Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) plans to further expand its route network in the coming 2023-24 winter schedules. The airline will offer its first ever nonstop services between Zurich and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The Dutch port city will be served six times weekly from January 22, 2024.
Rotterdam is the Netherlands’ second-largest city and a lively major port. The city itself is famed for its skyline and for such iconic structures as the Erasmus Bridge and the Cube Houses. Its impressive port is among the biggest in the world, and strongly colours the city’s character and feel. Rotterdam also boasts a varied arts scene, top-notch museums such as the Boijmans Van Beuningen and a wide range of shopping and nightlife options. The city is a cultural melting pot, too, and offers a unique blend of the past and the future that makes it a truly fascinating destination.
In adding Rotterdam to its network, SWISS is expanding its connections with the Randstad conurbation in the Western Netherlands. So in addition to its existing Amsterdam flights, SWISS will now offer a further attractive air travel option to and from the country’s economic and cultural center.
Short transits, good connections
The flight between Zurich and Rotterdam takes an hour and 30 minutes. The city’s modestly-sized airport is quick and easy to negotiate. The city centre is around ten minutes away by car traffic permitting, or 20 minutes by public transport. Rotterdam is about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam and half an hour from The Hague. Swift public transport services are also available to and from both cities.
The next stage of KiwiRail’s network rebuild in Auckland will be a lot less disruptive than the previous stages. Since the start of 2023, KiwiRail has had to fully close rail lines in Auckland for work to upgrade and prepare the metro rail network for the more frequent metro trains to come when the City Rail Link opens.
Auckland Transport’s Executive General Manager Public Transport Services Stacey van der Putten says the reduced disruption for Stage 3 will come as welcome news to Auckland’s rail passengers.
During the rebuild period, Western Line trains will run on a single track affecting service frequencies, and timetables will be confirmed in due course.
Details of alternative public transport options will be available on the AT website www.AT.govt.nz/RailRebuild
Airbus logo at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais
PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus <AIR.PA> deliveries rose 50% in June compared with May and reached their highest level since the coronavirus crisis spread to Europe in March, but the accelerating recovery failed to prevent first-half deliveries from sliding to a 16-year low.
Figures released by the European planemaker late on Wednesday underscored a collapse in aerospace industry fortunes since early this year, hours after Airbus workers facing job cuts staged their first strike in 12 years.
Deliveries rose to 36 aircraft in June from 24 in May and a low of 14 in April. For the first half, deliveries fell by 49% to 196 planes compared with 389 in the same period last year.
Airbus has said it faces an average 40% drop in business over the next two years, forcing it to cut 15,000 jobs, or 11%, of its workforce. Unions oppose compulsory cuts.
Facing a slump in demand, planemakers have been urging airlines to take planes that have already been built in return for agreement to defer others due at later dates.
Some aircraft, however, are going straight into storage because travel demand is recovering slowly, experts say.
June’s figures suggested negotiations were partially paying off as Airbus handed over three wide-body A350-900 aircraft for European airlines despite a glut of large jets.
But deliveries of many other wide-body aircraft at Airbus and U.S. rival Boeing <BA> remain hampered by weak demand for long-haul travel as a result of the crisis.
Sources said last month that Airbus had sent out dozens of default notices to airlines in a bid to keep deliveries moving.
With airlines focusing on survival, Airbus posted no orders for a second month.
Gross orders so far this year remained at 365 jets, but net orders adjusted for cancellations slipped by one unit to 298, after lessor Avolon cancelled one of 10 A330neos it has ordered.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)
DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is putting more chips on a bet that it can profit from selling electric vans to delivery businesses that need to reduce carbon emissions.
Ford will roll out an all-electric version of its Transit van for North America in model year 2022, mirroring the timetable for launching a similar model for the European market, the company said on Tuesday in conjunction with the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.
“Our electric bet as a company is different than our competitors,” Ford Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley said in an interview. “The most critical bet we will be making over the next several years will be our commercial vehicles.”
Two of three electric vehicles Ford has announced as part of an $11.5 billion investment in electrification through 2022 are aimed at commercial customers – the Transit and an electric version of the company’s best-selling model, the F-150 pickup.
Ford’s Mustang Mach-E electric SUV represents a low-volume challenge to electric luxury vehicle market leader Tesla Inc.
The electric Transit and F-150 will play in market segments Ford dominates in the United States and Europe.
“Half of the vehicles doing work in the U.S. are Ford Motor Co vehicles,” Farley said. Ford is also the No. 1 commercial vehicle brand in Europe, and has led the commercial van market in Britain, which is Europe’s largest, for 55 years.
Regulators in Europe and in some U.S. cities are stepping up pressure on businesses to replace diesel or gasoline-fueled delivery vans with electric models to reduce pollution in city centers.
In the United States, Amazon.com Inc, has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans from start-up Rivian, the first of which will be delivered in 2021 and built in Normal, Illinois. Ford has a separate partnership with Rivian.
The electric Transit will not be related to the Rivian van, said Ted Cannis, Ford’s director of electrification.
The new Transit will be an early test of the company’s efforts to deploy new connectivity technology and services to go with it, Farley said.
Ford said the electric Transit will be built in America and cost more than the gasoline-powered version, which starts at $34,500. Research firm Auto Forecast Solutions said it will be built in Kansas City, Missouri, along with the gasoline version.
Supplier sources who asked not to be identified said Ford will launch production in late 2021, with plans to build around 2,000 that year and increase to 14,000 annually by 2023.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Additional reporting by Paul Lienert; Editing by Richard Chang)
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: The Airbus logo is pictured at Airbus headquarters in Blagnac near Toulouse
PARIS/LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Airbus <EADSY> bribed public officials and hid the payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption, prosecutors said on Friday as the European planemaker agreed a record $4 billion settlement with France, Britain and the United States.
The disclosures, made public after a nearly four-year investigation spanning sales to more than a dozen overseas markets, came as courts on both sides of the Atlantic formally approved settlements that lift a legal cloud that has hung over Europe’s largest aerospace group for years.
“It was a pervasive and pernicious bribery scheme in various divisions of Airbus SE that went on for a number of years,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said.
The deal, effectively a corporate plea bargain, means Airbus has avoided criminal prosecution that would have risked it being barred from public contracts in the United States and European Union – a massive blow for a major defence and space supplier.
Prosecutors said individuals could still face criminal charges, however.
Airbus, whose shares closed down 1%, has been investigated by French and British authorities for alleged corruption over jet sales dating back more than a decade. It has also faced U.S. inquiries over suspected violations of U.S. export controls.
“In reaching this agreement today, we are helping Airbus to turn the page definitively” on corrupt past practices, French prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert said.
France’s financial prosecutor said the company had also agreed to three years “light compliance monitoring” by the country’s anti-corruption agency.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the deal was the largest ever foreign bribery settlement.
CODE NAME ‘VAN GOGH’
In a packed hearing at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, an Airbus lawyer said the settlements “draw a clear line under the investigation and under the grave historic practices”.
Outlining detailed findings, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said Airbus had hired the wife of a Sri Lankan Airlines executive as its intermediary and misled Britain’s UKEF export credit agency over her name and gender, while paying $2 million to her company. The airline could not be reached for comment.
(Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA are in talks to combine in a deal that could create a $50 billion (£38.88 billion) automaker, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Fiat Chrysler shares rose sharply after news of the talks and ended up more than 7.5% in U.S. trading. The companies and the French government had no comment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the discussions. PSA’s supervisory board was due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the potential merger, another source close to the matter said.
If a combination of Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler succeeded in overcoming political, financial and governance hurdles, the new enterprise would still face substantial challenges. Global automakers face the prospect of a slowdown in global demand coinciding with the most dramatic technology changes in a century.
Peugeot Chief Executive Carlos Tavares has predicted “ten years of chaos” for global automakers as regulators demand a switch to electric vehicles to reduce emissions linked to climate change.
Investors have speculated for several years that Fiat Chrysler was hunting for a merger partner, encouraged by the rhetoric of the company’s late chief executive, Sergio Marchionne.
In 2015, Marchionne outlined the case for consolidation of the auto industry and tried unsuccessfully to interest General Motors Co in a deal. Fiat Chrysler earlier this year broached a merger with French automaker Renault SA that ultimately collapsed.
Created when Fiat, under Marchionne’s leadership, bought control of Chrysler out of a U.S. government-backed bankruptcy in 2009, Fiat Chrysler has one of the global auto industry’s most profitable franchises in the Jeep sport utility vehicle brand and a money-spinning North American pickup and commercial van operation in Ram. Both would boost Peugeot, which does not sell vehicles in the U.S. market.
Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler could over time share engines and vehicle architectures, reducing capital spending and freeing up cash to invest in electric vehicles and emissions reduction technology required in Europe, China and other global markets.
Fiat Chrysler is under increasing pressure to invest in clean car technology. The company disclosed earlier this month that it faces a $79 million fine for falling short of U.S. fuel efficiency standards. Fiat Chrysler agreed to pay U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc for credits to help it comply with European emissions standards until 2022.
Evercore analyst Arndt Ellinghorst in a note on Tuesday said a combination of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot “should ignite more rational industry behavior around allocation of capital and this particular merger makes materially more sense than a potential FCA-Renault merger.”
Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler had discussed a combination earlier this year, before Fiat Chrysler proposed a $35 billion merger with Renault. At that time, Fiat Chrysler said a deal with Renault offered more advantages than a combination with Peugeot.
Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann broke off talks with Renault in June after French government officials intervened and pushed for Renault first to resolve tensions with its Japanese alliance partner, Nissan Motor Co.
Following the collapse of the Renault merger plan, Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley left the door open for talks with would-be partners. But he said the Italian-American automaker could go it alone despite mounting costs to develop electric vehicles and comply with tougher emissions rules in Europe, the United States and China.
Along with Jeep and Ram would come Fiat’s Italian operations, which have struggled in recent years. Fiat’s Mirafiori assembly complex in its home city of Turin has run below 50% capacity, with thousands of workers on temporary layoffs.
Overall, Fiat has 58,000 workers in Italy, where the government has long resisted mass lay-offs by large employers.
Peugeot’s Tavares dismissed the idea of a combination with Fiat Chrysler during a discussion with reporters at the Frankfurt auto show last month. “We don’t need it,” he said when asked whether he was still interested in a deal with Fiat Chrysler.
Tavares has moved aggressively to expand Peugeot, acquiring German auto brand Opel from General Motors Co for $2.6 billion in 2017. Since then, he has overseen a turnaround at Opel.
Fiat Chrysler already has a commercial vehicle partnership with Peugeot.
(Reporting by Dominic Roshan K.L. in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel, Richard Chang and Dan Grebler)
DETROIT, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive LLC got a big boost from one of its investors on Thursday when Amazon.com announced it was ordering 100,000 electric delivery vans.
Before Rivian has even begun commercial production at its factory in Normal, Illinois, the Amazon order rocketed it to the forefront of electric vehicle makers.
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said in Washington that as part of the online retailer’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2040 it would order the electric vans from Rivian, with deliveries starting in 2021. The goal is to deploy all the vehicles by 2024.
Rivian, a potential rival to Silicon Valley’s Tesla Inc, unveiled its electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV last November, but had piqued Amazon’s interest earlier. Bezos personally reached out to Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe last summer to express interest in an investment, sources previously said.
Plymouth, Michigan-based Rivian, founded in 2009, has raised close to $1.9 billion from investors, including a $700 million February round led by Amazon.
The deal solidifies Rivian’s place among EV builders, said Sam Fiorani, a vice president with Auto Forecast Solutions. “It helps boost the image of the (Rivian) brand,” he said.
Rivian aspires to be the first to produce a mass market electric pickup. It intends to begin selling its R1T by the end of 2020, a target that has not changed with the Amazon deal in place, said Rivian spokeswoman Amy Mast said.
Traditional U.S. automakers Ford Motor Co, a Rivian investor, and General Motors Co, as well as Tesla, are pushing to develop their own electric pickups.
The Amazon vans, under the exclusive deal, will be built at Rivian’s plant, a former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois, Mast said. The first vehicles will be delivered in 2021 and 10,000 should be on the road by late 2022, she said. The vehicles will be serviced by Rivian.
Scaringe has described the Rivian vehicle’s platform as a skateboard that packages the drive units, battery pack, suspension system, brakes and cooling system all below wheel height to allow for more storage space and greater stability due to a lower center of gravity.
Amazon is looking to speed packages to shoppers’ doorsteps regardless of spikes in consumer demand or shortages of delivery personnel. Last year, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz said Amazon had become the biggest customer of its Sprinter vans, securing 20,000 vehicles for delivery contractors.
Ford invested $500 million in Rivian in April with plans to use the Rivian EV platform to build a new vehicle in North America. Details of that vehicle were not disclosed. Ford is not involved in the Rivian deal, Mast said.
Cox Automotive Inc, the owner of the Autotrader online automobile market and the Kelley Blue Book car valuation service, invested $350 million in Rivian this month. The companies will explore partnerships in digital retailing, service operations and logistics.
Other backers include Saudi auto distributor Abdul Latif Jameel Co, Sumitomo Corp of Americas and Standard Chartered Bank.
Amazon’s reputation and the contract size would raise Rivian’s status with potential customers and investors, Fiorani said. It also offers the advantage of not having to chase buyers or ship vehicles all over the country.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by David Gregorio)
Once completed in 2023, the $2 billion transit hub will be the largest facility of its kind in the world with a vehicle leaving every two seconds at peak operations
Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) Commissioner Bea Hsu, BOAC Commissioner Gabriel Eshaghian, BOAC Vice President Valeria Velasco, BOAC President Sean Burton, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Chief Executive Officer Deborah Flint, Councilmember Joe Buscaino, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilmember Mike Bonin, Deputy Mayor Billy Chun, Director of Economic Infrastructure -Office of Mayor Garcetti David Reich, LAWA Chief Operating Officer Justin Erbacci, LAWA Chief Development Officer Bernardo Gogna and LAX ConRAC Partners Project Executive Karl Schaefer.
(Los Angeles, CA) Mayor Eric Garcetti broke ground today on the Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) facility at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which will centralize rental car operations into one convenient location and offer a direct connection to the upcoming Automated People Mover (APM) train. The Mayor was joined at the ceremony by Councilmembers Mike Bonin and Joe Buscaino, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) President Sean Burton, and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) CEO Deborah Flint, as well as community and labor leaders.
“We are building the world-class airport travelers need and deserve — and the Consolidated Rent-A-Car facility groundbreaking demonstrates how we’re keeping this promise,” said Mayor Garcetti. “Our city is doing so much more than building a parking structure — we are making an investment that will improve the traveling experience, reduce congestion in surrounding neighborhoods, and create middle-class careers for years to come.”
Since taking office, Mayor Garcetti has led a more than $14 billion transformation of LAX that began in 2009. Mayor Garcetti’s historic infrastructure investments have strengthened working families and the middle class. Under his leadership, unemployment has been cut in half while close to 200,000 new jobs have been created. Construction of the ConRAC is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
The 5.3 million square foot ConRAC facility will feature 18,000 parking stalls with 6,600 ready/return spaces, 10,000 idle vehicle storage spaces, and 1,100 rental car employee spaces as well as visitor parking. A Quick-Turn Around facility will also be on-site, allowing for fueling, washing, and light maintenance of rental car vehicles.
Mayor Eric Garcetti provides remarks during the groundbreaking ceremony.
Reducing congestion at LAX — as well as in surrounding communities — is at the heart of the ConRAC project. The consolidated facility will completely remove rental car shuttle traffic from the Central Terminal Area (CTA), which equates to 3,200 shuttle trips per day. The removal of the shuttles will improve traffic on the roadways and free up critical curbside boarding space in the CTA.
“This is a big step toward LAX becoming a world-class airport for travelers and a first-class neighbor to Westchester and Playa del Rey,” said Councilmember Mike Bonin. “Especially once it is connected to the new Automated People Mover, this new Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility will reduce the number of shuttles and vans navigating the Central Terminal Area and nearby neighborhoods, improving both local traffic and air quality. That is a big win and exciting progress to celebrate.”
“This has been a momentous year for LAX,” said Councilmember Joe Buscaino. “LAX continues to move full steam ahead with its $14 billion investment to create a fully transformed airport of the future. The ConRAC is just one of the many groundbreakings held this year which highlight the efforts LAX is making to improve passenger experience which increases tourism and improves our local economy.”
As the second largest rental car market among domestic airports, the ConRAC will improve and streamline the car rental process at LAX. The facility will be built with an eye to the future and designed to accommodate new and emerging vehicle types such as autonomous vehicles. Additionally, movable concrete barriers will allow for the quick reallocation of space as rental car companies’ market shares shift.
The ConRAC is an important component of the Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP), which also includes an Automated People Mover train that will connect travelers directly to airport terminals and create new and convenient locations for passenger pick-up and drop-off outside the Central Terminal Area. Once completed in 2023, the APM will connect with L.A. Metro’s light rail system.
Rendering of the ConRAC Facility at night.
“The ConRAC Facility will provide a rental car experience worthy of a world-class airport,” said BOAC President Sean Burton. “This project doesn’t just benefit those renting cars — it benefits the local economy and community through the creation of 1,000 jobs and by relieving vehicle congestion on the roads in and around LAX.”
“We are future-proofing everything we build at LAX,” said Deborah Flint, CEO, LAWA. “Every project under construction or on the drawing board will meet our needs now and be capable of adapting to new technology and demands. The ConRAC Facility is a prime example of how to future-proof so we can protect our investments.”
On October 26, 2018, the Los Angeles City Council approved an approximately $2 billion public-private partnership between LAWA and LAX ConRAC Partners (LAXCP), with LAXCP designing, building, financing, operating, and maintaining the facility for a 28-year period. LAXCP has committed to 30% local hiring, which exceeds local hiring requirements, and together with LAWA is developing opportunities for local small businesses. LAXCP has also agreed to sponsor 100 new, local apprentices and feature all-union labor on the ConRAC facility.
“Collectively, the LAXCP team has extensive experience designing, building, and operating nearly 30 ConRACs domestically and internationally,” said Karl Schaefer, LAXCP Project Executive. “We are proud to use our shared know how to help LAWA create a top tier experience for the traveling public at LAX while we honor our commitment to provide local hire economic opportunities and environmental sustainability.”
Mayor Garcetti has made sustainability a priority of his administration. The ConRAC facility is designed to reflect Los Angeles’ standing as one of the world’s leading sustainable cities and will include native drought-tolerant landscaping, reclaimed water usage, more than 200 Level 2 electric vehicle chargers, and a solar farm generating over 8,400 megawatt hours annually.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Daimler has cut its earnings outlook for this year after lifting provisions for issues related to its diesel vehicles by “a high three-digit million euro amount”, the carmaker said on Sunday.
Group earnings before interest and tax for 2019 are now expected to be at last year’s level. Previously, the carmaker had expected the figure to be “slightly higher”.
The revision is related to an increase in expected expenses linked to “various ongoing governmental proceedings and measures with regard to Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles,” the company said.
A spokesman declined to elaborate on the nature of those issues.
However, Sunday’s profit warning follows news over the weekend that Daimler must recall 60,000 Mercedes diesel cars in Germany after regulators found that they were fitted with software aimed at distorting emissions tests.
The transportation ministry said it was expanding its investigation into further models.
The company also said it was reducing its forecast for the return on sales for Mercedes-Benz vans.
It now sees a return between minus 2% and minus 4%, below its previous forecast of a return on sales of 0% to 2%.
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways has signed a firm
deal to buy 50 Airbus A321Neo planes, its chairman Trinh Van Quyet said
on Thursday.
The first of the planes will be delivered in 2022, Quyet told Reuters.
He said Bamboo Airways will conduct its first international flights late next month, to Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; editing by David Evans)
FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A321 aircraft of Bamboo Airways taxis at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, Vietnam January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Kham
