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The article presents information on the decline in insurance costs for airline industry. It states that despite increasing aircraft accidents, the airline insurance premiums are falling, causing financial losses to underwriters. It states that the premiums are predicted to continue to fall in 2016 as well.

The article discusses the potential impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) concept to the way people live, travel and do businesses. Topics covered include the fundamentals of the IoT concept, technologies that enable IoT, and the benefits of using the IoT concept. It discusses how airlines use IoT in their business and flight operations, the highlights of the "2015 Information Technology (IT) Trends Survey", and the emergence of sensorized elevators, boarding gates, and baggage trolleys.

The presents an interview with Ethiopian Airlines chief executive officer Tewolde Gebremariam. Topics discussed include the airlines' Vision 2025 which calls for Ethiopian to become the largest carrier in Africa, the emergence of Ethiopian as the largest African carrier in 2013 by revenue and profit, and its plan to expand its fleet and put Addis Ababa at the center of a global hub and spoke system. Also mention is the coverage of Ethiopian's network which includes cities in Europe and Asia.

The article reports on the challenges facing the regional airlines. It shows that regional carriers are too dependent on major airlines and relations between them prompt a rethink in business strategy. Hamlin Transportation Consulting president George Hamlin argues that large carriers are playing the small ones off by putting segments of the business out for bid, and accepting the lowest bidder that can do the job.

The article discusses the results of an annual audit of the airline industry's groupings lists codeshare partners for members of the three global alliances featured in the Airline Business Top 200 Traffic Rankings. Latin America was found to be the focus of much of the recent activity of the Star Alliance, with the merger of the carrier group AviancaTaca and Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines both took their place in Star in 2012. The Star's new recruits in the last 12 months are also cited.

The article focuses on the alliances of airlines in the North Atlantic. Richard Anderson of Delta Air Lines said that capacity discipline is the airline's key lever and it plans to cut Atlantic capacity by about 5% year-on-year during the second half of 2012. A member of the SkyTeam, Delta has an immunised transatlantic joint venture in place with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Star Alliance member United Airlines also cut capacity in the second quarter.

The article presents information on competition between global alliances in the airline industry. Despite the loss of some members, Oneworld and Star Alliance were able to obtain new recruits. But competition between the two alliances gets tougher as they compete over the merger between carriers LAN and TAM.

Charts are presented on regional airline rankings in 2010 for criteria including passenger revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) and available seat kilometre (ASK).

Charts are presented showing the 2010 World Airline Rankings, including the top passenger operations by traffic and top 50 airlines by passengers.

The article reports on information technology (IT) trends at airports, which have been focused on streamlining services and boosting revenue. It is noted that self-service and mobile technologies are being utilized to improve passenger experience and support business partners. Gatwick Airport in London, England, has provided plasma displays at check-in counters of Norwegian, Emirates and Delta Airlines which allow them to show public relations (PR) campaigns.

The article discusses the highlights of a panel discussion presented at the inaugural Airline Business Alliances, Joint Ventures and Partnerships conference, which took place in Madrid, Spain in late September 2010. It was noted that senior airline executives still do not know the exact, tangible value of alliance membership, despite more than a decade of airline alliance activity. The differing strategies of Star and oneworld was once again highlighted at the discussion.

The article features Steven Udvar-Hazy, aviation's operating lease pioneer, which earned him a reputation as a visionary in this business. In March 2010, he created a new corporation, Air Lease (ALC), with initial equity financing of 3.3 billion U.S. dollars. Many are skeptic about Udvar-Hazy's new venture, given the extremely fragile financial environment, but Udvar-Hazy sees it differently. In particular, he expects ALC as having a key role in the launch of a successor in the 150- to 250-seat range.

The article discusses alliance formation in the airline industry. It cites that the anti-trust immunity is seen by airline industry insiders as the only way for carriers to reap the benefits of a merger across borders, which had been impossible due to ownership and control caps. Jeffrey Shone of Hogan & Hartson and Warren Dean, Jr of Thompson Cobourn argued in an American Bar Association paper in early 2010 that the alliances are considered as a strategy implemented by the airline industry to cope up with the changes in the commercial environment.

An interview with Antonis Simigdalas, chief executive officer of Olympic Air, is presented. He notes that he and his father, Nikos Simigdalas, have always opposed monopolistic competition. He believes that the market is responding favourably to the product of Olympic Air as its market share has grown to 47% in December 2009 from 30% in October. He stresses that maximising connectivity is important in terms of covering all aspects of air transport.

An interview with Singapore Airlines chief executive Chew Choon Seng about the challenges and his outlook for 2010 is presented. He will replace Boeing 747 with Airbus A380 that bears the colours of SAI because he believes that the latter aircraft represents a brighter future for the airline. He argues that customers are willing to pay high in return for good service and the notion that luxury travel has ended is an exaggeration. He expresses doubt that low-cost carriers can compete in the long-haul market.

Several charts are presented that show the rankings of regional airlines as of October 2009 including ranking by region, by type of operation and regional airlines in Europe.

The article looks at the market condition of leisure airline companies as of October 2009. Market observations by executives like Sylviane Lust of the International Air Carrier Association, Gianni Rossi of Italian company Eurofly and David Huttner of Planely Spoken are presented. It describes the impact of the global recession on the leisure market. Also noted is the market hold of low-cost carriers in the leisure sector.

The article describes the effects of the five Boeing 737-700s placed into service by Colombian carrier Aims between February and June 2009 on the Colombian domestic market and on the Avianca-Aero Republica duopoly. It states that the launch indicates Colombia's adoption of low-cost carrier strategy following Brazil and Mexico. Details of the operations of Avianca and Aero Republica, subsidiary of Copa Airlines, in the Colombian market are discussed. Also noted is the market share of EasyFly in Colombia.

Several charts are presented that list of the codeshare partners for members of the three global alliances featuring in the Airline Business Top 200 Traffic Rankings is presented including Star Alliance, Skyteam, and One World.

A chart is presented that lists the top 150 airports passenger ranking for 2008 including Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois and Tokyo International Airport in Tokyo, Japan.

The article discusses how airports can provide airlines relief while safeguarding their well-being during an economic downturn. Airports Council International (ACI) Latin America and Caribbean regional secretary Eduardo Flores, says airport costs in isolation, excluding air traffic fees, are very small in terms of the economic costs of an airline. According to Norwegian chief operating officer Daniel Skjeldam, they like to deal with private airport groups since private companies are more eager to share risk because they are in the same situation.

The article reports on the move of Transatlantic airlines to reduce capacity for the 2009 summer season. It states that Delta Air Lines announced its plan to slash international capacity by 10% from September. It mentions that Continental, American, United Airlines and US Airways have also stressed their intention to cut frequencies rather than destinations as they attempt to malign capacity to meet decreasing demand.

The article reports on the movement of low-cost airlines towards hybrid reservation systems as network carriers go in the opposite direction. It is noted that the global economic crisis prompted airlines to fine-tune their businesses to take advantage of any potential new revenue opportunities. It is predicted that in spite of the popularity of hybrid reservation systems, there are unlikely to be complete out-of-the-box hybrid solutions.

The article discusses the results of a survey of top airline executives which found that carriers are not cutting back their marketing expenditures during the tough economic times. The Airline Business Marketing Survey conducted in 2009 found that more than 60 percent of respondents believes in spending more in marketing to try and stimulate demand. Qatar Airways considers a downturn as an opportunity to expand global reach.

This article reveals the expansion plan of European low-cost carrier Norwegian in response to the demise of rival Sterling in Copenhagen, Denmark. Within days of Sterling's failure Norwegian had launched flights from Copenhagen to Aalborg, Nice, Alicante and Malaga, to add to its existing Oslo and Stockholm flights. It has since firmed plans for a dozen more routes and to base six Boeing 737s at the Danish airport from March 2009. The carrier will grow from the six routes already operated out of Copenhagen to 18 by May 2009.

An interview with Raghu Menon, chairman and managing director of Air India, is presented. He claims that the merger between Air India and Indian Airlines has made Air India an airline of competitive scale in the region, in the South and Southeast Asian region. He says costs have been reduced due to the enlarged entity's increased purchasing power. He adds that the route duplication is almost more or less completely removed.

The article offers information on the recipients of the 2008 Airline Strategy Awards, including Giovanni Bisignani, Wolfgang Mayrhuber and Alan Joyce.

Charts that outline the top 150 airline groups around the world in terms of their year 2007 revenue are presented.

The article discusses the highlights of the recent Inside Air Finance conference of "Commercial Aviation Online," held in London, England. Delegates at the conference tried to determine the sector that will finance the upcoming needs of the aviation market. European banks are seen as the most likely source of financing for the aviation industry, but the global credit crunch is affecting the amount of available funding for the sector. Bankers at the conference were unusually quiet about financial support from the export credit agencies.

An interview with Shenzhen Airlines president and vice-chairman Li Kun is presented. He outlines the reason for his decision to transfer from state-owned China Southern Airlines to Shenzhen Airlines. Li claims that even if the targets of his expansion plan for Shenzhen Airlines are ambitious, they are fully justified and realistic. Li reveals that Shenzhen Airlines is interested in serving Taiwan, a market that is only now opening up.

The article reports on the flight capacity additions between the U.S. and Europe in the North Atlantic market. In summer 2008, air travel capacity of the North Atlantic market will increase by 5.6 percent. Since 2003, capacity of the North Atlantic market has increased consecutively. However, the author notes that market conditions could be negative because of the weakening economy and high fuel prices.

The article offers a look at a variety of issues concerning the ownership and operation of British airline company bmi. As U.S. carriers secure their access to London Heathrow, the ownership of bmi, the second largest slot holder at the airport, is speculated to be at stake. Executives from other airlines claim that the future of bmi is significant to the British airline industry. Some airlines even expressed their interest in acquiring bmi.

An interview with Samer Majali, chief executive officer of Royal Jordanian, is presented. He mentions the market status and operation of the airline company in Middle East. He also cites the plan of boost the regional routes of the carrier company. Majali says that the privatization plan of the airline will help then company access capital markets.

The article discusses issues related to the airline industry in Mexico. The country's two flag carriers, Aeromexico and Mexicana, have been privatised and a crop of low-cost start-ups has sprung up to challenge the status quo. Aeromexico chief executive Andres Conesa is confident that the carrier's long-awaited sale to a consortium led by Citibank-owned Banamex in October 2007. What the Mexican market does need, according to VivaAeroBus chief executive Mike Szucs, is additional airport capacity that is not accompanied by a high price tag.

The article focuses on the issue of slot trading at the Heathrow Airport in London, England. Air France-KLM chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta said that the bids for the airport's slots are very high. The author says the slots are a top priority at Continental, Delta and Northwest Airlines as they prepare to spend big to gain access to Heathrow. The airline industry is said to be debating whether slot trading should be freely allowed across Europe.

The article discusses the findings of a global survey of the engine maintenance industry which reported a shortage of engineering skills in the industry. The author contends that the shortage will affect on the ability of airlines to continue expanding. Brian Hogan of Cebu Pacific claimed that the depth of experience given to graduates is not as comprehensive as it used to be. The Heidrick & Struggles survey has revealed that difficulties are emerging both in terms of the shortage of engineers and in the ability of airlines to manage projects on time.

The article examines the challenges for alliances in the airline industry which are regulatory rather than geographical in nature as airlines seek wide antitrust immunity for their transatlantic networks. The sceptics, Jaan Albrecht recalls, saw the alliances as a way to present a traditional old-fashioned codeshare to the flying public and, in particular, to corporate travellers, wrapping up these plain vanilla pairings with marketing slogans, and promising something more than they were.

The article presents the Airline Business Alliance Survey which provides a snapshot of the current state of cooperation deals between the world's main carriers. The codeshare partners for full members of the three global alliances as well as the codeshares partners for major non-aligned carriers are listed. The full survey covers only those mainline scheduled passenger carriers which appeared in the Top 200 ranking by passenger traffic.

An interview with China's Aviation Minister Yang Yuanyuan is presented. He discusses his vision for allowing more new carriers, pricing freedom, and domestic and international liberalization. He predicts the transformation of the Chinese market into one with three main types of airlines. He also argues that domestic deregulation will continue taking place at a progressive pace.

The article features David Neeleman and Dave Barger of JetBlue Airways. Neeleman, JetBlue's founder, also co-founded Morris Air, a Salt Lake City-based charter and low-fares airline, in 1984. Dave Barger, chief executive and president of JetBlue Airways, is the last member of the founding team of executives at the airline.

The article presents information on Touristik Union International (TUI), Europe's biggest tour operator. TUI has two main carriers in Germany, including HLX.com and Hapagfly, which was formerly Hapag Lloyd. Across Europe, TUI has seven airlines with a combined fleet of 122 aircraft carrying 25 million passengers annually. INSETS: Steep take-off;TUI's transformation from industry to tourism.

The article presents information on the results of the Airport Information Technology Trends 2006 survey. The number of airport and airport group respondents has increased to 73, representing the views of over 180 airports and accounting for over 50% of revenues from the top 100 airports in the Airline Business Airports Financial and Traffic Ranking and just over a third of the traffic.

The article reports that airport privatisation was meant to herald a new era of professional airport management that focused on service, cost control and efficiency. Although considered the granddaddy of airport privatisations, the flotation of BAA, which raised a tidy $2.3 billion for the UK government, remains one of a relatively small number of airports that have been privatised through the sale of assets to private investors.

The article focuses on Lion Air, the largest privately-owned carrier in Indonesia, and its president director and co-founder Rusdi Kirana. Lion Air was established in mid-2000, offering two-class services over an extreme domestic and limited international network. Lion Air, along with its subsidiary Wings Air, carried more than 7 million passengers in 2005 with an average load factor in excess of 90%. It also has plans of adding at least 60 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft from early 2007. INSET: Quick learner.

The article focuses on the decline in the development of large hubs and hub carriers in light of greater route freedom and the rise in point-to-point flying, a new generation of mid-sized, wide-bodied aircraft. The introduction of new aircraft technologies, the emergence of demand from developing regions and the increasing financial pressure on traditional flag carriers to reduce their internal cross-subsidies between long- and short-haul networks will rearrange international traffic flows.

The article focuses on the all-inclusive service packages offered by original equipment managers to airlines in response to the decision of most airline companies to outsource aircraft maintenance functions. Manufacturers have been working on strategies for years to capture more lucrative aftermarket business. The company Airbus has established a network of maintenance providers in 2005, while Boeing is aggressively pursuing contracts directly with airlines that have ordered its aircraft. INSET: Custom packages in vogue.

The article presents an interview with Delta Air Lines executive Gerry Grinstein. According to the executive, Delta will have more than 50 daily transatlantic flights, reaching 29 cities in 17 nations and will be the top U.S. carrier in transatlantic capacity, departures and destinations. He is also confident that the airline will be able to emerge from reorganization by the summer of 2007.

The article presents an interview with Vijay Mallya, chairman of UB Group in India. He comments on a statement about making a small fortune in the airline business. He criticizes low-cost carriers that aim to achieve market capitalization. He claims that his airline Kingfisher is the only serious competitor to Jet Airways.

The article presents an interview with Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways. He discusses the impact of the emergence of new airline companies on Qatar Airways. He emphasizes that the Qatari government does not subsidise the airline. He reveals his plan to add another 10 destinations for the airline in 2006. INSET: Hands-on leader.

The article presents an interview with Southwest Airlines' new chief executive officer, Gary Kelly. He says that Southwest has a tremendous competitive advantage, it carries more domestic passengers annually than any other U.S. carrier. Kelly also mentions that leadership comes from more than one central source, a recognition that the airline's culture drives its people as much as individuals. INSET: Mild but wild.