Western Europe

EU competition'regulators' proposed Monday revamping state aid rules for smaller Airports. Citing Europe's?"decarbonisation" goals and the "energy crisis",?this is part of a ten-year old overhaul to EU air transportation regulations. The European Commission has asked interested parties to submit feedback by June 11, before it decides if the Commission will proceed with its plans or make any further changes. In a?statement,?EU Antitrust Chief Teresa Ribera stated that "today's proposal ensures public funding is directed to where it is most needed while ensuring level playing fields in the single market." According to the plan, airports that have up to 3 millions...

Britain announced on Saturday that it would be sending its warship HMS Dragon, to the Middle East to prepare for a possible multinational 'effort to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz once conditions permit. HMS Dragon was an air defence destroyer that was sent to Eastern Mediterranean in March shortly after the Iran War to defend Cyprus. The move to the Middle East comes after France deployed its carrier strike group in the southern Red Sea as part of a joint defensive plan to restore confidence in the trade routes. A spokesperson from the British Ministry of Defence stated...

A senior executive announced on Friday that Ryanair would 'close its operating base' at?Greece’s?Thessaloniki Airport this winter due to increased fees by airport operator Fraport. Ryanair's Chief commercial officer Jason?McGuinness told reporters in Athens that there had been no progress made in talks between Fraport and the low-cost airline. Fraport has increased fees for airlines operating at some Greek airports. McGuinness stated that Fraport Greece has continued to raise charges which are 66% higher than the pre-Covid levels. He added that the combined moves would result in the loss of 700,000 flights and 12 routes throughout Greece, as well as...

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Friday that he didn't expect "massive" flight cancellations this summer by airlines due to jet fuel shortages. He said that most airlines do not want to cancel flights in the summer, when they make their biggest revenues. However, some have reduced their traffic slightly. Transavia France has cancelled 2% its flights between May and June, according to a spokesperson on Friday. The French government is working on measures to help airlines, such as deferrals in social security contributions and extended deadlines for tax payments. After announcing that there would be a shortage of...

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot announced late Wednesday that the French 'government' is prepared to offer a monetary aid for airlines affected by the?increase in jet fuel prices. Tabarot stated in a blog post on X that the government and airlines 'had made progress on a meeting held on Wednesday regarding aid, including deferrals on social?security contributions and extended deadlines for tax payments and flexibility with?fuel loadings. "Airlines are experiencing a major shock." He said that the government was fully committed to helping airlines get through these difficult times. European authorities are scrambling to find solutions in order to avoid widespread...

AirAsia, a Malaysian budget carrier, has ordered 150 A220-300 jets designed in Canada from Airbus. This is the largest single-firm order for the jetliner ever. The companies announced this at an event held in Quebec on Tuesday. Airbus' commercial aviation CEO Lars Wagner stated that AirAsia was the "launch customer", of the new 160-seat configuration. AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes stated that his airline would "buy" 150 more aircraft if Airbus made a stretched version the A220 jet. The announcement confirms previous reports about a deal to purchase 150 A220-300?jets. Fernandes stated that the order is worth $19 billion. This is...

Lufthansa announced better than expected 'first quarter results' on Wednesday. Strategic hedging allowed the airline to avoid the impact of increasing jet fuel prices. The group reported a adjusted?operating?loss of 612 millions euros ($717 million) for the period January-March, compared with a projected loss of $659 million by an?Lufthansa analyst poll. This is an improvement from the 722 million euro adjusted operating loss in the same time period last year. Lufthansa has said that the Middle East crisis is driving up the price of kerosene, but also increasing demand as travellers reroute via their hubs. The company maintained that it...

Lufthansa reported ?better-than-expected first-quarter results on Wednesday and maintained ?its outlook for the year as strategic hedging helped the ?airline sidestep the ?impact of a war-driven ?rise ?in jet fuel prices, while labour disruptions were kept largely under control. The group said that the spiking prices of jet fuel would add an extra 1.7 billion euro ($1.99 billion), to its fuel bill. However, it added that they were in a position to minimize this negative impact. The Middle East crisis is causing a surge in demand for Lufthansa hubs as travelers reroute to them. Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive of Lufthansa,...

Fraport, the operator of Germany's biggest airport, said on Tuesday that a?increase in traffic to other areas, notably Asia offset fewer flights into the Middle East area in the first quarter. Fraport shares, which operate airports not only in Frankfurt but also in Brazil, Slovenia, and Bulgaria, have fallen 17% since the start of World War II as airlines reduce capacity and increase fares because kerosene prices are higher. The operator of?Frankfurt Airport pointed out robust passenger growth in all markets during the first quarter. However, the impact was dampened by the conflicts, weather-related cancelations and strikes at Lufthansa. The...

SAC, the operator of Sicily’s Catania Airport, announced?on Monday that it had?launched a?process for selling a stake of?at least 51% of the company. Catania, Sicily's principal airport, is Italy's fifth-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic. SAC, owned by local authorities and chambers, operates the airport under a concession that runs until 2049. SAC manages Comiso Airport?in southern Sicily. SAC stated in a press release that bidders are required to submit their?offers? by June?3. Since 2022, the privatisation of Catania Airport has been planned. Italian investment bank Mediobanca is the adviser appointed to guide the sale process. Sources told? ?in...

Baltic Exchange, world's leading provider of benchmark indices for shipping, denies allegations made by Mercuria that its data on oil tanker prices caused losses to the commodity trader. Mercuria, a Swiss company, said in a court filing dated April 30 that the losses were due to oil tanker prices which did not take into account the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Mercuria has sued the 'Baltic Exchange claiming that they have not met their statutory and contractual responsibilities in producing the TD3C Benchmark based on the voyages from the Middle -East to Asia. The London-based exchange owned by Singapore's...

A court filing revealed that commodity trader Mercuria has sued the Baltic Exchange - the top provider of shipping benchmark indices in the world - for losses caused by data on oil tanker prices which did not take into account the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. and Israeli 'war' with Iran began on February 28. Since then, hundreds of ships have been stranded in the Gulf. 20,000 seafarers are unable to pass through the crucial chokepoints. Only a handful of ships will make the journeys every day. In a filing dated April 30, and submitted via...

A notice published by the London Metal Exchange on Thursday showed that China's Tsingshan Group has applied to have aluminium produced at its Hua Chin joint venture in Indonesia?available for delivery?on the London Metal Exchange. Hua Chin - where Tsingshan and Huafon Group are partnered by fellow Chinese company Huafon Group - would be the only Indonesian brand of high-grade primary aluminum to be accepted by LME, after state-owned Inalum. * The application is being made as Indonesia ramps up production and exports, potentially compensating shortages caused by war in the Middle East. According to a LME notice, the second...

U.S. president Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will increase tariffs to 25% on?cars?and trucks imported from the European Union, claiming the bloc has not adhered to its trade agreement with Washington. In a post on social media, he said: "Based on the European Union not adhering to our Trade Deal fully agreed upon, I will increase Tariffs for Cars and Trucks entering the United States next week." It is understood and agreed by all that there will be no tariff if the Cars and Trucks are produced in U.S.A. Plants." Trump told reporters in the White House that...

Le president americain Donald Trump a ?declare vendredi qu'il allait porter ?a 25% les droits de douane sur ?les voitures et ?les camions ?en ?provenance de l'Union europeenne, expliquant sa decision par le fait, qu'a ses yeux, l'UE n'a pas respecte leur accord commercial. "Etant donne que l'Union europeenne ne respecte pas notre accord ?commercial, sur lequel nous nous etions pleinement mis d'accord, ?j'augmenterai la semaine prochaine les droits de douane imposes a ?l'Union europeenne sur les voitures et les camions entrant aux Etats-Unis", ecrit-il ?dans un message publie sur les reseaux ?sociaux. "Il est clairement entendu ?et convenu que,...

Standard Chartered Bank announced on Tuesday that it had successfully arranged a $2.33billion syndicated finance facility?for a Standard 'Gauge -Railway?Project?in Tanzania. The money will be used to finance two stretches on a planned 1,219 km rail line linking the port and commercial capital of Dar es Salaam with?the lakeside town of Mwanza. The bank said that Yapi Merkezi, a Turkish company, and China's China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation would be responsible for the work. The bank added that funding was obtained from commercial banks, export credit agencies and development finance institutions. The bank said: "The construction of the Standard Gauge...

British 'warehouse owner'?Segro has expanded its efforts into data centres. It is lining up new sites in France and Germany as well as in Italy and Poland to take advantage of the global boom in artificial-intelligence spending. David Sleath, in an interview on Thursday, said: "We think that there will be a very strong demand in the future in and around other large cities." We are working to secure planning permissions on some of these sites and power. Segro, which has around 10.9m square metres of space to its name, is betting that the?demand for AI-based data centres will continue...

Hyundai's CEO said that it will be difficult for the automaker, due to manufacturing constraints, to quickly reallocate sales to other regions, and thus make up lost sales. The CEO of Hyundai, Jose Munoz, revealed the?new?Ioniq3 EV at the Milan Design Week, in Italy. He said that the Middle East is the market with the highest margins for the South Korean carmaker, even though it does not bring "massive" profits. Hyundai's Spanish CEO stated that the conflict in the Middle East was having an impact on the company because cars produced for this region cannot be easily redirected to other...

The massive copper stockpile at the U.S. Comex exchange The CEO of German copper manufacturer Aurubis stated on Tuesday that the reserves should be drained 'in a few months' as local demand picks up. Comex has 532,000 metric tonnes of copper - nearly a quarter the annual U.S. demand - because traders shipped metal to America last year in anticipation of tariffs. The inventories have not fallen much since February when they peaked at 546,000 tons. Last week, arbitrage shipping copper to Comex was opened again. Toralf Haag, CEO of Aurubis, said: "I believe it's an issue with supply security."...

The LME announced on Wednesday that it had fined PAC Global Services Spain?250,000 pounds ($334,175) as a disciplinary action for violating its rules. In a notice to members, the exchange, which is the oldest and largest market for industrial metals in the world, listed eight PGS violations of its warehouse agreement. The most serious violations were found during an investigation at a PGS warehouse in Taiwan. Copper was discovered in a yard in the open outside of the facility. The notice stated that "the storage of metal outside an approved?LME shed is an egregious violation of the warehouse agreement... as...

Italy's tax authorities announced on Tuesday that they had seized 27,4 million euros ($31.8 million) from two French units of CEVA Logistics. This is a new chapter in investigations into alleged tax fraud, and illegal labor practices. This move, which targets the French multinational known for its partnership in Ferrari's F1 Team, is similar to other actions taken against Italian logistics and delivery companies, such as FedEx, DHL, Amazon, etc. Milan prosecutors accuse CEVA of issuing fake invoices in order to?mask cheap labour, bypassing labour laws and tax laws and avoiding?taxes and social security payments. CEVA Logistics?did not immediately respond?...

Mexico's government announced on Thursday that it had taken legal action to force Millon, a French auction house, to stop the planned sale this week of 40 precolombian artifacts Mexico considers to be its cultural heritage. Mexico has launched "appropriate legal procedures before?the?relevant?authorities", and reached out via diplomatic channels to repatriate the artifacts, Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel stated in a social media post. She said, "The protection of cultural heritage is the responsibility of the State and an act historical justice." Millon will hold an in-person sale of a precolombian collection entitled "Les Empires of Light" (The Empires of Light),...

The 'London High Court' refused to allow Indian businessman Prateek gupta, who was found guilty of defrauding commodities trader Trafigura by using fake nickel cargoes. The Geneva-based 'Trafigura' alleged that Gupta had been the mastermind behind a fraudulent "Ponzi Scheme" where he and his firms agreed to deliver high-quality nickel 99.8% but delivered low-value materials or even worthless ones instead. Gupta admitted he didn't deliver high-grade Nickel cargoes, but said Trafigura?staff designed the scheme. Former Trafigura head nickel trader Sokratis Oikonomou denies this. Last month, Judge Pushpinder Saini found that Gupta's companies and Gupta had induced Trafigura to sign contracts...

Swedish autonomous trucking firm Einride announced on Thursday that it has raised $113 million in private equity investment ahead of its merger with a blank check company and public listing of shares in the U.S. scheduled for the first half. The funding 'was committed by both new and existing investors, including EQT Ventures. It will 'help support the technology roadmap of the company and its global expansion across North -America, Europe, and the Middle -East. Einride stated that the?listing? now values the company as a $1.8 billion equity value, compared to the $1.8 billion valuation when the announcement was made?in...