16 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
director general and chief executive
Alexandre de Juniac described as “not
a big number”.
“It is fair to say 2018 is tougher.
But the airlines are doing a good
job, they are managing a changing
environment,” de Juniac said.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce
said his airline was responding to
rising fuel costs through fare increases,
revenue and capacity management, as
well as the introduction of new aircraft
such as the 787.
“What we see is that certainly
domestically we think the business
can continue to digest oil prices as we
have this year,” Joyce said. “We see
internationally it depends on market
by market.”
“But I have to say, even though we
are seeing airfares increasing in some
markets and we have made some
announcements in New Zealand,
our consumers have never had it any
better than they have today.”
Qantas domestic chief executive
Andrew David added: “As Alan said
with fuel where it is you can expect
to see some fare increases, but rest
assured we will be continuing to drive
the efficiency program.”
Association of Asia Pacific Airlines
(AAPA) director general Andrew
Herdman said carriers’ ability to raise
ticket prices would be constrained by
the competitive environment.
“Fuel is just over 20 per cent of
total costs so if the fuel price is up
30 per cent the fares have got to go
up by six or seven per cent just to
compensate for that. It is just maths.
But you don’t see it,” Herdman said.
“It tells you the market is
competitive, airlines have not beenable to pass it on and that means that
margins must be being squeezed.
“I think we will see fares rising.
That might take a little bit out of the
growth rate but I don’t think it is
going to be dramatic. I certainly don’t
see a major impact on demand.”IATA BRIEFS
Fiji Airways will be the first airline to
join the oneworld marketing alliance
under a new affiliate membership
category called “oneworld connect”,
which offers basic benefits to eligible
oneworld frequent flyer members
and additional perks for members of
sponsor airlines American Airlines,
British Airways, Cathay Pacific and
Qantas. (Qantas owns about 40 per
cent of Fiji Airways.)- Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar
Al Baker has apologised for his
comments at the IATA AGM closing
media conference where in response
to a question about his airline being
led by a male he said: “Of course it
has to be led by a man because it is a
very challenging position.” Later, Al
Baker issued a statement offering his
“heartfelt apologies for any offence
caused” by his comments, which he
said ran “counter to his track record
of expanding the role of women in
leadership throughout the Qatar
Airways Group”.
IATA’s member airlines passed
a resolution calling on national
governments to take a cautious
approach on privatising airports,
instead encouraging governments to
“prioritise the long-term economic
and social benefits delivered by an
effective airport ahead of the short-
term financial gains provided by a
poorly thought-out privatisation”.
IATA director general Alexandre
de Juniac said airlines were yet to
experience an airport privatisation
that fully lived up to its promised
benefits over the long term.- IATA is developing a working paper to
gather data on the expected shortages
of aircraft maintenance engineers
and pilots in the years ahead. Items
to be covered included global
training capacity versus demand,
regulatory requirements and licensing
harmonisation among different
countries, and roadblocks to a career
in aviation such as costs. The data
collection was expected to be complete
by the final quarter of calendar 2018.
Finally, Korean Air will host the 75th
IATA AGM in Seoul to be held June
2-4 2019.
DEFENCE NEWS
The Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) detachment of F-35A pilots,
maintainers and support personnel
based at Luke AFB in Arizona
recorded the 1,000th sortie of an
Australian F-35A on June 4. The
RAAF’s 3SQN operates six F-35As at
the Integrated Training Center (ITC)
where it is embedded with the USAF
56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB,
Arizona.- The Australian Army has begun
rolling out the PD-100 Black Hornet
Nano unmanned aerial system to
its units following a successful trial
program. “UAS are a game-changer
for the Army, providing enhanced
situational awareness for better
mission execution for Australian
soldiers,” said BRIG Susan Coyle,
Commander 6th Brigade and the
Army’s only UAS unit, the 20th
Surveillance Target Acquisition
Regiment.
An RAAF KC-30A Multi Role Tanker
Transport conducted a series of air-
to-air refuelling trials with US Navy
Boeing P-8A Poseidons during a
six-week detachment to NAS Patuxent
Riverin Maryland from February 27
to April 14. The KC-30, along with
members of 33 Squadron and the
Aircraft Research and Development
Unit (ARDU), undertook the
clearance trials with the US Navy’s
P-8A Integrated Test Team from Air
Test and Evaluation Squadron Two
Zero (VX-20).
Debrief
An RAAF KC-30A conducts aerial
refuelling trials with a US Navy
P-8A Poseidon.US NAVY PHOTOGRAPH
BY LIZ WOLTER