{"id":17499,"date":"2025-09-12T06:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T06:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/17499\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T06:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T06:54:08","slug":"morningstar-expects-auckland-airport-wont-reach-pre-covid-numbers-until-2028-former-a2-milk-boss-gets-55-million-payout-deal-discount-airline-set-to-die-united-ceo-says-ryanair-laments-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/17499\/","title":{"rendered":"Morningstar expects Auckland Airport won\u2019t reach pre-Covid numbers until 2028; Former a2 Milk boss gets $55 million payout deal; Discount airline set to die, United CEO says; Ryanair laments Russian drones; Qantas gets new Airbus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morningstar said Auckland Airport\u2019s multibillion-dollar infrastructure plans<\/a> were generally a good thing.<\/p>\n

The airport\u2019s projects include a new domestic jet terminal.<\/p>\n

\u201cShare price performance has been lacklustre, with the market overlooking the benefits likely to emerge from a generational capital expenditure programme,\u201d Halloway said.<\/p>\n

The ratings and research company expected economic conditions to improve in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when the cycle turns, so too should discretionary spending like travel,\u201d Halloway added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also worth noting that Auckland Airport is not totally reliant on domestic conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuty-free retail, a big part of the airport\u2019s unregulated revenue, is driven primarily by inbound international passengers, not domestic travellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Airlines have complained about the fees the airport charges them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t think Auckland Airport\u2019s higher aeronautical charges, which will be passed on to passengers, will weigh heavily on demand,\u201d Halloway said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy 2027, international passenger charges will still be cheaper than Sydney, Heathrow, or Frankfurt today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Death of discounters?<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines. Photo \/ Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images via AFP<\/p>\n

United Airlines is the carrier with the world\u2019s biggest fleet.<\/p>\n

And it might have the CEO with the biggest mouth.<\/p>\n

United\u2019s chief executive, Scott Kirby, laid into beleaguered budget operator Spirit Airlines this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have a business model that customers hate. You can\u2019t have a business model predicated on \u2018screw the customer\u2019,\u201d Kirby said in comments reported by CNBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems unlikely to me that Spirit can keep flying, because their customers dislike the airline and don\u2019t want to fly,\u201d he told the US Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Global Aerospace Summit in Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Asked why he thought Spirit was going to close, Kirby replied: \u201cBecause I\u2019m good at math.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spirit Airlines late last month filed for bankruptcy for the second time in a year, but said it would keep flying.<\/p>\n

And it fired back at Kirby.<\/p>\n

\u201cScott is finally right about something \u2013 it is all about customers,\u201d Spirit said on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur guests love low fares, especially our new Spirit First and Premium Economy options. Maybe that\u2019s why United executives can\u2019t stop yapping about us.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFP said Spirit first filed for bankruptcy in November, and in March had completed a restructuring deal with creditors to trim its debt.<\/p>\n

Jayne Hrdlicka pockets $22.4m plus shares from Virgin Australia<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Former a2 Milk Company chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka has bagged a big bonus from Virgin Australia.<\/p>\n

The airline\u2019s annual report, out today, revealed the incentive pay and share package.<\/p>\n

Hrdlicka was Virgin Australia\u2019s CEO from November 2020 until March this year.<\/p>\n

She received about 10.24 million shares at A$2.90 \u201cas a good leaver\u201d, the airline said.<\/p>\n

Those shares are worth $33.142m.<\/p>\n

The airline said Hrdlicka led the group\u2019s exit from voluntary administration, helped stand the airline up after the pandemic, and led its transformation \u201cinto a profitable and sustainable business\u201d.<\/p>\n

In June, Virgin Australia returned to the Australian Securities Exchange after five years away<\/a> and debuted at a 7.6% premium to its offer price.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey priced the shares at a substantial discount to comparable airlines in the region, being Qantas and Air New Zealand,\u201d Robbie Urquhart from Fisher Funds told the Herald this year.<\/p>\n

The airline said Hrdlicka also led its deeper strategic partnership with Qatar Airways.<\/p>\n

The company, headquartered in Brisbane, has a domestic network and short-haul international services, charter and cargo operations.<\/p>\n

Dave Emerson, previously Virgin Australia\u2019s chief commercial officer, took over from Hrdlicka in March.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Hrdlicka sold about 340,000 shares in a2 Milk worth $4.3m just a few months into her time there.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the Herald said a2 Milk shares worth $1.26m had been issued to Hrdlicka<\/a> as part of the deal to lure her away from her previous employer, Qantas.<\/p>\n

Before her stint at a2, Hrdlicka was chief executive at Qantas\u2019 Jetstar unit.<\/p>\n

Ryanair\u2019s Russia warning<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice and troops inspect damage to a house destroyed by debris from a shot-down Russian drone in the village of Wyryki-Wola, eastern Poland, on Wednesday. Photo \/ Wojtek Radwanski, AFP<\/p>\n

Ryanair chief executive Michael O\u2019Leary said Russia\u2019s aggression in eastern Europe could cause travel disruption for European airlines for years.<\/p>\n

Reuters said O\u2019Leary was bracing for more airspace incursions like the drone barrage that disrupted Polish flights<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be an ongoing issue for all airlines for the next number of years,\u201d O\u2019Leary said at the Irish carrier\u2019s AGM.<\/p>\n

He said Europe needed a strong response to what he called \u201cRussian prodding\u201d.<\/p>\n

The United Nations Security Council called an emergency meeting<\/a> about the issue for today.<\/p>\n

Qantas XLR-ates<\/p>\n

Qantas today started taking bookings for flights on its first Airbus A321XLR aircraft.<\/p>\n

The narrowbody twinjet is part of the Australian airline\u2019s fleet renewal programme, which includes orders for 214 aircraft.<\/p>\n

The first two XLRs are named Great Ocean Road and Outback Way.<\/p>\n

They will fly for the first time on September 25 on Sydney-Melbourne and Sydney-Perth routes, subject to regulatory approval.<\/p>\n

Qantas said the newcomers had overhead bins allowing for about 60% more space than their Boeing 737 predecessors.<\/p>\n

\"InsideInside the A321XLR.<\/p>\n

The XLR can fly about 3000km further than the 737.<\/p>\n

Qantas domestic chief executive Markus Svensson said the XLR\u2019s extended flight range would be useful on domestic and short-haul international routes.<\/p>\n

And it would go to destinations across Southeast Asia and the Pacific not previously viable with the airline\u2019s narrowbody fleet.<\/p>\n

Qantas said the aircraft had Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM engines and were less noisy and produced fewer carbon emissions per seat than predecessors.<\/p>\n

Last month, it announced an order for 20 of the XLRs, including the introduction of lie-flat business class seats on its narrowbody aircraft for the first time.<\/p>\n

All up, Qantas aims to get 48 of the new aircraft.<\/p>\n

John Weekes<\/a> is a business journalist covering aviation. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morningstar said Auckland Airport\u2019s multibillion-dollar infrastructure plans were generally a good thing. The airport\u2019s projects include a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19330,19333,19331,6776,4376,2681,51,4282,138,3500,3468,309,19335,4527,11286,19338,9435,2740,6276,19337,19332,1132,19327,117,111,139,3591,69,14734,19334,19329,4372,19328,8221,19336,312,1551,61,9938,698,14443],"class_list":["post-17499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-19330","tag-19333","tag-a2","tag-airbus","tag-airline","tag-airport","tag-auckland","tag-boss","tag-business","tag-ceo","tag-deal","tag-die","tag-discount","tag-doesnt","tag-drones","tag-expect","tag-expects","tag-former","tag-gets","tag-laments","tag-milk","tag-million","tag-morningstar","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-numbers","tag-nz","tag-passenger","tag-payout","tag-precovid","tag-qantas","tag-reach","tag-russian","tag-ryanair","tag-says","tag-set","tag-to","tag-united","tag-until","tag-wont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}