Boeing, Honeywell's UOP and Mexico's Airports and Auxiliary Services agency, an arm of the Ministry of Communications and Transport, announced last week that they have formed a "collaboration to identify, research and further the development of a commercially viable market for Mexico-sourced sustainable aviation biofuels."
EgyptAir Holding Co. Chairman and CEO Hussein Massoud told ATWOnline in Cairo that the airline has not been affected by the industry downturn as deeply as others and that it expects another profit in fiscal 2009-10.
Singapore Airlines flew 6.98 billion RPKs in September, down 7.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 12.5% to 8.63 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 4 points to 80.9%.
The US House of Representatives this week overwhelmingly passed legislation to revamp regulations for hiring and training pilots, the result of Congressional concern sparked by the February crash of a Colgan Air Q400 that killed 50 people near Buffalo.
Qatar Airways A340-600 powered by Trent 556 engines flew from London Gatwick to Doha using a 50-50 blend of synthetic GTL kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene Monday, which the carrier said was the world's first commercial passenger flight powered by fuel made from natural gas. The flight was the "latest step" for the consortium comprising QR, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Science & Technology Park, Shell and Qatar Fuel ( ATWOnline, Nov. 15, 2007).
Bmibaby and Germanwings will link their websites and list certain flights of both carriers, sending customers to the corresponding booking page after they select a flight. Bmibaby customers will have access to 37 Germanwings flights from Manchester, London Stansted and Edinburgh while Germanwings customers will be able to book 33 bmibaby services from Cardiff, Nottingham East Midlands, Birmingham and Manchester.
Lufthansa Technik yesterday officially inaugurated Lufthansa Technik Milan at Malpensa. LTMIL will offer component and maintenance services up to A checks, aircraft-on-ground support and troubleshooting. Initially, aircraft from the A320, A330/A340 and 737 families will be maintained, but "in case of an adequate market demand LTMIL will also extend its services to other aircraft types," LHT said. The new facility is an extension of Lufthansa Technik Component Services Milan, which opened in spring 2008.
Goodrich Corp. said it signed a research agreement with Rolls-Royce "to develop the next generation of fuel nozzles for 'lean burn' combustion technology systems." According to Goodrich, which also has been selected to supply the combustion system fuel nozzles for the A350's Trent XWB, lean burn technology allows for a more complete combustion cycle, "which reduces emissions and increases efficiency."
Boeing, Shanghai Airport Authority and Shanghai Airlines yesterday opened a new two-bay hangar at Shanghai Pudong to be used by their Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services MRO joint venture.
Caribbean Airlines promoted Executive VP and COO Ian Brunton to CEO, effective yesterday. He succeeds Philip Saunders, who tendered his resignation six months ago. Brunton formerly was chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority and the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots' Assn. and was a member of the BWIA board. Global Aviation Holdings, parent of North American Airlines and World Airways, named Polar Air Cargo VP-Sales and Marketing for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India Hendrik Falk as VP-cargo sales.
Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen-based Pegasus Airlines has formed a joint venture with state-run Kyrgyzstan Airlines, Pegasus GM Sertac Haybat confirmed to ATWOnline. Pegasus will have a 49% stake in the venture to be named Kyrgyz Pegasus Airlines, which should become operational next month and will begin by offering low-fare flights from Bishkek to Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Turkey aboard 737NGs wet-leased from Pegasus. The number of aircraft has not been determined.
EasyJet will commence operations at Belfast City with a twice-daily service to/from London Luton on Jan. 7 as part of its plan "to assess if easyJet passengers find a benefit in flying to an airport closer to the City of Belfast when travelling on shorter routes." If successful, it will increase LTN-BHD frequencies and consider other destinations, although it stressed that the bulk of its Northern Ireland operation will remain at Belfast International, where it bases five aircraft and flies to 19 destinations.
Southwest Airlines posted its fourth quarterly deficit in the past five reporting periods, a third-quarter net loss of $16 million that was narrowed from a $120 million loss in the year-ago period, and announced that it likely will follow up its "no growth" 2009 with a flat 2010.
Continental Airlines expects to record $20 million in special charges on its third-quarter balance sheet. The charges comprise $9 million in "unused facilities," $6 million in "aircraft-related" charges and $5 million in severance payments. CO will release its third-quarter results on Oct. 21. The facility charge was an adjustment to increase a previously established reserve due to reductions in expected sublease income for unused facilities consisting primarily of a maintenance hangar in Denver, it said.
Chinese airlines posted collective net income of CNY6.13 billion ($896.7 million) for the first nine months of this year, a big turnaround from a CNY5.55 billion deficit in the year-ago period. CAAC credited "economic recovery" and "lower fuel prices" for the positive result. Total operating revenue dipped 2.2% to CNY153 billion while operating expenses fell 3.8% to CNY153.9 billion.
Southwest Airlines will add more than 100 weekday flights to its network beginning in March, including 21 additional daily flights from Chicago Midway, 18 from Baltimore and nine each from Orlando and Tampa. It emphasized that the increased schedule will "not [be achieved] by adding to our fleet, but by taking advantage of the seasonal decrease in flying time going from winter into spring." AirAsia will launch daily service from Kuala Lumpur to Kolkata, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram in November.
Republic Airways Holdings said it will acquire 10 E-190ARs from US Airways, applying the full balance of its October 2008 $35 million loan to US Airways toward the purchase of the aircraft and assuming the remaining debt on the jets. The loan originally was scheduled to be repaid between this month and October 2011. Four of the 99-seat aircraft are expected to enter service in November and December and will replace 717s being removed from Republic's Midwest Airlines subsidiary. The remaining six are expected to enter service with Republic-owned carriers during the first half of 2010.
Air France KLM declined to comment to ATWOnline on a report in La Tribune that it is considering whether it should negotiate further aircraft delivery deferrals with Airbus and Boeing. The deferrals would affect mainly its 777/ 777F and A380 orders. CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon previously said the group had adjusted its aircraft delivery plan and fleet investment to weather the economic crisis.
Ireland's three main carriers again called on the government to remove the €10 ($14.80) tourist tax added to airline tickets on April 1. In a joint statement, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller and CityJet CEO Geoffrey O'Byrne-White said the tax has had a "devastating impact on traffic and visitor numbers at Ireland's airports" since it was introduced, including a 15% decline in monthly throughput at Dublin. They predict passenger numbers at DUB may fall from 24 million to approximately 21 million this year owing to the tax.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said merger talks with Iberia have progressed significantly since Altadis Antonio Vazquez replaced Fernando Conte as IB chairman and CEO in July and predicted an announcement regarding a possible joining of the two oneworld carriers will come "in the weeks ahead."
Transaero announced that it has become the first full-service Russian airline to adopt fully the use of e-ticketing for all flights. In 2009, 95% of all its tickets have been electronic.
Air Saint Pierre took delivery of a new ATR 42-500 that will replace an ATR 42-320 that has been operated by the company for 15 years. Due to the special operating conditions of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the ATR 42-500 had to be tested and certified to be able to operate in crosswinds reaching up to 45 kt. at takeoff and landing instead of the 30 kt. for which it already was certified, ATR noted.
Airline ticket sales through Arlington, Va.-based Airlines Reporting Corp. fell 14.2% in September compared to the year-ago month to $5.61 billion. ARC Director-Strategic Communications Allan Muten described as "marginally positive" the sequential upswing compared to August, when total sales were down 16.8% year-to-year. "That's encouraging if it continues," he told ATWOnline. The volume of total transactions processed by ARC decreased 2.3% versus a 1.7% drop the prior month, but the volume of credit transactions was virtually flat compared to September 2008.
