BAE Systems on Thursday agreed to sell its commercial aircraft lease portfolio and asset management business to investment affiliates of certain funds managed by Fortress Investment Group.
Boeing and 787 launch customer All Nippon Airways said Thursday they will conduct service readiness trials in Japan in July ahead of first delivery in August or September.
Spirit Airlines launched its IPO on Thursday and began trading on NASDAQ under the "SAVE" symbol, but the public offering price of $12 per share of common stock was at the low end of the range it cited in a Wednesday regulatory filing and well below the $14-$16 planned earlier this month.
American Airlines’ lawsuit against Travelport and Orbitz is an “effort to dress up a commercial dispute in antitrust garb,” Travelport said in a motion to dismiss the carrier’s complaint.
Boeing and 787 launch customer All Nippon Airways said Thursday they will conduct service readiness trials in Japan in July ahead of first delivery in August or September.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. announced late Wednesday it has named former CEO of Frontier Airlines Sean Menke as president and CEO, to replace Philip Trenary. Pinnacle Board Chairman and Interim CEO Donald Breeding called Menke a “visionary executive with great experience in commercial, operational and financial areas of both mainline and regional airlines. I am confident that Sean will take Pinnacle to a much higher level by working with and leading our strong team of Pinnacle employees."
Wizz Air will launch thrice-weekly Vilnius-Dortmund service Aug. 2. AirBaltic will increase service from Riga to Warsaw (thrice-daily) and Gdansk (six-times-weekly), and will launch twice-weekly RIX-Bari service in July. American Eagle will launch daily Dallas/Fort Worth-Mazatlan service June 9. Avianca will launch four-times-weekly Bogota-Orlando service July 12 using an A319.
Rockwell Collins said its AHS-4000 Attitude and Reference Heading System is now certified for use onboard Bombardier CRJ1000s. It also announced its FMS-4200 Flight Management System is certified and will be standard on CRJ700/CRJ900/CRJ1000 aircraft.
The Houston Airport System and United Continental Holdings said that construction on the first phase of a $1 billion redevelopment project at Houston Intercontinental will start by the end of 2011. Phase one, slated to cost $161 million, involves building a Terminal B south concourse for domestic regional jet operations. In addition, UCH said it extended its lease on IAH's Terminal C to 2027.
Joint venture partners All Nippon Airways and First Eastern Investment, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, named their new LCC Peach Aviation. ANA said the name symbolizes longevity, energy and happiness—as peaches do in Japan. "The name Peach was chosen to reflect our mission of becoming a completely new type of airline that links destinations in Japan and Japan with Asia," said Peach Aviation CEO Shinichi Inoue in a statement reported by AFP.
Spirit Airlines lowered the size and pricing of its planned IPO, saying in a Wednesday regulatory filing that it will offer 15.6 million shares of common stock, 22% fewer than the 20 million shares it said it was offering earlier this month ( ATW Daily News, May 13). It also said the shares will now be priced at $12-$13 each, below $14-$16 previously.
Runway incursions/excursions and other runway-related events account for the largest category of aviation accidents, playing a role in a third of all accidents, according to ICAO, which this week is holding a Global Runway Safety Symposium at its Montreal headquarters.
Malaysia Airlines blamed the steep increase in fuel prices and the strengthening of the Malaysian Ringgit for a pre-tax loss of MYR238.25 million ($75.7 million) for the first quarter ended March 31, reversed from a pre-tax profit of MYR320.25 million in the year-ago period.
Traffic in European airspace is expected to be near disruption-free Thursday as the ash cloud created by the Saturday eruption of Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland dissipates, Eurocontrol stated.
Sending a major signal to the airline industry that the competitive landscape of long-haul travel is changing, Singapore Airlines announced Wednesday it will set up a new no-frills, low-fare carrier operating twin-aisle aircraft on medium- and long-haul routes.
In a major signal to the airline industry that the competitive landscape of long-haul travel is changing, Singapore Airlines announced Wednesday it will set up a new no-frills, low-fare airline operating twin-aisle aircraft on medium- and long-haul routes.
Skyworld Aviation, formerly Skyways Aviation,sold one Saab 340A to Sprint Air of Poland on behalf of Avion Capital Partners of Sweden. It will join 12 Saab 340s already in the Sprint Air fleet ( ATW Daily News, Feb. 1, 2010). GECAS leased and delivered two new Airbus A320s to Aigle Azur.
Air New Zealand will increase international capacity to China by 21.6% and Japan by 16% from November. In China, ANZ will increase service to nine-times-weekly on its Auckland-Hong Kong route, three-times-weekly on its AKL-Beijing route and four-times-weekly on its AKL-Shanghai route. ANZ plans to introduce a Boeing 747-400 on Japan routes between December and February.
Hainan Airlines on Tuesday relaunched Chongqing-based China West Air in conjunction with Chongqing Yufu Capital Management Co., which is controlled by the Chongqing municipal government. HNA didn’t reveal the exact figure but noted the combined investment was CNY3 billion ($460.8 million).
Lufthansa said it will shut down Italian subsidiary Lufthansa Italia and change its focus in Italy to bringing passengers to LH's major European hubs. "Given the slump in prices on European routes and the competition, it was extremely difficult to establish a profitable European network under a separate brand," stated LH Chairman and CEO Christoph Franz. "It therefore makes sense to focus the Lufthansa Group's offering on connecting the Italian market to the group's hubs."
European Commission VP-Transport Siim Kallas said he does not “at this stage anticipate widespread airspace closures and the prolonged disruptions as we had last year” following Saturday’s eruption of Iceland’s Grimsvotn volcano and resulting ash cloud.
Korean Air on Tuesday took delivery of its first Airbus A380 in a Toulouse ceremony. It will become the first Asian carrier to operate a GP7200-powered A380.
Despite soaring fuel prices, the AirAsia Group posted a 46% year-over-year lift in first-quarter operating profit to MYR241.72 million ($79.4 million) on a 20% increase in revenue to MYR1.05 billion.
Cautioning that those "holding your breath on the Paris Air Show" next month regarding a decision on a 737NG successor will likely be disappointed, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh said the manufacturer is aiming to make an announcement on its future narrowbody aircraft "in the ballpark" of late 2011.
Despite soaring fuel prices, the AirAsia Group posted a 46% year-over-year lift in first-quarter operating profit to MYR241.72 million ($79.4 million) on a 20% increase in revenue to MYR1.05 billion.
