Air France to offset daily CO2 emissions by next year

PARIS - French carrier Air France will offset the carbon dioxide emissions of its 500-odd daily internal flights by 2020 at a cost of millions of euros, the company's CEO has announced.

In a bid to counteract its climate impact, the company will finance projects that support tree planting, forest protection and the global shift to less polluting energy, Anne Rigail told Le Parisien newspaper.

"It is an investment of several million euros, she said in an interview published late Monday, adding the company was acting "voluntarily".

Other projects would include banning single-use plastics such as cutlery from local flights as from January, and "to start separating and recycling waste" from October.

The airline industry has been under fire over its carbon emissions, which at 285 grams of CO2 emitted per kilometer travelled by each passenger, far exceed all other modes of transport, according to the European Environment Agency.

Heavy duty transportation -- freight trucking, shipping and aviation -- represent over a tenth of global greenhouse gas emissions, says the World Resources Institute, a research body.

The emissions contribute to global warming and climate change, which scientists say will unleash ever harsher droughts, superstorms, and sea-level rise.

In July, France announced it would impose new taxes on plane tickets of between 1.50 and 18 euros per flight -- a move criticized by Air France.

It is meant to raise about 180 million euros a year to be invested in greener transport infrastructure.

Rigail said she did not know if there had been a drop in passenger numbers due to a campaign of "flight shaming" (flygskam) spearheaded by 16-year-old schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, who has become a symbol of the fight against climate change.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dutch buy Air France-KLM stake to counter French influence

THE HAGUE -- The Netherlands announced Tuesday the surprise purchase of a stake in Air France-KLM, saying it needed to protect Dutch interests after a series of rows about the alliance's management.

Paris reacted testily to the Dutch purchase of the 12.68 percent share -- which puts it on course to match France's own holding -- saying that Air France-KLM must be free of "state interference".

The Dutch swoop threatens to reignite tensions after a bitter dispute about the fate of the chief executive of the group's Dutch arm, and concerns over a series of strikes in France last year.

"With this share purchase, the Dutch cabinet wants to be able to directly influence the future development of Air France-KLM in order to optimally ensure the Dutch public interest," Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra told a hastily arranged press conference in The Hague.

"The aim is to eventually get to a position equal to that of the French state," which has a 14.3-percent stake, Hoekstra added.

The Dutch stake cost 680 million euros ($771 million), Hoekstra said in a letter to parliament. The government previously had a 5.9 percent stake in KLM but started buying more shares in the alliance on February 20.

It would cost around a further 70 million euros to reach the French level, broadcaster NOS said.

The move stunned Paris, with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire saying the Dutch government had not informed the French government.

"It is essential to respect the principles of good governance and for Air France-KLM to be managed... without state interference," Le Maire told Les Echos newspaper.

Air France and KLM merged in 2004 but continue to operate largely separately, while the French arm in particular has struggled with industrial action in recent years.

Hoekstra said that "it has become apparent that important decisions about KLM's strategy were increasingly taken at the level of the Air France-KLM holding company", with the Dutch government frozen out.

- 'Intensive' talks -

The Dutch government stepped into the fray in recent weeks when it officially backed the reappointment of KLM chief executive Pieter Elbers, after doubts arose that he would keep his job.

Elbers was reappointed earlier this month after KLM workers protested and threatened to go on strike if he was axed.

In a sign of the tensions, Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith rushed to the Netherlands for "intensive" talks with Hoekstra and another Dutch minister on February 15 over KLM's future in the Franco-Dutch alliance and Elbers' position.

Canadian Smith took over Air France-KLM as its first non-French chief executive in September after the rapid exit of former CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac in a bitter dispute over salaries in the French arm.

The company kept Elbers in his Dutch role but Dutch news reports said that Elbers was seen as "difficult" and standing in the way of Smith's plans to merge the two arms more closely.

Hoekstra meanwhile brought up the issue with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire at a recent meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has avoided getting directly involved but recently said that KLM was "incredibly important for the Dutch economy and it is essential that it is well operated".

The airline's fate is directly tied to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs and a key economic driver for the Netherlands.

"A financially sound Air France-KLM with an extensive hub network at Schiphol for the Netherlands is of great importance," Hoekstra said in his letter to parliament.

Despite the recent upheaval, Air France-KLM reported last week that its annual net profits rose by 150 percent to 409 million euros ($463 million).

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Delta hit by computer outage, flights delayed worldwide

Delta Air Lines Inc said a "major system-wide network outage" on Monday had delayed flights worldwide and technicians were working to resolve the computer problem as soon as possible.

Flights scheduled for departure were not taking off, but those already in the air were operating normally, Delta said in a statement.

Delta operates 5,000 departures a day and is a member of the SkyTeam alliance alongside airlines including Air France-KLM .

It also partners for transatlantic flights with Virgin Atlantic, which said its flights were operating normally but cautioned that passengers should check tickets in case their flight was due to be operated by Delta as part of a code share agreement.

"Delta experienced a computer outage that has impacted flights scheduled for this morning," said Delta, the world's second largest airline measured by revenue passenger kilometres flown.

"Our systems are down everywhere. Hopefully it won't be much longer," the airline said on Twitter.

The outage was affecting flights globally, a London-based spokeswoman for the airline said.

Passengers stuck in check-in queues in airports across the world, or on board planes waiting to depart took to Twitter to share photos and frustration at the delays.

"1 hr.+ lines @HeathrowAirport for @Delta due to system outage," tweeted user @MITJAKE with a picture of passengers waiting to check in.

The glitch follows several high-profile computer problems faced by U.S. airlines in recent months.

Budget carrier Southwest Airlines Co last month had to halt departures after a technical outage, while American Airlines had to suspend flights from three of its hubs last September after technical problems.

Industry consultants say airlines face an increasing risk from computer disruptions as they automate more of their operations, distribute boarding passes on smartphones and outfit their planes with Wifi.

(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru and Victoria Bryan in Berlin; additional reporting by Sarah Young in London; editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Jason Neely)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Brazil: Air France jet lands after bomb threat

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An Air France passenger jet from Rio to Paris made an emergency landing in northeastern Brazil
due to a bomb threat.

All 405 passengers and 18 crew members were safely evacuated from Air France Flight 443 on Saturday night, said Jorge Andrade, a spokesman for airport authority Infraero.

A spokesman for Air France in Brazil said the bomb threat was phoned in to Rio's international airport by a female voice about 30 minutes after the plane took off.

The control tower contacted the jet and the decision was made to land in Recife, the Air France spokesman said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

In Paris, Air France spokesman Jerome N'Guyen said a full inspection of the plane had been completed and nothing suspicious had been found.

Passengers were taken to nearby hotels until the plane could take off again. This could not happen immediately because of regulations on rest time for flight personnel, but it was expected to leave from Recife at 6 p.m. and reach Paris Monday morning, he added.

Solange Argenta, an Infraero spokeswoman at the Recife airport, said the flight originally took off at 4:20 p.m. and that the plane landed in Recife at 7:53 p.m..

Infraero said in a statement that after landing in Recife, the jet taxied to a secluded area of the airport and those on board were quickly removed. The airport was closed for about 30 minutes, and then reopened.

Flight 443 was on the same route as an Air France jet that crashed in June 2009 off Brazil's northeastern coast, killing all 228 on board. While no definite cause has been determined in the crash, authorities have repeatedly ruled out foul play.

Source: (philstar.com)