Eurocontrol’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Center implemented the first step of its so-called Free Route Airspace Maastricht program, which aims to put into place a direct route network to reduce flight times, fuel burn, carbon and other emissions and costs in high-density European airspace.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said the airline is expecting to receive its first Boeing 787 in January or February 2012. "Over two years' delay," he noted. "But the 787 will be a good aircraft for us."
Travel plans for tens of thousands of airline passengers remain in chaos as Japan continues to cope with the aftermath of Friday's devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.
Tokyo Narita and Haneda airports partially reopened for some flights late Friday after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake forced the busy facilities to shut down for most of the day, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
Traxon Europe reached an agreement with AirBridgeCargo Airlines for the provision of cargo information services. IBS completed integration of its air cargo management solution suite iCargo for South African Airways. IBS's iCargo is being used across the SAA network of 48 stations including 39 international locations, five self-handled warehouse facilities and its global cargo headquarters in Johannesburg.
Etihad Airways appointed Kevin Knight as the airline’s chief strategy and planning officer. Knight will be responsible for a range of key business areas, including pricing, capacity and revenue management, route and network planning and aircraft acquisitions. He also will lead Etihad Crystal Cargo. Mongolian Airlines appointed Aviarepsto serve as the carrier's general sales agent in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain.
Boeing selected Leading Edge Aviation Services to apply final paint and customer livery to all North Charleston, S.C.-built 787 Dreamliners, at its Amarillo, Texas facility. The 787s will fly 1,250 m. (1,212 km.) from Boeing’s final assembly and delivery facility in North Charleston to Amarillo, and will then return to South Carolina for final delivery to customers.
US Airways said its employees will receive profit sharing checks for the first time since 2007 totaling more than $47 million. Employees have already received more than $25 million in operational incentive bonuses and employee recognition awards over the past year. US Airways' Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said, "Our team ran a safe, reliable airline in 2010, completing more scheduled flights and delivering baggage more reliably than our network peers. Our customers have noticed the turnaround and our financial results reflect these positive results."
AWAS announced that Terra Firma, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and other co-investors committed to invest an additional $529 million in the Dublin-based operating lessor by April and a another $200 million "to finance further value enhancing opportunities." The initial investment of $529 million is being made by Terra Firma ($246 million), CPPIB ($266 million) and other co-investors ($17 million), following which Terra Firma’s interest in AWAS will be 60%, CPPIB’s 25% and other co-investors’ 15%.
Air Astana and Amadeus have apparently settled their disagreement that led to the Kazakhstan airline filing suit against the GDS in a Madrid court ( ATW Daily New, Feb. 15). On Thursday Amadeus announced that the two had reached a long-term content agreement that "guarantees agents access to the full range of Air Astana's content through Amadeus with no commission reduction." The new contract will be in place through 2014.
Air Canada said it has been notified by Boeing that its first five 787 deliveries, originally slated for 2012 and then pushed back to the second half of 2013, "are now targeted for delivery" during the 2013 fourth quarter and the 2014 first half. "This represents an average delay of between five and seven months from the previous schedule," AC stated, adding that Boeing is still evaluating the schedule for the carrier's remaining 32 787 deliveries.
Jet Airways may be planning to join SkyTeam through a transatlantic joint venture with Air France KLM, Alitalia and Delta Air Lines, according to media reports.
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark said the carrier has temporarily stopped service from Dubai to Libya, reduced DXB-Cairo service to a single daily flight, drawn down DXB-Tunis flights to thrice-weekly, and also made adjustments on service to Yemen.
Lufthansa is in the midst of a €2.8 billion ($3.9 billion) investment program to upgrade its fleet and improve service quality, with arriving Airbus A380s playing a large role.
ATW Editorial Director Perry Flint discusses the recent spate of aircraft orders and why, in these financially-difficult times, it's more sensible than it sounds.
Boeing said on Tuesday its 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft successfully completed the first engine runs on its GEnx-2B engine. AWAS delivered one new Boeing 737-800 to Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. The aircraft is equipped with Boeing's Sky Interior. Separately, AWAS said it acquired two Airbus A320-200s from Dublin-based Aircraft Purchase Fleet Ltd. for lease to Alitalia.
LAN Airlines and affiliates Lan Peru, Lan Argentina and Lan Ecuador signed a bilateral interline agreement with JetBlue Airways, under which LAN passengers gain access to up to 55 cities in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean through JetBlue's hub at New York JFK. JetBlue customers gain access to LAN destinations in South America. Under the terms of the deal, customers will be able to purchase a single ticket for travel on both airlines and take advantage of one-stop check-in for boarding passes and baggage.
Lufthansa Systems said it will launch its new wireless inflight entertainment system, BoardConnect, on Condor’s Boeing 767s. BoardConnect is a next-generation IFE system, operating on a Wi-Fi network allowing passengers to connect to video and audio on demand—including games, e-mail and social networks—via their IFE screens or a personal Wi-Fi-equipped device.
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark told ATW at ITB Berlin that all 15 of the airline's Airbus A380s operated for the first time with 100% technical dispatch reliability last week. "We have some hiccups sometimes [with the A380 operation] but the reliability is going up," he said. When EK's first A380 arrived about 220 post-factory modifications had to be made. "Today the number is about 60," he said.
Air Baltic's aging fleet, which includes 14 Boeing 737-300/500 aircraft, creates challenges in managing rising fuel prices, President and CEO Bertolt Flick told ATW this week in Los Angeles. "It is clear that we need a more modern fleet," he said.
Lufthansa Group said that based on preliminary figures it ended 2010 with a net profit of €1.1 billion ($1.53 billion), significantly improved from a restated net loss of €34 million in 2009.
EADS reported 2010 net income of €553 million ($770.8 million), a major turnaround from a €763 million net loss in 2009, on 7% growth in revenue to €45.8 billion driven by a strong performance by Airbus.
Aeroflot placed an order for six GE90-powered Boeing 777-300ERs and two 777-200ERs, the manufacturer said Wednesday, noting the order was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on its website.
