MARCH 2020 PAGE 31 THE FLYING COLUMN


AIRBUS VR flight training solution was designed by Captain Shane Carroll, an


A320-family pilot and instructor, with his team of professional software developers from the consumer entertainment industry. Once an Aer Lingus A320 captain, he is currently head of Virtual Reality (VR) Projects at Airbus, based in Dublin. The training solution will provide portable training with a ‘study & practice tool’ for pilots to train at their home base… or re- motely, and is capable of complementing the full flight simulator sessions that are conducted in flight training centres. It will first be used in the Airbus training centres from 2020 H2, with the aim to make it an integral part of the Airbus type rating curriculum.


AMERICAN Airlines, British Air- ways, OpenSkies, Iberia, Finnair and Aer


Laura Bennett;Sean Doyle, Niall McCauley;and Paul Deegan at Aer Lingus brand reveal Shamrock soars A


er Lingus carried a record 2.5m passengers on


trans-Atlantic services in 2019, and plans to increase capacity this summer. The new Montreal ser- vice has been delayed to 2021, and there will be no new trans-Atlantic routes in 2020.


Orlando, Florida will


move from a four flights per week service to six flights per week, the Miami service will increase from two to three flights per week and the Dublin to Seattle route will move to a daily service in summer 2020, increasing from five flights per week. Los Angeles, Washing-


ton D.C. and Minneapolis St Paul will be serviced by the larger Airbus A330 aircraft and the full Boeing 757 fleet will be replaced by four new Airbus A321 neo LR. Aer Lingus now flies to 14 North American destinations. Aer Lingus will add 300,000 extra summer


Ex Ireland JFK


Boston Chicago


San Francisco Orlando


seats to Europe on five new European routes for 2020 with flights direct from Dublin to Italian cities Brindisi (Puglia), Alghero (Sardinia) and Rhodes (Greece), from Shannon Airport to Paris and Barce- lona and from Cork to Nice and Dubrovnik. Dave Shepherd, Chief Commercial Officer at Aer Lingus said “las summer we deployed two Airbus A321neo LRs to our fleet. We are due to take deliv-


ery of more of these next generation aircraft in 2020, which we believe


will


transform our long haul offering with the ability to serve long haul destina- tions with narrow body air- craft. This not only opens up new North American route possibilities for Aer Lingus in the future, but also connection onwards to Europe .” Aer Lingus operating


profit was €276m in 2019 according to IAG prelimin- ary results. Aer Lingus margin was


AER LINGUS TOP 5 TRANSATLANTIC


Ex America Boston Chicago JFK


San Francisco Dulles


Ex Britain Manchester Birmingham Edinburgh Glasgow Heathrow


13.0pc, down 2.5, IAG re- ported preliminary results for 2019 with an operating profit of €3,285m (12.9pc margin) compared to €3,485m (14.4pc) in 2018. Aer Lingus capacity increased 4.2pc from the addition of a new route connecting Dublin and Minneapolis and increases to San Francisco, Seattle and Philadelphia. Passenger revenue was


up 6.1pc, cargo up 0.6pc and other revenue (nearly all intra-group) down 16.8pc. Total revenue was €2,125m up 5.8pc.Passen- ger load factor was 81.8pc, up 0.8 points, both figures less than for the other main IAG members. Passenger unit revenue


was up, with strong long- haul performance and posi- tive retail performance, despite challenging Euro- pean market conditions The reported 2019 Q4


Group operating profit was €765m (12.3pc margin), 7pc higher than €715m (11.9pc) in 2018 Q4 Aer Lingus Q4 margin


was 6.2pc, up from 5.3pc in 2018 Q4, and British Airways 16.0pc, up from 15.4pc, Iberia 8.0pc, un- changed and Vueling 0.9pc, down from 3.9pc The net impact of current (Coronavirus) flight can-


Lingus submitted their Joint Response to the US Department of Transportation’s request for additional Information to extend their North Atlantic Joint Business Arrangement to Aer Lingus. Code sharing would extend to all AA and Aer Lingus transatlantic and behind and beyond networks.


Aer Lingus carries 2.5m T/A passengers in 2019


cellations and redeployed capacity is to lower IAG’s FY 2020 planned capacity (ASK) by approximately 1pc to 2pc. It is not pos- sible to give accurate profit guidance for FY 2020 at this stage. Fuel bill should be significantly down in 2020. IAG remains confident that a comprehensive air transport agreement will be reached between the EU and London. As re- quired by the EU, IAG’s airlines submitted plans on ownership and control to the national regulators in Spain, Ireland, France and Austria. Those regulators con-


firmed that the plans would satisfy EU ownership and control rules in the event of a no deal Brexit. The EU Commission


has been notified about the remedial plans by the national regulators. The plans don’t require EC ap- proval but, as with all EU operating licences, the EC has the right under EU law to investigate and, where appropriate, request the regulators to implement corrective measures. The Westminster Gov- ernment has not required British Airways to submit any remedial plans for a no deal Brexit


IAG Willie Walsh of IAG said “we have to satisfy the regulators in the countries where we


operate, principally, in Spain, France and Aus- tria that our ownership and control are in line with EU regulations. All of the national regu- lators that we have dealt with have since in- formed us that they are satisfied. And that our structure is fully complied with the regulations. The EU Commission had the opportunity to challenge that. But given the process we have gone through, which is quite detailed, and quite extensive, we are satisfied that our structures are robust and that we will continue to stand up to any scrutiny as we move forward.” Stobart Group sold off a 51pc majority share- holding in Stobart Air to the carrier’s 450 employees in 2019 to ensure the operation complied with EU rules following Brexit. Ryanair announced a new route Chania to Budapest, 1w from June 2020


CORK AIRPORT Kevin Cull- inane, Head of Communications at Cork


Airport, has been elected Chairman of the Airport Council International (ACI) Europe Digital Communications Forum at their Spring Conference in Athens. The forum represents airports from over 45 European countries. Qatar Airways has bought a US$600m stake in IAG to increasing its holding from 21.4pc to 25.1pc. Under UK law this would allow Qatar To veto “special resolutions.” IAG is a Span- ish/EU company and similar provisions may or may not apply.


EU competition regulators widened their investigation into additional incentives granted


by Spanish authorities to Ryanair and other airlines operating at two airports in Catalonia, concerned that they may have an unfair advan- tage.


RYANAIR announced a new year-round route Paphos to Yerevan in Armenia) 2w com-


mencing in June as part of its renewed Cyprus 2020 schedule.


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