Gatwick drone disruptions cost easyJet £15 million 

Low cost British carrier easyJet took a £15 million hit from the recent drone-related flight disruptions at Gatwick Airport. 

The December disruptions resulted in 400 cancelled easyJet flights, affecting 82,000 customers – leading to lost revenue of £5 million and customer welfare costs of £10 million. Airlines whose flights are cancelled or heavily delayed are obliged under European law to provide meals, accommodation and alternative transport. 

While easyJet is headquartered at Luton, its largest base is at Gatwick and it is the largest operator at Gatwick - accounting for 45% of Gatwick’s passengers each year. 

The Independent has extrapolated easyJet’s costs during the 33 hour period that flights were disrupted and estimates the total cost of the disruptions to all carriers affected as between £35 and £40 million. Around 1000 flights in total were cancelled during the busiest week of the year for departures from Gatwick.

Gatwick airport itself lost at least £15 million in revenue – putting the total cost of the disruptions at about £50 million. 

Read more HERE and HERE.  

Lion Air voice recorder found 

The cockpit voice recorder from the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8, which crashed last October, has been recovered from under eight metres of seabed mud and the information is being transcribed. 

The aircraft crashed into the sea soon after taking off from Jakarta airport, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board. 

The flight data recorder was recovered days after the crash, but the cockpit voice recorder had proved more elusive. Information from the two onboard systems will assist investigators in preparing their report on the cause of the crash - which is expected in September. 

Lion Air was the first Indonesian low-cost airline and expanded rapidly across south-east Asia in recent years, flying domestic and international routes. 

Lion placed an order for 201 Boeing 737 MAX and 29 Boeing 737-900ER planes in 2011, setting the record for the world's biggest single order of 230 planes for a commercial airline .

In 2016 the European Union lifted a ban on Lion flying into European airspace. 

Read more HERE.

Runway closure at Dubai International Airport

One of Dubai International Airport’s two runways will close in April for 45 days for resurfacing and replacement of ground lighting. 

Dubai is the third busiest airport in the world for passenger traffic and the sixth busiest cargo airport. Last year the southern runway carried more than 80 million passengers and around 2.5 million tonnes of cargo in approximately 400,000 aircraft movements. It is now nearing the end of its life. 

The closure will leave the airport with around 43% of its usual capacity. Airlines are expected to respond by using larger aircraft or by reducing the number of flights through Dubai. 

Dubai is the hub for Emirates. The airline will park up as many as 48 aircraft during the closure, reduce the overall number of scheduled flights by 25%, and change aircraft types. 

Read more HERE and HERE.

Post Brexit travel uncertainty 

Travellers and airlines face post Brexit uncertainty, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The IATA says a ‘no deal’ Brexit could lead to a cap on flights and potential flight cancellations affecting around five million seats. 

Proposed guidance from the EU Commission in the event of ‘no deal’ calls for the current level of flights between the UK and the EU to be maintained; with no provision for an increase in flight numbers in 2019. 

Research by IATA estimates that airlines plan to add five million more seats in 2019 to help meet consumer demand. Many of these will be in the peak summer season when families will be booking holidays. It says these extra seats are at risk if a ‘no deal’ Brexit occurs.

It says protection of current flight levels is an important assurance. But the Brexit clock is ticking and airlines still don’t know exactly what kind of Brexit to plan for. There is legal and commercial uncertainty over how the EU Commission’s plan to cap flight numbers will work. 

A solution that brings certainty to airlines planning growth to meet demand, and to travellers planning business trips and family holidays, is urgently needed according to IATA.

One airline that is talking about the changes it is making ahead of Brexit is easyJet, which has re-registered 130 aircraft (almost half of its total fleet) with its Austrian subsidiary and says it is making good progress ensuring it has a spare parts pool in the European Union and for transferring crew licences. 

There are also passport changes for British travellers post Brexit if the UK leaves the EU with no deal. While UK residents will still be able to use their EU passport as a travel document, they will need at least six months validity on their passport before being admitted to a EU country. 

Read more HERE and HERE.

Safest airlines 

Qantas is the safest airline for 2019, according to AirlineRatings.com, the safety and product rating website.

AirlineRatings.com rates 405 airlines using a seven star rating system based on audits from aviation governing and industry bodies; government audits; crash and serious incident records; profitability, industry-leading safety initiatives, and fleet age. 

It names the top 20 safest airlines for 2019 as (in alphabetical order) Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, and United Airlines, and the Virgin group of airlines (Atlantic and Australia) . Qantas is singled out as the best of this group of 20, as it has been each year from 2014-2017 (there was no ranking within the top 20 in 2018).

The Australia-based ratings website says these airlines are “standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft.” 

United and American Airlines have earned a return to the top 20 list with new aircraft significantly reducing the age of their fleet. Japan Airlines is out, due to an incident involving an intoxicated pilot at Heathrow; and Etihad has dropped out because of significant financial losses. 

The top 10 safest low cost airlines for 2019 includes Flybe, Frontier, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia/Asia, Thomas Cook, Volaris, Vueling, Westjet and Wizz. AirlineRatings.com says these airlines have all passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and have excellent safety records. 

The lowest ranked airlines were named as Ariana Afghan Airlines, Bluewing Airlines, Kam Air, and Trigana Air Service.

Read more HERE and HERE.