Citing rapidly rising oil prices, IATA on Wednesday trimmed its 2011 earnings forecast for the world's airlines by 5.5% to $8.6 billion from $9.1 billion projected in December.
Air France KLM flew 16.63 billion RPKs in January, up 4.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.3% to 21.00 billion ASKs and load factor jumped 1.1 points to 79.2%. Lufthansa Passenger Airlines operated 10.24 billion RPKs in January, a 10.8% increase year-over-year. Capacity jumped 12% to 13.99 billion ASKs as load factor fell 0.7 points to 73.2%.
AirTran Airways will launch service to Branson from Baltimore (weekly, May 28), Chicago Midway (four-times-weekly, May 27) and Houston Hobby (four-times-weekly, May 26). Air France will launch service from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Orlando (thrice weekly, June 7) and Lima (five-times-weekly, June 21).
Cyprus Airways and employees' trade unions called on parliamentarians to approve payment of €20 million ($27.3 million) to the company to help to stay in air, Famagusta Gazette reported this week.
Virgin Blue will drop the “Blue” from its brand name, opting instead for a streamlined brand more in line with its push to lure business customers. But the airline's boss, former Qantas Executive GM John Borghetti, has stopped short of dumping the Virgin brand completely as the airline tries to redefine its place in the local market.
Airbus and a group of Chinese industrial partners on Monday opened a joint venture composite manufacturing facility in Harbin first announced in 2009 ( ATW Daily News, Feb. 2, 2009). It spans 33,800 sq.m. and will eventually be an "80,000 sq.m. manufacturing compound, comprising production, technical support, office areas and other services," Airbus said.
Embraer said Tuesday that TRIP Linhas Aereas ordered four additional E-190s valued at $172 million at list prices. The Brazilian carrier already was slated to take delivery of nine E-190s this year, and said it intends to use the new aircraft to expand its destinations domestically. It expects the Brazilian market to double in size over the next five years. It currently operates nine E-175s.
American Airlines on Tuesday lowered its full-year 2011 consolidated capacity growth projection to 3.3% from 4.3% previously, and also revealed that it ordered a third Boeing 777-300ER in February in addition to two it announced in January for delivery in late 2012.
International scheduled passenger traffic rose 8.2% in January compared to January 2010, while international air cargo traffic lifted 9.1%, according to IATA, which warned that rising fuel prices will likely make 2011 "very challenging" for the airline industry despite the positive growth figures.
EgyptAir Group Chairman and CEO Hussein Massoud said the late January/early February civil unrest in Cairo and other parts of Egypt that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak "reduced our income by as much as 80%," but he downplayed suggestions that the carrier is in serious trouble.
With Republicans in control of the House of Representatives holding a mandate to rein in government spending, programs like NextGen will face closer scrutiny.
American Airlines aims to revolutionize ticket distribution with its direct connect platform, but first it has to overcome spirited opposition from GDSs and online travel agencies.
Boeing is nearing completion of its agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines to modernize the interiors of 22 of the carrier's 23 777-200ER aircraft. Eight of the airplanes feature SV’s new business market configuration with 24 first class, 38 business class and 170 economy class seats, while the remaining aircraft are in the new high-density configuration accommodating 14 business class and 327 economy class seats.
Qatar Airways will add a second-daily Doha-Manchester service June 1 and will increase its Doha-Frankfurt service from 10 to 12 times per week beginning March 27. Doha-Munich service will grow from seven to 11 times per week effective March 9. Singapore Airlines will add a seventh-daily Singapore-Hong Kong service March 27, operated by a Boeing 777-200ER. Allegiant will operate seasonal twice-weekly Shreveport-Orlando Sanford service starting May 19.
Continental Airlines parent United Continental Holdings announced Friday that CO's 9,300 flight attendants, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, ratified a new labor contract ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 1, 2010). UCH VP-Inflight Service Sam Risoli said, "Our Continental flight attendants took a big step to keep us moving forward as we integrate Continental and United."
Thai Airways International Public Co. and Tiger Airways Holdings formally signed a shareholders' agreement to launch Thai Tiger Airways, the low-fare joint venture carrier the companies announced last summer ( ATW Daily News, Aug. 3).
Lebanon's Middle East Airlines on Monday formalized its previously announced decision to join SkyTeam in 2012. MEA joins Saudi Arabian Airlines as future Middle East members of the alliance ( ATW Daily News, Jan. 20). "The addition of MEA to the alliance network will enable SkyTeam to compete more efficiently, not only within the Middle East, but also to and from Western Africa," SkyTeam said in a statement.
CAAC appears to be softening its tough stance on restricting approval of new entrants, based on recent remarks by CAAC Minister Li Jiaxiang, who noted that three carriers are applying to launch.
