The US Dept. of Transportation yesterday issued its final clearance of antitrust immunity for American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian to "more closely coordinate international services" including a planned AA/BA/IB joint venture on transatlantic flights.
Thomas Cook buys Turkey specialist Travelport forms partnership with Russian GDS Amadeus teams with Airconomy on business intelligence solution GAO recommends consistent disclosure of airline fees across all channels ARC to offer fraud prevention solution for smaller airlines Airline IT: One foot in the old world, the other in the new World news briefing
Finnair went live with the Amadeus electronic miscellaneous document, the fulfillment solution that will allow airlines and travel agencies to sell and track the usage of ancillary charges, on its website. Such charges may be linked to the flight coupon, such as for excess baggage and seat selection, or standalone charges such as lounge access and rebooking fees. Finnair's EMD capability will be extended to Amadeus travel agencies in Europe in September following a pilot with agents in the Finnish market.
Avianova will launch service to Kaliningradfrom Moscow Sheremetyevo (five-times-weekly) and Saint Petersburg(four-times-weekly) Oct. 31. Frontier Airlines will operate seasonal weekly Milwaukee-Tucson service Jan. 8 -April 16 aboard E-190s.
Turkish Technic reached a maintenance services contract with ULS Cargo to provide C checks on three A310Fs through the end of the year. PPG Aerospace introduced redesigned windshields for the A320 family that improve moisture resistance. The windshields incorporate new PRC sealants, a different interlayer and an improved electrical system, said PPG Aerospace Global Director James Romano. Egyptair will switch aircraft on Cairo-New York JFK flights from a 777-200ER to a 777-300ER on Jan 1.
Air Berlin and Air Lease Corp., a new leasing company led by former ILFC Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy, signed a sale/leaseback agreement for one A320-200, one A321-200, two 737-800s and one used A320-200. All are equipped with CFM engines. The first delivery, which took place May 19, was for the A320-200. Delivery of an A321 and a used A320 took place in June. Delivery of the two 737-800s is scheduled for later in the year and early 2011.
Delta Air Lines got the US airline industry's second-quarter financial reporting season off to an optimistic start yesterday, posting net income of $467 million, reversed from a $257 million loss in the year-ago period.
China Eastern Air Holding Co. posted a net profit of CNY2.21 billion ($326.7 million) in the first half, more than tripling its profit of CNY600 million reported in the prior-year period.
Emirates pushes for 777 upgrade as it orders 30 777-300ERs Airbus sales top triple digits on first day GECAS back in a buying mood with order for 100 A320s, 737s Additional stories
Royal Jordanian transported 268,000 passengers in June, a 13% increase on the year-ago month. Load factor reached 70% while number of flights lifted 10% to 3,465. RJ expects to reach a record number of passengers in July, estimating the figure to surpass 330,000. JetBlue Airways flew 2.47 billion RPMs in June, up 10.9% year-over-year, while capacity rose 5.8% to 2.93 billion ASMs. Load factor was up 3.9 points to 84.2%.
Uzbekistan Airways received its first A320, configured in a two-class cabin layout seating 150 passengers, 12 in business and 138 in economy. It is the first of 10 A320s ordered directly from Airbus as part of the carrier’s strategic fleet modernization program. The A320 will make its first commercial flight today from Tashkent to Baku.
Continental Airlines completed upgrading 11 777s and 14 757-200s used on long-haul international routes with its BusinessFirst flat-bed seats manufactured by BE Aerospace. The seats also will be installed on "many" of its 767-400s beginning in 2011, on two 777s to be delivered at the end of the month and on 787s yet to be delivered.
Qantas Group is signaling a reshaping of its domestic and international strategy with the bringing forward of eight of its 50 787s on order to mid-2012, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
Lufthansa said Friday that closing much of Europe's airspace for six days in April "caused unprecedented chaos" and "utter pandemonium" that must be avoided in the future, stating that airspace closure decisions need to be based on "reliable measuring data and internationally coordinated threshold levels."
Airbus said it is “well on track to meet its full year’s target” of delivering at least 20 A380s in 2010 following the handover of two of the aircraft Friday to Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa respectively. Those deliveries brought the 2010 A380 total to 10. SIA now has 11 A380s while LH has two. Emirates also has 11 of the extra-large aircraft while Air France has three and Qantas six.
