AVIATION

Emirates A380 sets course for Rome:

Rome Airport's golden jubilee marked

Emirates is sending its popular A380 aircraft to Rome to mark Fiumicino airport's 50th anniversary, along with 150 years of Italian unification. On 6th June, the superjumbo replaces EK 97 and EK 98 - departing Dubai at 0855hrs and arriving in Rome at 1315hrs. The flight leaves Fiumicino at 1645hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0035hrs the next day.

The one-off trip gives passengers travelling to and from Rome an opportunity to fly on the world's most talked about airliner, offering 14 Private First Class Suites, 76 Business Class mini-pods and 427 seats in Economy Class.

"Our A380 demonstrates the future of aviation - both in terms of passenger experience and environmental sensitivity. This aircraft is sought after by travellers around the world, and now passengers travelling between Dubai and Rome have an opportunity to enjoy our superjumbo, while we join in the celebrations for both Fiumicino airport and Italy as a nation," said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation. "Many of those who have watched and admired our A380 since its introduction to the fleet in 2008 may not realise that the A380 experience comes at no extra cost compared to our other aircraft," added Obaidalla. Flying into Rome on the back of the UN's World Environment Day (June 5), the super-efficient A380 has impeccable environmental credentials. The 517-seat double decker is the most significant advancement in reducing fuel consumption and emissions in four decades. Its Engine Alliance GP7200 engines are remarkably quiet and easily meet the strict new ICAO Stage Four noise level standards.

First Class passengers have access to two Onboard Shower Spas, while all premium passengers on the upper deck can socialise at 43,000 feet in the Onboard Lounge. "Beverages are served once the aircraft reaches cruising altitude - all the way until descent.

"June 6th will be an extraordinary day, a further confirmation of the successful relationship between Emirates and Aeroporti di Roma -ADR," said ADR Executive Vice President - Aviation Elia Pistola.

"This will be the first A380 arrival in Rome and we are going to celebrate it as the first Italian airport able to welcome an A380 flight with the full operational infrastructure. The new dedicated loading bridge is a strategic investment for Rome "Leonardo da Vinci" airport as the A380 is the best aircraft to cover major and growing markets, as served by Emirates via Dubai," said Pistola.

Emirates has been flying to Rome since 1992 and later added services to Milan and Venice - making a total of 35 flights a week to Italy. Passenger traffic on Emirates' Italian routes has more than tripled since 2006, to over 900,000 passengers in 2010.

Italy is one of the UAE's largest global trade partners. Approximately 85 percent of the bilateral trade between the two countries is accounted for by Italian exports, such as designer luxury wear, home and office furniture, as well as machinery.

In 2010, Emirates' freight to and from Italy grew by 21 per cent over the previous year, while the total value of trade between Italy and the UAE was 3.2 billion Euros.

"The economic and political ties between Italy and the UAE continue to grow stronger, reflected by billions of Euros in trade, billions of Euros of contracts and mutual investments and closer cooperation between the two countries, " said Italy's Ambassador to the UAE, His Excellency, Giorgio Starace.

"Aviation is a key factor in the strengthening of ties and equipping Rome's Fiumicino airport to handle the A380 reflects the importance Italy places on the aviation sector. This will also be a pivotal moment for Rome airport as it marks its 50th anniversary in a year when the nation is celebrating 150 years of unification," Starace added.

Asia-Pacific carriers see loss of traffic

Japan quake, ME unrest affect the industry:

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced scheduled international traffic results for March 2011 showing that year-on-year growth in passenger demand had slowed to 3.8 percent from the 5.8 percent recorded in February. Conversely, year-on-year growth in freight markets rebounded to 3.7 percent in March from the 1.8 percent recorded in February.

Compared to February, global passenger demand fell by 0.3 percent in March, while cargo demand expanded by 4.5 percent.

The profile of the recovery in air transport sharply decelerated in March. The global industry lost 2 percentage points of demand as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), said IATA's Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani.

The impact of the events in Japan on global international traffic was a 1 percent loss of traffic in March. Looked at regionally, Asia-Pacific carriers saw a traffic loss of over 2 percent , North American carriers had a 1 percent drop and Europe_s carriers a 0.5 percent fall. Japan's domestic market was the most severely impacted with a 22 percent fall in demand.

The disruptions in MENA cut international travel by 0.9 percentage points. Egypt and Tunisia experienced traffic levels 10-25 percent below normal for March.

Military action in Libya virtually stopped civil aviation to, from and within that country.

Capacity adjustments lagged behind the sudden drop in demand. Against global demand growth of 3.8 percent , capacity expanded by 8.6 percent . The average load factor fell by 3.5 percentage points to 74.6 percent .

International Passenger Demand

Europe's carriers saw demand levels of 5.3 percent above March 2010. This was down from the 7.4 percent year-on-year growth in February. Compared to February levels, Europe_s carriers added 0.5 percent to capacity but experienced zero demand growth. This pushed load factors down by 0.3 percentage points to 75.3 percent. Long-haul business travel is strong (except to Japan) but weak economic prospects continue to dampen intra-European traffic.