ATG in the News

(RTTNews) - Europe's third largest airline British Airways Plc (BAY.L: News ,BAIRY.PK: News ) reported Wednesday that total traffic for the month of July was up 1.0%, while capacity declined 2.7% from a year ago, and led to the passenger load factor, or proportion of seats filled, to increase 3.1 percentage point from last year. Further, the airline said that underlying volumes and seat factors have stabilized and are expected to improve in the peak summer months.

The International Air Transport Association or IATA said in its monthly assessment on Thursday that passenger demand declined 7.2% in June, compared to last year, while freight demand was down 16.5%. International passenger load factors stood at 75.3%, down from 77.6% recorded in June 2008. The utilization of air freight capacity on international routes remained very weak at 47.3% in June due to unbalanced trade flows with Asia and some market share loss to ocean transport.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO, said that international passenger demand remains very weak. ''Airlines are seeing international revenue falls of up to 30% at the start of the busy June-August period when airlines traditionally make their money. The outlook remains bleak," he added.

July Operational Details

British Airways' total traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers, or RPK, increased 1.0% to 10.842 billion from the year-ago period's 10.731 billion. The company noted that traffic comprised an 11.0% decrease in premium traffic and a 3.5% increase in non-premium traffic. Traffic for UK/Europe declined 1.8% to 2.124 billion, while traffic for the Americas increased 3.8% to 5.085 billion. Traffic for Asia Pacific dropped the maximum of 10.4% to 1.578 billion, while for Africa and the Middle East region, traffic rose the maximum of 7.6% from last year to 2.055 billion

The growth in Middle East air traffic “reflects the success of Middle Eastern airlines in gaining market share from the direct flights by flying passengers via their hubs”, IATA said last week. Ryan Carter / The National

Airports in the UAE are reporting their best traffic figures since the downturn a year ago, in a further sign that the global economy may be turning the corner. Abu Dhabi International Airport announced that passenger numbers increased 10.3 per cent last month compared with the same period a year earlier, while Dubai Airports reported a 12.6 per cent rise, as travellers regained their appetite for international trips, particularly in the economy cabin, and airlines added new routes.

The aviation figures come at a time of encouraging news from the US on the economy, after the American housing industry cheered global stock markets. “The double-digit increases we’ve seen in the past two months are the direct result of a boost in passenger numbers from Emirates [Airline] and other long-haul network carriers and continual growth in the low-cost sector, said Paul Griffiths, the chief executive of Dubai Airports.

The growth in patronage comes as the long-haul airlines based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Etihad Airways and Emirates, are investing heavily in winning over international air travel demand between Asia and the West. This has put them in direct competition with carriers such as British Airways and Singapore Airlines, and with growing success, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. The growth in the Middle East “reflects the success of Middle Eastern airlines in gaining market share from the direct flights by flying passengers via their hubs”, IATA said in a report last week.

The growth marks a steady recovery since February and March, when the airports saw flat to negative growth as demand for air travel among corporations and individuals fell sharply. Global markets were also recovering to their highest points this year last Friday, when the US National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes last month climbed at the fastest rate in a decade, the same day as the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the prospects for growth in the global economy in the short term were good. The results pushed stocks higher.

The highlight was the “cracking set of home sales from the US”, said Jim Wood-Smith, the head of research at London-based Williams de Broe. “It is more fuel on the fire of the bull market.” Meanwhile the air travel market continues to slide globally, but at a slowing rate, the IATA said. International air travel fell 7.1 per cent in June, the latest statistics available, compared with a 9.2 per cent fall in May. According to an IATA survey, a sustained recovery will not come until 2011.

The figures suggest the UAE’s two long-haul airlines that provide most of the traffic at the two key airports, Etihad and Emirates, are continuing to grow their businesses despite a prolonged downturn elsewhere. With a fleet of 130 wide-bodied aircraft, Emirates is the largest carrier at Dubai International Airport, which is the biggest hub in the Middle East, with 37.4 million travellers using the airport last year. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi International Airport, home to Etihad, was deemed the world’s fastest growing air hub last year by Airports Council International. Last month’s gains were helped by recent route launches by Etihad, including to Larnaka, Cyprus, Athens and Istanbul, all vital feeder cities for long-haul traffic from Abu Dhabi to Australia.

New airlines also helped stimulate demand, including inaugural services to Berlin and Dusseldorf on Elite Aviation in partnership with Blue Wings. Services to Afghanistan on Safi Airways and other routes by Bahrain Air, Sun Air and Jat Airways were other key factors.

The air cargo business also showed signs of recovery in the UAE. In Dubai, volumes advanced 1.9 per cent last month to 160,289 tonnes, compared with an average global decline of 20 per cent this year.

Australia's largest airline, Qantas, has today taken delivery of its fourth Airbus A380 aircraft following a ferry flight from Toulouse, France.

With the addition of the aircraft to the fleet, the airline anticipates that A380 service to Los Angeles and London will increase from September 7, 2009.

"Our A380 services, which commenced in October 2008, have been incredibly popular with customers and the aircraft has generated extremely positive customer feedback," said Alan Joyce, Qantas' chief executive. "This fourth aircraft will allow us to increase Sydney-Singapore-London A380 services from three to five per week, and Sydney-Los Angeles services from three to four per week.

"Our fifth and sixth A380s are also due for delivery by the end of the year, after which we will offer customers daily A380 services to London and Los Angeles from Sydney and increase Melbourne-Los Angeles services from two to three per week. Qantas will then operate 17 return A380 services per week between Australia and the UK and US."

The Qantas A380 made its inaugural flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles on Monday with a full compliment of passengers in their 4-class cabin configuration.
Although Qantas is the third airline to fly the A380 in scheduled service, it has scored a first in its first class cabin with the unique ATG Electric Shades.
There are 22 of the new ATG POWERTECH Pleated Electric shades in the First Class cabin. ATG’s unique design uses 2 shades inside a slim cassette in each window aperture. The Pleated opaque shade gives the cabin soft diffused lighting, absolutely perfect for reading and at the same time shielding, video screens from ‘wash out’ glare. The light darkening, or opaque shade, is deployed behind the pleated shade, providing the same level of light blocking as the more traditional shades found on the A340 and A330.

Passengers can control the shades adjacent to their particular seat from a single switch as well as a switch mounted on the sidewall. All shades in the cabin are also controlled from the Flight Attendant Panel [FAP] and can be locked in the full open position for Take-Off and Landing.

EIectrochromic self-darkening windows are being touted as the latest advance in shading for new aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and possibly the Airbus A35OXWB. However there are significant shortcomings in such shades. For instance they cannot provide total darkness as demanded by many passengers to ensure they can sleep on an aircraft. Also a cabin with a line of ‘stark black holes’ in soft curves of the sidewall panels is certainly something that is esthetically questionable.
Florida-based Aerospace Technologies Group believes its new electrically operated pleated-fabric shades are the real wave of the future, consuming less power and producing the complete blackout that continues to evade the electro chromic solutions.
With orders from Emirates and six other leading international airlines under its belt, ATG is set for rapid growth as other airlines modernize there cabins.
The company was set up eight years ago in a West Palm Beach garage. “It is quite the success story of a start-up company. We’re the Microsoft of electric window shades,” said Commercial Sales VP Raymond Tollman. Its first product was aimed at corporate/VIP market and ATG now supplies Gulfstream, Dassault and Cessna.

PHENOMENAL COSTS
Four years ago the company started work on a product for air transport. “The costs of certification were phenomenal,” comments Tollman. The system had to meet more stringent requirements for temperature, humidity, EMI and radio-frequency interference, and Airbus and Boeing demanded a much higher guaranteed mean time between failures,
“That’s all behind us now,” says Tollman. “We expect that most airliners will have this product in their premium cabins at least within ten years, probably a lot sooner.” Emirates has ordered the shades for its Boeing 777s and Airbus
A380s. All seven airline customers are installing them in first-class, while some will also put them in business.
ATG’s current order backlog for both corporate and air transport customers’ totals $30 million. First air transport installations are under way. The first three equipped Emirates 777s are due to be delivered in 2008 .The initial shipset for the Qantas A380s were delivered in December 2007 and those for Emirates are due to delivered to Airbus in Hamburg next month.

TWO MINUTES
ATG says the shades can be installed in less than two minutes per window, with no need to remove the cabin liner.
The orders for Emirates and other carriers are being installed on the line, but ATG also holds an STC for retrofits to in-service aircraft.
Each unit comprises a pair of shades — one translucent, one opaque — plus two Swiss-made precision 28V DC electric motors and a Kevlar toothed drive-belt. Lowering the translucent blind produces a gentle natural light - “We’re using Mother Nature for mood lighting,” says Tollman — while the opaque shade produces a blackout as complete as that specified for conventional mutual shades.
The passenger can control the shade with an up/down switch on the window bezel and also with the in-seat passenger control unit (PCU), which allows a group of shades to be operated simultaneously. And flight attendants can operate all the shades in the cabin from a central point.
ATG has provided a mechanical override for use in the event of electrical failure, as required for FAA certification.
It consists of a standard hex- headed driver that can be inserted into hole above the switches and then turned to raise the blinds.