Icelandair Group reported a ISK3.96 billion ($32.3 million) third-quarter profit, down 9.7% from the ISK4.39 billion earned in the year-ago period, and announced an agreement with co-owner Unimex Group to sell 20% of its stake in Czech LCC Travel Service at a ISK889 million loss.
EasyJet called for introduction of mandatory environmental standards covering the next generation of aircraft that will ensure a 40% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. "Step-change technology is in the pipeline, and we need tough legislation on emission standards for it to be delivered sooner," CEO Andy Harrison said last week. "Wartime has led to the biggest leaps in aviation technology.
Aer Lingus scheduled an extraordinary board meeting for today to determine an "alternative" plan to achieve its targeted €97 million ($145.4 million) in cost cuts in case ongoing negotiations with labor unions do not result in an agreement ( ATWOnline, Nov. 19). CEO Christoph Mueller confirmed that EI will "proceed with alternative means of delivering the savings within the same timeframe as the plan in the absence of agreement."
BAE Systems concluded the sale of one 98-seat BAe 146-200 to Indonesian charter operator PT Aviastar Mandiri, which will operate the aircraft on behalf of Transnusa Air Services out of Denpasar. BAE also is remarketing a CF6-80C2B7F-powered 767-300ER operated by an unidentified Middle East carrier.
US FAA will allow more than 130 Trent 800-powered 777s to continue operating through early 2011 with parts that are suspected of having played a role in the January 2008 British Airways -200ER crash landing at London Heathrow and a loss of thrust on a Delta Air Lines -200ER one year ago ( ATWOnline, March 6).
China Eastern Airlines' merger with Shanghai Airlines received final approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission yesterday, giving CEA clearance to grab about 50% of the Shanghai market. China Eastern plans to acquire SAL through a share swap in which each SAL share will be exchanged for 1.3 CEA shares. SAL will keep its brand ( ATWOnline, Oct. 12).
AirBridgeCargo Airlines added a fourth 747-400ERF to its fleet, which also includes one 747-300 and two 747-200 freighters. Through the first 10 months of 2009, ABC transported 124,835 tonnes of cargo, a 14% increase over the year-ago period.
Continental Airlines is adopting a cashless cabin for onboard purchases (except duty free) from today utilizing hand-held credit card readers on all mainline flights except to/from China. CO said it is working with China on accepting The China Union Pay card. It expects to go cashless on Continental Express, Continental Connection and Continental Micronesia flights in the 2010 first quarter.
Lufthansa will charge economy passengers €40/$50 for a second piece of checked luggage on flights between Europe and North America beginning Jan. 1, a spokesperson was quoted as saying in German press reports. The first bag weighing up to 23 kg. and ski transport will remain free. Premium loyalty program members and passengers whose North Atlantic itineraries do not originate in Europe will be exempt.
Finnair announced the transfer of some 490 Northport ground handling employees at Helsinki Vantaa to Barona Group, a staffing agency, and some 130 Cargo Terminal Operations warehouse employees to Suomen Transval, effective today. "By creating solutions based on strategic partnerships, we can change our fixed costs into variable costs and focus on Finnair's core business," Deputy CEO Lasse Heinonen said. Around 200 Northport employees went on strike yesterday to protest the decision and AY said that "delays and individual cancellations are possible" as a result.
Bombardier last week said it will lay off 715 Montreal-based employees during the first seven months of 2010 as it slows the CRJ production rate, citing the "economic and airline industry environments [that] continue to make it difficult to gain new aircraft orders." It did not provide further insight into the current or future production rate for the CRJ family. Its operating profit, revenue, deliveries and order book all fell in its fiscal second quarter ended July 31 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 3).
ALAFCO, the Kuwaiti lessor, earned a KWD10.2 million ($35.8 million) net profit in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, "slightly more" than the previous year, it said.
Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey told shareholders that the airline is back in the black after a difficult period at the beginning of 2009 and now is forecasting a profit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010. "We are currently profitable again," he told the airline's annual general meeting in Brisbane. "We expect that if the market continues as it is at the moment we'll be able to maintain that guidance through to June 30 [2010]."
Ryanair will base a third and fourth 737-800 at Trapani from March and launch new service to Billund, Bratislava, Cagliari, Eindhoven, Genoa, Gothenburg, Ibiza, Baden-Baden, Krakow, Maastricht, Memmingen, Trieste and Valencia. It will increase flights to Brussels South Charleroi, Frankfurt Hahn and Dusseldorf Weeze and plans to operate to 34 destinations from TPS next summer. The LCC also plans to add a third -800 at Bologna and March, supporting a new thrice-weekly service to Malaga and additional frequencies to London Stansted and Ibiza.
European Parliament yesterday adopted a resolution calling on the European Commission to consider proposing new legislation guaranteeing passenger compensation and assistance in case of airline bankruptcy.
Thai Airways took delivery of one A340-500 and one A340-600, lifting its fleet to 90 aircraft. Planes are powered by Trent 500s. The -500 seats 215 across three classes and will operate to Los Angeles and Athens, while the -600 seats 267 and will fly to Tokyo Narita, Shanghai, Zurich and Sydney.
Malaysia Airlines returned to the red in the third quarter, reporting a MYR298.9 million ($88.2 million) loss that represented a reversal from the restated MYR38.6 million surplus earned in the year-ago period and its second deficit in three quarters this year. A precipitous 26.8% year-over-year plunge in operating revenue to MYR2.89 billion, plus a MYR202.1 million loss on fuel hedges, proved too much for MAS to overcome. Nevertheless, MD and CEO Azmil Zahruddin said that "fuel prices are on an upward trend [and] hedging is the right policy as fuel prices remain volatile."
Australia's Regional Express posted net income of A$3.7 million ($3.4 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30, down 22.9% from a A$4.8 million profit in the year ago period, blaming the decline on one-time restructuring costs incurred by its charter subsidiaries and the "global financial crisis."
Air Slovakia will wet-lease five aircraft to Albanian Airlines for one year and will "assist [Albanian] to develop its operational capabilities in its efforts to operate scheduled services and become the leading airline of the region." Air Slovakia operates 737s and 757s while Albanian has BAe 146s and MD-82s, according to its website.
Engine Alliance named Mary Ellen Jones president succeeding Jim Moravecek, who will return to Pratt & Whitney. Jones led Pratt's Commercial Engines & Global Services Marketing division.
Novair A321 RNP demonstration flights into Stockholm Arlanda over the summer, part of the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions, demonstrated "that there are capabilities in modern aircraft that can be used to reduce the environmental load in today's air traffic system," according to a statement issued yesterday by SESAR and Airbus. The EU ATC modernization program and the manufacturer teamed with charter carrier Novair, Swedish ATC provider LFV and ARN to operate the 10 flights and collect data. "The flights have demonstrated a lateral standard deviation of 0.01 nm.
Shunfeng Airlines, which will be China's first express delivery cargo airline, has been approved by CAAC. The carrier was established by delivery company Shunfeng Express and has registered capital of CNY100 million ($14.6 million), according to the regulator. Shenzhen Taihai Investment Co. will hold a 75% stake and Shunfeng Express the remainder. The new venture will be based in Shenzhen and is expected to operate two 757-200s initially.
Singapore Airlines flew 7.28 billion RPKs in October, down 6% from the year-ago month, against a 10.3% cut in capacity to 8.98 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 3.6 points to 81.1%. Swiss International Air Lines flew 2.5 billion RPKs in August, a 0.2% fall year-over-year. Capacity dropped 5.1% to 2.9 billion ASKs and load factor rose 4.2 points to 86.2%. Austrian Airlines flew 1.52 billion RPKs last month, an 8.5% reduction year-over-year, against an 11.8% decline in capacity to 1.94 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2.8 points to 78.2%.
