Chinese airlines are facing the prospect of canceling once-profitable domestic routes owing to increasing competition from high-speed rail. Spring Airlines, the country's most successful LCC, has stopped flying from Shanghai to both Zhengzhou and Wuhan because it was losing passengers to the train. "Currently our solution is to avoid opening short-haul routes that are shorter than 1,000 km.," a Spring spokesperson said.Sichuan Airlines will shutter its Chengdu-Chongqing service on Nov.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft said it will miss the delivery date of the first Superjet 100 that was scheduled for the end of 2009. Aircraft is headed to launch customer Aeroflot, but Sukhoi said this week that it will "not be able to supply its new regional plane, Superjet 100, to customers before the end of 2009." No new date was announced. The Moscow Times cited industry sources who said that a certification delay was the cause of the latest delay. SU had expected delivery in December and planned to take one per month for a total of 30.
Turkish Airlines reported a TRY374 million ($253.8 million) profit in the third quarter, a 7% drop from the year-ago period but a result that the airline said recovered some of the ground lost during the first half of 2009. Third-quarter revenue rose 17% to TRY2.89 billion and THY's operating profit soared 51% to TRY454 million.
Emirates President Tim Clark elaborated on the A380 delays mentioned Wednesday by Chairman Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, telling the DPA news agency that three aircraft scheduled to arrive in November and December now will be delivered in December and January. At the end of 2010 EK will operate 15 A380s instead of the planned 20 and it expects to take 11-12 aircraft in both 2012 and 2013. Delivery of its order for 58 should be finished by 2017.
Indian airlines carried 4 million passengers in October, up 26.7% from the year-ago month. Passenger traffic through the year's first 10 months rose 3.3% year-over-year to 36 million. Market share was divided as follows: Jet Airways and JetLite 27.7%, Kingfisher Airlines 20.7%, Air India 18.6%, IndiGo 13.6%, SpiceJet 12.4%. Finnair flew 1.72 billion RPKs in October, a 12.3% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 12.9% to 2.18 billion ASKs and load factor was up 0.5 point to 78.7%.
Continental Airlines will issue $644.4 million in equipment notes to finance eight Boeing aircraft already in operation and 11 planes scheduled for delivery in January-June 2010, it said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Finnair said negotiations with Finnair Catering employees represented by the Finnish Aviation Union have failed to produce the required €5 million ($7.5 million) in savings and that 60 employees now will be made redundant in a "first stage." Afterward, "a reorganization of operations will be considered to achieve additional savings, and a review of structural solutions will be initiated," the airline said. Catering employs some 650 people. The carrier said it also is exploring solutions with its Northport ground handling subsidiary and Finnair Cargo Operations.
S7 Airlines this week dismissed rumors that surface regularly in the Russian media that it will be absorbed by Aeroflot and confirmed that it is on track to join oneworld in November 2010. "I'm sure Aeroflot would like to acquire us and our network, but we are not for sale," Credit Risk and Alliance Manager Ilya Alexandrovskiy stressed to ATWOnline at the Mexicana oneworld joining event in Mexico City. S7, which was technically bankrupt in February but since has restructured its debt, is "operational in excellent shape," Alexandrovskiy added.
RwandAir CRJ100ER struck a building at Kigali Airport after landing yesterday, killing one of the 10 passengers onboard. According to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network, the aircraft departed KGL bound for Entebbe but turned around 2 min. after takeoff "because of unspecified technical problems." It landed safely and taxied to its parking spot in front of an airport lounge, at which point the engines still were at "100% power," according to the RwandAir COO. The CRJ moved forward, knocking over fences and hitting the concrete wall of the building.
Boeing yesterday said it completed the side-of-body reinforcements on the first 787 Wednesday, installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing meets the fuselage, and that first flight remains on track before January.
Indian government will offer financial aid to Air India if the airline is able to realize INR20 billion ($429.8 million) in cost cuts and revenue increases by March, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters yesterday. "We are talking of an equity infusion. We are broadly looking at an equity infusion linked to monthly performance parameters. We are only looking at it until March," Patel said, according to reports. "This is not the total equity infusion which is being looked at for Air India.
TAM reported third-quarter net income of BRL213.2 million ($124.2 million), reversed from a loss of BRL465.5 million in the year-ago period, citing "a strong recovery" in domestic demand and lower fuel costs. It said domestic demand surged 26% year-over-year as the country's economy improved and business passengers returned. Fuel expenses lowered 36.5%. It noted that 39% of its revenue and 40%-50% of its costs are linked to foreign currencies, meaning that the real's resurgence against the US dollar (10% improvement in the quarter) had "minimal" overall impact.
United Airlines pilot Erwin Washington was arrested Tuesday at London Heathrow and charged with "being aviation staff performing aviation function whilst exceeding the proscribed alcohol limit," according to a Scotland Yard statement. Washington was scheduled for UA Flight 949, a 767 with 124 passengers and 11 crew, to Chicago O'Hare.
Republic Airway Holdings, wooed by some $27 million in tax credits offered by the state of Wisconsin, will pack up and move its heavy maintenance and some administrative jobs from Denver to Milwaukee.
Air India lost INR55.48 billion ($1.19 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, more than double the INR22.26 billion deficit suffered in the prior year, the carrier announced yesterday.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines each continue to express a strong interest in financially troubled Japan Airlines, which reportedly is negotiating a ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion) short-term bridge loan with the Development Bank of Japan to fortify its cash position as it develops a longer-term restructuring plan.
US major passenger airlines posted a cumulative third-quarter net loss of $578 million, narrowed from a $2.52 billion loss in the year-ago period, ATWOnline calculated. The nine carriers' combined revenue dropped 18% to $28.25 billion while expenses decreased 23.1% to $27.8 billion, producing an operating profit of $450 million, reversed from an operating loss of $1.97 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2008. The quarter's top performer among the majors was Alaska Airlines parent Alaska Air Group with net income of $88 million.
Finnair named Nokia Siemens Networks COO Mika Vehvilainen as its new president and CEO effective Feb. 1. He will succeed Jukka Hienonen, who is leaving the airline at the end of January ( ATWOnline, April 10). Vehvilainen, 48, will join Finnair on Jan. 5 and "has strong experience of sales and marketing and of strategic management and business development in Asia, North America and Europe," the airline said.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres was selected by Bombardier as an alternate tire source to support aftermarket needs for the CRJ1000NG. Dunlop will manufacture and retread tires at its Birmingham, UK, facility.
Emirates Chairman Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum told reporters in Dubai yesterday that some of the six A380s it expects to receive next year will be delayed "a bit," but added that EK is "considering" adding to its 58 firm orders. The largest A380 customer's 2010 delivery delays will be for "a short period," he said, according to press reports. "Some aircraft will be delivered within a month or two of the original date.
Qantas plans to introduce an Airport of the Future concept in major domestic markets next year that it said will reduce dramatically time spent at check-in and in security queues and speed baggage collection. Domestic passengers will be issued new RFID cards that will replace both the standard boarding pass and baggage tags and give instant recognition to security agents.
US FAA said it has begun transitioning NOTAMs to a digital system, which it said "should reduce human error, allow more timely and accurate distribution of information, standardize content, policy and procedures and balance diverse customer needs." Digital distribution tests to six ATC facilities will begin in January.
TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil delivered one A330 to Air Transat following a C check, its first on the aircraft type since receiving TCCA, FAA and EASA certification for MRO on A330s/A340s.
US Senate approved an Airline Flight Crew Family and Medical Leave Act, which modifies language from the original Family and Medical Leave Act that defined a "fulltime" schedule as a traditional 40-hr. work week, ignoring the nontraditional schedules of flight attendants and flight crews and often rendering them ineligible for coverage. The House already approved the measure, which now requires President Barack Obama's signature to become law. "We are happy to announce to our over 50,000 members that no flight attendant will be left behind when it comes to FMLA coverage anymore," Assn.
