Turkish Airlines increased 20-times-weekly Istanbul Atatürk-Jeddah service to 21-times-weekly, and will increase 18-times-weekly Istanbul-Vienna service to 21-times-weekly June 13. Norwegian will operate twice-weekly service to Oslo Gardermoen from Athens (April 28-Oct. 27), Pristina (June 27-Aug 12), Sarajevo (June 27-Aug 11) and thrice-weekly service from Lakselv (June 27-Aug 12)
Air New Zealand last week announced it will enable its new Airbus A320, outfitted with an all-black livery in homage to the country's famous All Blacks rugby team, with voice and data capability. It will be the first commercial aircraft in the country that will allow passengers to use their mobile phones during domestic flights. ANZ earlier this month took delivery of the first of 14 A320s it is expected to receive through 2016, with three more coming this year. The aircraft will progressively replace the airline's Boeing 737-300s on domestic flying.
IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani last week charged that the UK government’s “policy pillars of excessive taxes, inefficient airport regulation and limiting growth will destroy the UK’s proud aviation legacy.”
Aegean Airlines, whose proposed merger with competitor Olympic Air was blocked by the European Commission last month ( ATW Daily News, Jan. 27), said it expects to report a net loss of €22-€24 million ($30-$33 million) for 2010 and warned that a loss for the current year is “very likely” owing to higher fuel prices and continued weak demand in the domestic market. It estimated 2010 revenue at about €590 million.
The European Commission announced Friday that it has launched formal antitrust investigations into the free-flow codeshare agreements between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines on the Munich-Istanbul Ataturk and Frankfurt-IST routes and between Brussels Airlines and TAP Portugal on the Brussels-Lisbon route.
Chinese carriers reported CNY2.82 billion ($428 million) in collective net income for the month of January, reversing a collective net loss of CNY50 million in the year-ago month, according to CAAC.
Copa Holdings, parent of Panama's Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia (formerly Aero Republica), posted 2010 net income of $212.1 million, down 11.8% from a $240 million profit in 2009.
Air Canada earned net income of C$107 million ($107.5 million) in 2010, reversed from a C$24 million net loss in 2009, crediting cost discipline and strong growth in international revenue—particularly on transpacific flying—for the turnaround.
Copa Holdings, parent of Panama's Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia (formerly Aero Republica), posted 2010 net income of $212.1 million, down 11.8% from a $240 million profit in 2009.
Emirates Airline ordered an additional 84 eXPhone systems from Panasonic Avionics for installation on its Boeing 777-300ER and 777-200LR aircraft, with the first newly equipped aircraft slated to enter service later this year. The eXPhone operates with AeroMobile’s inflight mobile phone service and allows passengers to use mobile phones and smartphones to make and receive voice calls, SMS text messages, and data services in flight.
Jordan Aircraft Maintenancewas selected by Air Arabia to perform heavy maintenance services, including heavy C checks, engine swaps, modifications and upgrades, on seven of the carrier’s Airbus A320s. Work has commenced on the first A320 at the jorAMCo facilities. AJW Aviationreached a five-year power-by-the-hour contract with Senegal Airlines, covering the carrier’s first two A319s. Senegalhas purchased six Airbus aircraft and will take delivery of two more this year.
Air Castle Ltd.delivered one new Airbus A330-200 to South African Airways. The aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 772B engines and is the first of six scheduled for delivery this year.
OAG reported that worldwide scheduled airline capacity for the month of February increased 5% compared to February 2010, to 285.7 million seats, on a 4% increase in number of flights, to 2.3 million departures. In terms of frequency of service, the two fastest growing markets are to and from the Middle Eastand to and from Asia/Pacific, each growing 13%.
Strike action looms as Qantas and its international pilots faceoff over job security and pay rates. The airline dismissed claims by the Australian and International Pilots Assn. that QF flight deck crew job security is imperiled as “completely unfounded” while warning that the pilots’ wage requests are not viable. Qantas said in a statement Thursday that it has “not made a pilot redundant in almost 40 years and there is no threat to the job security of our pilots.”
A Manx2.com Metroliner III crashed while attempting to land at Cork Airport Thursday morning, killing six of the 12 persons on board and injuring the remaining six, two of them seriously according to press reports.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker responded strongly to remarks made last month by Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus in which the secretary general of the Assn. of European Airlines called for an ICAO mechanism to regulate "capacity dumping" by Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways, describing the comments as "factually incorrect and unfounded."
Emirates Airline received the 2011 Airline of the Year Award at the ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards gala dinner event in Washington Tuesday evening.
Air Cargo Management Group said a "great deal of uncertainty" remains regarding international air cargo demand going forward despite the fact that 2010 international airfreight traffic exceeded 2007, when the industry's prior peak traffic performance was achieved.
Air France-KLM Group reported a €45 million ($61.5 million) net loss for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, narrowed from a €294 million deficit in the year-ago period, and warned that its operating profit for its full fiscal year ending March 31 will miss previous guidance.
Emirates Airline received the 2011 Airline of the Year Award at the ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards gala dinner event in Washington Tuesday evening.
