VOA标准英语2010年-Emirates Looks to Lead Aviation Recove

Sheikh Ahmed bin¹ Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Airline Chairman and CEO (l), German Chancellor² Angela Merkel (center), and Airbus President and Chief Executive Tom Enders (r) pose with an A-380 model during the opening of the International Air Show ILA at Schoenefeld airport in Berlin, 08 Jun 2010

The Aviation industry appears to be recovering from several difficult years that saw some companies going bankrupt and others making drastic cuts in staff, routes and equipment.  One indicator³ that the industry might be turning the corner is Emirates' Airlines recent announcement that it will buy 32 of the Airbus A-380 Super Jumbo Jets.

 In front of a glittering, new Airbus A-380 painted in the Emirates colors, company Chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum and Airbus CEO Tom Enders celebrated⁴ the deal.

Since most of an airline's profits come from business and 1st class customers, on its A-380 Emirates offers such amenities⁵ as laptop charging, lie-flat bed seats in privacy pods, SMS and e-mail at your seat and a 40 cm flat screen television for each seat in business class.

 Stewardess Nadine Schumacher works at the bar in the first class section on board Airbus A-380 passenger plane of Emirates Airline during the International Air Show ILA at Schoenefeld airport in Berlin, Germany, 09 Jun 2010

In first class, passengers can book a suite⁶ that includes a massaging⁷, heated seat with full mattress⁸, an onboard shower spa, more than 1,000 channels of in-flight television, and personal bar.  There's also an on-board lounge if passengers want to move around the aircraft.

The recent purchase is part of Emirates' efforts to expand its routes and gain market share in Asia, Europe and the United States.  Airbus spokeswoman Maryanne Greczyn says that the Dubai-based airline's spending of $11.5 billion on wide-bodied, double-decker planes shows the overall aviation industry is recovering.

"It's very good news and Emirates is a strong customer," she said. "They are a strong airline in a greatly emerging economy. So it's a good bellwether⁹ for the industry."

The purchase comes as worldwide aviation is emerging from a disastrous¹⁰ 2009. Last year, airlines lost $9.9 billion when passenger traffic fell 2.1 percent and air cargo¹¹ dropped nearly 10 percent. Industry revenues fell 15 percent, to $479 billion.

Steve Lott is with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 230 airlines and covers 93 percent of the scheduled international air traffic.  He told VOA that, with the world economy slowly emerging from recession, aviation is expected to post a profit this year. Lott said the Emirates purchase is an indicator of the Dubai-based airlines' confidence that the market will improve.

"So for this year, in the forecast we just issued a few days ago, we are predicting that the industry will return to profit, posting a global profit of $2.5 billion in 2010.  The major exception, however, remains¹² Europe," he said.

April's eruption¹³ of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland and the subsequent closure of European airspace because of the ash cloud drove profits down in Europe.  Steve Lott says the Greek economic crisis and the fall of the Euro against the dollar have also slowed profits in Europe.

"Europe has seemed to have lagged the rest of the world in terms of economic recovery," he said. "Some of that is due largely to the Greek debt crisis and some of the financial problems in other countries. Germany announced major budget cuts and problems with their budget.  And this is all really accumulating in a weak European economy."

Jami Counter is the senior director of TripAdvisor Flights, the Meta search engine for Tripadvisor.com.  He told VOA that the Emirates' home in Dubai is strategically located to make it a world aviation center.

"It actually geographically¹⁵ is well situated¹⁶ to be a connecting hub through from Europe and even the East Coast of North America over to Asia and Australia," said Counter.  "And obviously connects well in to Africa as well. So from a geographic¹⁴ situation, it is about as well situated to be a world-connecting hub as one could pick."

Maryanne Greczyn of Airbus says Emirate's buying of A-380s was not really surprising because of the economic health of the Gulf¹⁷ region. "That region of the world, the Middle East, is one of the fastest growing markets for air travel in the world. And Emirates has been very, very happy and very successful with their A-380s thus far," said Maryanne.

Choosing the A-380 was not without controversy¹⁸.  The airplane has been hit by lengthy¹⁹ production delays, and the cabins of the huge aircraft require more customization than other planes.  But this deal gives Emirates 90 of the planes, the largest fleet of the super-jumbos worldwide.

This year marks Emirates airlines 25th year in business. More than one-quarter of Emirates' revenues come from Australasia and East Asia. Right now, the Middle East and Iran contribute only less than one-eighth of the traffic.

Emirates' business model is based on carrying the world through Dubai. With the new fleet of superjumbo jets, it appears the airline is ready to do exactly that.
 

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

3 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 amenities   

n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快

参考例句：

• The campsite is close to all local amenities. 营地紧靠当地所有的便利设施。
• Parks and a theatre are just some of the town's local amenities. 公园和戏院只是市镇娱乐设施的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

7 massaging   

按摩，推拿( massage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He watched the prisoner massaging his freed wrists. 他看着那个犯人不断揉搓着刚松开的两只手腕。
• Massaging your leg will ease the cramp. 推拿大腿可解除抽筋。

8 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

9 bellwether   

n.系铃的公羊，前导，领导者，群众的首领

参考例句：

• University campuses are often the bellwether of change.大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
• For decades the company was the bellwether of the British economy.几十年来，这家公司一直是英国经济的晴雨表。

10 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

11 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

14 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

15 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

16 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

17 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

18 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

19 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。