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Sound of silence as Sydney Airport cuts announcements

Sydney
Photo: Sydney Airport

International passengers going through Sydney Airport will need to keep a closer eye on departure screens from September 17 as management cuts the number of public address announcements.

The cuts, dubbed a “quiet terminal” initiative, means only essential announcements — basically emergency messages — will be broadcast beyond gate areas.

The airport says the change will see it join other leading airports — including Singapore’s Changi, Dubai, Hong Kong and Helsinki  — to have embraced similar initiatives.

Read: Ryanair expects 26m pax in record London summer schedule.

“Passengers will now be able to relax without being interrupted by constant announcements,” Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert said.

“We’re always looking at how we can make the airport experience even more enjoyable for our passengers. This initiative leapt out as one that would make an immediate and material difference and would align us with the practices of the best airports globally.”

Passengers will still be told their gates or boarding time at check-in and Culbert said the airport had worked hard with airlines and others to ensure it had struck the right balance in terms of ensuring passengers had the right information to get them to their gate on time.

This included up-to-date flight information on display screens and e-directories around the terminal.

Passengers could also approach airport information desks or check the status of their flight through the Sydney Airport website as well as on  Facebook and Twitter, the airport said.

Sydney Airport also hit the news on Wednesday when New South Wales Government on announced a plan to address the airport’s notorious traffic congestion through a $A2.2 to $A2.6 billion link to the city’s motorway system.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian predicted the Sydney Gateway project, slated to open in 2023, would slash travel times to the airport from the Western Sydney suburb of Parramatta by 40 minutes.

The government said the link would be toll-free.

 

 

United pledges 50 percent greenhouse gas cut by 2050

United
Photo: United Airlines

United Airlines has become the first US airline to publicly commit to an industry target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

The US carrier will mark the decision Friday by flying the longest biofuel flight to date by a US airline when it operates a Boeing 787 Dreamliner powered by a 30/70 blend of biofuel from San Francisco to Zurich.

The flight will also be the longest trans-Atlantic service to use a sustainable fuel blend, the airline said.

READ: Biofuel trial sees Australia edge towards sustainable aviation.

The ambitious target to halve greenhouse gas emissions relative to 2005 levels was set for the industry by the International Air Transport Association in 2009 but was seen by a number of airlines at that time as a notional goal.

The thinking on the target has since hardened and United said the pledge to meet it would remove 21 million tonnes of C02 emissions per year, or the equivalent of taking 4.5 million cars off the road.

This would cover all the cars in New York and Los Angeles combined, it said.

Airlines are again facing rising fuel prices: they are up 50 percent in the past year and United is currently paying $US15,000 per minute to power its aircraft.

the airline says it will continue to invest in ongoing environmental initiatives including expanding the use of more sustainable aviation biofuels, a $US2 billion annual investment in more fuel-efficient aircraft into its fleet and implementing further operational changes to better conserve fuel.

“Regardless of whether oil prices rise or fall, the inherent volatility and environmental impact of fossil fuels exert their own costs, to the bottom line, the customer and the planet,” United chief executive Oscar Munoz said.

“The ultimate hedge against those costs is to transition to alternative and renewable sources of energy.

“We believe there is no point in setting challenging and ambitious goals without also taking tangible steps towards achieving them, especially when it comes to securing the health of our communities and our planet.”

Munoz said United was proud to be the first US carrier to publicly make the greenhouse gas commitment but looked forward to sharing the distinction with the rest of the industry.

 

United already uses sustainable aviation fuel on a daily basis and is investing more than $US30 million in California-based sustainable aviation fuels producer Fulcrum BioEnergy.

The airline’s offtake agreement to take 1 billion gallons of fuel from Fulcrum in the biggest such deal in the industry.

It was the first airline to fly with Boeing’s Scitmar Winglets, designed to cut fuel consumption by 2 percent, and is one of a number of airlines to replace plastic stirring sticks and cocktail picks with bamboo products.

It also replacing some ground equipment with electrically powered alternatives.

Ryanair expects 26 million pax in record London summer schedule

Ryanair737 MAX
Photo: Ryanair.

Ryanair will launch 23 new routes from London in 2019 as part of a record summer schedule expected to see the low-cost carrier fly millions of customers to and from the UK capital.

The new routes bring the number of routes ex-London to 180 and are expected to increase the number of customers through Ryanair’s four London Airports — Stansted, Luton, Southend and Gatwick — by 5 percent to 26 million.

The airline will base three new aircraft in Southend and add two to Luton as it introduces services to a wide array of destinations.

The new routes include Kiev, Lviv and Nantes from Stansted and  Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Bologna, Cork and Malaga from Luton.

Fourteen new routes from Southend will see the low-cost carrier fly to  Alicante, Bilbao, Brest, Copenhagen, Cluj, Corfu, Dublin, Faro, Kosice, Malaga, Milan, Palma, Reus & Venice.

READ Luggage fees soar as airline bagmen strike.

“ Our S2019 schedule will deliver 26m customers p.a. through Stansted, Luton, Southend and Gatwick, all at the lowest fares, as we continue to grow London traffic, tourism and jobs,“  Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said.

But O’Leary continued to express concern about the increasing risk of a hard (no-deal) Brexit in March 2019.

A report on Sky News this week suggested that thousands of pilot and other aviation licenses issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency may have to be reissued if there is a hard Brexit.

“While we hope that a 21-month transition agreement from March 2019 will be agreed, recent events in the UK have added uncertainty, and we believe that the risk of a hard Brexit (which could lead to flights being grounded for a period of days or weeks) is being underestimated,” O’Leary said.

Ryanair has also lodged a complaint to the European Commission about what it says is discrimination by UK air traffic controller NATS at Stansted.

The airline says more than half of all London ATC delays in the first quarter were at Stansted while there were zero delays at Heathrow and just 10 percent at Gatwick.

 

 

 

Stunning pictures of the new Boeing 777X

Boeing has released some stunning new pictures of the new 777X that has just been rolled out.

The images highlight its size and clean sleek lines.

This non-flying 777X now heads off to nearly a year of testing to verify design strength.

The second airframe is also well-advanced and will roll out in January 2019 and fly in March.

Boeing is building two models of the 777X family: the -9 and longer range -8.

The driving force behind the 777X is Emirates President Sir Tim Clark, whose airline is the lead buyer with an order for 150.

The 777-9X seats more than 400 passengers, depending on an airline’s configuration choices.

With a range of more than 8,200 nautical miles (15,185 km), the aircraft will have the lowest operating cost per seat of any commercial aircraft says Boeing.

READ: Dramatic pictures of Hurricane Florence 

The second member of the family, the 777-8X, will be the most flexible jet in the world claims Boeing. The aircraft will seat 350 passengers and offer a range capability of more than 9,300 nautical miles (17,220 km).

Sir Tim describes the 777X as “an absolute peach”.

Key to his enthusiasm is the aircraft’s economics — it is 20 percent more efficient per seat than the industry’s long-time benchmark the 777-300ER.

Boeing 777X
Sir Tim describes the 777X as “an absolute peach”.

The 777X combines the best features of the current 777 with a longer fuselage, new engine and the composite wing design from the Boeing 787.

It also features 20 percent larger windows and lower pressurization altitude to reduce jet lag.

According to Sir Tim, the Boeing 777X is in good shape.

Speaking to a media roundtable at IATA in Sydney in June,  Sir Tim told AirlineRatings.com that the first aircraft would be delivered to Emirates in June 2020.

On where the program is, Sir Tim said: “It’s in good shape and just about where needs to be.”

The engine (GE9X) was performing very well, he added.

“Surprisingly good and the engine is a lot better than most [at this stage of its testing program] – it’s a good story.”

Boeing 777X

 

 

 

 

 

Growing Air New Zealand invests in lounges

Air New Zealand lounges
The Air New Zealand regional lounge concept design. Image: AirNZ

Air New Zealand is continuing its $NZ60m investment in New Zealand lounges with the start of construction next month on an expanded Auckland regional lounge.

The new lounge at Auckland Airport will cater for up to 265 customers, or more than three times the seating of the current lounge.

Offering expansive views of the runway, it is scheduled to open in the middle of next year on level one of Auckland’s domestic terminal.

The move to refurbish and expand regional lounges come as Air New Zealand expects annual passenger numbers to grow from 17 million to 19 million over the next two years.

The Kiwi carrier also has plans to refurbish its  Wellington Airport domestic lounge in the coming months and will increase seating there by 10 percent to 374.

The Wellington lounge will feature six different zones in the new lounge, including a cafe and bar, barista station, business, lounge and quiet areas as well as a self-service food and drinks station.

Also under construction is a new regional lounge Tauranga Airport, in New Zealand’s north. This will three times more seating than the current lounge and is expected to open later this year.

Planning is also underway for brand new regional lounges in Christchurch and Nelson.

Air New Zealand general manager customer experience Anita Hawthorne said it was important to invest in lounges to improve the customer experience and meet the expected growth.

“We know there is huge demand for Air New Zealand’s network of lounges, so we’re delighted to be able to go through the process of redeveloping our regional lounges in Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson and Tauranga along with our domestic lounge in Wellington to enhance the experience our customers have on the ground before they fly,” she said.

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon signaled in August that Air New Zealand’s growth would lead to the greater availability of cheaper fares.

Read Profitable Air New Zealand flags fare bonanza.

“One of the benefits of a growing Air New Zealand is more opportunities than ever for Kiwis to snap up a bargain,’’ Luxon said in the airline’s results announcement.  “In 2019, we will offer more than 2.9 million seats for travel in New Zealand for under $100.’’

The Kiwi carrier reported its second-ever highest annual pre-tax profit of $NZ540 million, up from $NZ527 million last year, on record revenues of $NZ5.5 billion, up 7.4 percent.

 

Air Baltic boss a driving force behind the Airbus A220

Air baltic boss big A220 booster
Air Baltic chief executive martin Gauss with his 80 A220 models. Photo: Andreas Spaeth.

A big LED-lit sign on the roof proclaims “Home of Air Baltic”, and the interior of the headquarters of one of Europe’s most innovative airlines looks a bit like a start-up.

In Air baltic CEO Martin Gauss, who has led the flag carrier of Latvia for the past seven years, Bombardier and now Airbus have their biggest ally and product ambassador for what was the CSeries and now is branded the Airbus A220.

There has been no recent air show anywhere, be it in Dubai, Singapore or Farnborough, or major aviation gatherings like the IATA AGM or CAPA conferences in Sydney in June or the Aviation Festival in London in September where Gauss wouldn’t have been present to create awareness both for the aircraft and his airline in front of a global audience.

Gauss, now 50, became a Euro multi-millionaire in his 30s when he sold his stake of 10% in former Deutsche BA to Air Berlin. He has always been one of the most avid supporters of what is currently the most modern airliner.

Gauss excels at air shows leading industry visitors through the A220-300 of which Air Baltic currently operates 11 out of an order of 50 firm plus 30 options.

In his office in Riga,  he has set up an impressive display – 80 tiny A220 aircraft models in 1:500 scale, exactly the number his airline wants to operate by 2025.

Even counting only current firm orders Air Baltic ranks second worldwide after US giant Delta Air Lines (receiving its first in late 2019) in the number of A220 commitments.

In  May 2018, shortly before it was re-branded as A220, Air Baltic placed a huge order for 60 further aircraft, on top of 20 already in the books, 30 firm and 30 options.

Air Baltic A220 Gauss
An Air Baltic A220. Photo: Air Baltic

Counting list prices puts the firm order has a value of about US$3bn, the biggest investment overall in the history of Latvia, a former Soviet rep[ublic which became independent in 1991 and is an EU member state.

Gauss, who still holds a Boeing 737 pilot license and started as a first officer at Deutsche BA, got hooked on the CSeries early.

READ:  Airbus,  Bombardier tie-up adds A220 to impressive portfolio.

In 2012, when the industry was skeptical if the concept would ever take off, he ordered ten CS300s for Air Baltic, reportedly at rock-bottom prices.

He faced harsh criticism both from his native Germany and from France for not buying Airbus aircraft.

“I got into great trouble, even German politicians came to Riga to tell the government it was unacceptable that a Latvian state carrier buys Canadian aircraft in bulk,”  he says.

But Gauss has stuck by his belief, observing:  “This aircraft is a big success because there is nothing better in the 150-seater market and there won’t be at least for the next decade.”

Over 1.5 million of his passengers have flown the A220 so far and customer feedback is hugely positive compared to what it used to be. Air Baltic still also operates eleven older Boeing 737s and twelve Q400 turboprops, which all will be phased out by 2022 to be replaced with a pure A220 fleet.

But why is he as an airline CEO investing so much time and effort to promote an aircraft type?

“We want to do sale and leaseback deals with a part of our fleet and for that, the aircraft must be well known, well liked and have a strong market presence,”  Gauss says.

Air baltic A220 booster
Photo: Air Baltic

So far 41 A220s have been delivered to Swiss, the launch operator, Air Baltic and Korean Air. The current order book stands at a mere 402 but Airbus believes it could sell about 3,000 A220s in the coming years, thanks to its much more efficient supplier network and more effective sales force.

Gauss is not officially part of this but believes his efforts have already started to pay off for his airline’s brand, the awareness of the aircraft and its market value.

“The switch from Bombardier to Airbus can be felt already in the level of acceptance on the leasing market, as part of the Airbus portfolio the aircraft now has an acceptance there that wasn’t existing before,’’ he notes.

“One can assume that there will be more orders in the future, and that would help us as the launch operator of the A220-300 as it would make our aircraft more valuable, the more are built the more value they have.”

Air Baltic, which introduced the first of the then CS300 in December 2016, has been in an upward mode for recent years after a near-bankruptcy early in the decade. It has been profitable since 2013 and 2018 is expected to become another record year, which will see passenger numbers climb to 4 million.

While mainly operating to about 70 destinations from Riga all over Europe Air Baltic started to serve more far-flung cities recently.

There is a seasonal route from Riga to Abu Dhabi, taking over six hours flight time westbound on the A220, and recently a new route to Almaty in Kazakhstan, almost as far from Riga.

“It’s our strategy to enable passengers to get to Riga from anywhere in the world with just one stop”, explains Gauss, “not so much to raise the number of passengers but to ensure connectivity for the Baltic states.”

There are three Baltic states, including Lithuania and Estonia, with a total population of six million people.

In order to raise extra capital for its expansion plans Air Baltic is currently searching for a strategic investor.

Both the Latvian state, currently holding 80 percent of the airline, as well as a private Danish investor, a leasing company holding 20%, would be willing to sell shares.

One of the participating banks has already praised Air Baltic’s “world-class management”.

 

 

Dramatic pictures of Hurricane Florence from the ISS

Hurricane Florence and flights cancelled
Photo: NASA

Dramatic and detailed pictures of Hurricane Florence have been taken from the International Space Station.

The pictures were taken by Astronaut Alexander Gerst who has used lenses from an extremely wide field to telephoto to capture Florence.

Florence

Florence

Florence Florence

Florence

Airlines are expanding waivers, capping fares and removing baggage fees as the Category 4 hurricane moved towards the US coast and are working on the massive disruption the storm is likely to cause to flights.

US officials issued a hurricane warning for more than 300 miles of coastline as more than 1.5 million people were told to evacuate. Highways were converted to one-way evacuation routes as motorists streamed inland.

North and South Carolina are expected to face tropical storm level winds as early as Thursday morning and hurricane-force winds later that day.

The US National Hurricane Centre warned late Tuesday US time that Florence was expected to bring a life-threatening storm surge and rainfall to portions of the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states.

It said the giant storm was moving west-northwest at 17mph (28kmh)  with maximum sustained wind gusts near 140mph (220kmh).

Politicians, including US President Donald Trump, joined the chorus of warnings as fears remained the Hurricane could develop move into the most dangerous category, Category 5.

“This storm is a monster. It’s big and it’s vicious. It is an extremely, dangerous, life-threatening, historic hurricane,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said.

Airlines have been responding to the emergency and began announcing fee waivers.

READ: Boeing rolls out the first 777-X

United Airlines is waiving change, baggage and in-cabin pet fees for all flights to a host of mid-Atlantic cities in the Carolinas and Virginia as well as Savannah, Georgia, as more than 1.5 million people evacuate ahead of Hurricane Florence.

The US carrier said it was offering a travel waiver for customers ticketed on flights to, from or through affected cities from September 10 through to September 16.

Customers could reschedule their itineraries for travel through September 20 with a one-time date or time change without change fees or fare differences.

The airline also reduced fares to below what it would normally charge for impacted markets.

Delta Air Lines also announced it was capping fares and had implemented a baggage and pet-in-cabin fee waiver to and from select cities from September 10 to 17.

It has also expanded its weather waiver to take in Savannah and Charlottesville, Virginia.

 

Other US carriers are also offering fee waivers to destinations they serve in the affected areas.

 

US carriers expand waivers as Hurricane Florence approaches

Hurricane Florence airlines waivers
Hurricane Florence from space. Photo: NASA

All eyes are now on monster storm Hurricane Florence after two other hurricanes affecting US airline operations were downgraded to tropical storms.

Airlines began expanding waivers, capping fares and removing baggage fees as the Category 4 hurricane moved towards the US coast and are working on the massive disruption the storm is likely to cause to flights.

US officials issued a hurricane warning for more than 300 miles of coastline as more than 1.5 million people were told to evacuate. Highways were converted to one-way evacuation routes as motorists streamed inland.

North and South Carolina are expected to face tropical storm level winds as early as Thursday morning and hurricane-force winds later that day.

The US National Hurricane Center warned late Tuesday US time that Florence was expected to bring a life-threatening storm surge and rainfall to portions of the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states.

It said the giant storm was moving west-northwest at 17mph (28kmh)  with maximum sustained wind gusts near 140mph (220kmh).

Hurricane waivers airlines
Hurricane Florence on Tuesday night US east coast time. Source: National Hurricane Centre.

Politicians, including US President Donald Trump, joined the chorus of warnings as fears remained the Hurricane could develop move into the most dangerous category, Category 5.

“This storm is a monster. It’s big and it’s vicious. It is an extremely, dangerous, life-threatening, historic hurricane,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said.

Airlines have been responding to the emergency and began announcing fee waivers.

READ: Boeing rolls out the first 777-X

United Airlines is waiving change, baggage and in-cabin pet fees for all flights to a host of mid-Atlantic cities in the Carolinas and Virginia as well as Savannah, Georgia, as more than 1.5 million people evacuate ahead of Hurricane Florence.

The US carrier said it was offering a travel waiver for customers ticketed on flights to, from or through affected cities from September 10 through to September 16.

Customers could reschedule their itineraries for travel through September 20 with a one-time date or time change without change fees or fare differences.

The airline also reduced fares to below what it would normally charge for impacted markets.

Delta Air Lines also announced it was capping fares and had implemented a baggage and pet in-cabin fee waiver to and from select cities from September 10 to 17.

It has also expanded its weather waiver to take in Savannah and Charlottesville, Virginia.

“Decisions regarding flight cancellations or other disruptions at airports along the coastal Southeast are expected approximately 24 hours prior to the storm making landfall,” Delta said.

“In addition to flight disruptions caused by the storm’s impact, cancellations may also be driven by conditions on the ground at airports in Florence’s path, such as severe flooding, power outages or other infrastructure constraints.

“Delta also continues to monitor for any updates from state and local officials as evacuation warnings are issued.”

Other US carriers are also offering fee waivers to destinations they serve in the affected areas.

The pressure has lessened in the Hawaiian Islands after Hurricane Olivia was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Tropical storm warnings were still in effect late Tuesday Hawaiian time but the system, which was predicted to have passed  Hawaii by Wednesday afternoon, was tipped to weaken.

A similar situation occurred with former Hurricane Isaac as it approaches the Lesser Antilles islands. The National Hurricane Center forecast Isaac would across the central Lesser Antilles and into the eastern Caribbean on Thursday, gradually weakening over the next few days

Tropical storm warnings were still in effect for Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe and storm watches for Antigua, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis,  Saba and St. Eustatius.

A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours. A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, in this case within 36 to 48 hours.

Biofuel trial sees Australia edge towards sustainable aviation

IATA biofuels Europe
Photo: Brisbane Airport

Australia has taken another step down the long road to sustainable aviation after a trial at Brisbane Airport confirmed that biofuel could be successfully delivered to aircraft through the airport’s regular fuel system.

A first for Australia, the trial involved a small amount of biofuel — some 20,000 litres — imported from the US.

It showed potential biofuel producers that their product could be successfully introduced into the Brisbane fuel system, mixed with traditional fuels and piped through to customers.

Virgin Australia announced the two-year project with the airport,  US renewable fuel supplier Gevo and the Queensland Government in October, 2017, and worked on the trial with supply partners  Caltex and DB Schenker.

Read: Virgin boss calls for a joint approach to Aussie biojet industry.

The first test saw a biofuel blend pumped to 195 domestic and international flights that traveled more than 430,000 kilometres.

It will be followed by additional trials over the next 12 to 18 months aimed at building up confidence and experience in the fuel supply chain.

Biofuel can be derived from a number of feedstocks available in Australia, including sugar cane bagasse, and is already in use in a handful of airports that includes Oslo and Los Angeles.

Virgin Australia general manager group sustainability Rob Wood said the trial was not about carbon savings but about supply chain readiness and education.

“Whether or not you put one litre of biofuel through or a million litres, you have to go through exactly the same rigor in terms of testing and fuel certification processes,’’ he said.

“So obviously one of the things we wanted to check was how ready was the supply chain for commercial volumes of these fuels.”

Wood said the ongoing trials, which would involve similar volumes of biofuel, were aimed at making sustainable aviation fuels part of the regular fuel process.

“If you touch it once, it’s a niche exercise, “ he said. “If you’re dealing with it regularly, you get used to that.

“So industry gets used to it, key people in the supply chain get used to it, we get a normalized testing regime for these fuels and It becomes part of the process.”

This was also important from an investment case perspective for potential biofuel facilities, Wood said.

“If you’re going to invest $300 to $300 million into a biofuel facility you need to know you can get your product to market,’’ he said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk hailed the trail as another step towards a home-grown biofuels industry and Wood believes investors are out there.

The Virgin executive pointed to a global request for information Virgin and former alliance partner Air New Zealand put out two years ago for the potential production of 200 million litres of biofuel in Australia or New Zealand.

“We got very strong interest in that so I would say there definitely remains interest,’’ he said.

“Obviously, it’s an emerging industry so the first commercial-scale plants are actually based in the US and other jurisdictions that have strong policy support for those facilities.

“So policy still plays a key role in the emergence of this industry but we’re going to work actively off the back of this trail to see if we can attract investment.”

Biofuels remain a major long-term plank to the airline industry’s strategy to reduce its carbon footprint.

Airlines have proposed a four-pillar strategy to reach their goal of carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and an ambitious target of a 50 percent a reduction in net C02 emissions by 2050, relative to 2005 levels.

The International Air Transport Association said earlier this year that it wants one billion passengers to experience flights powered by a biofuel blend by 2025.

The industry is also working towards the introduction of an international carbon offset scheme as an interim solution.

 

 

US carriers brace for hurricane triple whammy

hurricane airlines triple whammy
Hurricane Florence from space. Photo: NASA

US carriers may be facing a weather triple whammy as three hurricanes threaten operations, including a powerful storm headed for the US mainland and described as “life-threatening”.

More than 1 million coastal residents are already fleeing Hurricane Florence after it prompted mandatory evacuation orders affecting the US states of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

It was twice updated on Monday to category 4 with winds gusting up to 140mph with potential landfall in the Carolinas Thursday or Friday.

Weather models predict the hurricane will unleash a torrent of rain as well as damaging winds.

There are worries it could approach Category 5, the highest, by the time it makes landfall.

But airlines are also keeping a wary eye on two other Hurricanes: Olivia, as it heads towards Hawaii and Isaac, which tracking towards the Lesser Antilles.

Hurricane triple whammy
The three hurricanes currently threatening the US mainland, Hawaii and the Lesser Antilles. Image: Google Crisis Response.

American Airlines said it was in regular communication with the American Red Cross and stood ready to activate its disaster response platform.

It was also allowing affected customers to rebook without change fees.

“Storms like these may require customers to change their travel plans and as a result, American has issued a travel alert for more than 30 airports, including our Charlotte, N.C., hub,’’ the airline said.

“American has not canceled any flights at this time, however, we will continue to keep news.aa.com updated with the latest operational information.

“The American Integrated Operations Center (IOC) in Fort Worth, Texas, continues to closely monitor the track of these storms, and is closely coordinating with the National Weather Service, Federal Aviation Administration, and local airports.”

READ:  Qantas, American remain confident on alliance bid.

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines also have issued change fee waivers for travel within some US states and to Hawaii because of the storms.

Southwest Airlines also allowed rebooking on cities affected by Hurricane Florence and for Hurricane Isaac on flights to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The US threat comes after Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan, was flooded by Typhoon Jebi last week and is progressively reopening operations.

An airport alert for travel to September 13 says it is operating from Terminal 2, with Terminal 1 yet to re-open.

It said that flights operated by Peach Aviation, Spring Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines would operate during this period.

Overseas carriers servicing Osaka have been affected and have travel alerts on their websites.

Australia’s Jetstar, which canceled international and domestic Jetstar Japan flights to Kansai until at least September 13,  said:  “Whilst some services have resumed from Terminal 2, Terminal 1 remains closed and we are closely monitoring the situation and are working closely with the airport to determine when the terminal will be open.

“Our aim is to resume our scheduled flights as soon as it is safe for us to do so.”

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