UK airports operator BAA concluded an agreement to sell its 100% interest in London Gatwick to a group controlled by Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion ($2.48 billion), of which £55 million is conditional on future traffic performance and the buyer's future capital structure.
Southwest Airlines yesterday announced it will launch service at the new Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport next May, operating at least two daily flights to four undisclosed destinations. The airport, slated to open May 18, is being built on land donated by St. Joe Co., Florida's second-largest landowner and a major developer in northern Florida. Under a "strategic alliance" between the companies, St. Joe agreed to reimburse SWA on a quarterly basis if the airline incurs losses during the first three years.
Boeing's ongoing problems with the 787 and 747-8 hit home yesterday as previously announced charges totaling $3.5 billion resulted in a $1.56 billion third-quarter loss despite a 9% year-over-year lift in revenue to $16.69 billion.
Assn. of European Airlines said Polish air navigation services provider PANSA will raise fees next year by 62% for operations to/from Polish airports and by 32% for flights through national airspace "to compensate for the loss in traffic due to the economic crisis."
Continental Airlines reported a third-quarter net loss of $18 million, much improved over a loss of $230 million in the year-ago period, and earned $2 million excluding special charges, which Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner described as "basically breakeven."
Southwest Airlines yesterday placed into revenue service a "green plane"--a retrofitted 737-700 with a new interior featuring lighter, "eco-friendly" seat and carpet materials--for a six-month trial and projected that the aircraft could yield 10,000 gal. in fuel savings per year. Speaking in Dallas during the airline's annual media day, Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said the four-year-old aircraft now is 519 lb. lighter than a standard SWA -700 and offers 5 lb. of savings per seat.
US National Transportation Board is investigating an incident in which a Delta Air Lines 767-300ER inbound from Rio de Janeiro Galeao landed on a taxiway at Atlanta Monday at approximately 6:05 a.m. local time. There were no injuries. The aircraft had declared a medical emergency earlier in the flight after a check airman onboard was taken ill. The decision was made to continue to ATL.
Sudan Airways 707-300 freighter on lease from Azza Transport crashed yesterday after taking off from Sharjah, killing all six aboard. The flight was scheduled to land in Khartoum.
Royal Jordanian announced that it will adopt the full suite of Amadeus Altea Customer Management and e-commerce solutions including reservations, inventory and departure control as part of a 10-year partnership with Amadeus. Braathens IT Solutions will provide its Ticketless Travel Platform to SAS Group. The product will be integrated with the Amadeus Altea suite and become part of SAS's new distribution platform scheduled for implementation in 2012.
Arik Air appointed Jason Holt as its new MD. Holt had been working in London for Arik International, which provides logistical business support and management consultancy services to the carrier, and formerly was director-flight operations for Virgin Nigeria and BMED.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines parent SkyWest Inc. announced an agreement with United Airlines to provide a long-term loan of $80 million and extend its current codeshare relationship. The loan is secured by "certain ground equipment and airport slots held by United," the regional said. The agreement also includes a new partnership between UA and ASA, which will begin operating as a United Express carrier in the 2010 first quarter. ASA currently flies exclusively for Delta Air Lines.
News from Travel Technology Update: Amadeus told its German subscribers it will begin partially compensating them for payments they make to Lufthansa under the carrier's Preferred Fares program on Jan. 1. Lufthansa's PFP, which went into effect in July 2008, imposes a €4.90 per-segment surcharge for Germany-originating flights booked through Amadeus. Lufthansa reached agreements for lower distribution costs with Sabre and Travelport that exempt their subscribers from the surcharge, but Amadeus, the largest GDS player in the German market, did not.
Los Angeles International is in line for a $1.26 billion expansion and renovation of its aging Tom Bradley International Terminal. The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners voted Monday to award two contracts to Walsh Austin Joint Venture for the project, which will include nine new boarding gates, concourses with larger lounges, new concession and retail space and aircraft support equipment to accommodate the A380 and 787. The terminal currently serves 35 airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings reported a $30.7 million third-quarter profit compared to a $6 million surplus in the year-ago period thanks to lower fuel prices and a one-time tax benefit of $20 million. Revenue fell 10.1% year-over-year to $305.6 million while expenses were down 9.8% to $281.9 million. Operating income slipped 13.1% to $23.7 million. HA's RPMs rose 8.6% to 2.13 billion against a 2.7% lift in capacity to 2.51 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4.6 points to 84.9%. Yield declined 20.7% to 12.65 cents, operating RASM fell 12.4% and CASM was down 12.3%.
US Air Transport Assn. said September passenger revenue plunged 19% year-over-year despite a drop of only 2% in passengers. Ticket prices have fallen for 10 consecutive months, the organization stated. In September, the average price to fly 1 mi. was down 18%, greater than the 17% year-over-year decline in August. "The demand for air travel remains weak, as evidenced by the untenable pricing environment.
Allegiant Air parent Allegiant Travel Co. concluded the third quarter, which it described as "our historically weakest," with a $13.8 million profit that represented a nearly threefold gain over the $4.9 million surplus reported in the year-ago period.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh and the Unite union failed to reach an agreement over cabin crew job cuts and changes to work practices at a Monday meeting. "The discussion about cabin crew pay and productivity issues was open and frank. After the meeting, Mr. Walsh wrote to [Unite Joint General Secretary] Simpson. A response is awaited," BA said. Unite hopes the airline will shelve its unilateral decision to impose changes to work rules effective Nov. 16.
China Eastern Airlines yesterday established a branch company in Zhejiang province in an effort to explore the market in east China further. It plans to expand its fleet there from 24 aircraft to 40-50 in the next three years, with weekly departures climbing from the current 400 to around 900. CEA also is trying to capitalize on the influx of tourists expected for next year's Expo 2010 in Shanghai, which is expected to attract 70 million visitors to the region.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. suffered a $57 million net loss in the third quarter, or $63 million excluding noncash hedge gains and other charges, greatly narrowed from the $792 million deficit reported in the year-ago period, and is "poised to see better year-over-year unit revenue performance as economies begin to recover and business travel returns," according to Chairman, President and CEO Glenn Tilton.
IATA said it won "a major court victory" in its ongoing dispute with Travelport over its PaxIS airline intelligence product that IATA collects through its billing and settlement plans, some of which is stored in GDS databases. On Oct. 1, the Amsterdam District Court denied an injunction sought by Travelport to block IATA's use of data stored in Travelport databases for PaxIS. "IATA has won an important legal battle to preserve competition for airline data transaction products.
ILFC received a $2 billion loan from parent American International Group to pay off debt due last week, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission cited in numerous press reports, further tying the lessor to the now majority government-owned insurance conglomerate ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4). AIG already had pumped $1.7 billion of government money into ILFC in the spring. ILFC reportedly put up aircraft as collateral for the loans.
Air Astana President Peter Foster told ATWOnline yesterday that the carrier's MOU with Boeing for three 787s plus three options is "inactive" and that it is searching for alternative fleet solutions. Speaking in Almaty, Foster said, "There is very little clarity on delivery dates," for the 787. The MOU was signed in 2007 and delivery originally was scheduled for 2014-15 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 3, 2008). Air Astana now estimates that its first Dreamliner could arrive as late as 2019.
Jazz Air dropped its C$10 million ($9.7 million) damages claim against Porter Airlines, the latter announced yesterday, although the Toronto City Centre-based carrier said it still plans to move forward on its C$850 million counterclaim against Jazz and Air Canada and a declaration that the capacity purchase agreement between the pair is unlawful. "The litigation by Jazz was entirely without merit and a heavy-handed attempt to overwhelm Porter when it was starting up," Porter President and CEO Robert Deluce said.
Ryanair called on the Scottish government to reintroduce the Route Development Fund, which operated in 2002-07, in order to reverse the 6.3% fall in passenger traffic at Scottish airports in the first eight months of this year. It blamed the UK's £10 ($16.33) air passenger duty for the decline. The LCC said it could increase passenger numbers by 1.5 million per year and create 1,500 new jobs in Scotland if a development support scheme for new routes was restored. It repeated its plea for the UK government to abolish the duty, which is set to rise on Nov. 1.
Rolls-Royce yesterday began construction of a $500 million facility in Prince George County, Va., that is slated to open in 2011 and will manufacture engine discs for Trent 900s, Trent 1000s and Trent XWBs. The site, dubbed Crosspointe, also will be used to "manufacture, assemble and test a range of aerospace components and products," Rolls said.
