Concern as airlines grounded
A Report in The Australian says that the recent collapse of at least four smaller US carriers and Oasis Hong Kong Airlines has shocked the industry, but Airbus believes there is no need for alarm bells at this stage.
Indianapolis-based ATA, Hawaii’s Aloha Airlines, Ohio-based Skybus and Minnesota’s Champion Air all announced they would cease passenger operations. The closures will result in a loss of more than 5000 jobs.
Oasis yesterday applied to the Hong Kong Court to appoint a provisional liquidator and cancelled all flights, including mooted services to Australia.
The decisions – blamed on soaring high fuel prices and, in the US, on a sagging economy – sent shockwaves through the industry. It also raised questions about the viability of other smaller carriers, including some recent low-cost start-ups.
But Airbus believes problems in the US and Europe will be offset by growth in other parts of the world, and does not see any dramatic impact on its order book.
“We are concerned, like any other manufacturer, about the economic situation, particularly in the US, and yes, we’ve seen some carriers going belly-up just recently,” Airbus chief executive Thomas Enders said in Sydney this week. “So obviously we’ll see some airlines in trouble and … we have to envisage that some will cancel their orders.
“If you look at our backlog and at the policy we’ve been pursuing, with some deliberate overbooking, there’s reason for concern, but certainly not for big concern at this point in time.
“There are some airlines, quite a few airlines, that need capacity.”
Airbus chief salesman John Leahy said orders this year were down from last year, but the company was still expecting to book another 750 and “maybe a little bit higher than that”.
But Airbus would build about 470 aircraft, as its order backlog moved from record levels to still higher levels.
Mr Enders earlier told a National Aviation Press Club lunch in Sydney that Airbus expected average passenger traffic worldwide to grow at 4.9 per cent and freight at 5.8 per cent.
He said growth in the Asia-Pacific would be even higher, at 6 per cent, and Australia and the Pacific alone would need about 520 new aircraft over the next 20 years.
A Report by The Mole from The Australian
John Alwyn-Jones
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