Switzerland

Brazil moves swiftly (at last) to award airport concessions

With the 2014 World Cup looming, less than two and half years away, and the Government having faced mounting criticism from many quarters as to its tardiness in resolving infrastructure issues, Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) moved swiftly this week to conclude the concession auction for three major airports, two in Sao Paulo and one in Brasilia. Together they handle 30% of Brazil’s passenger traffic. While some of the participants are not exactly household names, it is interesting to note that one of them is South Africa's ACSA, which helped host the previous World Cup tournament.

Lufthansa earnings fall 27% as outlook deteriorates further

Germany’s Lufthansa Group, Europe’s largest airline group by revenue, reported a 27% drop in third quarter (three months to 30-Sep-2011) operating profit as “the macroeconomic environment darkened significantly” in the period. The group warned the economic gloom is showing no signs of abating and due to an ugly forward bookings profile, Lufthansa is again slashing future capacity plans.

The airline breathed a sigh of relief as the third quarter result pushes the airline back firmly into the black in the YTD period. Although the result “does not have us jumping for joy,” CEO Christoph Franz said, Lufthansa is profitable while many “competitors are struggling to make figures that are not in the red”.

Etihad Airways extends reach with TAP codeshares to Portugal

United Arab Emirates national carrier Eithad Airways has signed a codeshare agreement with TAP Portugal, expanding its global reach a little bit further. Etihad will gain a virtual network in Portugal – where competitors Emirates and Qatar Airways do not have flights to – by codesharing on TAP flights from common European points they both serve to Portugal, which Etihad does not fly directly to. TAP will codeshare on Etihad flights from their common European ports to Abu Dhabi. The agreement will largely force Emirates and Qatar, if they want a presence in the small Portuguese market, to either establish direct routes or partners with less geographically and schedule convenient carriers.

Etihad will place its code on TAP-operated flights from Lisbon to Brussels, Düsseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Funchal, Geneva, London, Milan and Porto, in addition to flights from Porto to Brussels and Geneva. In return, TAP will place its code on Etihad Airways flights to and from Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, and Milan, with the two carriers effectively establishing mini transfer hubs at those airports.

Middle Eastern LCCs driving growth into Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS

Russia, the CIS nations and Central and Eastern Europe have been receiving a great deal of attention from Middle East-based carriers in recent months. Full service and low-cost carriers have announced or added a flurry of routes into Eastern European destinations over the past few weeks. Airlines in the Middle East are looking to tap into the underserved region, which is still showing strong economic growth despite troubles in several European markets and strong growth in business and tourism traffic.

Homegrown LCCs Air Arabia and flydubai are leading a push into the regions, but so too is Qatar Airways. Additionally, Oman Air plans to launch services to Moscow. While Middle Eastern carriers have long dominated traffic into western Europe, they now comprise the majority of traffic between the Middle East and central Europe, eastern Europe, Russia and CIS.

New Swiss airline SkyWork aims for “metro-capital” airport success

Tiny Switzerland has another airline, this one based in Bern, the nation’s capital and fourth largest city. Given that both Zurich and Geneva, the most populous, are small by global standards, basing an airline in a metro area with only 350,000 inhabitants may be a risky, and previously unsuccessful, endeavour. However, that history has not prevented yet another attempt named SkyWork.