cuts related to the federal budget sequestration are yet to be fully seen, but the initial impact on business confidence has been negative with a significant slip in the US Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) in April. • Middle East carriers saw year-on-year demand expand by 10.9%- -by far the strongest among all the regions. Capacity rose 12.9%, however, pushing down load factor 1.4 percentage points to 76.8%. Demand for air travel has benefitted from continued expansion in trade volumes in the Middle East and Africa since late 2011, with regional airlines embarking on network and capacity expansion to take advantage of that growth. • Latin American airlines posted year-on-year demand growth of 4.6% but capacity rose 7.9% and load factor dropped 2.4 percentage

points to 76%. However, the monthly trend shows an improvement in load factor. • African airlines’ traffic climbed 4.7% compared to April 2012, sec ond best among the regions, while capacity rose 3.3%, causing load factor to rise 0.9 percentage points to 67.8%. Africa was the only region to experience a rise in load factor compared to 2012. As with their counterparts in the Middle East, African airlines have seen solid growth in air travel as a result of a sustained increase in trade and rapid economic expansion in some local economies.Source: IATA

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LATEST NEWS1st quarter results for 2013: International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) presented Group consolidated results for the three months to March 31, 2013.IAG period highlights:

• First quarter operating loss of €278 million, before exceptional items (2012: €249 million loss)• There was an exceptional charge of €311 million in the quarter, princi-pally relating to restructuring at Iberia (2012: €37 million exceptional credit)• Revenue for the quarter up 0.5% to €3,939 million (2012: €3,919 mil-lion), including €46 million or 1.2% of unfavourable currency impact. Pas-senger unit revenue for the quarter up 3.9% (5.3% at constant currency), on capacity decreases of 2.1%• Fuel costs for the quarter down 3.4% to €1,361 million (2012: €1,409 million). Fuel unit costs were down 1.5%• Non-fuel costs before exceptional items for the quarter up 3.5% at €2,856 million, including €24 million or 0.9% of adverse currency impact. Non-fuel unit costs up 5.8%, or 4.9% at constant currency• Cash of €2,833 million at quarter end was down €76 million and Group net debt down €157 million in the quarter to €1,732 million

Traffic statistics May 2013: In May 2013, Group traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres increased by 7.4% versus May 2012 (down 0.3% on a pro-forma basis); Group capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres rose by 6.3% (down 1.8% on a pro-forma basis).Group premium traffic for the month of May decreased by 2.9% compared to the previous year, but traffic and load factor were affected by an earlier UK half term and an additional bank holiday compared to last year.

Strategic developments: On May 14th, IAG successfully raised €390 million in a senior unsecured convertible bond. The bonds were issued to fund its ac-quisition of Vueling, enhance liquidity and lower its cost of capital. They will accrue a fixed rate of interest of 1.75% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears. The conversion price of €4.25 represents a premium of approximately 35% over the volume weighted average price of ordinary IAG shares on the London Stock Exchange from launch to pricing.On May 24th, IAG’s subsidiary Vueling called a general shareholders’ meeting for June 27, 2013 to approve the delisting of Vueling’s shares from the Spanish stock exchanges. The delisting tender offer will be €9.25 per share. Vueling will be delisted from the Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia stock exchanges upon successful completion of the offer. Since April 26th 2013, IAG Group has owned 90.51% of Vueling.

SPAIN TRAFFICThe Spanish air transport market shrank by (1.8%) in March 2013 over March 2012 in terms of number of passengers traveling to, from and within Spain, and is expected to shrink in April 2013 by (8.0%) compared to April 2012.

Looking at the Spanish market traffic flows, the international European market represented in March 2013 65.7% of the total market, and is expected to in-crease to 70.8% in April 2013. Traffic between the Arab world and Spain rep-resented 2.1% of the total Spanish market in March 2013, and is expected to decrease to 1.6% in April 2013.



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In March 2013, Ryanair was the biggest carrier operating to, from and within Spain by number of passengers, boarding 1.78 million pax, which represented a growth of 0.7% over March 2012 operations.

Looking at the UK market traffic flows, the international European market represented in March 2013 61.7% of the total market, and is expected to grow to 64.5% in April 2013.Traffic between the Arab world and the UK represented 3.9% of the total UK market in March 2013, and is expected to shrink to (3.6)% of total traffic in April 2013.

In March 2013, easyJet was the biggest carrier operating to, from and within the UK by number of passengers, boarding 2.80 million pax, which represent-ed a growth of 8% over March 2012 operations.



Top 15 Airlines Operating in the Spanish MarketAirline Mar-13 Growth Airline Mar-13 Growth

FR 1,785,021 0.7% DY 182,632 58.0%IB 1,294,374 (13.1%) AF 179,283 (6.8%)U2 871,120 1.3% ZB 163,406 7.6%VY 691,274 5.2% X3 159,124 (0.7%)AB 674,099 3.0% LX 154,919 8.7%UX 465,371 1.8% BA 139,786 25.7%LH 237,490 7.5% KL 136,964 21.4%NT 218,018 11.1% Grand Total 8,965,578 (1.60%)

Source: AACO, IATA

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UK TRAFFICThe UK air transport market shrank by (1.9)% in March 2013 over March 2012 in terms of number of passengers traveling to, from and within the UK, and is expected to Shrink in April 2013 by (1.3)% compared to April 2012.

Top 15 Airlines Operating in the UK MarketAirline Mar-13 Growth Airline Mar-13 Growth

U2 2,801,281 8.0% LH 326,570 1.8%BA 2,380,574 13.3% ZB 283,349 40.2%FR 2,025,480 4.4% AF 231,336 11.7%BE 554,121 (0.6%) W6 225,170 11.4%VS 413,741 (0.9%) LS 194,050 27.7%EI 379,852 11.3% UA 176,464 75.5%KL 362,260 1.1% LX 169,271 1.4%EK 351,955 18.7% Grand Total 13,637,678 1.9%

Source: AACO, IATA

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LATEST NEWSJet Airways celebrates 20 years of excellence in the skies: Jet Airways cel-ebrated the completion of two decades of service excellence in the skies, since it began operations as an Air Taxi Operator on May 5th 1993. The mission at Jet Airways, even 20 years ago was simple, the airline wanted to widen con-nectivity within India and overseas and facilitate the movement of people, encouraging both tourism and trade, while contributing in tandem to the de-velopment of the Indian economy. Thus, when the Jet Airways took delivery of its first aircraft at Mumbai in the presence of Mr. J R D Tata, the father of Indian Civil Aviation, it marked the beginning of a glorious new chapter for civil aviation in the country. The airline has since then emerged as the first private airline to introduce the Indian air traveller to the reliability, safety and comfort of new technologies – a paradigm that Jet Airways has pioneered throughout the past two decades.Following Jet Airways’ domestic success story and growing liberalisation, the airline then embarked on a phase of international expansion in March 2004 with a flight between Chennai and Colombo. Jet Airways then opened new international routes initially within the SAARC region and then onto Singapore, Bangkok, and London. Once again became the first private Indian airline to fly to international destinations.

Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege inks partnerships with leading brands in retail, trav-el and publishing: Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege announced exciting new opportuni-ties for its members to earn JPMiles, following the addition of six new partners in the ever expanding retail, travel and publishing category. In the retail category, JetPrivilege has partnered with Purplle.com. Established in 2011, Purplle.com is a beauty and grooming online store. It retails over 9000 products from over 300 premium brands in beauty and grooming catego-ry as well as has 1500 Salons and Spas listed in Mumbai as part of the Purplle Salon and Spa Finder Initiative. In a similar partnership, Jet Airways has partnered with HighStreetLabels.in, an online shopping destination that offers customers an upscale range of contem-porary apparel, handbags, footwear, accessories and more from the world’s finest fashion and lifestyle brands like Ed Hardy, Christian Audigier, Calvin Klein, FCUK, Fossil and many more at UP TO 70% discount. Furthermore, Jet Airways announced a first of its kind partnership, with Chic Outlet Shopping®. JetPrivilege members can shop for luxury brands at great prices with Chic Outlet Shopping and earn JPMiles. JP members can enjoy sav-ings of up to 60% at more than 900 boutiques of the world’s premier fashion and lifestyle brands across 9 shopping villages across Europe. In the retail category, Jet Airways announced a first of its kind partnership with Gili, a jewellery brand in India.

In the car rental category, Jet Airways has partnered with Wings Radio Cab, a reliable travel company offering Radio Cabs rental in Pune, Nagpur, Ahmed-abad and Aurangabad, ensuring comfort and safety to clients. By way of part-nership with Wings Radio Cab, JetPrivilege members will have an opportunity to earn JPMiles when they book a vehicle and to get to their destination has-sle-free at airports. Similarly, in the publishing category, Jet Airways has partnered with Fortune India magazine and Outlook group. JetPrivilege members will now enjoy exclu-sive discounts as well as the chance to earn JPMiles on subscription of Fortune India, Outlook and Marie Claire.

Jet Airways announces daily services to Kuwait and Abu Dhabi from Kochi as at May 16: Jet Airways introduced daily services from Kochi to Kuwait via Abu Dhabi, as at May 16, 2013.Jet Airways presently operates double daily flights between Mumbai and Ku-wait. The airline will deploy a Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft on this route. The introduction of the new daily service will complement the airline’s existing daily Gulf operations to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Muscat and Sharjah, as well as Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, from several cities in India. Jet Airways presently operates over 50 flights between India and the Gulf.

Jet Airways launches the first airline mobile application (App) for Windows Phone in association with Nokia: Jet Airways announced the launch of its first mobile application for Windows Phone in association with Nokia. This makes it India’s first native airline mobile application across any platform, which allows customers to effortlessly book tickets, check flight status, manage their Jet-Privilege account, and also avail of special offers among other features.

Jet Airways revises baggage allowance on domestic routes: Jet Airways and JetKonnect have revised the free baggage allowance (FBA) to 15 kgs in Econo-my on all domestic travel within India, effective May 15, 2013. Cabin baggage will be restricted to seven kgs, as before. JetPrivilege members will continue to enjoy the additional free baggage al-lowance as per their JetPrivilege membership status (Platinum / Gold / Silver), while Première guests would continue to avail 30 kg of free baggage allowance on Jet Airways and JetKonnect flights.

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INDIA TRAFFICThe Indian air transport market expanded by 4.5% in March 2013 over March 2012 in terms of number of passengers traveling to, from and within India, and is expected to shrank in April 2013 by (7.9%) compared to April 12.

Looking at the Indian market traffic flows, the domestic market represented in March 2013 56.9% of the total market, and is expected to shrink to 56.0% in April 2013. Traffic between the Arab world and India represented 17.5% of the total Indian market in March 2013, and is expected to grow to 18.4% of total traffic in April 2013.



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In March 2013, Indigo Airlines was the biggest carrier operating to, from and within India by number of passengers, boarding 1.48 million pax, which repre-sented an increase of 33.13% over March 2012 operations.

Top 15 Airlines Operating in the India MarketAirline Mar-13 Growth Airline Mar-13 Growth

6E 1,479,113 33.13% G9 140,601 11.74%AI 1,209,903 10.10% QR 131,162 (4.71%)

9W 1,126,680 (13.70%) SQ 123,746 8.36%SG 1,058,098 22.18% TG 106,469 11.28%EK 412,265 6.21% WY 103,485 25.17%S2 403,870 6.57% SV 100,316 3.90%G8 398,617 18.63% LH 91,320 (3.22%)IX 262,254 40.25% Grand Total 8,347,730 5.56%

Source: AACO, IATA

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LATEST NEWSTurkish Airlines’ reports consolidated financial statements in the first quarter of 2013 to Borsa Istanbul: As compared with the same period of 2012, Turkish Airlines sales revenue increased by 28% and reached to USD 1.9 billion. Ad-ditionally, overall operating loss has been improved at the rate of 87% to 23 million TL, and net profit has been improved at the rate of 24% to USD 12.13 million TL. Despite the loss figures according to the seasonal factors, radical improvement in results points to a better financial standing for 2013 as com-pared with 2012. During the first quarter of 2013, 10 million passengers were carried by the rate of an 26% increase in passenger traffic. In response to the 21% increase in available seat kilometers (ASK), revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) increased by 30%, therefore the percent of the passenger load factor amounted to 77.9% percent in system-wide increasing by 5.1 points. International to inter-national transfer passengers shared in the total international passenger rate which reached to 40%. According to the International Air Transport Associa-tion (IATA), for the same period the overall industry growth in terms of the ASK and RPK, were respectively 2,3% and 4,2%. Considering Turkish Airlines’ ten-year growth plans with the third airport to be built in Istanbul, Turkey will have much wider global access and Istanbul will become one of the biggest hub cities in the world for international air tran-port.

Air Astana and Turkish Airlines sign a codeshare agreement: Air Astana and Turkish Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement on routes between Ka-zakhstan and Turkey. The agreement was signed at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Cape Town by Mr. Peter Foster, President of Air Astana, and Dr. Temel Kotil, President and CEO of Turkish Airlines.Air Astana and Turkish Airlines signed the Letter of Intent to expand the range of cooperation between the two carriers in March 2013. The codeshare agree-ment allows passengers to benefit from a higher number of combined fre-quencies for better connectivity and increased travel flexibility between the two countries. Codesharing on flights between Almaty – Istanbul and Astana – Istanbul additionally include special prorate agreements on sectors beyond respective hubs in Almaty, Astana and Istanbul offering an expanded network to passengers.

Turkish Airlines began operations to Friedrichshafen, Germany: Turkish Airlines added Friedrichshafen, Germany to its network. Flights from Istanbul to Friedrichshafen are operated 4 days a week.

A new benefit from Turkish Airlines: Turkish Airlines has entered into an agreement with Booking.com, the world leader in booking hotel and other on-line accommodations, to provide online bookings with guaranteed best prices at nearly 300,000 hotels around the world. It is yet another example of the way in which Turkish Airlines provides unique opportunities for its passengers.Turkish Airlines now provides access to a worldwide selection of hotels, apart-ments, villas and B&B’s at the best rates available, enabling all Turkish Airlines passengers to find and book their perfect accommodation solution directly from the Turkish Airlines site, www.turkishairlines.com.Passengers can arrange their entire itinerary at a single website and have the confidence that both Turkish Airlines and Booking.com are providing top qual-ity service and convenience. For more information, please kindly check http://hotels.turkishairlines.com

Turkish Cargo launches service to Kuwait: Turkish Airlines expanded its cargo flight network with the addition of Kuwait. Turkish Airlines commenced its weekly freighter flights to Kuwait from Istanbul.

Turkish Airlines began operations to Isparta, Turkey: Turkish Airlines added its 224th network destination with the addition of Isparta, Turkey. Roundtrip flights between Istanbul and Isparta (Turkey) are operated 3 times per week.

Turkish Airlines began operations to Santiago De Compostela, Spain: Turkish Airlines added its 226th network destination with the addition of Santiago De Compostela, Spain.With existing services to Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga and Bilbao, Turk-ish Airlines added flights to Santiago De Compostela as its 6th destination in Spain. Santiago De Compostela flights are operated 3 times per week.

Turkish Airlines’ 227th destination, Malta: Turkish Airlines added Malta to its network, with 3 weekly flights being operated between Istanbul and Malta.

Turkish Airlines continues its expansion in Austria as well: Turkish Airlines added flights to Salzburg as its 2nd destination in Austria. Roundtrip flights between Istanbul and Salzburg are operated 4 times per week.

Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia joined the network: With existing services to Medi-na, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Yanbu and Ta’if, Turkish Airlines added flights to Al-Qassim as its 7th destination in Saudi Arabia. Al-Qassim flights are operated 4 times per week.

Turkish Airlines inaugurates its first flight to Marseille, 5th destination in France: With existing services to Paris, Lyon, Nice and Toulouse, Turkish Air-lines added flights to the second largest city of France, Marseilles, its 5th desti-nation in France. Marseille flights are operated 4 times per week.

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TURKEY TRAFFICThe Turkish air transport market in March 2013 grew by 13.9% over March 2012 in terms of number of passengers traveling to, from and within Turkey, and is expected to grow in April 2013 by 12.5% compared to April 2012.

The Domestic market was the biggest market in Turkey. It accounted for 40.4% of March 2013 traffic, and is expected to shrink to 35.2% in April 2013. The European market (international traffic between Turkey and Europe) was the second biggest market, accounting for 38.4% of March 2013 traffic, and is ex-pected to grow to 45.0% in April 2013. On the other hand, traffic between the Arab world and Turkey represented 9.1% of the total Turkish market in March 2013, and is expected to shrink to 8.5% of total traffic in April 2013.



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In March 2013, Indigo Airlines was the biggest carrier operating to, from and within India by number of passengers, boarding 1.48 million pax, which repre-sented an increase 33.13% over March 2012 operations.

Top 15 Airlines Operating in the Turkey MarketAirline Mar-13 Growth Airline Mar-13 Growth

TK 2,356,061 22.13% SV 34,077 (34.86%)PC 819,758 14.05% EK 34,070 17.43%8Q 173,693 13.91% DE 29,049 (11.86%)KK 172,976 17.48% BA 24,208 30.12%XQ 134,881 (3.48%) AF 23,957 29.51%LH 69,893 (1.77%) LX 21,256 19.25%SU 48,940 20.25% AB 20,397 (67.24%)J2 36,836 56.68% Grand Total 4,445,085 13.80%

Source: AACO, IATA

OURINDUSTRYPARTNERS NEWS

Issue 75 - May 2013 75

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have emerged as the leading countries in the Middle East in terms of air traffic volume while Qatar demonstrated the strongest growth, the three countries together representing over 53% or

52.8 million of the total 99 million passengers whose point of departure originated from the Middle East in 2012, according to Amadeus. Data indicates that outbound air traffic volume in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar enjoyed an average growth rate of 10% in 2012, thus outpacing, by a large margin, the 2% growth experienced in the Middle East as a whole, and indicating a 100% higher growth than the global average during the year.Released at a press conference at ATM 2013, the analysis forms part of a wider insight that identifies the world’s most competitive air travel markets and global air travel trends followed on an annual basis. Ob-tained via the Amadeus Air Traffic Travel Intelligence solution, the findings are based on the calculation of the most accurate air passenger volume for any Origin and Destination (O&D) worldwide (Passenger volume. is measured in terms of Origin and Destination (O&D) traffic e.g. passengers travelling between a given origin and final destination airport, irrespective of the number of connecting stops, passengers travelling between regions are assigned to the region of origin). The following are the highlights from the findings:Middle East air travel market share – Saudi Arabia leads in absolute terms, while Qatar expands fast-est: Saudi Arabia remains the largest outbound air travel market in the region. The 25 million passengers who started their journey in the Kingdom accounted for 25% of the total passenger traffic in the Middle East in 2012. The UAE followed a close second, commanding 23% of the regional market share and serv-ing as the point of origin for 23.1 million passengers. Representing 5% of the region’s market, Qatar led the way in terms of passenger volume growth with 4.74 million outbound travellers.UAE emerges as the most prominent point of origin for intercontinental journeys while Saudi volume is driven by domestic traffic: More air passengers began their intercontinental journey in the UAE (15.7 million passengers flown) in 2012 than they did combined in Saudi Arabia (7.8 million passengers flown) and in Qatar (2.8 million passengers flown). At 68:32, the UAE also has the highest ratio of intercontinen-tal travellers versus travellers with the country and within the region, Qatar’s ratio was the second-high-est (59:42). Consequently, the top O&D route highlighted by the analysis for the UAE is Dubai–London.The intercontinental ratio for Saudi Arabia is only 31:69 as the market topped the list of all Middle East-ern countries in terms of total domestic travellers – 11.1 million passengers flown, representing 44% of passenger volume. Jeddah – Riyadh appeared as the busiest route in Saudi. In terms of regional traffic, the UAE was the most-used point of origin for the 7.2 million travellers who flew within the region, fol-lowed by Saudi Arabia, which served as the point of origin for 6.1 travellers within the region. UAE leads in low cost airline market share: The overall market share of the Middle East’s low cost carri-ers inched up from 11.7% in 2011 to 13.5% in 2012, a low figure compared to other regions such as Eu-rope, South West Pacific or North America regions. The data reveals that low cost carriers are making the largest impact in the UAE market, with low cost carriers commanding 23% of the share of traffic in 2012. Low cost carriers had an 8% share of traffic in the Qatari air travel market and 9% for the Saudi market.Connecting air traffic statistics underscores emergence of Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai as global travel hubs: In terms of connecting air traffic, the Middle East showed strong performance with the three key airports of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi experiencing high connecting traffic volumes around 50% and growing at approximately 10% per annum, while other major airports in the region (Jeddah, Riyadh or Cairo) showed connection rate around 10% . This growth echoes the findings of the Amadeus report Securing the Prize for the Middle East which went through the factors enabling the Middle East to underpin the next wave of globalisation created by emerging economies to become one of the world’s dominant global travel hub.

Our Partners News


First A350 XWB painting completed in Toulouse: Painting of the first A350 XWB “MSN001” was fully completed on 13 May as it emerged in its Airbus livery out from the paintshop in Toulouse. This latest

milestone shows that MSN001 is progressing well on its route to first flight. The aircraft painting was achieved in less than seven days and follows the recent completion of MSN001’s flight-test-instrumenta-tion (FTI) verification. In April, the aircraft underwent its engines installation, and passed a subsequent intensive phase of ground vibration tests.

First A350 XWB’s engines powered up: Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB engines have run for the first time on the A350 XWB (MSN1) following the start-up of the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), as part of the prepara-tions for the aircraft’s maiden flight. Combined with the A350 XWB’s lightweight structure and advanced aerodynamics, these latest generation engines with their exceptionally low fuel consumption help cut fuel burn by 25% compared to previous generation competing long-range twins.

Oman Air orders three A330-300 aircraft: Oman Air has placed an order for three A330-300s, growing its A330 Family fleet to a total of ten Airbus aircraft. The aircraft will be operated on long haul routes and can comfortably seat close to 300 passengers.

Singapore Airlines to order up to 50 more A350 XWBs: Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced that it will purchase up to 50 more A350 XWB aircraft. The agreement covers a firm order for 30 more A350-900s plus options for a further 20 aircraft. The deal allows for the airline to select either the baseline A350-900 or the larger A350-1000 when exercising the options. The latest agreement will represent the third order from Singapore Airlines for the A350 XWB. Upon confirmation, it will see the airline’s total firm orders for the all-new aircraft increase to 70, excluding options. The aircraft will be used by the air-line on both medium and long haul routes.

First Chinese assembled A320 with Sharklets goes to China Eastern: China Eastern Airlines has taken de-livery of its first A320 aircraft equipped with Sharklet fuel saving wing-tip devices, becoming China’s first carrier to do so. The aircraft is also the first Sharklets equipped A320 assembled and delivered in Tianjin.

Airbus, Air Canada and BioFuelNet Canada push for new aviation fuels: Airbus, Air Canada and BioFuel-Net Canada, hosted by Montreal’s McGill University, have formed a partnership to assess Canadian solu-tions for the production of sustainable alternative jet fuels with the long term goal to supply Air Canada. The first assessment is expected by the end of 2013. The partnership was announced at the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) Aviation and Environment workshop in Montreal. The partnership will provide a preliminary study of the different processes and raw materials available for alternative fuel production, exploring innovative new pathways and the overall sustainability of solutions.

Airbus shows off its latest products at 50th Paris Air Show: Airbus is showcasing its latest commercial and military product range at the 50th international Paris Air Show at Le Bourget from June 17th to 23rd, 2013. The latest innovations from the EADS Group will be on display and experts will be available to answer questions. Throughout the show, EADS human resource experts will hold a series of career work-shops and events for students and attendees considering a future in the aerospace industry.

Airbus - AACO Partner since 1997Amadeus - AACO Partner since 2000

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Our Partners News


ADNOC Distribution is an integrated oil energy company. Founded in 1973, ADNOC Distribution market and distributes petroleum products and services within the United Arab Emirates. As one of the largest government-owned petroleum companies in the Arab Gulf, ADNOC Distribution has grown to become a national institution and a major economic driver for the UAE economy.

The company is renowned for its innovative and dynamic approach offering a wide variety of petroleum and natural gas products and services. ADNOC Distribution is committed to providing its customers and strategic partners with reliable products of exceptional quality and services.

Air France Consulting, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France is special-ized in air transport consulting, training, management and reengineering

services. Air France Consulting calls on about 200 highly specialized international experts coming mostly from Air France and the SkyTeam Alliance who have built a field proven experience and whose compe-tencies are recognized by the industry.Acting independently with flexibility, Air France Consulting proposes a comprehensive approach on key domains of the air transport such as operations, finance and commercial, maintenance, etc... whether to make you a diagnostic or audit, to set up new or improved processes driven by proven change manage-ment techniques or define a coaching and training program. Air France Consulting proposes a compre-hensive approach on how to optimize your processes and solve your concerns such as: • Safety and security of operations (EASA 145, M, 21, 147, IOSA, JAR Ops and FCL, SMS, ETOPS, IOSA Assistance, TRTO, Airline operations organization…) • Drivers to reduce costs and increase revenues (Business Plan, Cost control, Network and Fleet, Revenue Management Pricing, Customer Relationship Management, E-business solutions, Fuel conservation Program, ETS, Procurement process…) • Fleet Asset Management (specification, acquisition, lease, sales) and Repair Overhaul activities Management (MCC, line maintenance & operational regulatory support, maintenance IT support) • Human resources and risks prevention optimization (Human factors, Crew management, Staff posting, Emergency response plan…)Air France Consulting shares the ambitions of its customers through customized solutions, thanks to a flexible structure ensuring responsiveness and close proximity. For more information, please contact us at: Telephone: +33 1 7425 4162, email: [email protected]

Aon is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through our 61,000 colleagues worldwide, we empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world’s best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources.

Aon’s aviation team creates effective risk management strategies for clients across the aviation indus-try, blending global expertise with knowledge of how the industry operates locally. No two businesses are the same and we treat our clients as individuals. Rather than offering off-the-peg insurance and risk management programmes, our specialists work across Aon’s divisions to ensure that our clients have the best available coverage for all of their needs. If you are an airport with ground vehicle exposure or an airline with IT risks, our aviation team works with other Aon experts to ensure that you get insurance and risk management support that is precisely tailored to your requirements.

We are at the forefront of development of insurance, utilising our vast experience and international in-surance market knowledge to draft, negotiate and implement the most comprehensive and appropriate insurance programmes and risk management solutions that best suit our clients’ needs.Aon is the principal sponsor of Manchester United.

ARINC introduces e-Forwarder™ - logistics provider Frederic Schad, SAS selects AviNet’s e-Forwarder to streamline operations: ARINC Incorpo-

rated announced the introduction of e-Forwarder, a new solution that provides complete cargo opera-tions management for small to mid-sized forwarders. e-Forwarder is a client-server based platform that provides freight forwarders with a single, integrated solution for cargo management from initial cargo acceptance and waybill generation to final delivery to consignee. The solution allows users to efficiently manage both air and maritime outbound/inbound cargo operations. As a fully integrated solution, e-Fowarder helps reduce costs, save time and increases efficiency.ARINC Managed Services selected for GTACS Contract as part of scientific research corporation team: ARINC Managed Services (AMS) announced that it has been chosen to provide IT and Service Desk sup-port for hardware and incidental services as part of Scientific Research Corporation’s (SRC) team for the Global Tactical Advanced Communications Systems Contract (GTACS).Saskatoon Airport selects ARINC’s vMUSE Enterprise™ for cloud-based common use check-in: ARINC announced that Saskatoon Airport has chosen vMUSE Enterprise™ for its cloud-based common use check-in solution. Saskatoon will use vMUSE to support five double-gate positions at the airport. The contract calls for a two phased implementation process, with the first to be completed and operational by August 2013 and the second slated for early 2014.ARINC Direct celebrates ten year anniversary decade highlighted by many notable industry firsts: ARINC Direct is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Over the past decade, ARINC Direct has grown into a leading provider of innovative flight support, passenger communications and regulatory compliance products and services with employees and offices located throughout the world including Dubai, Argen-tina, Mexico, London, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and throughout the United States.

ADNOC - AACO Partner since 2002

Air France Consulting - AACO Partner since 2008

Aon - AACO Partner since 2007

ARINC- AACO Partner since 2002

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Our Partners News


Aeromar introduces first ATR -600 in Mexico: Aeromar took delivery of its first of 2 ATR 72-600 to be acquired on long-term lease from Air Lease Corporation (ALC). The delivery sees Aeromar become the first

operator of the ATR -600 series aircraft in the region. In addition, the new airplanes will be the premier turboprops up to 70 seats in Mexico.

ATR -600s, certified to operate at take-off and landing temperatures as low as -45°C: The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has just granted ATR, the European manufacturer of turboprop aircraft, certification to operate its new ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 in temperatures as low as -45°C at take-off and landing. This certification means that ‘-600’ series ATRs can now fly with other ATR versions already certified to operate in particularly cold environments such as the far north of Europe, Canada & Siberia. As part of this certification process, the EASA certified new ATR ‘-600’ equipment and systems - installed on their new avionics suite -, which had already been designed by ATR suppliers taking into consideration their future use in extremely low-temperature environments.

ATR ‘-600’ aircraft receive ETOPS 120 minutes certification: The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has just granted ATR, the European manufacturer of turboprop aircraft, “ETOPS 120 minutes” certifica-tion of its new ‘-600’ series ATR aircraft. This ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Performance Stan-dards) certification means that the ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 versions can now fly with one engine, as far as 120 flight minutes from any airport at which they can land. “ETOPS 120” thus allows aircraft to provide direct links between airports located at maximum distances equaling four flight hours (two hours maximum flight time from the departure airport plus two hours maximum flight time to the closest air-port where to land safely).

AWAS delivers A319 passenger aircraft to new customer Helvetic Airways: AWAS announced that it has delivered an A319 passenger aircraft from its existing port-folio to Helvetic Airways.

AWAS delivers fifth of five planned 737-800s to SpiceJet: AWAS announced that it has delivered the fifth of five planned Boeing 737-800 passenger aircraft to SpiceJet, the dynamic and successfully growing Low Cost Carrier in India.

AWAS delivers the second of two planned A320 aircraft to Air Via: AWAS announced the delivery of an Airbus A320 passenger aircraft to Air Via, based in Varna, Bulgaria. This aircraft is from AWAS’ existing portfolio.

AWAS delivers A320 to new customer TAME: AWAS announced today that it has delivered an Airbus A320-200 passenger aircraft to TAME, the national airline of Ecuador.

AWAS delivers fifth of six planned new A320s to Aeroflot: AWAS announced that it has delivered a new Airbus A320-200 passenger aircraft to Aeroflot from its new order pipeline. This is the fifth of six A320s that the lessor will deliver to Aeroflot in 2013-14.

AWAS delivers its first new pipeline A320 aircraft with factory-fitted sharklets to Vueling: AWAS an-nounced today that it has delivered a new A320 passenger aircraft to Vueling, the Spanish low cost air-line. This aircraft is from AWAS’ existing new order pipeline and is factory-fitted with advanced Sharklets.

BOC Aviation re-opens and increases its existing 10-year Senior Unse-cured Notes due 2023: BOC Aviation Pte. Ltd. (“BOC Aviation”) success-fully priced a USD 150 million re-opening of the existing USD 350 million

4.375% Senior Unsecured Notes due May 2023 (the “Notes”), to tap into unfilled investor demand. The re-opened issuance was more than six times subscribed with orders exceeding USD 900 million. Carrying the same coupon rate of 4.375% per annum and the same maturity date of 2 May 2023 as the existing bonds, the additional USD 150 million in new Notes were priced to yield 4.265% p.a. with a spread of 263 basis points p.a. over 10-year Treasury notes, with interest payable semi-annually in arrears. Follow-ing the re-opening, the new total deal size for the Notes will be USD 500 million. The additional Notes were arranged by BOC International and HSBC as joint bookrunners. Settlement was on 10 May 2013, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.The unsecured notes will be listed on SGX-ST and will be rated BBB- by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Servic-es, and A- by Fitch Ratings. BOC Aviation will apply the net proceeds to fund its new capital expenditure, for general corporate purposes and/or refinancing existing borrowings.In terms of allocation, 43% went to insurance companies, 38% to funds and asset managers, 12% to pri-vate banks and 7% to banks and other investors.BOC Aviation signs new five-year aircraft maintenance agreement with ST Aerospace: BOC Aviation announced that it has entered into a new five-year agreement with ST Aerospace to maintain Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 airframes. The two companies have had a business relationship since 1996.BOC Aviation has in place a framework of support services from airframe and engine maintenance and repair operators (“MROs”) and technical services when the Company repossesses aircraft.

First Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner begins final assembly: Boeing has begun final assembly of the first 787-9 Dreamliner. The newest member of the 787 family began taking shape on schedule on May 30 in Everett, Wash-

ington, when Boeing started joining large sections of the super-efficient jet.The 787-9 will complement and extend the 787 family, offering airlines the ability to grow routes opened with the 787-8. With the fuselage stretched by 20 feet (6 meters), the 787-9 will carry 40 more pas-sengers an additional 300 nautical miles (555 kilometers) while using 20% less fuel than similarly sized airplanes. The 787-9 leverages the visionary design of the 787-8, offering the features passengers prefer such as large, dimmable windows, large stow bins, modern LED lighting, higher humidity, a lower cabin altitude, cleaner air and a smoother ride. First flight of the 787-9 is scheduled for the second half of 2013, with first delivery to launch customer Air New Zealand set for early 2014. 20 customers around the world have ordered 355 787-9s, accounting for 40% of all 787 orders.Boeing and China Southern Airlines celebrate delivery of first 787 to China: Boeing and China Southern Airlines celebrated the delivery of the carrier’s first 787 Dreamliner.Boeing celebrates delivery of 50th 747-8: Boeing celebrated the 50th delivery of a 747-8. Deutsche Luf-thansa AG, the launch customer of the passenger version, took delivery of the milestone aircraft almost one year after the first revenue flight of the 747-8 Intercontinental.Boeing, Turkish Airlines finalize order for 50 737 MAXs, 20 Next-Generation 737s: Boeing and Turkish Airlines finalized a firm order for 40 737 MAX 8s, 10 737 MAX 9s and 20 Next-Generation 737-800 jets, valued at USD 6.9 billion at list prices. The order, originally announced as a commitment in April, also in-cludes options for an additional 25 737 MAX 8s and is the largest Boeing order in Turkish Airlines’ history.

ATR - AACO Partner since 1998

AWAS - AACO Partner since 2013

BOC Aviation - AACO Partner since 2003

Boeing- AACO Partner since 1998

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Our Partners News


Kuehne + Nagel implements CHAMP’s Cargo-XML ACAS solution: CHAMP Cargosys-tems provides premium messaging services for airlines and freight forwarders. The IT services provider has, for example, started to transmit IATA C/XML messages for logistics company Kuehne + Nagel to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and PSN response messages back to Kuehne + Nagel. The global logistics service provider is pro-actively filing all air cargo shipments bound for the USA according to Air Cargo Ad-vanced Screening (ACAS) dual filing requirements as part of its quality airfreight ser-

vices. The CHAMP application empowers K+N’s airfreight department to transmit the House Air Waybill data in IATA C/XML format (XFZB) directly from the company’s enterprise system, without manual inter-vention, on receipt of the shipment order to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This initiates an enhanced screening prior to delivering the cargo to the aircraft. When K+N receives a positive ACAS response (PSN) the company proceeds with consolidation and delivery to the air carrier. If there are any problems with the shipment the logistics services provider is able to solve these pro-actively before ten-dering the shipment to the carrier.K+N participates in the ACAS dual filing project to detect high-risk shipments and customs clearance problems as early as possible in the supply chain process. Thus the company is able solve any problems that might arise from a product, supplier or recipient pro-actively for customers as soon as possible after receiving the orders. K+N has opted for IATA Cargo-XML as it better facilitates the implementation and adoption of e-cargo initiatives such as the electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB) or e-freight. It also supports compliance to customs and security requirements by giving more flexibility in providing complete data elements. CHAMP’s Air AMS and ACAS messaging services enable logistics services providers to give a better service to their customers, to improve supply chain visibility and control over their data, to speed up transport processes and avoid shipments being held up on arrival in the USA.The Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) project allows CBP and TSA (Transportation Security Administra-tion) to receive advance security filing cargo data for shipments that might be high risk and require addi-tional physical screening under the appropriate regulatory framework and protocols well ahead of flight departure. ACAS enables express carriers, passenger air carriers, freight forwarders, and all-cargo carri-ers to send and receive advance security filing data and related action messages for all air cargo through CBP’s Automated Targeting System (ATS).

Air Arabia & CFM celebrate one million flight hour milestone: During a special ceremony, Air Arabia and CFM International celebrated the achievement of one million engine flight hours with the airline’s fleet of CFM56-5B engines.

Air Arabia has been a CFM customer since it began scheduled service in 2003. Today, the airline operates a fleet of 32 CFM56-5B-powered Airbus A320 family aircraft. All of these engines are covered by long-term service agreements with CFM, with part of the fleet covered by a time and material agreement; the aircraft delivered since 2010 are covered by a Rate per Flight Hour agreement, wherein CFM will guaran-tee engine maintenance costs on a dollar per engine flight hour basis.In addition to achieving the one million flight hour milestone, the Air Arabia CFM56-5B engines have also been awarded TRUEngine status.

The TRUEngine designation serves as a method for identifying engines with CFM-approved content and facilitates product support of the engine system. Moreover, industry stakeholders can use the knowledge of engine content to evaluate engine value and re-marketability. The TRUEngine program is available for all CFM56 engines. To qualify, a customer submits a declared list of compliant engine serial numbers, along with engine maintenance records, to CFM for evaluation to ensure the engine content, overhaul practices, and repairs are consistent with CFM requirements for that engine model.

Engine Lease Finance Corporation (ELFC) extended its position as the world’s largest independent aero-engine lessor in 2012 with another record year of spare engine portfolio growth.

We maintained keen focus on spare engine support for our numerous customers in the MENA region with further growth in short and long term engine lease support to airline members of AACO.

We are very proud to play a support role in 2013 in the success of MENA airlines, large and small and will continue to offer our products during the coming year:

• Shop Visit Cover – leasing of our spare engines into airlines to cover short term scheduled and unscheduled engine removals; • Long term Engine provision – leasing our engines over several years to provide our airline customers with cost efficient operation of spare engines, removing the capital intensive demand of spare engine acquisition; • Purchase-leaseback of engines owned by airlines. With the backing of our parent com-pany Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Ltd. we have the financial resources required to provide clear financial and operational benefits for our customers.

We have a wealth of experience to share – without obligation. For more information, please contact Senior Vice President Julian Jordan at e-mail: [email protected]

GE Capital Aviation Services delivers new leased Boeing 737-800 to skymark: GECAS announced deliv-ery of a new leased Boeing 737-800 to Skymark Airlines to expand the Japanese low-cost carrier’s fleet. The aircraft comes from GECAS’ existing order book with Boeing.With bases at Tokyo International Airport and Kobe Airport, Skymark currently operates a fleet of 30 Boeing 737-800s to 15 destinations in Japan.

GE Capital Aviation Services delivers Airbus A320 on purchase and leaseback with Tiger Airways Hold-ings: GECAS announced it has delivered a new leased Airbus A320 aircraft to Tiger Airways Singapore to expand the carrier’s fleet. The aircraft is the first of five scheduled for delivery in 2013 as part of a mul-tiple aircraft purchase-and-leaseback transaction with Tiger Airways Holdings.

CHAMP - AACO Partner since 2010

CFM - AACO Partner since 1998

ELFC- AACO Partner since 2003

GECAS - AACO Partner since 2003

Our Partners News


GlobalCollect is the world’s premier Payment Service Provider of local e-payment solutions for inter-national businesses globally. While most providers limit their services to a technical link with payment acquirers, for over 16 years GlobalCollect has been a full-service partner consulting clients on how to increase transaction volumes, expand distribution channels, and reduce costs by streamlining back office processes.

Through a single-interface online payment platform, we offer access to an unrivalled portfolio of local and international payment methods in over 200 countries, including all major credit and debit cards, di-rect debits, bank transfers, real-time bank transfers, eWallets, cash at outlets, prepaid methods, checks, and invoices.

Let GlobalCollect help you convert browsers into buyers and contact us today: Tel: +31 (0) 235671500 or email: [email protected]

IAS is strengthening its training services for the benefits of Saudia: In Jeddah, on the 3rd April, together with IAS and Toulouse Business School, Saudia organized the Aviation Management Professional Diploma graduation ceremony for the 1st promotion 2012/2013 of the Saudia’Future Pioneers.

Since November 2012 the beginning of this program, IAS has been working with Toulouse Business School on the educative matters, and ATR concerning industrial expertise. Airbus, Air Business Academy, Middle East Airlines, Cranfield University, and Ecole Nationale d’Aviation Civile have also taken part in this project.

Complementary, IAS is welcoming 8 pioneers from this session in a 3 months internship, the companies participating are Airbus, ATR, CGX Aero and P3, in Toulouse & Hamburg.

IAS has started an outstanding training program designed for the Crew Scheduling Department of Sau-dia, in April 2012. This program will end-up in May 2013, IAS will welcome the last group in Toulouse.Thus 120 delegates have been trained on the crew technical management field with the support of sev-eral industrial experts, like AIR FRANCE-KLM, Air Business Academy, and ATR.

GlobalCollect - AACO Partner since 2007

IAS - AACO Partner since 2008

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Jeppesen and Honeywell introduce industry-first mobile INDS data loading app to deliver avionics updates from iPad: Jeppesen together with Honeywell introduced the aviation industry’s first integrated navigation data service (INDS) iPad solution. First available for operators of Pilatus PC-12 NG aircraft, the iPad app manages cloud-based, wireless data updates for installed Honeywell Primus Apex Integrated Flight Deck avionics that are paired with the Aspen Avionics CG-100 Connected Panel. The new INDS iPad app is expected to be available this summer.

The iPad-based INDS data manager simplifies the update process for Pilatus PC-12 NG pilots and flight departments by providing a remote connection to load critical Jeppesen and Honeywell flight data to onboard Honeywell avionics.

Jeppesen and Dassault Falcon software solution optimizes flight preparation and aircraft performance: Jeppesen and Dassault Falcon introduced a new version of its software solution to further optimize the flight preparation and performance calculation process for users of Falcon EASy Flight Deck series avion-ics.

International law firms Kennedys and Gates and Partners announce merger: We are very pleased to announce that Kennedys is merging with specialist aviation and aerospace law firm Gates and Partners LLP.The merger, which takes effect from 1 June 2013, enables us to offer compre-hensive legal support to the aviation sector including corporate and commer-

cial, regulatory and competition, employment, finance, insurance and dispute resolution services, and also allows us to strengthen our aviation and liability offering to our global insurance and reinsurance clients.For Gates and Partners - recognised globally as a leading aviation law firm - the merger gives it an even greater international platform to expand its client relationships and specialist aviation and aerospace industry services. The aviation expertise of Gates and Partners combined with the strong and diverse national and international practice of Kennedys will allow the aerospace team to enhance its current of-fering on all aspects of aviation law.The merger takes our partner count to 176 with a total of more than 1,120 people world-wide. The spe-cialist aviation team, Kennedys Aviation, will comprise over 60 people including 20 partners.The merged firm will be known as Kennedys and led by Senior Partner Nick Thomas, who comments:“Our expansion continues to be predicated on client need and organic growth and this merger enables us to do what we do best: dedicate ourselves to a particular sector and add real value by combining legal knowledge and industry insight. This approach has served us well in several other sectors. It’s a powerful combination which adds greater value to our clients’ businesses.”Gates and Partners’ Senior Partner Sean Gates will retire from the firm in summer 2013 to pursue his other interests in the aviation industry.

Jeppesen - AACO Partner since 2008

Kennedys - AACO Partner since 2011

Our Partners News


Lufthansa Consulting’s website takes off with brand new look -- Right on time for this 25th anniversary year, Lufthansa Consulting launched a new international website. The aviation consultancy

has completely reshaped the look and feel with a website clearly dedicated to the needs of their clients. Using adaptive web design technology the pages are easily accessible for all mobile devices. The modern layout and targeted content reflect the company’s strategic aim to initiate and strengthen a more per-sonal dialogue with members of the aviation business. The site has dynamic features, a personal tonality and user-friendly adaptations.The new 460 page website offers information about Lufthansa Consulting’s projects and services for airlines, airports and related organizations. Easy navigation helps visitors to access relevant information faster. Visitors can choose the appropriate regional market page to gain direct access to the consultan-cy’s regional representatives and information in their native language.Besides an overview of priority issues on the homepage visitors will find more detailed information in the newly developed Insights section. Aspiring consultants can find a wealth of information about work-ing opportunities at Lufthansa Consulting on the Career pages. The Press Room provides media repre-sentatives with news, useful facts and figures about the company and images for editorial use.Lufthansa Consulting to support development of Icelandair Ground Services: Icelandair Ground Servic-es (IGS) has commissioned Lufthansa Consulting to upgrade its catering facility at Keflavik International Airport (KEF) in Iceland in order to meet the growth in air passenger and aircraft movements by Icelan-dair and other airlines. One important aim of the project is to articulate a clear understanding of the need to develop the catering kitchen facility so that it can meet the demand for a full range of catering activities.

Premier business jet operator in Germany selects MedAire: MedAire an-nounced that German aircraft management and charter service company, K5-Aviation GmbH, has selected MedAire as their medical, security and travel assistance partner.

The agreement provides global in-flight and ground-based medical and security assistance to passengers and crewmembers of K5-Aviation’s managed and chartered aircraft; as well as medical kits, telemedicine assistance, and crew medical training for onboard the aircraft. K5-Aviation pilots and flight attendants will be trained on MedAire’s flagship first aid training course, Management of In-flight Illness and Injury, an aviation-focused medical program recognized around the world. MedAire’s travel risk management solution helps operators meet the critical medical and secu-rity components of an aircraft’s Safety Management System (SMS). The International Business Aviation Council named MedAire as an IS-BAO Support Services Affiliate.K5-Aviation GmbH was founded in 2010 and offers aircraft management and charter services for long-range aircraft. K5-Aviation will supply their aircraft, including an Airbus A319 Corporate Jet (ACJ319), with MedAire.MedAire is a global company with a strong commitment to the German aviation market. MedAire is a member of the German Business Aviation Association and has since presented at a number of regional aviation conferences including EBASCON in Munich.Learn more about the travel risk services provided by MedAire at EBACE 2013. Visit MedAire (Booth 739) and receive complimentary access to the MedAire Portal, an online source for medical and security information about the destinations important to you.

Lufthansa Consulting - AACO Partner since 2010

MedAire - AACO Partner since 2008

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Get passengers and cargo to their destinations—safely and on time. That’s the promise of every airline. Rising complexity puts the burden on technol-ogy to keep it. Which is where mercator comes in.Every airline CEO knows that profits only follow when planes and processes really flow.

Our aviation heritage gives us unequalled insight into what this requires. In 1995, mercator was created to support Emirates Airline—and dnata soon after, the fourth largest airport services company in the world. By delivering IT solutions for these major organizations, we became intimate with both the big picture and micro needs of the industry.

Our team developed an extensive portfolio of solutions, testing them at the highest level in the real world. Today, we offer these systems and the process knowledge of Emirates and dnata on the commer-cial market. Our solutions combine across five key areas of service excellence: Safety, Passenger, Cargo, CRM and Finance.

Our clients span the globe and include award-winning carriers, hybrid, low-cost and regional airlines. While aviation has always driven our technology, the variety of operations we serve has taken our indus-try expertise to another level. Our IT infrastructure helps any airline reduce costs, streamline processes and increase productivity-enabling you to deliver your essential promise.

MTU exhibits at the 2013 Paris Air Show: Lower fuel burn, lower noise, and lower emissions: Germany’s leading engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines is present at this year’s Paris Air Show, showcasing a line-up of commercial and military products and services from its portfolio. The highlight of its exhibition

is the full-scale mock-up of a geared turbofanTM (GTF) engine built by Pratt & Whitney and MTU. “In no other program before have we seen such a large quantity of orders coming in so quickly,” says MTU CEO Mr. Egon Behle. Around 3,500 firm orders and options have been received to date. For the very first time, MTU will also exhibit its high-speed low-pressure turbine. MTU is the only manu-facturer in the world capable of offering the technology in¬cor¬porated in this key GTF component. Apart from being designed for high speed, this GTF module boasts high structural strength to withstand high mechanical loads and a low weight, which boosts efficiency, reduces fuel consumption, and, last but not least, saves on maintenance costs. In March and April, the Munich-based company was honored with two German innovation awards for this outstanding technological achievement. Other commercial engine products on display will include the turbine center frame (TCF) for the GEnx, which powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the new Boeing 747-8 (com-pared with its predeces-sor, the GEnx, too, burns 15 percent less fuel, and hence also cuts CO2 emissions by 15 percent), plus a low-pressure turbine disk for the GP7000 powering the A380 and a compressor with active control systems. The GP7000 sets new standards in terms of reliability, fuel consumption and noise emissions in the wide-body aircraft sector. The German engine specialist will also showcase its world-class capabilities in the fields of manufacturing and repair procedures, presenting, for example, additive manufacturing processes and commercial and military repairs, including an EJ200 compressor blisk repair technique.

mercator - AACO Partner since 2003

MTU - AACO Partner since 2013

Our Partners News


OnAir celebrates Solar Impulse US success: OnAir has applauded the success of the Solar Impulse proj-ect, which is pushing the boundaries of solar-powered flight. The team is currently flying from the West Coast of the US to the East Coast. “I am thrilled the Solar Impulse journey across the US is going so well,” said Mr. Ian Dawkins, OnAir CEO. “This is the type of innovation that determines the future of air travel. It requires skill, hard work and, above all, determination. I am particularly pleased we are doing our bit by providing the satellite technology for Solar Impulse’s connectivity.”

OnAir, the leading provider of inflight connectivity for airlines and business jets, supplies the Solar Im-pulse team with SwiftBroadband satellite technology. It includes the ground infrastructure, specifically designed, with Swisscom, to ensure global air-to-ground communications for the aircraft whenever and wherever it flies. The ultimate aim of the Solar Impulse project is to fly the first solar-powered aircraft around the world. The flight is scheduled for 2015.

OnAir - AACO Partner since 2009

Issue 75 - May 2013 87

Established in 2006, Quali-audit is an Audit Organization (AO) officially accred-ited by IATA to conduct IOSA audit (IATA Operational Safety Audit), ISAGO audits (IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations) and Endorsed Training Organisation

(ETO) to train IOSA auditors.

Quali-audit is an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary of Air France Consulting, with principal offices at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and additional offices in Atlanta, Georgia USA, and Buenos Aires, Argen-tina. We offer a complete range of services including safety and operational audits, training and opera-tional assistance in the fields of air operations. We are committed to assist airlines in achieving a higher level of safety, security and quality. The Quali-audit team includes 45 highly experienced professionals with multi-cultural background and experience. Our teams of auditors / instructors have an average experience of 30 years in aviation. Many of our auditors were founding members of the IOSA Task Forces that created the IOSA standards and several continue to be actively engaged in the continued evolution of IOSA.

We are pleased to offer our services to AACO members and we thank the airline members who already have chosen to work with Quali-audit. Presently we have already offered our services to the following AACO members: Saudia, Yemen Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Air Algérie, Tunisair, Jordan Aviation, Oman Air, Afriqiyah Airways, Libyan Airlines and Nouvelair with excellent feedback.

For more information, please contact:Mr. Joris DUTHEIL / Business Manager at E-mail: [email protected], Office:+33174254188, Mo-bile:+33662158713 Quali-audit - AACO Partner since 2008

Optiontown is the pioneer in the World of ‘Dynamic Travel Options’. Our technology was developed following extensive research at the Center of Transportation Studies at MIT, Boston.

Optiontown offers airlines a ground-breaking platform to use its patented Post-Sales Ancillary Revenues purchase algorithms based on the principles of ‘Concurrent Optimization’.

Without the need for any cash investment or complex and lengthy IT integration, airlines can generate between 5 to 7% incremental revenues from its core business – the airline seat – whilst enhancing utility for their customers, by creating a unique travel experience of increased comfort and convenience at af-fordable prices – and fulfilling the consumers’ unmet desires.

The Optiontown product portfolio includes Upgrade Travel Option (UTo), Empty Seat Option (ESo), Flexi-bilty Reward Option (FRo), Preferred Seat Option (PSo), Preferred Flight Option (PFo), Multiple Booking Option (MBo), Lounge Access Option (LAo), Xtra Baggage Option (XBo) and several others to be intro-duced soon, which are based on patented algorithms using the latest concepts of artificial intelligence. These options on ancillary services are available to the passengers after purchasing a ticket from the airline or a travel agent.

World-class international airline clients use the Optiontown suite of algorithms to enable further inter-action with their passengers after they have concluded the ticket purchase. Optiontown has 40 product installations across 14 airline partners globally. Optiontown is head-quartered in Boston, Massachusetts and operates branches in Canada, India, Europe and Malaysia.

Optiontown - AACO Partner since 2003

Our Partners News


Sabre and Expedia grow technology partnership, expanding in Asia: Sabre, and Expedia, Inc. have ex-panded their global technology partnership into Asia. Expedia’s online business in Singapore and Ma-laysia is now powered by Sabre’s technology, providing online shoppers with some of the broadest and most competitively-priced travel options in the region.The expanded agreement sees Expedia tap into a wide range of technology services from Sabre, includ-ing its leading online fare search technology and access to global travel supplier content from both Sabre and Abacus, the leading global distribution provider (GDS) in Asia, partly owned by Sabre. The unique combination of technology helps Expedia meet its promise to provide the best travel experience to con-sumers. Sabre and Expedia established their partnership in 2005 in North America, and have since expanded into Latin America and now Asia.

Sabre Custom Offers delivers personalized travel shopping: Hotels selling through Sabre are now merchandising in new ways by creating personalized offers based on individual traveler and shopping information. Sabre’s Custom Offers gives hoteliers the ability to create an endless number of unique, personalized offers such as special rates, room upgrades, premium hotel services, free meals, Wi-Fi, spa services and more.These new merchandising capabilities have been integrated into Sabre’s travel marketing and shopping services, which are available today through the Sabre global distribution system (GDS). Custom Offers also provides airlines the ability to make custom ancillary offers available (for items like seats and bags) based on frequent flier number and frequent flier tier level. Sabre’s Custom Offers lets travel suppliers use the information they have about the traveler combined with Sabre shopping data to dynamically present personalized offers in real time during the shopping process. Custom Offers is available to Sabre hotel and airline customers worldwide, and to agents and travelers who buy through Sabre. Hoteliers can utilize this unique capability to offer specific services relevant to the individual consumer, helping to personalize the hospitality experience. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., represent-ing nine distinctive brands, is the first Sabre hotel customer to use Custom Offers.Sabre’s Custom Offers provides travel suppliers significant controls, with the ability to quickly establish, and fine tune criteria for targeted campaign offers globally. Daily online reporting reveals campaign per-formance and allows for modifications as needed.This means more choices and value for consumers, as these personalized offers are in addition to other published and negotiated rates available to travelers through Sabre. Sabre Custom Offers is available to travel agents using the Sabre Red Workspace and through Sabre Web Services for integration with online travel sites and corporate booking tools.

Issue 75 - May 2013 89

Air France-KLM ancillaries go live in Sabre: Sabre, a global technology company, has started selling pre-paid baggage for Air France- KLM.The airline has chosen to sell this ancillary product through Sabre using industry technology standards developed by ATPCo and IATA.The electronic miscellaneous document (EMD) standard allows an agent to efficiently purchase an airline’s ancillary products on behalf of travellers in the same way they would a base airfare. This helps airlines generate revenue by making their ancillary products broadly available and easy to buy in all channels.David Gross, senior vice president said the sale of ancillaries, such as pre-paid baggage, is an increasingly valuable revenue stream for airlines.Air France-KLM joins a long list of airlines, including Finnair, Alitalia, Brussels Airlines, Qantas, Westjet and US Airways, that have chosen to offer ancillary services and bundled fares through Sabre’s travel marketplace and travel agencies.

Sabre and United Airlines sign new distribution and merchandising agreement: Global travel technol-ogy company Sabre announced today it has signed a new, long-term, full content agreement with United Airlines. Sabre and the airline plan to work together to make United’s material ancillary products and services, including its Economy Plus seats, available in the Sabre global distribution system (GDS).United’s published fares and inventory, as well as its material ancillary products and services that are distributed through Sabre, will be available to travel buyers worldwide who use the Sabre travel market-place. Sabre and United currently are working to make United’s premium seat option, Economy Plus, available once again through Sabre.United joins other global airlines that sell or expect to sell their ancillary products and services in the Sabre travel marketplace. Sabre and United will co-develop solutions using next-generation technology that will permit United to offer more relevant personalized offers to their loyal customers. These advancements will also better promote and disclose the unique value of the airline’s different fare and ancillary products and services to travel agents with additional descriptive text and graphics for enhanced on-screen merchandising within the Sabre Red Workspace and through Sabre Web Services.

Sabre - AACO Partner since 2002

Our Partners News


Seabury is a global advisory group providing consulting, human capital, banking, restructuring, and IT support, primarily to airlines. Seabury staff includes consultants and investment bankers as well as expe-rienced former industry executives and technical experts. Seabury’s primary regional offices are located in New York, London and Hong Kong.

With more than 150 professionals across Consulting and Banking, Seabury has served over 75 airline clients through nearly 300 projects over the last five years. Our unique team structure sets us apart from other advisors. We integrate the analytics of top-tier strategy consultants, the functional depth of tech-nical experts, the financial acumen of top bankers and the experience of former senior executives. As a result we hit the ground running and inspire trust in our clients by demonstrating expertise and under-standing from the first day.

Seabury works with airlines to create enormous value: either on increasing revenue or reducing costs. Our current and past clients will testify to the impact we have made to their results: working closely and cooperatively with an airlines’ senior teams.

Shell Aviation wins Armbrust Award for the 12th consecutive year: Shell Aviation has won the award for Best Technical and Operational Performance in the 2013 Armbrust Awards held in Berlin earlier this month. It is the 12th year running that Shell has won the award and the 14th time in the awards’ 17-year history.

The awards are based on responses to an industry survey by publishing and consulting company, Arm-brust Aviation Group. Questionnaires were distributed to all the world’s airlines and fuel suppliers, who were asked to rate fuel suppliers and airport operators’ performance during 2012.

Mr. Xinsheng Zhang, Vice President, Shell Aviation, says, “I am delighted our customers have recognized us as having the Best Technical and Operational Performance in the 2013 Armbrust Awards. Shell is committed to ensuring that our customers benefit from a reliable supply network, efficient services and technology leadership. We will continue to work hard to provide operational and technical excellence.”Mr. John Lo, General Manager, HSSE Operations and Technical, Shell Aviation, says, “This is a great win for us and shows that airlines and marketers value the service we provide. We really appreciate this vote of confidence.”

Seabury - AACO Partner since 2008

Shell Aviation- AACO Partner since 2008

Issue 75 - May 2013 91

SITA Airport Services deliver increased productivity to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport: SITA has been selected by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Authority (DGCA) and the Lebanese flag-carrier Middle

East Airlines-Air Liban (MEA) to provide airport services at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport for the next five years. SITA has been the sole provider of common-use (CUTE) services at the airport since 1998 and the new contract includes passenger processing with the SITA AirportConnect Open platform and PassengerBagDrop, which allows passengers on any airline who have checked in online to drop their baggage on arrival at the airport. SITA’s unique WorldTracer kiosks, which allow passengers to register if their baggage has been delayed without the need to stand in line to speak with an airline representa-tive, will also, be introduced at the airport. SITA AirportConnect Open is enabling MEA, and the airlines it handles, to access their individual IT applications, both common-use and proprietary, in real time on best-of-breed equipment. This allows airlines to share workstation positions, such as check-in counters and gates, and to run airline-specific applications in a shared environment.Passengers welcome SITA’s biometric gates at Dublin Airport: Certain passengers arriving at Dublin Air-port are able to avail of self-service immigration control at Ireland’s borders thanks to a pilot of automat-ed border control (ABC) gates put in place by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service(INIS) and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). As part of this project, SITA’s iBorders biometric gates use the latest biometric technology to identify each passenger through facial recognition. They rapidly verify the pas-senger is the passport holder and is authorized to access the country. SITA’s gates at Dublin Airport are currently processing up to 1,000 passengers a day, in as few as 7.5 seconds each. SITA joined forces with the Irish authorities to explore both passenger acceptance and the efficiency of the gates as EU member states implement recommendations to move to self-service border control using ABC gates.

Travelport Merchandising Platform gathers momentum as Travelport announces strong Q1 results: The recently launched Travelport Merchandising Platform is already chang-

ing the future of airline distribution by transforming the way airlines deliver their products through the travel agency channel. This pioneering new technology is what truly differentiates Travelport from the rest of the industry, as Travelport is currently the only GDS encouraging airlines to connect in any way they want, in order to deliver their full product portfolio with equal impact across all distribution channels.In May, this innovative new platform has continued to gather pace with the announcement that two Eu-ropean low cost carriers, Jet2.com and Norwegian, are the latest airlines to participate in the aggregated shopping component of the Travelport Merchandising Platform. Travelport Aggregated Shopping enables fares from LCCs or airlines, which choose to connect to Travelport via an API to be shopped, priced and booked in the same screen and through the same process as network carriers. It’s another Travelport industry first! With Jet2.com and Norwegian added, further low cost fares on nearly 540 routes and over 170 destinations are now available to be booked in this way by travel agency customers.Since launching the new merchandising platform, Travelport has been encouraged by the strong interest it has attracted from the airline community, who recognize that Travelport is ready, willing and able to use new technologies to enable them to distribute the way they want to.The news also comes shortly after Travelport announced positive financial results for the first quarter of 2013. Travelport reported an increase in underlying revenue, a growth in underlying Adjusted EBITDA, and a significantly strengthened Travelport group balance sheet following April’s successful refinancing.

SITA - AACO Partner since 2008

Travelport - AACO Partner since 2000

AACO, &RTCCALENDARS

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16-18 Principles of Air Transport Economics / Cairo

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23-25 Revenue and network planning for Airline Managers / Cairo24 -27 Dangerous Goods Regulations – Refresher / Amman

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For additional information, kindly contact Mr. Emad M. Abouzeid / Executive Director Training at [email protected]

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Click on the banner to register for attending this year’s AGM

AACO CALENDAR AACO RTC CALENDAR

Google Flight Search Workshop / Amman

Fuel Project - Tender 2014 - Pre-paratory Meeting / Dubai

http://www.aaco.org/agm

OUR MEMBERAIRLINES, &INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Issue 75 - May 2013 99

Our Member Airlines, & Industry Partners


AACO member airlines were established in the following sequence:1. Egypt Air (1932) 2. Iraqi Airways (1945)3. Middle East Airlines (1945)4. Saudia (1945)5. Syrian Arab Airlines (1946)6. Sudan Airways (1946)7. Tunis Air (1948)8. Gulf Air (1950)9. Air Algerie (1953)10. TMA (1953)11. Kuwait Airways (1954)12. Royal Air Maroc (1957)13. Yemen Airways (1962)14. Royal Jordanian (1963)15. Libyan Airlines (1964)16. Emirates (1985)17. Nouvelair (1989)18. Oman Air (1993)19. Qatar Airways (1995)20. Palestinian Airways (1995)21. Tassili Airlines (1997)22. Jordan Aviation (2000)23. Afriqiyah Airways (2001)24. Etihad Airways (2003)25. Air Arabia (2003)26. Air Cairo (2003)27. Maximus Air (2005)28. Petra Airlines (2005)29. NAS Air (2006)30. Rotana Jet Aviation (2010)

AACO MEMBER AIRLINES AACO INDUSTRY PARTNERS


References:The news included in this bulletin are collected from various sources as fol-lows:AACO ATW OnlineAACO Industry Partners InnovataICAO Greenaironline.comEC ZawyaAirlines’ websites Airports’ websitesVarious newspapers ATIGulf News Arab NewsKhaleej Times MENAFNArabian Business Arabian Aerospace AMEInfo Others Where the news item was not based on various sources, AACO clearly men-tions the source.When the source is AACO, other parties may publish the information provided by AACO, but with reference to the source.

Definitions:1. Geographical Areas:Americas: Includes North, Central, and South American CountriesMid Asia: Includes the following countries: Bangladesh, India, Iran, Afghani-stan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.Australasia: Includes the following countries: China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Australia.Europe: Includes the European countries.Arab World: Includes the Arab countries.Sub-Saharan Africa: Includes the African countries except Arab countries in North Africa which are: Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.

2. Abbreviations:RPK: Revenue Passenger KilometerASK: Available Seat Kilometer.PLF: Passenger Load Factor.RTK: Revenue Tonnes Kilometer.ATK: Available Tonnes Kilometer.WLF: Weight Load Factor.

3. All statistics in this bulletin represent the absolute number of passengers unless mentioned otherwise.

4. Connotations:To and From the Arab world: indicates traffic between the Arab world and other world regions.Within the Arab world: indicates traffic within the Arab world regionTo, From, and Within the Arab world: indicates the sum of the above

Issue 75 - May 2013 101

About AACO The Arab Air Carriers Organization “AACO”, established in 1965 within the framework of the Arab League of States, is the Regional Association of the Arab Airlines who have their homebase in countries members of the Arab League.

AACO’s Vision is to stand out globally as THE association that serves with dedi-cation the Arab airlines and be instrumental in dealing with an evolving avia-tion industry.

AACO’s Mission is to serve the Arab airlines, represent their common interests and facilitate, in a manner consistent with all applicable competition and other laws their cooperation so as to improve their operational efficiencies and bet-ter serve the travelling public.

AACO’s Objectives:To support the Arab airlines’ quest for highest safety and security standards.To support the Arab airlines’ quest for developing their environmental policies for processes in harmony with the environment. To actively contribute in the development of human resources.To interact with the regulatory bodies to support and protect the interests of the Arab airlines.To launch and serve joint projects between member airlines with the objec-tive of embracing best practices to assist the airlines in serving their customers within strict adherence to competition laws.To provide forums for members and for industry partners to enhance the knowledge base and improve cooperation amongst them.To reflect the positive image of The Arab Airlines Globally.

For any comments or suggestions, please write to:Mrs. Manal Fares

Manager - Industry [email protected]

[email protected]

Mr. Rashad KarakyManager - Economics, IT & Technical Management

[email protected]

85 Anis Nsouli St., VerdunP.O.Box: 13-5468

2044-1408 Beirut– Lebanon

Phone: 00961-1-861297/8/9Fax: 00961-1-863168

http://twitter.com/arabaircarriers

http://www.facebook.com/pages/AACO/312650468833535

http://lb.linkedin.com/in/arabaircarriers

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