Royal Air Maroc and TUI Travel signed a letter of intent stipulating that RAM will take a majority stake in Jet4You, TUI Travel's Moroccan low-cost/charter carrier. Jet4You operates 175-seat 737-400s and 189-seat -800s on a network spanning seven Moroccan airports and 12 European cities, mainly in France but also including Barcelona, Geneva and Brussels South Charleroi. It has been 100%-owned by TUI since 2008.
Air China is looking at combining Ameco Beijing, its successful MRO joint venture with Lufthansa, and its internal maintenance organization, Air China Engineering and Technics. According to an industry insider, CA is having internal discussions about how the companies might be integrated but has not determined a specific plan. Ameco, which was created in 1989, is the oldest JV MRO organization in China involving mainland and foreign participants.
Boeing made official on Friday what many had speculated about for weeks: The 787 will make its international debut later this month at the Farnborough Airshow.
Turkish Airlines launched thrice-weekly Istanbul Ataturk-Podgorica service. VIM Airlines resumed five-times-weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Sochi service and launched thrice-weekly DME-Chita flights. Continental Airlines will operate daily Houston-Gunnison, Colo., service Dec. 16-April 3, decreasing to four-times-weekly Jan.4-Feb. 16.
Southwest Airlines flew 7.07 billion RPMs in June, a 5% increase on the year-ago month, against a 1.9% lift in capacity to 8.63 billion ASMs. Load factor grew 2.4 points to 81.9%. US Airways operated 5.79 billion system RPMs in June, a 2.9% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.7% to 6.7 billion ASMs and load factor gained 0.2 point to 86.4%. Domestic RPMs declined 0.8% to 4.18 billion against a 0.2% rise in capacity to 4.83 billion ASMs.
US FAA and Georgia Institute of Technology will research jointly the effects the NextGen ATC system will have on flight crew members and controllers with respect to the "increased sophistication on the flight deck." FAA said it will be the first of several "aviation-related human factors research" studies it plans to collaborate on with universities, with more to be announced "in the coming months."
ARC reported that ticket sales through participating travel agencies climbed 21.9% in June compared to June 2009 to $7 billion, marking the eighth consecutive month of improvement. June credit card sales grew 22.6% year-over-year to $6.3 billion. Total fares excluding taxes and fees rose 22.9% to $6 billion. Domestic fares jumped 18.9% to $3.1 billion on a 5% lift in transactions and international fares leaped 27.7% to $2.9 billion on a 6% rise in transactions.
Boeing said it delivered 114 aircraft in the second quarter, down 8.8% from 125 delivered in the year-ago period. It said its delivery guidance for the full year remains unchanged at 460-465. It delivered 481 aircraft in 2009 and by the midpoint last year had delivered 246; so far this year it has delivered 222. Second-quarter deliveries were led by 95 737NGs. It also delivered three 767s and 16 777s.
Lufthansa and the ver.di union representing 50,000 cabin crew and ground workers agreed on a 22-month pay freeze. In exchange, the workers will get a one-time bonus that could equal up to 2% of their annual pay, depending on LH's full-year 2011 earnings. "The challenge for the current business year is to grow and keep costs in balance. This is not so easy," Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATW on the sidelines of the recent Aegean Airlines Star Alliance induction ceremony in Athens.
China's airlines are bracing for a CNY140 ($20.70) per ton increase in domestic fuel costs after the Chinese government announced it is raising its domestic fuel price from CNY5,470 to CNY5,610 per ton.
Ryanair said it will cut capacity at its Dublin base this winter to 12 aircraft operating 850 weekly flights, down from 14 aircraft operating 1,000 last winter.
The European Commission confirmed yesterday that it has been informed by the World Trade Organization that the release of its interim report on whether Boeing receives illegal subsidies will be delayed, possibly until mid-September.
R oyal Air Maroc will launch thrice-weekly Casablanca-Moscow Sheremetyevo service Nov. 2 aboard a 737-800. Also launching the same date will be twice-weekly Casablanca -Yaounde flights that will return via Douala.
Eastern Airways yesterday took delivery of an additional ERJ-135, increasing its fleet to 30 aircraft. It added another ERJ-135 last month. Both are on lease from GECAS and are assigned to charter flying across the UKand mainland Europe. The UKindependent regional previously operated an all-turboprop fleet consisting of 20 29-seat Jetstream 41s and eight 50-seat Saab 2000s.
Delta Air Lines flew 18.53 billion system RPMs in June, a 4.2% rise year-over-year. Capacity lifted 1.5% to 21.13 billion ASMs and load factor increased 2.2 points to 87.7%. American Airlines operated 11.25 billion system RPMs in June, up 3.2% year-over-year, while capacity rose 1.3% to 12.96 billion ASMs. Load factor increased 1.6 points to 86.8%. American Eagle flew 736.5 million RPMs, up 5.3%, against a 6.5% increase in capacity to 956.3 million ASMs. Load factor fell 0.9 point to 77%.
Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht strongly rebuffed negative remarks about alliances by "certain airlines" and called on national governments and regulators to ensure competition remains fair.
Air Canada asked a Canadian federal court Tuesday to scrap the recent award of takeoff and landing slots to Porter Airlines at Toronto's downtown airport, arguing that the allocation process was "fatally flawed," according to Reuters. Since launching in 2006, Porter Airlines has operated from Toronto City Centre, where for a time it was the sole scheduled airline. AC has been opposed to Porter's position at the business-passenger-friendly facility since the Toronto Port Authority pushed regional Jazz Air (and by extension AC) out of YTZ in 2006.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Panasonic Avionics yesterday signed an MOU to equip all CX and Dragonair passenger aircraft with full broadband connectivity.
Continental Airlines will launch Newark-Cairo service May 18 aboard a 777-200ER, subject to government approval. It plans to operate the route daily during the peak summer travel season, slowing to five- and four-times-weekly service during "certain periods in the first year of operation," the carrier said. Alaska Airlines will operate daily San Diego-Puerto Vallarta service Nov. 12-April 11, subject to approval by the Mexican government.
