MEA Cargo News
Europe's Ash Hits Asia's Cash
04/30/2010
by: Air Cargo World
"Lessons must be learned from this painful episode which highlighted poor decision making by various parties and a lack of proper coordination in the management of European airspace,” said director general Andrew Herdman. AAPA members recorded a 33.1 percent year-over-year increase in March cargo traffic. With capacity up 12.6 percent, the overall load factor rose 11.3 percent to 73.1 percent. Commenting on the results, Herdman said: “These figures provide further confirmation that the global economic recovery is well underway, led by quicker growth in leading Asia Pacific economies, but also accompanied by welcome signs of a pickup in both business and consumer confidence in major developed markets. For the first quarter of 2010 the international air cargo market has bounced back strongly from last year’s slump in international trade, recording a 33.8 percent jump in cargo volumes compared to the same period last year." Underlining the scale of the recovery, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) reported its highest ever daily throughput of 10,080 tonnes on April 23 - surpassing its previous record of 9,850 tonnes in September 2007. Hactl handled 636,743 tonnes in the first quarter of 2010, a year-on-year growth of 37.5 percent.
Airline stocks climb; Continental upgraded to buy
04/12/2010
by: Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch.com
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Airline stocks were up Monday after investment firm Stifel Nicolaus upgraded its rating for Continental Airlines to buy, citing the carrier's potential to bid for United Airlines. The NYSE Arca Airline Index /quotes/comstock/10t!xal.x (XAL 39.23, +0.63, +1.64%) rose nearly 2% to 39.30, a 52-week high, with all but one of its 13 components trading higher. Shares of Continental Airlines /quotes/comstock/13*!cal/quotes/nls/cal (CAL 22.79, +1.26, +5.85%) rose nearly 4% to $22.35, United parent UAL Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!uaua/quotes/nls/uaua (UAUA 21.35, +0.85, +4.15%) added 4% to 21.30 and US Airways /quotes/comstock/13*!lcc/quotes/nls/lcc (LCC 7.50, +0.18, +2.46%) climbed 3.7% to $7.59. Last week it was reported United and US Airways were in merger talks. "We believe Continental has long had the desire to merge with UAL, but felt no sense of urgency to do so," said Stifel Nicolaus. "However, reports of an imminent UAL-US Airways merger could likely force Continental's hand."
Obama launches talk to nuclear threats, and other things
04/12/2010
by: David Jackson, USA Today
President Obama has re-located to the Washington Convention Center to begin work on a global summit devoted to nuclear weapons security -- and a host of other side issues affecting individual nations. Those issues range from Middle East peace to Turkish-Armenian relations to the value of Chinese currency. Obama's first meeting, with King Abdullah II of Jordan, is expected to deal as much with the Middle East peace process as the threat of nuclear terrorism. Neither leader commented during an opening photo opportunity that lasted less than a minute. Early this afternoon, Obama meets with President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia, who also has a date this week with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The administration is hoping the Turks and Armenians can improve their long-antagonistic relationship, as that would ease diplomacy in a region that includes Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. The Obama administration is also resisting a congressional resolution declaring Ottoman-era genocide against the Armenians, a claim that Turkey denies and vehemently objects to. Finally, around 2:30 p.m., Obama holds the big meeting: Chinese President Hu Jintao. China also has nuclear weapons, but Obama and Hu are also to keen to discuss such ancillary items as the U.S-Chinese currency dispute and possible global sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. There's also the little fact that China holds so much U.S. debt. The U.S. president also has one-on-one meetings today with Prime Minister Mohammed Najib Abdul Razak of Malaysia and President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine. Obama hosts formal welcoming ceremony at 5 p.m. for all the Nuclear Security Summit delegates. And there is a working dinner scheduled for around 6:30 p.m.
