Austrian Airlines is asking provincial governments for financial support to help prop up its loss-making domestic network. It operates up to 23 weekday flights between Vienna and Graz, Linz, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck and Salzburg. Although the flights provide valuable feed, OS said it no longer can absorb the losses. It also is evaluating the possibility of offering the services under Public Service Obligation agreements. "There are currently 255 PSO air routes established in Europe, so this would be nothing unusual," COO and executive board member Peter Malanik told ATWOnline.
Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey watered down speculation raised in Australia that the airline may join SkyTeam. In a US Dept. of Transportation filing related to the proposed transpacific codeshare between Blue subsidiary V Australia and Delta Air Lines ( ATWOnline, Dec. 15, 2009), there is mention that "it is possible that Australian-origin passengers might benefit if V Australia were to join SkyTeam." Through a spokesperson, Godfrey told ATWOnline, "I've never been in favor of joining alliances.
Export-Import Bank of the US and Air India parent National Aviation Company of India reached a $1.1 billion financing deal to support AI's acquisition of 777-200LRs, 777-300ERs and 737-800s. Ex-Im approved a $1.2 billion package in 2007 and $548.8 million in financing in 2008 to support NACIL's Boeing orders.
Pemco World Air Services is converting six Hainan Airlines 737-300 passenger aircraft to freighters under a contract announced Friday. Two aircraft already have been redelivered to parent HNA Group, with the third scheduled for next month and the remaining three set to enter service before July.
EgyptAir is considering the reorganization of its Cairo International flight schedule into multiple banks from the present two starting with the 2010-11 winter schedule, EgyptAir Airlines Chairman and CEO Alaa Ashour told ATWOnline in Cairo, as it attempts to increase transfer traffic.
Varsity Express will launch commercial service on March 1 with a five-times-weekly Oxford-Edinburgh flight aboard an 18-seat Jetstream 31. The regional startup, owned by British and Spanish investors "whose interests center around property development and the entertainment industry," said it intends to "deliver fast, affordable air travel" and bring "an end to the frustration of crowded, congested airports, baggage charges and endless additional fees that the big airlines charge." It said it has sufficient funding to launch several UK routes in the next 12 months.
Kingfisher Airlines announced the Tuesday launch of Kingfisher Xpress, a door-to-door cargo delivery service that the carrier said will be "India's first and only same-day delivery by air service, with a money-back guarantee." Pickup facilities will be offered in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata with guaranteed same-day delivery to those six destinations plus Bagdogra, Coimbatore, Kochi, Goa, Guwahati, Indore, Raipur, Ranchi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune and Srinagar. Next-day delivery will be available to 20 additional cities.
Farelogix formed a partnership with Ann Arbor-based Mobiata to integrate the Farelogix FMS2 merchandising solution into Mobiata's FlightTrack and TripDeck applications for smart phones. The result is a combined solution that enables airlines to deliver offers to customers tailored to their particular circumstances. FMS2 is a rules-based engine that allows an airline to determine how events trigger those offers. Farelogix CEO Jim Davidson said carriers can suggest add-ons and upsells, such as meals, upgrades or day passes to a lounge.
Ethiopian Airlines yesterday said the flight recorders from the 737-800 that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea Monday have been located and "will be recovered shortly" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 27).
Boeing yesterday announced an executive reorganization designed to "strengthen processes, tools and functional excellence" and the execution of its delayed 787 and 747-8 programs.
ANA warned that the "lethargic nature" of Japan's economic recovery and Japan Airlines' bankruptcy will impact the airline's plans for 2010, although the fourth-quarter delivery of the first 787, slot expansion at Tokyo Haneda and Narita and open skies with the US "will bring important business opportunities" for expansion. In its corporate plan for the fiscal year beginning April 1, ANA said it will cut domestic ASKs by 3.7% from 2009-10 and increase international capacity by 11.2%. Cargo ATKs will rise 21.1%.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group cited "positive network changes" as the driver of a return to profitability in 2009, when it posted a $121.6 million surplus that compared to a $135.9 million loss in 2008.
JetBlue Airways reported a $58 million profit in 2009, reversed from an $85 million net loss the prior year and its best performance since 2003, which CEO Dave Barger said was an indication of "solid financial health and continued stability" at the airline.
Aeroflot confirmed the purchase of Alexander Lebedev's 25.8% stake in the flag carrier. It did not reveal the price, although Lebedev had indicated that SU paid approximately $400 million for the shares ( ATWOnline, Jan. 28).
Air France-KLM Group issued a request for proposals for 787s and A350s last year, "but this tender is 'asleep' because both Boeing and Airbus are not able to provide clarity on delivery dates," KLM President and CEO Peter Hartman told Luchtvaartnieuws.nl.
IATA said 2009, "the worst year the industry has ever seen," according to DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani, concluded with a 3.5% drop in international RPKs and a load factor of 75.6%. "We have permanently lost 2.5 years of growth in passenger markets and 3.5 years of growth in the freight business," Bisignani said.
Aer Lingus reportedly is alliance shopping nearly three years after quitting oneworld ( ATWOnline, May 31, 2006). CEO Christoph Mueller told Bloomberg News that EI "will prepare ourselves for a discussion that the alliances might work on an exclusive basis in the future" and that a decision could come "very soon." He said alliance membership is attractive again because the "Irish market will remain low fare. .
Malev Hungarian Airlines transported 3.3 million passengers in 2009, up 6% from the prior year. It said a new pricing strategy designed to compete with LCCs, group rate guarantees, a fivefold increase in corporate clients, new tourism packages and three new destinations accounted for the increase. CCO Karim Makhlouf said he expects a double-digit gain in first-quarter 2010 passenger numbers.
NavAero announced that its tBag C22 Electronic Flight Bag system received an EASA STC for A318/A319/A320/A321 aircraft. Certification and engineering activities were performed in cooperation with Scandinavian Avionics A/S.
A year in which US Airways unveiled ambitious plans to reconfigure its airline operation ended with a $205 million net loss that was a significant improvement from the $2.22 billion deficit reported in 2008. A series of special items, including a $375 million unrealized gain on its fuel hedges, contributed to the result. Excluding those items, the group suffered a full-year loss of $499 million compared to a 2008 loss of $808 million calculated on a similar basis.
AAR said it has partnered with Quest International UK to distribute and develop AirManager, an active air filtration system for aircraft. Under the agreement, AAR will be an authorized distributor and also will "provide design engineering services and manage the Supplemental Type Certificate processes required to install and operate the product on a variety of commercial aircraft."
International Aero Engines announced a V2500 SelectOne order from Jetstar Airways worth up to $1.5 billion comprising engines for 50 A320 family aircraft plus 40 options and purchase rights. Jetstar also signed a $2 billion IAE Aftermarket Services agreement covering the newly ordered engines plus those already operating on 40 current aircraft. Rolls-Royce said its share of the order was valued at up to $1.2 billion and Pratt & Whitney said its share "could exceed" $1 billion, including the aftermarket agreement.
Oxford Aviation Academy was chosen by LOT Polish Airlines as that carrier's "preferred training provider" for pilot and cabin crew training on 767 and 737 Classic aircraft for the next three years. Training will be performed at OAA's Stockholm Arlanda center.
LAN Peru will launch four-times-weekly Lima-San Francisco service on July 1 aboard a 767-300. WestJet will launch daily Toronto Pearson-Bermuda flights on May 3 and weekly YYZ-Samana and Montreal-Punta Cana service on June 5. Porter Airlines will launch daily Toronto City-Sudbury flights on March 31. AirBaltic will launch thrice-weekly Riga-Manchester service March 29 aboard a 737.
