Qantas completes 'double sunrise' test flight from London to Sydney - CNBC

The first commercial flight of the Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on December 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.

James D. Morgan | Getty Images

Qantas Airways completed a 19 hour 19 minute non-stop test flight from London to Sydney on Friday as it nears a decision on whether to order planes for what would be the world's longest-ever commercial route.

"We saw a double sunrise," Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said after stepping off the flight, which followed a similar one from New York to Sydney last month.

The event included speeches from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder.

Qantas has named the project "Project Sunrise" after the airline's double sunrise endurance flights during World War Two, which remained airborne long enough to see two sunrises.

The plane on the London-Sydney research flight, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carried 50 passengers and had fuel remaining for roughly another 1 hour 45 minutes of flight time when it landed.

The airline needs to get pilots to agree on contract terms and a sign-off from Australia's aviation regulator to launch the flights by 2023.

Qantas has been considering an order for either an ultra-long range version of Airbus SE's A350-1000 or the Boeing Co 777-8, although the latter plane's entry into service has been delayed and so Boeing has put together an alternative offer to deal with that.

Captain Helen Trenerry, who led the test flight, said before takeoff on Wednesday that research data including activity monitoring, sleep diaries, cognitive testing and monitoring of melatonin levels would help determine whether the crew mix of one captain, one first officer and two second officers was appropriate or if more people were needed.

She said she would be happy to fly Sydney-London or Sydney-New York but would prefer regulations that limited the trips to around one a month for pilots because "they will be very, very long flights and fatiguing over the long term".

Mark Sedgwick, the president of the Australian and International Pilots Association representing Qantas pilots, said on Friday the research flights were "a step in the right direction" but the data set was probably too limited to inform broader fatigue management plans.

Citi analysts consider the ultra-long range flights to be a game-changing opportunity for the airline as it looks to capture a premium from travelers in return for cutting out a stop-over.

In a note to clients published in July, they forecast non-stop flights from Sydney to London and New York could add A$180 million annually to the carrier's profit before tax, which was A$A1.3 billion in the financial year ended June 30.

Qantas is due to hold an investor briefing on Tuesday where it could provide guidance on future capital spending plans.

The London-Sydney flight came as the airline on Friday kicked off celebrations for its 100th year of service next year.

The 787-9 with a limited number of passengers used on the research flight had a livery celebrating Qantas' centenary.

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2019-11-15 05:05:00Z
52780436841241

Google set to offer banking current accounts - BBC News

Google has become the latest big tech firm to move into banking by offering current accounts.

The firm said it plans to partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer the "smart checking" accounts.

It said the service, to be launched via Google Pay, will allow users to add Google's analytic tools to traditional banking products.

The move follows offerings of credit cards, payment systems and loans by Facebook, Uber, Apple and Amazon.

While the products and arrangements differ, the tech giants entering the world of banking share an underlying motive: making themselves indispensable, says Gerard du Toit, a partner at the Bain & Co consulting firm.

"They're all competing for consumer attention and for their ecosystem and platform to win," he says.

Amazon's credit card and business loans are aimed at boosting its e-commerce business, while Uber Money is providing credit cards, debit accounts and money tracking tools to serve the company's taxi operations.

Facebook has said its Facebook Pay service will complement its messaging tools.

And both Google and Apple, which has teamed up with Goldman Sachs' new consumer arm, Marcus, on a credit card as part of its Apple Pay and Wallet service, want to to make iPhones and Androids essential.

Wading into financial services will also provide Google and Facebook information for their advertising business, helping to track what ads lead to purchases, Mr du Toit said.

The moves into banking are likely to add to the debates over the tech giants, which are already facing probes related to competition, data protection and privacy.

Some officials have also expressed worry about gaps in financial oversight as growing activity occurs outside of traditional banking. And in recent days, New York announced it would investigate Apple, after accusations that its credit card relied on "sexist" algorithms.

Mr du Toit said regulatory concerns represent the "fly in the soup" for tech firms.

"They will have to be very careful," he said.

Partnerships

In many cases, the tech firms are working with traditional banks - a sign they are aware of the potential issues, he said.

Google said its US partners, which reportedly include Citigroup, would start to offer the accounts by 2020.

"We believe our partners' regulatory and financial know-how is a great complement to our experience in building helpful tools and technology for our users," it said in a statement.

Lagging China

Amazon has offered small business loans since 2011 and launched its credit card with JP Morgan Chase in 2017.

But in some ways, the flurry of announcements by companies this year, is a sign that the US is late to the party.

In China and some other countries, the tech firms moved quickly into banking, motivated by the need to fill the gaps left by traditional finance industry that created hurdles for their businesses, whether they were e-commerce firms or food delivery companies.

In the US, however, the need was less pressing, thanks in part to the ubiquity of credit cards and other "good enough solutions", Mr du Toit said.

Big tech payment services provided by the likes of Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent's WeChat account for roughly 16% of China's GDP, compared to less than 1% in the US, according to the Bank for International Settlements, an organisation backed by 60 of the world's central banks.

• Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks
• Is old tech putting banks under threat of extinction?

Tech companies "are now increasingly getting into it because they do believe they can offer a materially better solution to customers," he said.

Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evoked the threat of Chinese competition while defending his firm's interest in developing a cryptocurrency before Congress last month.

"I view the financial infrastructure in the US as outdated," he said.

'Darwinian experiment'

As the tech companies start to make use of their massive reach, close customer relationships and giant data sets, banks "have woken up" to the threat, leading to collaborations and other uneasy "frenemy" arrangements, Mr du Toit said.

With tech firms moving beyond credit cards, regional banks will get left behind, while smaller financial technology firms are forced out or acquired, Mr du Toit said.

"I sometimes describe this as a giant Darwinian experiment of different couplings of the banks and the big techs," he says. "There will be some mutations that succeed and others that fail."

While Google's earlier efforts to build up Google Pay failed to gain much traction in the US, the firm has developed significant payment business in India, where a Bain & Co survey found that more than half of respondents had used the platform in the last 12 months.

"I would not count them out," Mr du Toit said.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50412568

2019-11-14 12:25:01Z
52780435198567

Google set to offer banking current accounts - BBC News

Google has become the latest big tech firm to move into banking by offering current accounts.

The firm said it plans to partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer the "smart checking" accounts.

It said the service, to be launched via Google Pay, will allow users to add Google's analytic tools to traditional banking products.

The move follows offerings of credit cards, payment systems and loans by Facebook, Uber, Apple and Amazon.

While the products and arrangements differ, the tech giants entering the world of banking share an underlying motive: making themselves indispensable, says Gerard du Toit, a partner at the Bain & Co consulting firm.

"They're all competing for consumer attention and for their ecosystem and platform to win," he says.

Amazon's credit card and business loans are aimed at boosting its e-commerce business, while Uber Money is providing credit cards, debit accounts and money tracking tools to serve the company's taxi operations.

Facebook has said its Facebook Pay service will complement its messaging tools.

And both Google and Apple, which has teamed up with Goldman Sachs' new consumer arm, Marcus, on a credit card as part of its Apple Pay and Wallet service, want to to make iPhones and Androids essential.

Wading into financial services will also provide Google and Facebook information for their advertising business, helping to track what ads lead to purchases, Mr du Toit said.

The moves into banking are likely to add to the debates over the tech giants, which are already facing probes related to competition, data protection and privacy.

Some officials have also expressed worry about gaps in financial oversight as growing activity occurs outside of traditional banking. And in recent days, New York announced it would investigate Apple, after accusations that its credit card relied on "sexist" algorithms.

Mr du Toit said regulatory concerns represent the "fly in the soup" for tech firms.

"They will have to be very careful," he said.

Partnerships

In many cases, the tech firms are working with traditional banks - a sign they are aware of the potential issues, he said.

Google said its US partners, which reportedly include Citigroup, would start to offer the accounts by 2020.

"We believe our partners' regulatory and financial know-how is a great complement to our experience in building helpful tools and technology for our users," it said in a statement.

Lagging China

Amazon has offered small business loans since 2011 and launched its credit card with JP Morgan Chase in 2017.

But in some ways, the flurry of announcements by companies this year, is a sign that the US is late to the party.

In China and some other countries, the tech firms moved quickly into banking, motivated by the need to fill the gaps left by traditional finance industry that created hurdles for their businesses, whether they were e-commerce firms or food delivery companies.

In the US, however, the need was less pressing, thanks in part to the ubiquity of credit cards and other "good enough solutions", Mr du Toit said.

Big tech payment services provided by the likes of Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent's WeChat account for roughly 16% of China's GDP, compared to less than 1% in the US, according to the Bank for International Settlements, an organisation backed by 60 of the world's central banks.

• Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks
• Is old tech putting banks under threat of extinction?

Tech companies "are now increasingly getting into it because they do believe they can offer a materially better solution to customers," he said.

Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evoked the threat of Chinese competition while defending his firm's interest in developing a cryptocurrency before Congress last month.

"I view the financial infrastructure in the US as outdated," he said.

'Darwinian experiment'

As the tech companies start to make use of their massive reach, close customer relationships and giant data sets, banks "have woken up" to the threat, leading to collaborations and other uneasy "frenemy" arrangements, Mr du Toit said.

With tech firms moving beyond credit cards, regional banks will get left behind, while smaller financial technology firms are forced out or acquired, Mr du Toit said.

"I sometimes describe this as a giant Darwinian experiment of different couplings of the banks and the big techs," he says. "There will be some mutations that succeed and others that fail."

While Google's earlier efforts to build up Google Pay failed to gain much traction in the US, the firm has developed significant payment business in India, where a Bain & Co survey found that more than half of respondents had used the platform in the last 12 months.

"I would not count them out," Mr du Toit said.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50412568

2019-11-14 10:15:46Z
52780435198567

Google set to offer banking current accounts - BBC News

Google has become the latest big tech firm to move into banking by offering current accounts.

The firm said it plans to partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer the "smart checking" accounts.

It said the service, to be launched via Google Pay, will allow users to add Google's analytic tools to traditional banking products.

The move follows offerings of credit cards, payment systems and loans by Facebook, Uber, Apple and Amazon.

While the products and arrangements differ, the tech giants entering the world of banking share an underlying motive: making themselves indispensable, says Gerard du Toit, a partner at the Bain & Co consulting firm.

"They're all competing for consumer attention and for their ecosystem and platform to win," he says.

Amazon's credit card and business loans are aimed at boosting its e-commerce business, while Uber Money is providing credit cards, debit accounts and money tracking tools to serve the company's taxi operations.

Facebook has said its Facebook Pay service will complement its messaging tools.

And both Google and Apple, which has teamed up with Goldman Sachs' new consumer arm, Marcus, on a credit card as part of its Apple Pay and Wallet service, want to to make iPhones and Androids essential.

Wading into financial services will also provide Google and Facebook information for their advertising business, helping to track what ads lead to purchases, Mr du Toit said.

The moves into banking are likely to add to the debates over the tech giants, which are already facing probes related to competition, data protection and privacy.

Some officials have also expressed worry about gaps in financial oversight as growing activity occurs outside of traditional banking. And in recent days, New York announced it would investigate Apple, after accusations that its credit card relied on "sexist" algorithms.

Mr du Toit said regulatory concerns represent the "fly in the soup" for tech firms.

"They will have to be very careful," he said.

Partnerships

In many cases, the tech firms are working with traditional banks - a sign they are aware of the potential issues, he said.

Google said its US partners, which reportedly include Citigroup, would start to offer the accounts by 2020.

"We believe our partners' regulatory and financial know-how is a great complement to our experience in building helpful tools and technology for our users," it said in a statement.

Lagging China

Amazon has offered small business loans since 2011 and launched its credit card with JP Morgan Chase in 2017.

But in some ways, the flurry of announcements by companies this year, is a sign that the US is late to the party.

In China and some other countries, the tech firms moved quickly into banking, motivated by the need to fill the gaps left by traditional finance industry that created hurdles for their businesses, whether they were e-commerce firms or food delivery companies.

In the US, however, the need was less pressing, thanks in part to the ubiquity of credit cards and other "good enough solutions", Mr du Toit said.

Big tech payment services provided by the likes of Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent's WeChat account for roughly 16% of China's GDP, compared to less than 1% in the US, according to the Bank for International Settlements, an organisation backed by 60 of the world's central banks.

• Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks
• Is old tech putting banks under threat of extinction?

Tech companies "are now increasingly getting into it because they do believe they can offer a materially better solution to customers," he said.

Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evoked the threat of Chinese competition while defending his firm's interest in developing a cryptocurrency before Congress last month.

"I view the financial infrastructure in the US as outdated," he said.

'Darwinian experiment'

As the tech companies start to make use of their massive reach, close customer relationships and giant data sets, banks "have woken up" to the threat, leading to collaborations and other uneasy "frenemy" arrangements, Mr du Toit said.

With tech firms moving beyond credit cards, regional banks will get left behind, while smaller financial technology firms are forced out or acquired, Mr du Toit said.

"I sometimes describe this as a giant Darwinian experiment of different couplings of the banks and the big techs," he says. "There will be some mutations that succeed and others that fail."

While Google's earlier efforts to build up Google Pay failed to gain much traction in the US, the firm has developed significant payment business in India, where a Bain & Co survey found that more than half of respondents had used the platform in the last 12 months.

"I would not count them out," Mr du Toit said.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50412568

2019-11-14 09:01:44Z
52780435198567

Elon Musk says Tesla will build cars in Berlin - CNN

In a tweet late Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the plant would build batteries, powertrains and vehicles, "starting with the Model Y." The factory is also expected to produce the Model 3, the company's best-selling car.

Tesla (TSLA) has already posted jobs for construction, operations, engineering and manufacturing workers for the factory in the German capital. The US carmaker did not say when its factory would open, or how many cars would be produced there. Tesla declined to provide additional details.

The move takes the great electric car race to Germany, the manufacturing heart of Europe and the home of Volkswagen (VLKAF), Daimler (DDAIF) and BMW (BMWYY).

Volkswagen has made the most aggressive move of the traditional auto companies into electric vehicles, announcing plans to invest €30 billion ($33 billion) to electrify its entire product lineup over the next four years.

The world's largest carmaker has just started making its new ID.3 electric vehicle series and recently announced a deal with Sweden's Northvolt to build a giant battery factory in Germany. One of the group's luxury brands, Audi, is already building electric SUVs that are designed to appeal to potential Tesla buyers.

Musk came face-to-face with his main German rival on Tuesday, when he appeared onstage with Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess at an awards ceremony in Berlin.

Diess praised the billionaire entrepreneur for showing that electric cars are capable of competing with vehicles powered by fossil fuels. But he also eluded to the looming competition between the carmakers.

"I'm happy that Elon is pulling us, but I think the German industry is really now strongly investing — and we will keep you alert," Diess told Musk.

The big question is whether Tesla can hold onto its lead in electric-car manufacturing once Volkswagen and other established carmakers really get into the game. The old guard have several advantages: they possess huge expertise in manufacturing and deep pockets that can fund new technology.

In 2018, Volkswagen delivered a record 10.8 million cars. The company has 665,000 employees and annual revenue of $265 billion.

Hosting Tesla

Peter Altmaier, Germany's economics minister, touted the new Tesla factory as a vote of confidence in his country.

"The decision by Tesla to build a highly modern factory for electric cars in Germany is further proof of the attractiveness of Germany as an automotive manufacturing base," he said in a statement.

Hosting Tesla is a major prize. In an interview with a trade publication, Musk said that the United Kingdom, another major European base for global carmakers including Nissan (NSANF), had lost out because of Brexit.

"Brexit [uncertainty] made it too risky to put a Gigafactory in the UK," Musk told Auto Express.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/13/business/tesla-berlin-gigafactory/index.html

2019-11-13 12:35:00Z
52780433290360

Elon Musk says Tesla will build cars in Berlin - CNN

In a tweet Tuesday, Tesla's billionaire CEO Elon Musk said the plant would build batteries, powertrains and vehicles, "starting with the Model Y."

The move takes the great electric car race to Volkswagen's (VLKAF) backyard. The German car giant has made the most aggressive move of the traditional auto companies into electric vehicles, announcing plans to invest €30 billion ($33 billion) to electrify its entire product lineup over the next four years.

Volkswagen has just started making its new ID.3 electric car series and recently announced a deal with Sweden's Northvolt to build a giant battery factory in Germany.

Tesla (TSLA) has already posted jobs for construction, operations, engineering and manufacturing workers for the factory in the German capital.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/13/business/tesla-berlin-gigafactory/index.html

2019-11-13 08:58:00Z
52780433290360

Tesla to focus on Model Y, batteries, and powertrains at Gigafactory 4 in Europe - Electrek

Tesla is going to focus on Model Y production at its newly confirmed Gigiafactory 4 to be built in the Berlin area and they will also produce batteries and powertrains at the new European factory.

As we reported yesterday, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla is going to build Gigafactory 4 in the ‘Berlin area’.

It is going to be built in the GVZ Berlin-Ost Freienbrink industrial park near the new Berlin airport, which has been under construction for years.

After the announcement at the Golden Wheel automotive award ceremony, Musk took to Twitter to release a few more details about the new factory.

The CEO said that Tesla will build “batteries, powertrains, and vehicles, starting with Model Y” at Gigafactory 4 in Germany:

Will build batteries, powertrains & vehicles, starting with Model Y

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 12, 2019

With Fremont factory and Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai first producing Model 3 vehicles, Tesla Gigafactory 4 will be the automaker’s first factory to first focus on Model Y production, which is expected to first start in Fremont next year.

Earlier this summer, the CEO also said that he expects Gigafactory 4 construction will be “well underway” within the next 12 to 18 months and will have the European Gigafactory operational by the end of 2021.

Electrek’s Take

This makes a lot of sense.

Fremont is already able to produce over 6,000 Model 3 vehicles per week and Gigafactory 3 is going to add 3,000 units to that, which is going to free up some of Fremont’s Model 3 production capacity meant for China to other markets, like Europe.

Then, Tesla is just now starting to deploy new Model Y production capacity so it might as well deploy it at the new factory.

Also, Elon keeps saying that the demand for the Model Y could be much higher than Model 3.

I am excited for Gigafactory 4 because I think it’s going to light a fire under German automakers.

Tesla is well-positioned to build a very efficient Gigafactory in Germany with its manufacturing robotic group formed from the Grohmann acquisition, which is also located in the country.

Elon also mentioned “batteries” to be produced at the plant without confirming if it’s going to be battery cells, but it sounds likely.

It’s going to be an exciting year for Tesla in Europe.

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https://electrek.co/2019/11/13/tesla-model-y-batteries-powertrains-gigafactory-4-europe/

2019-11-13 08:27:00Z
52780433290360