Osijek Airport gets financial injection

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Airbus terminates Qatar order

Airbus has raised the stakes in a dispute with major customer Qatar Airways over grounded and undelivered A350 jets by announcing it had revoked a separate contract for 50 smaller A321neo jets the airline plans to use for new routes. The move widens a dispute that moved closer towards a rare courtroom clash, with a procedural hearing over Qatar's claim for more than $600 million in compensation over A350 flaws pencilled in for the week of April 26 in London. Airbus revealed it was walking away from the contract for A321neos in skeletal arguments presented during a scheduling session over the A350 dispute at a division of Britain's High Court. "We confirm we did terminate the contract for 50 A321s with Qatar Airways in accordance with our rights", an Airbus spokesman said following a filing setting out provisional arguments. Qatar Airways is expected to fight the A321neo contract's termination, having said it plans to take delivery of the jets even though it is refusing to take more A350s until a dispute over surface erosion on the larger planes has been resolved. The airline said in a court filing that it was "working through the practical consequences" of the A321 decision, adding that Airbus was not entitled to declare a "cross-default" on the basis of Qatar's refusal to take more A350s in the main dispute. Qatar Airways had no immediate comment on the A321neo contract, which has its roots in an order 10 years ago worth $4.6 billion at list prices, originally for a smaller version. Qatar Airways has said the A321s will help it launch flights to new markets where there is currently not enough demand for larger aircraft, but which are out of reach of smaller A320s. Qatar's first A321neo is due to be delivered in February 2023, according to the airline filing. Industry experts say the hot-selling model can easily be resold, in contrast with a drop in demand for big jets like the A350, worsened by the pandemic.

Osijek Airport gets financial injection

NEWS FLASH

Osijek Airport has received a 133.500 euro cash injection from the Osijek-Baranja county. The county’s prefect, Ivan Anušić, said, “The airport is one of our county’s priorities. This year’s investment of one million kuna [133.500 euros] and is the largest we have made so far. The county has so far invested 3.5 million kuna into the airport”. The county has a 20% stake in the airport, while 55% is controlled by the state and 25% by the city of Osijek. The airport’s newly appointed General Manager, Ivan Kos, said, “I don’t want to make any big promises, however, in the coming year we expect to invest significantly into our cargo capacities and will attempt to attract foreign carriers that will maintain flights on a year-round basis, not just seasonal”. Earlier this year, Osijek Airport issued a public call for low cost carriers to commence operations in return for incentives, however, the result of the tender has never been published. Osijek Airport is currently served by Croatia Airlines and Trade Air, which maintain domestic flights from the city. Over the years, the likes of Wizz Air, Ryanair Air and Eurowings served Osijek. The airport handled just 6.626 passengers in 2020, down 85.7% on the year before.

Comments

Anon09:50
Hope this one works out. The new CEO is once again someone without prior aviation experience and it might be tricky... But a lot of potential for VFR flights in EU.
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