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Recent News Headlines in the Aviation industry...

1 - Emirates Wins Cargo Airline Of The Year Award

Emirates Sky Cargo has been voted Cargo Airline of the Year. The award is the highest accolade at the prestigious Cargo Airline of the Year Awards organised by trade magazine **Air Cargo News***, which attract votes from readers across the world. This is the sixth time the cargo carrier has won the award in its 25-year history. Emirates SkyCargo was also voted Best Middle East Cargo Airline for 22nd consecutive year at the Awards, which were held in London recently. EmiratesҠDivisional Senior Vice President Cargo, Ram Menen, who was at the event, said, Ӆmirates SkyCargo is thrilled to receive these awards. To be recognized as the worldҳ leading air cargo carrier is an incredible achievement and a powerful endorsement of our commitment to customer service and quality. Our close relationship with the cargo industry is of great importance to us and we are very grateful to them for their continued support.Ԡ Emirates SkyCargo receives these awards at a time of continued growth. Over the past year, two Boeing 777Fs have joined the airlineҳ fleet of freighter aircraft. The carrierҳ network is growing too. Emirates SkyCargo currently serves a global route network that spans over 100 destinations across six continents

2 - ACE Aviation's Robert Milton made $14.7 million in 2009

By: The Canadian Press MONTREAL - Robert Milton, the chief executive of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. (TSX:ACE.B), parent company of Air Canada, made nearly $15 million in salary, severance and incentive fees in 2009, the Montreal headquartered company said Tuesday. ACE, with assets of $71 million and whose principal activity is the running of its 34.9 per cent stake in Air Canada (TSX:AC.B), "rationalized" its compensation structure in May 2009. According to a management proxy circular released by the company, the new arrangement put an end to guaranteed contracts for its executives and replaced them with "variable cost consultancy arrangements." As such, ACE, in 2009, paid out severance payments to Milton, 49, and two other members of his team, even though they kept the same jobs within the company. In addition to a base salary of $504,168 and consulting fees worth $157,500, Milton also received severance compensation of $7.62 million and a "last payment" of $5 million in incentive awards. That met the terms of a contract signed in 2005 that called for the payments in exchange for "value-enhancing transactions" that resulted in payouts to shareholders. In the last five years, ACE has spun off the Aeroplan (TSX:AER) frequent flyer program and regional airline Jazz Air (TSX:JAZ.UN) for $2.25 billion. In total, the five principal company executives shared $23.1 million in 2009, compared with $10 million in 2008. With the new consultant contracts in place, the yearly fees paid out to Milton top out at $270,000, with $135,000 for each of two vice-presidents and $65,000 for the controller. However, if their services are required for more than 40 days, they are entitled to benefits worth between $2,000 and $8,000 per day. The deals expired on May 31, but have been renewed for another year, the company said. According to ACE, the new executive compensation program represents a yearly cost savings of $4 million. The holding company's annual meeting will be held June 30 in Montreal. ACE Aviation stock fell five cents, or 0.62 per cent, to $8 Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

3 - EMIRATES ORDERS 32 MORE AIRBUS A380S

June 8, 2010 Dubai's Emirates, the Arab world's largest airline, has placed an USD$11 billion order for 32 Airbus A380 jets, the biggest ever for the company's superjumbo passenger plane. The vote of confidence came as EADS prepared to show off the capabilities of its embattled A400M military transporter plane at the Berlin Air Show, and as it faces a simmering dispute with German military bosses over problems with two of its new helicopters. Emirates' order would be worth USD$11.09 billion at a list price of USD$346.5 million per plane and brings the airline's total A380 order to 90 planes. Emirates became Dubai's flagship company and one of the biggest contributors to the local economy after the property crisis devastated real estate firms. The government-owned group expects to earn USD$1.16 billion in 2010. The carrier, which started in 1985 with two planes, has grown to rival the likes of Qantas and Singapore Airlines for passenger traffic between Europe and east Asia. The order made for a splash start to the Berlin show, a biennial event that tends to be overshadowed by larger events and larger orders elsewhere. It was big enough to attract the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, even as she came under fire from the rest of the global aviation industry for proposing a new passenger tax. Just as Emirates announced the order, a giant A400M buzzed the show, demonstrating its aerobatic abilities. The A400M European troop transporter was built to provide much-needed airlift to seven European NATO nations but is four years late and almost EUR8 billion over budget. The buyers -- Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey -- set a provisional EUR3.5 billion bailout in March but the deal has yet to be formalized as budget problems spread in Europe. Watched by Merkel, whose government has severely criticized Airbus over the delays, the aircraft performed a series of acrobatic stunts and steep banking turns on its maiden public display. It is expected to enter service in 2013. EADS said last week the two planes in testing were working well and two more test planes should go into service this year. Airbus chief Tom Enders told an industry dinner packed with airline CEOs on Monday night he would gladly sell any of them an A400M -- drawing laughs but no obvious takers. (Reuters)

4 - IATA SLAMS GERMAN AIR TRAVEL TAX PLANS

June 8, 2010 Airline industry body IATA lashed out at German plans to impose an air travel tax while Europe's aviation industry is struggling to make a profit amid a weak economic environment. "The proposal should be axed. It is the wrong measure at the wrong time," the International Air Transport Association said on Tuesday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the tax plan on Monday, stunning aviation industry executives gathering for IATA's annual meeting in Berlin and planemakers preparing for the opening of the Berlin Air Show on Tuesday. "The most vulnerable part of the industry is in Europe. The last thing the industry here in Europe needs is additional taxes and measures that will slow down economic growth," IATA chief economist Brian Pearce told reporters. IATA on Monday raised its 2010 earnings estimate for the global airline industry and said the only region in which airlines would continue to post overall losses this year would be Europe. The world's airlines had their worst year ever in 2009, when demand dropped faster than capacity could be cut as companies and consumers shrank travel budgets to weather the global economic crisis. The Americas and Asia-Pacific have started to recover, but Europe's airlines have been dogged by airspace closures, strikes and a weakening of the euro. "European airlines are facing a pretty difficult time with weak economies and governments seeking to generate revenues," Pearce said. German flagship carrier Lufthansa, which said the levy represented a "black day" for the airline industry, will likely take the biggest hit, analysts said. Commerzbank analyst Frank Skodzik said the burden for Lufthansa would be about EUR200 million a year, assuming the carrier is able to pass on half of the tax to passengers. Analysts and industry associations estimate the proposed tax could raise the price of air travel by an average 8-14 euros per ticket. (Reuters)

5 - BOEING WORKING ON 777, 787 DEALS

June 7, 2010 Boeing is working on deals to sell 777 and 787 long-haul aircraft to a number of airlines but does not see a decisive rebound in wide-body demand until 2012, the head of its passenger jet business said on Monday. The comments come amid industry talk of a resurgence in demand from Gulf-based carriers and a sudden increase in optimism from airlines industry group IATA, which now sees airlines bouncing back to an overall profit in 2010. "I hope IATA is right but I am not quite as optimistic," Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said. "I continue to see airlines returning to profitability in 2011, and 2012 will be the year we see them really stepping up to wide-body orders," Albaugh said on the sidelines of the airline lobbying group's annual meeting. Boeing's European rival Airbus said on Sunday it would announce orders at the Berlin air show, which runs back to back with the IATA event in the German capital. Industry executives say there is mounting speculation that Gulf-based heavyweights such as Emirates could announce orders for Airbus and Boeing planes soon. "We don't get into details on specific campaigns but we are in discussions with a number of airlines on 777 and 787," Albaugh said. Boeing, which recently said it would boost production of its popular 737 narrow-body aircraft to 34 a month, is thinking about whether to raise production further, Albaugh said. Boeing has also announced increases on the 777 and expects to take decisions on whether to modify that plane or add a larger variant to the 787 Dreamliner late this year or in early 2011, he said. Albaugh said testing on the 787, a carbon-composite plane which Boeing aims to deliver by the end of the year after a two-year delay, was going "very, very well". Boeing has not decided whether to upgrade the best-selling 737 family with new engines and a decision is several months away, he said. Airbus is thinking of putting new fuel-saving engines on its A320 narrow-body aircraft. "It is a very complex algorithm with all kinds of factors. I am agnostic on which is the right decision," Albaugh said. But he vowed to defend the company's position in the roughly 150-seat market. "We are not going to abandon the small plane market," Albaugh said. Airbus and Boeing are both trying to outwit each other while fending off a challenge from Bombardier's 100-145-seat CSeries family and the longer-term prospect of competition from China. (Reuters)

6 - BERLIN AIR SHOW OPENS WITH SPOTLIGHT ON AIRBUS

June 8, 2010 Aerospace group EADS will have a key showcase at the opening of the Berlin Air Show as it parades its A400M military transporter and announces a massive new sale for its flagship Airbus A380. But even as German leaders prepared to open the show on Tuesday, the rest of the airline industry was readying a stiff response to the government's new plan for a tax on passengers. One of the industry's chief economists has called the tax "a revenue-raising exercise... in environmental clothes". The Berlin show is a biennial event that tends to be overshadowed by larger shows elsewhere, but Airbus will use it as a platform to show it can finish and sell the A400M, the massive plane on which it has bet much of its future. It will also be a venue for news on the A380 passenger model. Berlin Air Show officials said Airbus will sign a contract for new orders with Dubai's Emirates on Tuesday afternoon, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel present. Aviation sources in Berlin said the order would be for at least 30 planes. At a list price of USD$346 million per plane, the blockbuster deal could be worth more than USD$10 billion.

7 - FLAGSHIP COMPANY

Emirates, the Arab world's largest carrier, became Dubai's flagship company and one of the biggest contributors to the local economy after the property crisis devastated real estate firms. The government-owned group expects to earn USD$1.16 billion in 2010. The carrier, which started in 1985 with two planes, has grown to rival airlines such as Qantas and Singapore Airlines for passenger traffic between Europe and east Asia. The A400M, which has cost EADS billions of dollars in cost overrun charges, will also be at the show. EADS said last week the two planes in testing were working well and two more test planes should go into service this year. Airbus chief Tom Enders told an industry dinner packed with airline CEOs on Monday night he would gladly sell any of them an A400M -- drawing laughs but no obvious takers. Instead, most at the dinner spent the evening discussing Germany's air travel tax proposal, announced on Monday afternoon during the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting in Berlin. The tax would raise up to EUR1 billion (USD$1.3 billion) a year with a levy on domestic departures. Enders remarked that Merkel "had impeccable timing" with the announcement, coinciding as it did with IATA's meeting on her home turf. The airline body said on Tuesday it was preparing a fuller response to the tax, which it is expected to present later on Tuesday as its AGM wraps up. But IATA chief economist Brian Pearce underlined the industry's expected position in a press briefing. "The last thing the industry needs here in Europe is additional taxation," he said. (Reuters) .