Latest News
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Sources: Russian steel magnate sold shipping firm in Sea of Azov
Four industry sources confirmed that Russian steel billionaire Vladimir Lisin sold a shipping company?operating?in the Sea of Azov, to agricultural logistics group Demetra. They added that the deal had been negotiated before Ukrainian drone strikes on commercial vessels caused shipping restrictions in the region. Volga Shipping transports grain, metals and coal along the Volga, Don and Black Sea rivers. Its cargo volume is more than 15 million metric tonnes per year. On Monday, neither Demetra nor Volga Shipping, nor Lisin's steel company NLMK responded to any requests for comments. Four sources confirmed that Demetra and Lisin-affiliated companies were involved in Volga Shipping. Could not determine the value of?the transaction. The attacks on ships, which threatens to disrupt the exports, have forced Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, to restrict commercial shipping along the main trade route. Lisin, who controls NLMK - one of Russia's biggest steelmakers - has fallen to sixth position among Russia's wealthiest individuals, down from third place he held in 2024. This is due to the decline of Russia's steel industry. Demetra has emerged as a major player in its agricultural logistics sector. It serves lucrative grain trades with Russia's customers in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. According to the most recent Russian corporate records, as of the 2nd quarter of 2024 91% of Volga Shipping is owned by Rumelko. This firm is controlled by Lisin. Details of Demetra’s ownership structure are not public. After consolidating its agricultural assets over a five-year period, the state lender VTB sold 45% of its stake in Demetra by 2023. Demetra said in 2023, that a company?whose beneficiary is a state-owned Oman investment fund would become a shareholder. Reporting by Gleb Stlyarov and Olga Popova, Writing by Gleb Brnski, Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Osborn.
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Yemen's Houthis have said they will impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia
In a televised address, the?Houthis of Yemen, who are aligned with Iran's regime in Yemen, declared an immediate naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. The militant group declared "a maritime ban against the criminal Saudi enemy based on 'an eye-for-an-eye' equation, effective immediately after the issuance of the statement." The Houthis claimed that the blockade was a response to Saudi Arabia’s "continued unjust and oppressive siege" on their people for nearly 12 years, which has led them to plunder our resources and impose a comprehensive air, land and sea blockade. Last week, the group launched missiles against 'Saudi Arabia after accusing it of bombing a?airport that was under its control. This broke a four-year truce in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned organization. The Houthis have not claimed any strikes against Saudi Arabia after an informal truce was signed in March 2022 following Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure. Reporting by Nayera Awadalla; Editing by Nadine AWADALLA, Aidan Lewis
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India has no plans to increase the ethanol content in gasoline above 20%
Suresh Gopi, the junior oil minister, said that India does not plan to increase the ethanol in gasoline above the current 20%. This is despite fears about further increases and criticisms that the blend reduces vehicle efficiency. E20, the 20% ethanol-blended fuel, was the only fuel available at India's 90000 petrol stations at the end last year. This caused a stir among the motorists of the third largest car market in the world. Gopi stated in written answers to Parliament that any decision to increase the ethanol content in gasoline would only be made after "detailed technical and scientific studies" as well as consultations with all stakeholders, including fuel retailers, automakers, and feedstock providers. No Rollback of E20 Gopi stated that there is no plan to return to E10 or pure gasoline and the government wants to move ahead?with "a superior fuel". He said that the government has not received any complaints about a decline in vehicle performance, engine failures, corrosion and fuel pump problems linked to E20. Vehicles designed for E10 only experience a marginal drop of 3% to 5 % in fuel efficiency when they use E20. If ethanol blends had caused systemic damage to fuel systems or engines, there would have been a large number of warranty claims and service campaigns. Consumer complaints are also likely to have been widespread. DIFFERENTIATION OF ETHANOL IN FEEDSTOCKS India produces ethanol using a variety of feedstocks including maize, damaged foodgrains and broken rice. Diversification also involves shifting the production to less water-intensive plants such as?maize. Its share in India's Ethanol?programme rose from?zero in just five years, to 37% by 2025/26. Gopi stated that India's ethanol blend programmes will ensure water sustainability, food safety, and farmers' interest remain "primordial".
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Airlines warn manufacturers not to release the next generation aircraft too quickly
Airline executives warned Boeing and Airbus on Monday not to rush into a 'new genration of commercial jets' without making sure their technology was mature enough. Paul Kent, Chief Commercial Officer at BOC Aviation told the Airline Leaders Summit at the Farnborough Airshow that he was not interested in seeing a new narrowbody by 2030. Kent said: "When you launch an aircraft, but they aren't mature when you start, and then you develop that maturity by introducing the program, you will need to continue to run it for many years to make it economically viable." Michael O'Leary warned Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary against "overfocusing on new technologies" during the airline's earnings call for its first quarter. "Until someone gets Star 'Trek travel and you start beaming them around the world...instead of flying." O'Leary stated that he believes we'll be dealing with 737 Maxes or Airbus Neos for 10 to 15 years. British Airways' Chief Executive Sean Doyle stated that they would be interested in?seeing what Airbus develops. Doyle stated, "We would be interested in what they are working on." (Reporting and editing by Kirsty Donovan, Sharon Singleton, and Joanna Plucinska)
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Archer, Anduril unveil autonomous aircraft platform for defense, commercial markets
Archer Aviation, a defense technology company and Anduril unveiled on Monday a codeveloped autonomous aircraft platform. Aerospace startups are increasingly relying on partnerships to lower costs and accelerate commercialisation. The platform, which was developed under the?agreement of 2024, is intended for both 'commercial?and'military applications. Anduril unveiled the defense variant called Thunder on Monday at Farnborough Airshow. This is a Group 5 autonomous assault rotorcraft designed to fly with current and next generation crewed attack aircraft. Adam Goldman, CEO of Archer, said that the company chose to build a specific aircraft instead of retrofitting an existing aircraft. "Andruil did a great job identifying needs, and then building ahead to meet those 'needs' before any programs were announced... Goldman stated that they identified a specific need and built an aircraft to meet it. "When you are looking at a large-scale product for the defense sector, it is important that they be designed and built to cater to that specific customer. Archer, known for its electric air taxis and commercial platform, will unveil their commercial variants this week. Electric vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft developers are looking to expand their services beyond the urban air taxi market. This sector was once hailed as a trillion dollar industry, but certification delays, infrastructure obstacles, and high capital requirements have weighed on it. Shane Arnott is Anduril Industries senior vice president for programs and engineering. Hybrid-electric propulsion is also being used by more air taxi companies to improve their?mission flexibility and extend the range beyond the short?urban hops. They are hoping to reach a wider market and reduce losses. The Archer-Anduril Platform uses a hybrid-electric powertrain with tilt rotors that can 'variate rotor speeds depending on flight conditions. It is capable of supporting missions such as?military strike, cargo movement, distant logistics, and other operations in austere areas, according to the companies. The partnership is a way for Archer to enter the defense and heavy-duty commercial market, while the future of the air-taxi industry looks cloudy. Multiple test flights have been completed using surrogate full-scale aircraft as a way to validate key systems. Thunder's initial flight is scheduled for 2027. Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Farnborough and Cassell Bryn-Low, England. Editing by Sharon Singleton.
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Ryanair CEO: Initial investigation suggests foreign object damages in the smashed window accident
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary stated on Monday that an initial investigation into the incident where a passenger was partially sucked out of a broken window in a 'Boeing' 737 suggested "foreign objects damage", and not an issue with age or maintenance conditions. According to video footage and the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has begun an investigation into the incident that occurred on July 10, when a piece of engine broke away from the aircraft, shattered the window, and happened shortly after takeoff. The plane was headed for Germany when it lost pressure. It made an emergency landing. O'Leary said that the initial indications would suggest that a foreign object caused damage to the engine during takeoff from Thessaloniki. However, he could not confirm this. O'Leary stated that the aircraft is 18 years old, and the engine has been overhauled and fully serviced in the last two year. He said that the draft report would be released in 28 days and then a more detailed report. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said last week that the incident, which was similar to two Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 NG flight incidents in 2016 and 2018 prompted a reevaluation of?the response?to those incidents. If Boeing and Ryanair can confirm that the damage was caused by an external object, this could reduce their responsibility for the incident. Conor Humphries, Dublin; Alessandro Parodi, Gdansk, and Matt Scuffham edited the article.
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FAA expects certification of Boeing 737 MAX 7, 10, and 15 soon
Federal Aviation Administration officials said Monday that they expect to certify the Boeing 737 MAX 7 or larger 10 in the near future, following an extensive review of variants of this best-selling aircraft. In an interview conducted on the sidelines at the Farnborough Air Show, Deputy FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said that the agency is "closer than ever." "I believe the -7 is literally around the corner and the -10 is right behind it," said Chris Rocheleau, Deputy FAA Administrator at the Farnborough Air Show. He said he also expects that the Boeing 777X will be certified after?the MAX planes. "Whether this year or early next year, we let Boeing do the driving when they bring us the correct information and work it out together." Boeing announced last week that it was in the final stages of obtaining regulatory approval for a fix to its 737 MAX engine anti-ice systems. Cirium, an aviation analytics company, reports that Boeing has built 30 MAX 7s already and nine MAX 10s are waiting for delivery. At least 28% (or more) of the outstanding MAX orders are MAX 10. The certification of the MAX 7 and 10, which are years behind schedule, is still a long way off. Boeing faced a stricter certification process after two fatal MAX 8 crash in 2018 and 2019. The company was also scrutinized for its production and quality system following a mid-air panel blowout of a MAX 9 cabin on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 that occurred in January 2024. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said last week that the FAA and Boeing had improved their work in certifying new aircraft. "A lot of our problems in responding quickly to Boeing weren't due to a lack of resources at the FAA. He said that Boeing's constant shifting of priorities was to blame. Bedford stated that the FAA workflows on Boeing certification has increased from 35% to 40%. Bedford stated that "Boeing is much more aware of how we can meet their certification requirements."
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Data shows that RPT-Gulf crude oil exports increased in July, but shipments slowed down due to renewed hostilities.
Shipping data shows that Gulf countries have boosted crude oil and condensate exports to their highest level since the Iran War began late in February. Although the flow through the Strait of Hormuz is now slowing, as fighting escalates. Kpler data showed that crude and condensate imports from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates increased by about 16 percent from the average daily exports of June to 12 million barrels of oil per day in the first half July. Vortexa estimated that exports for the period were even higher at 13.06 million bpd. Kpler reported that Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq led the increase in the first six months of July. Vortexa estimated Iraq had the largest increase month-on-month, while?UAE exported declined from record levels in June. Oil prices fell as a result of the increase in Gulf exports. This was after U.S.-Iran reached a mid-June interim agreement to reopen Strait of Hormuz, the most important shipping route in the world for oil and natural gas. Early July, disagreements over the administration of the waterway led to the collapse of an interim agreement. Shipping data shows that the number of daily transits through the strait has dropped to three commodity tankers, the lowest since May. Johannes Rauball, Kpler analyst, said: "We are seeing a slowdown in activity. This means that countries have to reduce their output. This will decrease the amount of crude that is shipped. Even after a rebound in exports, they remained 32% below the pre-war high of?17.6m bpd reached in February. Sources told?on?Thursday that Iran has warned Yemen's Houthis they should be ready to disrupt the traffic through the Red Sea in the event the United States attacks Iranian energy infrastructure. This could pose a significant risk to the global oil supply. Saudi Arabia diverted the majority of its energy exports via Yanbu, its Red Sea port. Kpler data shows that 75% of Saudi Arabia's 5.29 million barrels per day (bpd) crude and condensate have been exported through Yanbu so far in July.
Airline cancels flights due to Middle East conflict
Middle Eastern carriers increased capacity after the U.S. - Israel war against Iran caused severe disruption. Airlines outside the Gulf are continuing to reroute routes between Europe and Asia, away from major hubs within the region.
The latest flight information is listed below alphabetically:
AEGEAN AIRLINES
The largest airline in Greece will resume flights from Athens to Tel Aviv on April 28. Flights from Heraklion and Rhodes, as well as Larnaca and Rhodes, will be resumed on May 21. Thessaloniki-Tel Aviv flights are cancelled until June 26.
Riyadh will resume its flights on May 21. The flights to Beirut will be cancelled until June 26. Flights to Dubai will be cancelled until June 29. Erbil, Baghdad and Baghdad are also affected until July 2.
AIRBALTIC Latvian airline airBaltic has announced that flights to Tel Aviv are cancelled until 28 June. Dubai flights are cancelled until 24 October.
AIR CANADA
The Canadian carrier has canceled flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until September 7.
AIR EUROPA
Spanish Airlines has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv till May 31.
Air France-KLM Air France suspends its flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Dubai until May 10.
KLM suspends flights to Riyadh and Dubai until the 14th of June.
CATHAY PACIFIC
Hong Kong Airlines has suspended its flights to Dubai, Riyadh and cargo freighter service to Dubai and Riyadh up until May 31, and until June 30, respectively. In April, the airline will increase passenger flights from London to Paris and Zurich to meet the increased demand for travel to Europe. It intends to continue operating all scheduled flights after June.
The U.S. carrier cancelled flights between New York and Tel Aviv, and delayed the start of Atlanta-Tel Aviv until September 5. The launch of the Boston-Tel Aviv flight, scheduled for late October, was delayed.
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES
Israel's carrier announced that it will continue to expand its operations and, from April 27, operate flights to approximately 40?active Gateways. All flights to Dubai have been cancelled until May 31, 2019.
EMIRATES
The UAE airline announced that it will be operating a reduced schedule and flying to over 100 destinations.
ETIHAD AERWAYS
The United Arab Emirates carrier announced that it operates a commercial flight schedule from Abu Dhabi to around 80 destinations.
FINNAIR
The Finnish airline has cancelled all Doha flights up to July 2 and continues to avoid the airspaces of Iraq, Iran Syria, and Israel. The airline will only resume its Dubai flights by October.
British Airways, owned by IAG, will reduce?flights in the Middle East once services resume. Jeddah?will be permanently dropped as a destination.
Plans to reduce service to Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv from two daily flights to one daily flight by July? Riyadh service will be reduced from two to one daily flight from mid-May. The changes will apply until the end of the summer season on October 24. One Dubai service will restart on October 16.
Iberia Express, the Spanish low-cost carrier of IAG, has canceled flights to Tel Aviv until May 31.
JAPAN AIRLINES
Japan Airlines has suspended its scheduled Tokyo-Doha and Doha-Tokyo flight until June 1 and until May 31.
The Polish airline has suspended flights to Tel Aviv till May 31. The airline also cancelled flights from March 31 until May 30 to Beirut and Riyadh. The airline will operate its winter route from Dubai to October.
LUFTHANSA GROUP
Lufthansa has suspended flights from Switzerland, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Edelweiss to Dubai and Tel Aviv till May 31. The suspension of flights to Abu Dhabi is in effect until October 24, as are flights to Amman, Beirut Dammam, Riyadh Erbil Muscat and Tehran.
Eurowings, a low-cost carrier, has suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Beirut until May 11, Erbil and Beirut until May 14, and Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman to?October 24.
ITA Airways has extended the suspension of flights from Tel Aviv, Riyadh, and Dubai to May 31.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES
Malaysian Airlines has suspended all flights to Doha through June 14.
NORWEGIAN AIR
Low-cost airline 'has delayed the launch of its Tel Aviv and Beirut service to June 15th.
PEGASUS
Pegasus Airlines, Turkey's national airline, has cancelled all flights to Iran, Iraq, Amman Beirut, Kuwait Bahrain Doha Dammam Riyadh Dubai Abu Dhabi Sharjah and Abu Dhabi until June 1.
QANTAS
Australia's flag airline is adding more flights to Rome and Paris in response to a surge in demand for European destinations. The number of flights to Paris is increasing from three to five per week, and the Perth to Singapore service will go from daily to ten flights a week. A new schedule will be implemented gradually for flights starting in mid-April, and running until late July.
QATAR AIRWAYS From May 1, the carrier will resume daily flights to Damascus and Bahrain, as well as Kozhikode. Qatar Airways has announced that it will expand its international flight network from June 16 to more than 150 destinations.
ROYAL MAROC
The Moroccan carrier has announced that flights to Doha and Dubai have been cancelled until 30 June.
SINGAPORE Airlines
In response to increased demand, the carrier has extended its Singapore-Dubai suspension until May 31.
TURKISH AIRLINES SunExpress - Turkish Airlines' joint venture Lufthansa has cancelled flights from Dubai to May 21.
WIZZ AIR
Low-cost carrier suspends flights from Europe to Amman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until mid-September. All flights to Medina are suspended indefinitely. (Compiled by Josephine Mason and Jamie Freed. Elviira Louma, Tiago Branao, Agnieszka Olesnska, Bernadette HOG, Boleslaw LaSocki, Romolo Tosiani. Rod Nickel and Lisa Shumaker edited the book.
(source: Reuters)