Posts Tagged ‘Qantas’
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Thousands of customers of some of the largest airlines on the planet have had their travel plans disrupted by a computer glitch which meant that they could not buy tickets, reserve seats or check in over the internet. Among the airlines affected were Qantas, Cathay Pacific, British Airways and Iberia.
The meltdown happened for around three hours on Monday with the Amadeus system. There are four main booking systems used by the airline industry and when one breaks down it causes havoc at a time when carriers expect passengers to streamline their travel itinerary over the internet.
The breakdown has also affected travel agents who have not been able to access tickets on behalf of their clients. Amadeus has not yet given a reason for the failure of its systems, but has told customers that it is sorry if they experienced any undue disruption. It has also apologised to those airlines which have been affected.
Similar systems run by Galileo and Worldspan were not affected by the glitch.
Industry experts have said that it was fortunate that the problem happened during a relatively quiet travel period and that the situation would have been far more serious during a bank holiday, or over the summer.
Tags: Amadeus, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Qantas
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Airlines which operate Airbus A380s have been warned that a problem with cracks in a component in the wings needs to be addressed. Among the carriers which have been told to check their fleets by the European Aviation Safety Agency are Air France-KLM, Emirates and Singapore Airlines.
Emirates, which has the largest fleet of superjumbos on the planet, said it had already investigated the problem on one of its planes and was currently inspecting the wings of another. A spokesman said that there were no safety issues for the carrier and that schedules would not be disrupted.
EASA said it was concerned that if nothing was done to fix the cracked brackets there could be additional wear and tear over time which could turn into a more serious problem. Although the EASA has since told Qantas that it does not have to comply with last week’s directive, the airline’s engineers have said that they want to have the carrier’s fleet checked.
Paul Cousins, Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association president, explained that cracking in a wing component could cause pressure on other parts of the wing, and that this was a safety problem.
A spokesman for Qantas said that there was no threat to the operations of the superjumbos in its fleet. However, the carrier is continuing to work with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and with Airbus and will monitor the results of inspections by other carriers. If cracks are found, then airlines are being told to contact Airbus for repair supervision.
Tags: a380, Air France KLM, Airbus, easa, Emirates, Qantas, Singapore airlines
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Monday, October 31st, 2011
Air France has said that the impact of a strike by cabin crew over the weekend caused less travel disruption than had been expected. The airline said it had aimed to keep around 80 per cent of services in the air, but had ended up flying 87 per cent on Saturday and 88 per cent on the Sunday. The flag carrier said it would try to fly around 85 per cent of services on Monday. The strike is due to end on Wednesday.
Air France has slammed the unions for asking members to walk out over one of the busiest weekends of the year. As well as being half term for many French schools, Tuesday is a public holiday. Many will have taken the opportunity for a bit of time off work.
In order to comply with safety rules, many Air France flights at the weekend were flying with empty seats. Because of reduced numbers of stewards, the airline said it could only take 100 passengers per flight on short-haul journeys. This meant that passengers were being turned away from check in, even though the flights remained half empty.
The flight crews are fighting against work conditions and a decision by the airline to reduce the number of cabin crew required on long-haul services. The airline was forced to scrap nine long-haul flights at the weekend, including to Abu Dhabi, New York and Tokyo.
Qantas is also involved in a labour dispute. On Friday, the airline grounded all of its planes. However, government intervention means the flying kangaroo is now airborne again.
Tags: Air France, airline, holiday, Qantas, strike
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Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Singapore Airlines is working with engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and planemaker Airbus to find out what went wrong with one of the engines on an A380 superjumbo recently. Just 20 minutes into a flight from Singapore to Hong Kong the pilot reported experiencing vibrations and a surge in one of the aircraft’s Trent 900 engines.
He was then forced to shut the engine down and fly the plane back to base. The double-decker was carrying 21 crew members and 368 passengers none of whom were injured. The incident comes eight months after dramatic engine failure on a Qantas A380 caused a violent explosion and forced an emergency landing.
Qantas grounded its fleet of superjumbos following the incident while accident investigators, Airbus and Rolls-Royce located the cause of the problem. They found that a design fault and a leaking oil pipe had resulted in the failure and Rolls-Royce has since repaired and replaced all of the Trent 900s affected.
Erin Atan, a Rolls-Royce spokeswoman, said the London-based manufacturer would be assisting Singapore Airlines and providing technical support to find out what caused the engine failure and get the problem fixed.
Managing partner at Agency Partners, a London-based research firm, Nick Cunningham said that the Singapore Airlines engine problem was unlikely to be related to the fault discovered on the Qantas A380. He added that shutting down an engine while a plane is in-flight is not such a rare occurrence as to be a major cause for worry.
Airbus has confirmed that it too will be assisting Singapore Airlines.
Tags: a380, Airbus, Qantas, Rolls-Royce, Singapore airlines, superjumbo, Trent 900
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Thursday, June 30th, 2011
The tourism industry in Australia is suffering from the effect of a number of natural disasters this year, as a strong dollar means more people are travelling abroad than are entering the country. Poor weather, local flooding, cyclones and earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan all contributed to a terrible year for the country’s tourism and airline industries.
Qantas boss, Alan Joyce, said the carrier’s international arm was preparing to declare around A$200 million in losses for the fiscal year. The disruption to services during the first week that the volcanic ash cloud drifted over from Chile will cost around A$21 million alone.
The future of the airline is also clouded by the rocketing price of fuel and ever-increasing competition coming from airlines across Asia and in the Middle East. The flag-carrier has already announced cost-cutting initiatives, as well as a reduction in capacity and job losses. Qantas recently slimmed down its growth targets and cancelled orders of new planes.
Tourism and Transport Forum chief, John Lee, said the latest disruption to air travel caused by volcanic ash in the atmosphere was at least as bad as the chaos caused by the 1989 pilots’ strike. He added that the tourism industry was probably losing more than A$10 million every day.
Matters have been made worse by the fact that tourists coming to Australia are spending around 20 per cent less than they were just two years ago, Lee went on to say. The weak economies in the UK and America are also having a negative effect.
Tags: airline, Alan Joyce, ash cloud, Qantas, tourism, travel
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Friday, May 13th, 2011
Following the collapse of merger negotiations in 2008 between British Airways and Australian carrier Qantas, International Airlines Group chief executive, Willie Walsh, has ruled out the possibility that they will be reopened. He said that, at the time, the synergies between the two flag carriers were ideal, but that leaks about the negotiations had scuppered the process.
At the end of last year, Mr Walsh said IAG would be looking to expand through tie-ups with other international carriers or through takeovers. He added that a list of 12 potential candidates had been drawn up, without releasing further details. Many industry insiders said at the time that Qantas was likely to be high on that list. Other possibilities included American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines and Chilean airline LAN.
Recently, Portugal’s TAP has been mooted as a possible acquisition. Although Mr Walsh denied having any discussions with the Portuguese government about the flag carrier, it is believed that the airline will be put up for sale as the country continues to battle its financial problems.
Mr Walsh predicts that as the price of oil remains high many airlines will be forced to seek partnerships in order to survive. He said that low-cost carriers were most at risk because jet fuel accounted for such a large percentage of their operating costs.
He pointed out that budget airlines were also unable to take advantage of the recovery of the cargo industry and the return of passengers willing to pay for premium class seats.
Tags: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, International Airlines Group, Japan Airlines, LAN, Qantas, TAP, Willie Walsh
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Monday, February 7th, 2011
Qantas Airways is looking at a number of options for protecting its market share of international business both to and from the country. Recently, the flag-carrier has been faced with strong competition from rivals including Virgin Blue and Emirates. The airline’s boss, Alan Joyce, has assembled a team of around 20 experts to examine the situation.
Joyce said he was looking at a possible international tie-up with another airline similar to the alliance agreed between Virgin Blue and Etihad. He will also be underpinning new routes with more fuel efficient planes such as the superjumbo A380 from Airbus. From 2012, older aircraft will be replaced by the delivery of the first Dreamliners from Boeing. The carrier currently has an order for 50.
Managing director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Peter Harbison, admitted that the opportunities for Qantas within Australia were limited and that it will become a key aspect of its expansion programme to form an alliance with another large operator.
Qantas has dabbled in tie-ups before. A potential deal with Malaysian Airlines floundered and in December 2008 a possible deal with British Airways was abandoned. Joyce said that Qantas was currently being supported by other arms of the business and that this had to stop.
Last month, Qantas agreed a deal with American Airlines on routes to and from the US. Transpacific services were once the most profitable for the carrier. However, since 2008, Qantas has witnessed increasing competition from Delta and Virgin Blue which now share the route.
Tags: Airbus, airline, Alan Joyce, American Airlines, Boeing, British Airways, Delta, dreamliner, Emirates, Etihad, Qantas, Virgin Blue
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Friday, January 28th, 2011
Airline passengers bound for Bali are facing travel disruption as Mount Bromo in Java continues to throw volcanic ash into the skies. Qantas’ budget arm Jetstar has said it will be cancelling services to the region until it is safe to resume, as has Virgin Blue. Other airlines have also said they will not be flying into the area until experts say it is safe to do so.
However, passengers flying with Garuda Airlines to Denpasar from Melbourne were not disappointed as the carrier’s 11.00am scheduled flight left the runway. Air Asia has also said that it will be continuing to fly to the region.
Both Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are being more cautious and have cancelled flights until they are told it is safe to fly to destinations affected by the eruption. Virgin said that it had decided to postpone its services after taking advice from the Darwin-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.
Jetstar is due to fly to the area from Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin later in the evening, but said it was monitoring the situation and would decide whether or not to carry passengers depending on advice from aviation experts.
Simon Westaway, a spokesman for the airline, said the number one concern had to be passenger safety. With this in mind the carrier will be closely monitoring the situation and will only fly customers when they are guaranteed there is no danger, he added. Last night, Virgin Blue customers flying out of Brisbane and Sydney spent the night in Darwin because of the eruption.
Tags: Air asia, airlines, Cathay Pacific, Garuda, Java, jetstar, Qantas, Singapore airlines, Virgin Blue, volcano
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Friday, January 7th, 2011
The conclusion of a deal with British Airways for new engines will help Rolls-Royce’s confidence after a rocky end to 2010. The deal is worth $5 billion and will see Rolls-built engines powering the airline’s new Dreamliners from Boeing and its fleet of A380 superjumbos from Airbus.
Safety concerns with the Rolls-Royce Trent 900, used to power a number of airlines’ A380s, were raised after one exploded on a Qantas superjumbo shortly after it had taken off from Singapore. Although the plane was able to land safely, Qantas made the decision to ground its fleet while investigations into what went wrong were undertaken.
Australian safety officials concluded that a manufacturing defect in one of the engine parts could lead to future catastrophic engine failure in the Trent 900 if not fixed. British Airways boss, Willie Walsh, said he was pleased that the deal with Rolls-Royce had been concluded adding that it put the airline in a strong position heading into the future.
The order consists of Trent 900s for 12 A380s, with an option for a further seven, and Trent 1000s for 24 Dreamliners, with options for a further 18. The Trent 1000 is already being tested on the 787 and will be the engine used to power the first to be flown by All Nippon Airlines.
Among the other airlines with which Rolls-Royce has agreements is Middle Eastern carrier Emirates, which placed an order worth $1.2 billion in November and Air China which has agreed an order worth $1.8 billion.
Tags: a380, Air China, Airbus, Boeing, British Airways, dreamliner, Emirates, Qantas, Rolls-Royce
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Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
Qantas has announced plans to construct a biofuel plant which would enable it to produce greener fuel for its fleet. The nation’s flag-carrier is currently in discussions about the project with Solena, a US based fuel supplier. According to reports, the plant would be built in Sydney and would create some 1200 jobs.
If construction goes ahead, the operation would be the second in the world to produce biofuel on a commercial scale. The plant would convert everyday rubbish, including household food scraps, tree cuttings, grass and industrial and agricultural waste into jet fuel.
A similar project is already underway in the UK. British Airways has teamed up with Solena to build a plant in London which, when up and running in 2014, will turn half-a-million tonnes of waste into over 70 million litres of jet fuel every year. BA claims this will be enough to run two per cent of the airline’s fleet out of Heathrow.
Airlines are coming under increasing pressure to reduce the amount of CO2 they currently pump into the atmosphere. Industry guidelines stipulate that a saving of 1.5 per cent on fuel efficiency be achieved by the end of the decade. The UN would like to see efficiency improve by two per cent.
By 2020 airlines are aiming to become carbon neutral and by 2050 carriers are aiming to have reduced emission levels to half those recorded in 2005. Spokeswoman for Qantas, Olivia Worth, said the agreement with Solena meant the carrier had committed itself to examining the feasibility of creating jet fuel from rubbish.
Tags: airlines, biofuel, British Airways, jet fuel, Qantas, Solena
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