Airlines' fuel practices feed doubts over climate commitment

PARIS, France — Airlines have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints under the gaze of public opinion, but the pressure of the bottom line means some fly with extra fuel, boosting emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

As the highly competitive air travel industry is being pushed to reduce its carbon emissions—which it puts at two to three percent of the global total—the practice known as fuel tankering has become an acid test for airlines' commitment to really go green.

In fuel tankering, an aircraft's tanks are filled sufficiently at the departure airport to avoid having to take on additional fuel for the return leg at a destination airport where fuel costs may be higher, or there are supply issues.

According to a study by Eurocontrol, the practice is a money-saving strategy for airlines as it outweighs the cost of additional fuel needed to carry the extra weight on the outbound flight.

"Aviation is a very competitive market and each airline needs to minimise operating costs, in order to keep its ticket prices as competitive as possible," said the group, an inter-governmental organisation that helps harmonise regulations in the sector.


With fuel accounting for up to 25 percent of airlines' operating expenses, "saving fuel has become a major challenge for aviation", it added.

Eurocontrol found that in Europe fuel tankering concerns about one in six flights, on average resulting in an extra 136 kg of fuel burned.

Despite the additional fuel cost of 75 euros it still results in a net saving of 126 euros per flight. That saving also includes nine euros for purchasing carbon allowances for the 428kg of additional CO2 generated.


The report estimated that in Europe fuel tankering could generate net savings of 265 million euros per year for airlines, while adding 286,000 tonnes of fuel burnt and 901,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

"This represents about 2,800 round-trips between Paris and New York or the annual emissions of a European city of 100,000 inhabitants," said the report.

Everybody does it...

After being called out for fuel tankering by the BBC, British Airways called it a "common practice across the airline industry" and said that it is done for "operational, safety and price reasons."

British Airways said it resorts to fuel tankering for "mainly short-haul destinations where there are considerable fuel price differences between European airports."

Willy Walsh, the head of IAG, British Airway's parent company, acknowledged that the issue shows that airlines are torn between economic and environmental imperatives.

"What we see today is that there is often a conflict between what we do that makes a commercial and financial sense and the things we should be doing from an environmental point of view," he told investors at a gathering at the beginning of November.

Germany's Lufthansa said it resorts to fuel tankering only exceptionally for operational reasons because the practice "goes against our goal of reducing carbon emissions," said a spokesman.

Air France said it practiced fuel tankering only on "some specific" routes for economic or organisational reasons.

Offsets

The airline industry adopted in 2016 a mechanism called CORSIA to offset any increase in CO2 emissions from 2020 levels using tree-planting and other schemes that absorb carbon.

This will allow the industry to continue to grow to meet rising demand for air travel without adding any additional carbon on a net basis.

Budget airline easyJet announced it plans to go further by offsetting emissions from all flights.

Most airlines have also undertaken efforts to reduce their emissions such as optimising flight paths, using electric towing vehicles or reducing the weight of seats.

But these efforts are not sufficient believes Andrew Murphy of the non-governmental organisation Transport and Environment.

"The increase of aviation emissions and stories like this show that actually the industry isn't doing enough and actually we can't just rely on the industry to cut it's own emissions," said Murphy.

"The equation is super complex" to arrive at a reduction of emissions when the volume of air traffic is expected to double every 15 to 20 years, said Pascal Fabre, an air travel expert at the consultancy Alix Partners.

The situation is even more daunting as airlines need to make money to survive, with around a dozen going out of business in the past year and a half according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

source: philstar.com

Longest non-stop flight to take off from New York to Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia — A plane and its passengers are set to test the mental and physical limits of long-haul aviation when Qantas operates the first direct flight by a commercial airline from New York to Sydney this weekend.

In the first of three "ultra long-haul" test flights planned by Australia's national flag carrier this year, researchers will monitor the effects on passengers of the 19-hour non-stop journey.

Up to 40 passengers and crew—most of them Qantas employees—will be on board the Boeing 787-9 when it departs New York on Friday. The plane is scheduled to arrive Down Under Sunday morning.


Passenger numbers have been restricted to minimize the weight on board and give the plane sufficient fuel range to travel approximately 16,000 kilometers (about 9,500 miles) without re-fuelling, heading west over the Pacific.

No other airline has ever achieved the feat, which Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has called the "final frontier in aviation."

Scientists from two Australian universities will be on board to monitor passengers' sleep patterns, melatonin levels, and food consumption.

Pilots will also wear a device that tracks their brain waves and alertness.

With a 15-hour time difference between New York and Sydney, the impact of jetlag will be closely watched.

"We know from the basic science of circadian rhythms that a bigger time difference between departure and arrival locations, and travelling east rather than west, tends to mean people feel more jetlag," University of Sydney professor Stephen Simpson told AFP.

"But people seem to be wildly different when it comes to the experience of jetlag—and we need more research on what contributes to jetlag and travel fatigue, so we can try and reduce the impact of long-haul flights."

Qantas last year introduced the first direct service from the western Australian city of Perth to London, with the 17-hour journey one of the longest passenger flights in the world.

As well as the New York-Sydney route, Qantas will test a service from London to Sydney in the coming months.

The airline is considering launching commercial services on the marathon routes—if the economics stack up.

A decision will be made on the validity of the flights at the end of the year. Joyce has said it is "ultimately a business decision."

Pilots concerned 

Another hurdle could come from within the organization.

Qantas pilots have raised concerns about the impact of ultra long-range flying on safety standards.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents Qantas pilots, said the exploratory flights "will produce a limited set of data that will not adequately replicate real-world flying conditions."

AIPA safety director Shane Loney has called for a "scientific long-term study" into the impacts on crew.

"Pilots are concerned about being able to get enough quality rest during ultra long-range flights to maintain peak performance and we believe significant caution should be exercised in the initial operations to make sure there are no unintended consequences," he said.

A Qantas spokesperson said the test flights are "just one part of the work we are doing to assess how to the operate these flights safely".

Both Airbus and Boeing have pitched aircraft for the Qantas ultra long-haul routes. Joyce has said it is not a "foregone conclusion" which company will be chosen.

source: philstar.com

Report ranks Korean Air as world's best performing airline

SEOUL — Korean Air has been ranked the world’s best performing airline by Air Transport World’s (ATW) annual World Airline Report published last August.

The airline posted a net profit of $850 million last year, about a $1.4 billion positive change over 2016. The Korean flag carrier was also ranked by ATW as one of the world’s top 20 airlines in operating revenues and top 25 in operating profit and RPKs (revenue passenger kilometers).

“Korean Air is a remarkably strong airline both in terms of finance and in global operations,” said John Jackson, managing vice president of the Americas. “We are the largest transpacific carrier and have become the strongest transpacific alliance with our joint venture with Delta. We also are in a position along with our partner, Delta, to open new markets like Boston and Minneapolis/St. Paul next spring. This is an exciting time for our airline.”

Korean Air, which is yet to celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, attributes the rise in profitability to a variety of factors including focus on qualitative rather than quantitative growth; more diversified marketing strategies; more flexibility in capacity control; route profitability monitoring; differentiation through customer service; and continued introduction of new aircraft like the B-787, among others.

ATW, the sister publication of Aviation Week, has been ranking the world’s airlines for five decades. The publication has been the leading monthly magazine serving the global airline and air transport manufacturing communities.

To know more about Korean Air's programs, routes, frequencies and partners, visit their website koreanair.com, or visit their social media at Facebook: facebook.com/KoreanAir, Google: google.com/+KoreanAir_KE and Twitter: twitter@KoreanAir_KE.

source: philstar.com

PAL taps Swiss company for inflight mobile, Wi-Fi services

MANILA - Philippine Airlines (PAL) has partnered with a Geneva-headquartered service provider of inflight connectivity solutions for the flag carrier's mobile and Wi-Fi Internet services on its Asia Pacific, Australasia and North American flights.

In a statement, PAL said Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir will be retrofitted on the flag carrier's Airbus A330-343s and Boeing B777-300ERs starting next month.

The global GSM and Wi-Fi services will be launched by mid-year.

“As the country's leading airline, we must enable our passengers to stay in touch during flights. Connectivity is an absolute requirement for today’s travellers,” Ramon S. Ang, PAL president and chief operating officer said.

“It’s important for us and our customers to have a service that is global, of high quality and flexible enough to suit the needs of all passengers,” he added.

PAL is confident it can provide consistent connectivity on all flights using the A330 and B777 because of OnAir’s unique coverage.

OnAir has regulatory approvals from over 90 countries, as well as roaming agreements with more than 350 mobile network operators. Also, OnAir uses Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband network, the only one designed specifically to provide worldwide satellite coverage.

“Passenger use of the inflight GSM and Wi-Fi networks mirrors behavior on the ground, which is why having both is so important,” Ian Dawkins, OnAir chief executive said.

“When both GSM and Wi-Fi are available, over 90 percent of passengers use GSM. Simply turn on your phone or tablet and use it for calls, text messages, emails, updating Facebook and Twitter, as well as the Internet. No need to enter your credit card details because the costs are included in your mobile phone bill, as with international roaming. People typically use the Wi-Fi for business. It is more suitable for heavier email and Internet usage. We give passengers the choice,” Dawkins said.

Last year, Cebu Pacific also partnered with OnAir to provide Wi-Fi service to passengers in the budget airline's Airbus A330 fleet. Under the next phase, the airline also has the option to install Wi-Fi on its fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft, for short haul flights.

Cebu Pacific had said that its A330 fleet is scheduled to have Wi-Fi installed middle of this year, in time for the airline’s initial deployment of long haul services.

The airline's A330 fleet, planned for introduction in the third quarter, will allow Cebu Pacific to provide direct, non-stop flights to regions within the aircraft’s 11-hour flying range, including the Middle East, Australia, parts of Europe and the US.

source: interaksyon.com

Airline asks passengers for gas money

(CNN) -- Passengers were asked to help pay for fuel on a Beirut-bound Air France flight that had to be diverted to Syria this week, the airline said.

In the end, passengers did not have to go into their pockets to help fuel the plane, the airline said.

"Air France confirms that it asked passengers if they had cash, as payments for fuel can only be made in cash in Damascus," an Air France statement said. "Ultimately, Air France could pay the full amount itself, and passengers did not have to advance any cash."

The incident occurred Wednesday on a flight from Paris to Beirut.

Because of security concerns in Beirut, the plane was scheduled to divert to Jordan. The plane could not secure a flight path to Amman, so instead, the crew decided to land in Damascus, Air France said.

It was during the two-hour stopover in the Syrian capital that passengers were asked for gas money.

After Air France figured out the issue, the passengers were flown to Cyprus and then taken to Beirut on Thursday.

"Air France apologizes to its customers for the inconvenience," the airline said.

source: CNN

PAL hiring more flight crews

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Airlines is looking to hire more flight crews as an expansion program anticipates a growing market for air travel.

During the delivery of its third Boeing 777-300ER last week, PAL president Ramon Ang said PAL’s growth rests on the modernization of its fleet, the expansion of its network and improvements in passenger service.

“Philippine Airlines must become known for its warm, sincere and hospitable service; we operate in a very competitive environment, but one with a wealth of opportunity, the Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market for air travel and we need to improve our competitiveness as an airline,” Ang said.

The airline will be acquiring three more 777-300ERs until November next year, 2013, completing its fleet modernization for long haul flights and replacing the aging B747 fleet.

PAL said flight crew applicants from Metro Manila and Luzon should go to the Diamond Hotel from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on August 11for the Airlines Cabin Crew Recruitment Tour, which will kick off a nationwide drive. Registration ends at 10 a.m.

Aspiring cabin crews from from Visayas and Mindanao are advised to watch for announcements of when the recruitment tour goes to their regions.

Applicants should bring their resumes with close-up and full-body photos, and apply in person.

More information is on PAL's website at www.philippineairlines.com. Eric B. Apolonio, InterAksyon.com

source: interaksyon.com