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Heathrow airport in London is hit with more flight cancellations following an air traffic failure
On Thursday, at least 16 flights were cancelled to and from London Heathrow Airport. This was a day following widespread disruptions caused by technical issues with Britain's air-traffic control system. National Air Traffic Services, which controls air traffic for planes in UK airspace as well as the eastern part North Atlantic, announced on Wednesday that its systems are fully operational and capacity has returned to normal following the switch to a backup system. Cirium, an aviation analytics company, reported that the second NATS outage in two years also affected Gatwick Airport, near London, Edinburgh Airport, Scotland, and other locations. As of 1830 GMT, Wednesday, there were 122 cancellations. Heidi Alexander, Transport Minister, said that she would be meeting with NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe to "understand what happened and prevent a reoccurrence". Alexander, a social media user on X, wrote that NATS works closely with airports and airlines to clear up the backlog. Heathrow’s website indicated that 16 flights were cancelled Thursday, including those to and from New York, Berlin and Toronto, as well as departures. In March, the airport, Britain's biggest and Europe's busiest was also affected by an electrical fire in a sub-station, which left thousands of passengers stranded. Neal McMahon, Ryanair's Chief Operating Officer, called for NATS' Rolfe resigning. He said that no lessons were learned since the August 20, 2023 disruption brought about by a malfunction in the automatic processing flight plans. NATS did not respond immediately to an inquiry about McMahon’s remarks, despite apologising to those who were affected by the incident on Wednesday. (Reporting and editing by William Schomberg, Catarina demony)
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Air France-KLM and Lufthansa defy worries about a trade war with Q2 growth
European airlines Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and United Airlines reported higher profits in the second quarter on Thursday. This was despite concerns that U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty could affect transatlantic travel. The transatlantic routes are the most profitable for airlines. In recent years, British Airways owner IAG has benefited from this as European competitors have struggled. Delta was among the U.S. carriers that abandoned their full-year forecasts in spring due to a weakening of travel demand. This followed President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which shook consumer and business confidence. However, European airlines are bucking this trend. Lufthansa reported on Thursday that demand for its premium products in the United States was strong, despite the weakening dollar. Air France-KLM also highlighted the strength of their premium offerings. Lufthansa announced a 27% increase year-on-year in its second quarter operating profit, which reached 871 million euro ($995 millions), exceeding the analysts' average estimate of 805million euros. In a press release, Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive Officer of the company said: "Despite the fact that the second quarter saw a return to geopolitical crisis and economic uncertainty, we confirm today our positive outlook for this year." CONTRAST WITH THE UNITED STATES Bookings for U.S. Airlines have improved since late June, after a sharp decline in March and April following Trump's trade war. Although demand has stabilised, airline executives claim that it is still below the estimates made at the beginning of the year. The spending of price-sensitive travelers is also down, despite the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. economic situation and rising costs. Europeans are often known to be more price sensitive than Americans and have less spending power. The wealthy Americans who are visiting Europe this summer are not poor. Delta and United Airlines have performed better despite the fact that domestic U.S. travel is struggling, affecting budget airlines. FIXING WEAKNESSES, NEW STRENGTHS In a client note, Bernstein analyst Alex Irving stated that the investment in Italy's ITA Airways contributed a "surprisingly large" profit to group's bottom-line. Since the pandemic, Lufthansa struggled to cope with increasing labour costs and a slowdown in traffic from Asia. The airline issued two profit warnings. The company stated that the decision to focus on Italy as a cost-savings measure was paying off. Rome is much cheaper to maintain than German base. Air France-KLM’s operating profit for the second quarter rose to 736 millions euros, up from 513million euros a year ago. This is in line with analysts' expectations. Air France has been able to capitalize on the strong demand for flights to Paris, and its appeal as a luxury French airline. KLM has had ongoing problems at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam.
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Heathrow airport in London is hit with more flight cancellations following an air traffic failure
On Thursday, at least 16 flights were cancelled to and from London Heathrow Airport. This was a day following widespread disruptions caused by technical issues with Britain's air-traffic control system. National Air Traffic Services, which controls air traffic for planes in UK airspace as well as the eastern part North Atlantic, announced on Wednesday that its systems are fully operational and capacity has returned to normal following the switch to a backup system. Cirium, an aviation analytics company, reported that the second NATS outage in two years also affected Gatwick Airport, near London, Edinburgh Airport, Scotland, and other locations. As of 1830 GMT, Wednesday, there were 122 cancellations. Heathrow’s website indicated that 16 flights were cancelled Thursday, including those to and from New York, Berlin and Toronto, as well as departures. Heathrow Airport, Britain's and Europe's busiest, has not responded to an immediate request for comment about the recent cancellations. Neal McMahon, Ryanair's Chief Operating Officer, called for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe's resignation. He said that no lessons were learned since the August 20, 2023 disruption caused due to a malfunction in the automatic processing flight plans. NATS did not respond immediately to an inquiry about McMahon’s remarks after it apologized to those who were affected by this failure on Wednesday. In March, Heathrow also suffered a fire in a sub-station that stranded thousands. (Reporting and Editing by William Schomberg.)
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After 25 people are injured by turbulence, a Delta flight is diverted to Minneapolis.
The airline released a statement saying that 25 people were hospitalized on Wednesday, after a Delta Air Lines flight diverted from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City due to severe turbulence. Delta Airlines said that flight DL56 had been diverted to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport due to "significant turbulence". New York Times, citing airline, reported that the plane carried 275 passengers, and 13 crew. Delta said that medical personnel evaluated all passengers after the A330 900 landed safely at Minneapolis. Twenty-five people on board the plane were taken to hospitals in their locality for treatment and evaluation, it stated without providing any further details. After reaching an altitude of 37,000 feet (11 277.6 meters), the aircraft experienced turbulence. It briefly climbed to 38,000 feet, before descending to just under 35,800 feet. Flightradar24, a flight tracking service, reported that it stabilised at 37,000 feet. (Reporting and editing by Kate Mayberry in Bengaluru, with Disha Mishra reporting from Bengaluru)
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Rolls-Royce increases profit and cash-flow outlook after strong H1
Rolls-Royce, a British aero-engineer, raised its outlook for the full year in terms of both operating profit as well as free cash flow. This was after navigating supply chain challenges and overcoming tariffs. The company's operating profit guidance was increased by 400 million pounds (300 million pounds) to 3.2 billion pound and its free cashflow by 200 million pounds, to 3.1 billion pound. Tufan Erginbilgic is the chief executive of Rolls-Royce, and has been in charge since 2023. He said that his multi-year turnaround continues to produce results. He said that despite the challenges posed by the supply chain and the tariffs, "our actions have led to strong results in the first half of the year." He said Rolls has improved the time that its engines are on the wing, a demand of its airline clients. It also improved the profitability in its maintenance services. He said that the power systems division had grown as a result of gaining business from government and data centre customers.
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Safran invests heavily in France to develop new carbon brakes
Safran, the French aerospace company, announced on Thursday that it would build a carbon brakes plant in France. This is a significant investment in France after a highly-publicized competition against alternative sites in America and Canada. Once completed, the 30,000 sq. ft. facility in Lyon, a partially-state-owned company that builds jet engines, competes with RTX's Collins Aerospace unit to sell other equipment such as brakes and landing gear. The announcement confirms, along with higher earnings for the mid-year period, a report published on Wednesday, that the Paris-based company was set to choose France as its fourth plant, following a highly-sensitive contest, overshadowed in part by concerns about energy supply. In France, President Emmanuel Macron, who has made reindustrialisation a priority in his political agenda, is closely monitoring the outcome of this long-delayed competition. Meanwhile, U.S. president Donald Trump wants Europe to invest more money in the United States. These investments must be planned out years in advance due to the size of factories. However, the decision has been pushed back by energy and trade politics. The original plans to build the site in Lyon (France's third largest city) were scrapped due to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 and the sharp increase in energy prices that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Safran CEO Olivier Andries made a statement in which he acknowledged that the state-owned electricity utility EDF had supported the decision to locate the plant. The plant will be based on biomethane, and it will use low-carbon electricity. The cost of carbon brakes can be accounted for by energy. Industry sources claim that Safran and EDF had clashed over the supply of cheap supplies in the past, but tensions have eased since the recent change of management at EDF. Safran, the company that pioneered carbon brakes on jetliners and Formula 1 cars, claimed they were lighter, more durable, and allowed airlines to save fuel. Safran said that the new site in the Plaine de l'Ain Industrial Park will start operations in 2030. It will allow the company to increase its production by 25 percent between now and the year 2037, by joining a three-site network in France, USA and Malaysia.
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New York Times Business News - July 31,
These are the most popular stories from the New York Times' business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would charge a 15% duty on imports from South Korea. This is a reduction from a 25% threatened tariff, and part of an agreement to ease tensions with this top-10 trading partner. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods imported from India beginning on Friday. The U.S. president Donald Trump imposed a tariff of 50% on the majority of Brazilian goods. However, he softened this blow by exempting sectors like aircraft, energy, and orange juice. 25 people were hospitalized on a Delta Air Lines plane after it was forced to land in Minnesota due to strong turbulence. The plane was flying from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Amsterdam. (Compiled Bengaluru Newsroom)
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ArcelorMittal South Africa announces plans to close long-staple steel plants by September
ArcelorMittal South Africa announced on Thursday that it will still close its long-losing steel operations by September as discussions with the government failed to provide a solution. Steelmaker reported a headline loss for the first half of the year of 1.014 billion Rand ($56.4m), a little less than its previous loss report, which was 1.1 billion Rand. This is due to low sales and prices that have remained constant. Due to the weak demand in South Africa, its revenue dropped 17% to 17 milliards rand. Sales volumes also declined 11% at 1.05 million metric tonnes. ArcelorMittal South Africa, which originally announced the closure of two long steel plants near Johannesburg and Newcastle in November 2023 to allow for talks with the government, has delayed the closing twice. The goal is to save 3,500 direct job. The company stated that "in the absence of a viable solution, the winding down of the longs' business is scheduled to take place on 30 September 2025." Parks Tau, South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister, told lawmakers that on July 4, the government is in a "firefighting" mode as it attempts to avoid plant closures. The company claims that its long-standing steel operations are under pressure from a weak local market, high electricity rates, poor logistics, and competition from mini-mills for recycling scrap metals in the area, as well as imports from China. Long steel plants provide rail, road and bars for construction, mining, manufacturing and other sectors, as well as automotive components.
Old Dominion misses its second-quarter estimate amid freight recession
Old Dominion Freight Line, which operates in a long-term freight downturn, reported its second-quarter profit and revenue below Wall Street expectations on July 30.
The U.S. trucking sector is struggling with low volumes, persistent overcapacity and low rates, as a result of the recessionary phase that began after the post-pandemic boom in 2022.
Experts predict that the freight recession will continue through the second half. As the industry struggles to cope with the changing global macroeconomic climate, extra capacity is slowly leaving the market.
Old Dominion says that the slow growth of domestic industrial production also has a negative impact on carrier results.
Before the bell, shares of Thomasville's less-than truckload carrier (LTL), which serves companies in the manufacturing, retail, automotive, and healthcare sectors, fell 4.4%.
LTL companies operate by transporting multiple shipments for different customers in a single truck. These shipments are then routed via a network service centers where they are transferred onto other trucks that have similar destinations.
Operating expenses as a percent of revenue have increased to 74.6%, up from 71.9% one year ago.
An increase in the operating ratio indicates an increase in cost, and therefore lower profitability.
Total revenue for the company fell by 6.1%, to $1.41 Billion in the third quarter. Profit per share fell by 14%, to $1.27.
According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, analysts on average expected revenue of 1,42 billion dollars and profit per share of $1.29. (Reporting and editing by Pooja Deai in Bengaluru, Abhinav Paramar from Bengaluru)
(source: Reuters)