Carry on: Perth flights boost, Gulf-US row deepens and more

Air NZ boosts Auckland-Perth service
Air New Zealand is introducing three new weekly flights between Perth and Auckland timed to connect West Australian travellers to the airline’s US, Canada and Argentina flights. The new daytime flights will initially operate from December 11 to May 1, 2016. Air New Zealand operates a daily Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service between Perth and Auckland. The additional daytime services will be operated by 767-300 aircraft and increase the frequency to 10 times per week.

Fuel cost drop lifts SIA profit
Singapore Airlines’ net profit rose 2.34% to $S367.9 million from $S359.5 million for the year to March after fourth quarter net profit surged 47% on lower fuel costs. Full-year revenue was $S15.57 billion, up 2.1% from $S15.24 billion. Fuel costs, which account for over a third of expenditures, fell to $S1.29 billion from $S1.38 billion during the final quarter.

Gulf-US aviation row deepens
The increasingly acrimonious row between the Gulf and US airlines on subsidies rose another notch when the top three US carriers – American Airlines, United Continental and Delta Air Lines – accused the Gulf carriers of expanding in the US by 25% this year without generating new traffic. Etihad Airways responded by says the three US carriers had received more than $US70 billion in government and court-sanctioned benefits over the past 15 years. The US carriers have previously said the Gulf carriers – Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways – have violated the open skies agreement by accessing $US42 billion of unfair government aid, a claim they have rejected.

Emirates increases Beirut flights
Emirates Airline is gradually increasing its services to Beirut with a third daily flight, fully effective on October 1. This will take the total number of weekly Emirates flights serving Lebanon to 21. Emirates says the flight timings have been scheduled to facilitate more effective onward connections from Dubai to destinations in the US such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as connections to Sydney and Melbourne.

Expansion plan for New Plymouth airport
The government has approved an $11 million expansion plan for New Plymouth airport so it can handle more and larger aircraft.  The terminal will expand 60% to 2300sq m to accommodate separate arrival and departure areas, along with more retail and cafe space and a passenger security area if needed in the future. The aircraft apron will be made bigger and more car parking added. Work is expected to begin early next year and finish by mid-2017. The airport is a joint venture between the New Plymouth District Council and the government. The airport handles around 343,000 passengers a year is set to grow beyond 550,000 in the next decade. The project is part of a $20 million long-term plan that also includes extending the runway.