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Flyadeal CEO blasts Airbus for 'inexcusable delays'
The head of Saudi low-cost carrier flyadeal has criticised Airbus for its handling of the delays in narrow-body jets. He also expressed concern that this could affect newly ordered wide-body A330neos. Steven Greenway, CEO of Airbus, spoke about the delays at an IATA industry summit in New Delhi just weeks after announcing an order for ten A330neo aircraft. "Delays have become inexcusable." To be honest, we are getting more and more agitated because of the lack of transparency. How can we plan anything else? Greenway said, "It's just beyond a joke." In aircraft contracts, a non-excusable delays is used to trigger specific penalties for airlines. However, these are rare. Sources in the industry say that Jetmakers have always argued any delays caused due to supply chain issues are "excusable". He said that Airbus has some internal problems. Airbus refused to comment on the delays of narrow-body aircraft. Airbus has reported that supply chains have improved and said it was working to reduce the impact to customers. It is still aiming to deliver 820 aircraft this year. Flyadeal was also one of several airlines affected by the slowdown in engines arriving from CFM at the Airbus assembly lines. Greenway stated, "I've got two narrow-body jets sitting on the ground at Toulouse right now. They have been there for several months and no resolution is in sight." We were supposed to have four planes in the first half year. "We've had only two aircraft, and those two were also delayed." One A321neo is due to be delivered to Saudia's sister airline in the third quarter, and three more in the fourth. He said: "I'm not sure...the three that are in the last quarter will get through the line." "Don't you forget, these are delays on top delays." Safran, who co-owns CFM along with GE Aerospace said in April that CFM has seen improvements in its supply chains, and is poised to recover a slower start until 2025. Greenway's comments reveal the frustration of airline CEOs at their annual industry gathering about supply issues. He acknowledged that the aerospace sector had suffered a large exodus after COVID-19. But he added: "I think it's unforgivable that we're still not over the hump three or four years on." A330NEO UNCERTAINTY Last week, it was reported that Airbus warned airlines of a pattern in delays for the next three years. Lessors are predicting supply tensions throughout the next decade. Greenway expressed concern that the same problems could spread to wide-body A330neo after flyadeal announced an order for ten of the upgraded long haul jets in April. There have not been any reports of delays in delivery. "Our first aircraft was supposed to be on the production line by December next year. He said, "I don't know whether we'll see it or not." Airbus has said that it is unaware of any A330neo delay. Airline companies say that delays can disrupt important decisions, such as training pilots and crew and adding routes. "You can't prepare...I'm now assuming that there will be a delay if you choose the wide-body aircraft. Greenway explained that he was working with wet-lease companies to fill the gap. Cebu Pacific, the Philippine budget airline, announced last week that it would lease two A320s with crews to flyadeal for its lean months of July and August. This is a busy time for the Saudi carrier. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Reporting by Tim Hepher)
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Nawrocki, a Polish eurosceptic, wins the presidential vote according to the electoral commission
The electoral commission announced early Monday that Karol Nawrocki, the candidate of the Polish nationalist opposition in the presidential election, won the second round with 50.89% of the votes. Rafal Trozaskowski, liberal Warsaw Mayor and ally of Donald Tusk's government, received 49.11%. Nawrocki (42), a eurosceptic history and amateur boxer, who ran a National Remembrance Institute, campaigned with a promise that economic and social policies would favour Poles, over other nationalities including refugees from the neighbouring Ukraine. The president has the power to veto any legislation. This vote was closely watched in Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and throughout the European Union. On the social media platform X Andrzej duda, who is also a conservative president, thanked Poles, for voting in such large numbers. The electoral commission reported a turnout of 71.31%. This is a record number for a second round presidential election. "Thank you! "Thank you!" The turnout. You have done your civic duty. You are responsible for Poland. Congratulations to the winner. "Stay strong Poland!" Duda wrote.
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Airlines raise concerns about the weakening global trade rules
The head of the global airline industry warned Monday that the growing barriers to trade could harm the economy and air travel. Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said that flying is a form of connectivity that makes the world more prosperous. He made this statement at the annual meeting of the group in New Delhi. "That is in stark contrast to the isolationism, the trade barriers, and the fragmentation multilateral system based on rules. They destroy wealth and lower standards of living. This is a very important message for the times in which we live," he said. IATA cut a key profit forecast for the industry in 2025 on Monday. It blamed trade tensions and a declining consumer confidence. They also criticized "unacceptable delays" in jetliner delivery that had hindered growth plans. The tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed have caused consumers to postpone or cancel their travel plans, especially in the United States. The threat also includes a decades-old agreement between over 30 countries that eliminates duties on aircraft parts and components. Walsh called on governments to "keep aerospace out of trade battles". IATA represents more than 300 airlines, which account for over 80% of the global traffic. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Tim Hepher)
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Global airlines cut their profit forecast for 2025 due to trade tensions and supply issues
Global airlines shaved a key forecast for 2025 industry-wide profits on Monday, blaming trade tensions and declining consumer confidence, while hitting out at "unacceptable" delays in jetliner deliveries that have hindered their growth plans. The IATA industry body now expects global airlines to post a combined profit of $36.0 billion this year, down slightly from a previous forecast of $36.6 billion in December, before U.S. President Donald Trump took office. He has since launched a trade war and tightened enforcement of U.S. border controls. But airline profits are still set to rise from $32.4 billion last year, helped by lower oil prices and record passenger numbers. The International Air Transport Association issued the widely watched forecasts, which give clues to the wider economy, at an annual meeting of its more than 300 member airlines in New Delhi. "Earning a $36 billion profit is significant. But that equates to just $7.20 per passenger per segment," IATA Director General Willie Walsh said in a statement. That is a thin buffer against any future demand shocks or taxes as the industry returns to a more normal regime after a sharp bounceback in air travel from the pandemic, he said. Strong employment and easing inflation are expected to push revenues up 1.3% compared to last year. But airlines will have to wait a little longer to hit the $1 trillion mark after IATA trimmed its prior forecast for industry-wide revenues by 2.1% to $979 billion, which would still be an all-time record. Trump's sweeping tariffs have stoked fears of an economic slowdown and squeezed discretionary spending, prompting many consumers especially in the United States to delay or scale back travel plans. Meanwhile, aircraft delivery delays have hampered airlines' ability to meet soaring travel demand in certain regions, while driving up operating costs as carriers are forced to keep older jets in service or pay more for the dwindling number of available spare parts. "It's been something that has frustrated everybody, particularly airlines who are waiting to take delivery of aircraft or have aircraft sitting on the ground that they'd love to see in service," Walsh told in an interview. In a statement on the new outlook, Walsh called predictions of delays throughout this decade "off-the-chart unacceptable". Total expenses for the industry are forecast to reach $913 billion in 2025, up 1.0% from 2024 but below earlier projections of $940 billion, as lower fuel prices help offset rising aircraft maintenance costs. IATA predicted that cargo revenues would drop 4.7% to $142 billion in 2025, mainly due to reduced global economic growth and trade-dampening protectionist measures, including tariffs. Amid a tug of war over who should absorb the tariffs, Walsh recognised that some manufacturers would be tempted to pass them on to their customers, but warned this would also push up fares. "Ultimately, when I look at this, I see consumers are going to have to end up paying for any higher costs that the industry faces," he told . (Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary and Tim Hepher in New Delhi; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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Sohn Hong Kong's top hedge fund picks include Indian pharma and China robotaxis
At the Sohn Investment Conference in Hong Kong, hedge funds shared their best investment ideas. These ranged from Chinese self driving taxis to an Indian drug retailer and a Korean nuclear power plant builder. The geographical diversity of this year's selections is greater than last year. This suggests that investors are actively trying to diversify their exposure in order to combat tariff uncertainty and market volatility. Flight Deck Capital, based in San Francisco, sees potential upside for Baidu's auto-driving division. Jay Kahn, Flight Deck's managing partner and founder of Flight Deck, said that Apollo Go is similar to Google's self driving unit Waymo. "It's the only robo taxi player in China who's not reliant on capital markets for scale," he added. He predicts that China's ride-sharing and taxi industry will grow to $237 billion in 2034. Apollo is expected to take a 15% share of the market. He said that the market currently values this segment and Baidu's cloud services at zero. Investor optimism about Chinese companies going overseas is not affected by the escalating U.S./China trade war. Apeiron Capital, Hong Kong's investment bank, has endorsed Chinese ride-hailing service DiDi Global. It cited its improved margin at home as well as its rapid market share growth in Latin America. Triata Capital, meanwhile, is optimistic about Chinese discount ecommerce player PDD (owner of Temu). The monthly active users of Temu are bigger than Amazon's, according to Triata CIO Sean Ho. Two investors are interested in India's healthcare sector. Arisaig Partners, a Singapore-based investment firm, favors MedPlus Health Services, a leading Indian pharmacy chain, because its private label products enhance its low price proposition and widen the gap between it and its competitors. "Inflation has dropped, the government is focusing more on the middle-class and consumer spending has risen from a low base. In an interview conducted before the conference, Vatsal mody, partner at Arisaig Partners and head of India Research said that he believes this is a time when consumer spending will improve. Panvira Management, an India-based hedge funds startup, is bullish about Piramal Pharma. It expects its growth to reach the high teens as well as benefiting from normalised tax rates. SECURITY AND A ACTIVISTS Other hedge funds are focusing on the opportunities created by geopolitical conflict in the security industry. Jon Jhun who manages MY.Alpha Management’s new Korea-focused funds chose Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which is engaged in nuclear plant design, procurement, and construction. He said that "Korea dominates ex-Russian and ex-China's nuclear supply chain." Frontline Global Management, a Hong Kong-based company, chose the Spanish defense firm Indra Sistemas in the belief that it will win more European contract. Palliser Capital, a UK hedge fund, disclosed at the event that it owned a 3% stake of Japan's Toyo Tire. The hedge fund urged the tire manufacturer to increase shareholder returns by setting an "best-in class" performance target, and to release its excess capital, which amounts to about $900,000,000, to shareholders. Seth Fischer’s Oasis management is long Japanese entertainment chain Round One. It believes it will receive a higher rating as it enters the restaurant business, aiming to bring Michelin quality Japanese food to the U.S.
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Ancora Holdings and ISS proxy advisors support each other in the fight against Forward Air
Institutional Shareholder Services has lent their support to Ancora Holdings in its campaign to remove three long-serving Forward Air directors. The proxy advisory firm has urged investors to refrain from voting on the reappointment of the trio. Ancora's activist investor campaign, which has lasted for nearly a year, to sell Forward Air, is given a major boost by the recommendation of a report issued by ISS. This will influence how money managers, such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and others, vote at Forward Air’s annual shareholder meeting on June 11. The ISS report reviewed by Sunday comes less than a month after Ancora (which owns approximately 4% of Forward Air) launched a campaign to "withhold votes" to force Chairman George Mayes out and two other for their roles in a unpopular acquisition and accelerate a sales. This month, eleven directors will be voting. ISS advised shareholders to vote for the other nominees of the company and not Mayes (Javier Polit) and Tucker (Laurie). A company policy may require a director's resignation if he or she receives less than 50% support from shareholders in a vote. Forward Air's representative did not respond immediately to a comment request. Ancora targets the trio because they supported Forward Air's purchase of Omni Logistics by Forward Air in January 2024. This acquisition was made without shareholder consent. The ISS report stated that "in light of the urgent need for a well run strategic review process coupled with governance failures relating to the value-destructive Omni purchase, there is a strong case for change." Withholding votes "should send a clear message to the board about the expectations of shareholders for a timely and thorough process". Ancora, Irenic Capital, and Alta Fox Capital Management investors have all urged Forward Air conduct a review of its strategic direction and to consider selling to a strategic buyer. The freight forwarder announced in January 2025 that it would be conducting a strategic review. In a joint statement, Ancora CEO Fred DiSanto, and Ancora Alternatives president James Chadwick stated that the ISS report should "serve as a warning to the Board" about the importance of completing a thorough yet expeditious process to maximize the value of a sale to any one or more interested parties in acquiring Forward Air. Forward Air's stock price has fallen from $121 at the end of 2021, to $16.78 today, largely due to the Omni purchase bringing with it increased debt and no promised cost savings, as well as investor loss of confidence. (Reporting and editing by Christopher Cushing; Svea Herbst Bayliss)
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Air India is in negotiations for a major new narrow-body aircraft order, according to sources
Air India, a Tata Group company, is in negotiations with Airbus or Boeing to place a large order for new aircraft, including 200 additional single-aisle jets. This deal will be a massive one in 2023, as the former national carrier pursues an ambitious multi-billion dollar revamp. Two sources told us that the order discussions could include hundreds of aircraft in various sizes. They said this was an expansion of previously reported discussions about a new batch of large wide body aircraft. Air India, Boeing, and Airbus have all declined to comment. As global airline chiefs gathered for a summit on the fastest-growing aviation industry in the world, Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister, was scheduled to address them on Monday. Air India ordered 470 aircraft from both suppliers by 2023, a record order. It also purchased another 100 Airbus planes in the same year. The simultaneous orders for two planes come at a moment when aircraft manufacturers are scrambling to resolve supply chain problems, which have led to delays in aircraft deliveries and an upcoming jet shortage. Air India needs new planes to regain market share that has been lost due to rivals. The airline, owned by the government for years, is embarking on an ambitious modernisation program to reclaim this market share. It was not immediately known how many narrowbody jets were included in the new order, but two sources said that it would be hundreds. Another source stated that it would include 200 narrow-body aircrafts which are the backbone of the aviation fleets around the world. Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Sophie Walker and Aditi Singh.
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IATA anticipates that sustainable aviation fuel production will double by 2025
The International Air Transport Association announced on Sunday that it expects sustainable aviation fuel production to double by 2025, reaching 2 million tonnes. This represents 0.7% of airline fuel consumption. IATA, a powerful industry group, has warned that airlines may struggle to achieve their sustainability goals and described the production rate of SAF (which is more expensive than conventional Jet Fuel) as disappointingly slow. Willie Walsh, Director general of IATA, said that although the increase in production was encouraging it would add $4.4 billion to the global aviation fuel bill. Walsh stated in a press release that "the pace of progress must accelerate" in terms of ramping up production, and improving efficiencies in order to reduce costs. In 2021, the aviation industry as a whole agreed to aim for net-zero emission in 2050. This was based on a gradual shift to SAF (which is made of waste oil and biomass). The airlines are in conflict with the energy companies about SAF shortages, and also point fingers at Airbus and Boeing for delays delivering fuel-efficient aircraft. (Reporting and editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Sophie Walker, and Lisa Barrington from Seoul)
Brazil's Lula seeks trade ties with Beijing, as China and Trump spar.
Brazilian officials hailed President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping as a way to attract investment and boost Brazilian products to a country that is frustrated by the volatile tariff policies of U.S. president Donald Trump.
Lula praised the upcoming Chinese investment of more than $4.5 Billion in Brazilian industries ranging from renewable energy and automaking to pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
Lula said to business leaders in Beijing, "If my government is in charge, our relationship with China would be irreparable."
Officials said that his visit would also result in major investments for railways and farm export infrastructure. Brasilia wants to increase exports of grain and other products currently supplied by the U.S., to China. These goods have become more expensive due to a damaging trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.
"Brazil wants to expand its friendship and trade ties with China in order to generate great reciprocal accomplishments, particularly in the recent period of trade instability brought about by the United States," Brazilian agriculture minister Carlos Favaro said at the business forum held in Beijing.
The U.S. reached an agreement with China on Monday.
The remaining trade barriers, combined with the distrust between Beijing and Brasilia have led to bets that a more reliable relationship can be formed.
Lula's visit to China, which lasted four days, included his third bilateral meeting since he took office as Brazilian president in 2023. Other leaders have visited Beijing, including Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Colombian Gustavo Petro for meetings between Chinese officials and CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
The Lula-Xi summit on Tuesday comes after the strengthening of diplomatic relations between the two countries during a November meeting in Brazil where the leaders signed over 40 agreements in a variety of sectors including infrastructure, energy, and agribusiness.
On Monday, the Chinese Envision Group invested $1 billion in Brazil's production of renewable aviation fuel made from sugarcane.
According to ApexBrasil, the government agency for trade and investments, Meituan has announced an investment in the amount of 5 billion Reais to enter Brazil with its Keeta App. CGN Power has also revealed plans to invest 3 billion reais in a hub for wind, solar and storage of energy. Great Wall Motor plans to invest $6 billion in Brazilian auto factories.
Longsys, a Chinese semiconductor company, announced an investment in Brazil of 650,000,000 reais. Longsys is China's biggest memory chipmaker based on revenue. Two years ago it acquired Zilia, a Brazilian subsidiary, which may help avoid U.S. export controls and tariffs targeting China-made semiconductors.
Lula met with Norinco's CEO on Monday.
RAIL PROJECTS
Brazil's Transport Minister Renan filho said Chinese investors are interested in several rail project in Brazil. This includes proposals to connect farm and mining areas with ports like Barcarena and Acu, as well as the new Chinese operated port in Chancay in Peru.
He said: "We will sign any project that has the potential to increase China's exports, including agriculture but also mining and other industries."
The Minister acknowledged that plans were presented to Chinese investors several times over the past few years. However, he said that the relationship between the two countries is now mature enough to allow projects to proceed.
He said that the two countries had reached a more firm agreement about their relationship last year, after years of Chinese diplomats trying in vain to recruit Brazil into the Belt and Road Initiative (China's global infrastructure project). In November last year, they agreed to "synergize" China's plans with Brazil's development programs.
China is Brazil's largest export market. It has also been one of Latin America's most important foreign investors, although it has become more cautious over the past few years. According to the Brazil-China Business Council's survey, Chinese investment in Brazil in 2023 totaled 1.73 billion dollars, which is a 33% rise from the previous year but still the second-lowest since 2007.
Tulio Caiello, director of research at the council, stated that transportation, and in particular rail, had an enormous potential to attract Chinese investment, even though these projects have been stalled by bureaucratic and financial obstacles.
He said that he could see that China was very interested in the project, and that both countries were better prepared now to overcome any obstacles. "There's a lot more information about Brazil available in China now than before."
(source: Reuters)