Washington attorney, Jeffrey A. Lovitky, has written to Saudi Arabian Airlines to request it “immediately discontinue its practice of refusing to sell tickets to persons of Israeli nationality”. Saudi Arabia does not allow Israeli nations to enter and as such the airline’s website makes it compulsory for every passenger to identify their nationality from a dropdown list that reflects every nationality, except for Israeli, thereby making it impossible for an Israeli citizen to purchase a ticket.
Lovitky argues that although Saudi Arabia can deny visas to Israeli citizens, the kingdom’s own rules do not require a visa if the passenger is traveling through Saudi Arabia en route to another location for example. Therefore, he states that Saudi Arabian Airlines refusal to sell tickets to Israeli nationals, regardless of which country they are going to, violates a number of anti-discrimination requirements in the United States.

Copies of the letter also went to the Department of State, Department of Transportation, the Saudi Arabian Embassy and others.

The Armenian State Revenues Committee (SRC) is suing airline, Armavia, over air tax payments. However the state has not been able to disclose how much the airline owes since the final calculation of its debts to the state has not been made yet. Armavia filed for bankruptcy on April 1.

National air traffic control company Airways New Zealand is introducing a service fee for all general aviation that radios in when flying through controlled air space.
The new call fee will start at $1 from July 1 and will grow to $2 after a year and up to $3.55 in 2015. Pilots will be forced to pay the fee each time they land or pass through controlled air space.
The move is part of the state-owned enterprise’s wider plan to raise costs for its air navigation services by more than 15 per cent, or $70 million, during the next three years.
An airline lobby group that represents large commercial fliers says members, including Air New Zealand, will have no choice but to pass the increased costs on to passengers.

Local media reports are suggesting that the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is considering more moves to free up the airline industry, including new rules to remove restraints on the establishment of subsidiaries or branch firms of domestic airlines.
CAAC has yet to confirm the speculation, however.

The ATSB is investigating an incident in which a Virgin Australia 737-800 was incorrectly flown toward its cruising altitude at a fixed mach value, causing the airspeed to decline toward a loss of control situation is under investigation by.
The ATSB states: “On 4 January 2013, a Boeing 737-8FE aircraft, registered VH-VUZ, was operating a scheduled passenger service from Launceston, Tasmania to Melbourne, Victoria. Soon after takeoff, the auto-flight system was selected to Level Change mode. In this mode, the aircraft climbed at a constant airspeed to about flight level 260, when the auto-flight system sequenced automatically to continue the climb at a constant Mach number. The flight crew, who were experiencing a relatively high workload at the time associated with the short sector, intended to switch to a different vertical mode during the climb that would have allowed the aircraft to accelerate in accordance with a programmed speed schedule. However, they overlooked that selection and unintentionally continued to climb in Level Change mode.
“As the aircraft continued to climb at a constant Mach number, the airspeed slowly reduced. The crew did not detect the reducing airspeed until the aircraft was approaching the minimum manoeuvre speed at about FL 350. In responding to the low speed condition and attempting to accelerate, the crew reduced the aircraft pitch attitude to the point that the aircraft entered a shallow descent. Soon after, the crew was able to establish an accelerated climb to the intended cruising level.
“The investigation is continuing with a focus on the human factors issues associated with auto flight system mode awareness. It is expected to be completed in November 2013.”

China has vowed to punish those found guilty of fabricating threats targeting civilian flights more harshly following a series of such hoaxes. A number of individuals who made false bomb threats targeting a number of flights last week targeting China Eastern Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines have been arrested.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have published for public comment a revised Exposure Draft outlining proposed changes to the accounting for leases. The proposal aims to improve the quality and comparability of financial reporting by providing greater transparency about leverage, the assets an organization uses in its operations and the risks to which it is exposed from entering into leasing transactions.

Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the IASB commented: “The development of an improved standard for leasing is vital. At present, investors must take an educated guess to determine the hidden leverage from leasing by using basic disclosures in financial statements and applying arbitrary multiples. It is clearly not in the best interests of investors to expect analysts and others to guess the liabilities associated with leases. The proposal outlined in this revised Exposure Draft will go a great distance towards improving the quality and comparability of financial reporting in this area.”

Leslie Seidman, Chairman of the FASB commented: “The FASB and the IASB have worked together to develop a revised, converged proposal to address the inadequacies of current lease accounting and disclosures. The proposal is responsive to the widespread view of investors that leases are liabilities that belong on the balance sheet. The Boards revised the original proposal to distinguish between different types of leases for income statement and cash flow purposes, in response to feedback received from stakeholders.”

These changes have the potential to significantly change the aircraft leasing industry – for lessor’s the effects will be much less damaging that for airlines. The jury is out on how this will affect how airlines lease aircraft. The next issue of Airline Economics includes an in-depth analysis of the changes. Ensure you receive your own copy, subscribe today by contacting John Pennington at john@aviationnews-online.com.

The Kuwaiti government has approved an order from state-owned carrier Kuwait Airways for 25 new Airbus aircraft options on 10 more and the airline has signed a letter of acceptance with Airbus.

The 25 aircraft ordered include 15 A320neos and 10 A350-XWB. Delivery is expected in 2019.

EU antitrust regulators will decide by June 20 whether to clear a bid by Delta Air Lines for a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic.

The EU is reported to be concerned about the reduced incentive for the two companies to compete against each other once they set up the joint venture.

Ryanair has welcomed the EU Court’s ruling which confirmed that the European Commission has failed to investigate state aid granted to Alitalia.

Ryanair had initially notified the European Commission of Alitalia’s state aid in June 2006. However, the Commission failed to act and Ryanair was left with no choice but to bring this case before the European Courts. The court’s decision reaffirms the 2011 decision of the European General Court, which also ruled that the Commission had failed in its duty to investigate this “State Aid”.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said: “We welcome today’s ruling of the EU Court of Justice which upholds the EU General Court’s ruling that the EU Commission failed to investigate repeated “State Aid” to Alitalia, which has harmed competition in Europe and propped up a failing high-cost flag carrier to the detriment of European passengers.

“We look forward to the Commission finally investigating this repeated “State Aid” and call on Alitalia to immediately repay the taxpayers’ money it has illegally received.”