Mexicana and its MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink subsidiaries officially will become part of oneworld on Nov. 10, the alliance announced yesterday ( ATWOnline, April 11). Mexicana's network spans 67 destinations in 14 countries (including 37 in Mexico). Addition of the mainline and the two subsidiaries, which will join as affiliate members, will add 26 destinations to the oneworld map--24 in Mexico along with Oakland and Edmonton. Oneworld airlines currently serve 13 Mexican destinations.
Nigerian Eagle Airlines is the new name of the former Virgin Nigeria, CEO Dapo Olumide announced in Lagos last week. He said the new name and logo, a multicolored eagle in flight, "represent the rich culture and heritage of Africans" and that the rebranded carrier will "fill the gaps in the aviation sector." It is 51% owned by local investors and 49% by Virgin Atlantic Airways. Plans for a private placement to raise operational capital "are underway," it said ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
US Airways said it will begin installing its new Envoy Suite business class product on its A330-200s in November. Suite includes a lie-flat bad, direct aisle access, 12.1-inch touchscreen from Panasonic Avionics Corp., power outlet, satellite telephone and USB port. The 20-suite cabin will feature a 1-2-1 "reverse herringbone" configuration. First aircraft will be completed in December, with the remaining 14 finished by summer 2011. The design for the A330-300 cabin is "under development," US said, with installation expected by summer 2012.
Air France KLM Group will trim winter ASKs by 2% year-over-year, comprising a 1.8% reduction in its long-haul network and a 2.9% cut in medium-haul flying. Air France and its subsidiaries will lower winter capacity by 1.7%, while KLM will cut by a more comprehensive 4%. The carriers insisted that connectivity at their Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam hubs will be maintained.
Continental Airlines said mainline domestic advanced booked seat factor for the next six weeks is running 1-2 points higher than the year-ago period, with transatlantic bookings 6-7 points higher. It now expects third-quarter consolidated and mainline load factors to be up approximately 3 points year-over-year to 84%-85% and 85%-86% respectively, it said in an investor update.
Baboo will launch service from Geneva to London City (11-times-weekly), Milan Malpensa (12-times-weekly) and Marseille (12-times-weekly) on Oct. 25 aboard E-190s or Q400s. Air France will codeshare on the LCY and MRS routes. Etihad Crystal Cargo launched twice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Baghdad service aboard an A300-600F. Brussels Airlines and bmi announced an expanded codeshare agreement under which bmi will add its code to SN's twice-daily Brussels-London Gatwick service and SN will place its code on bmi's seven-times-daily BRU-Heathrow flights.
Ryanair yesterday began offering passengers smokeless cigarettes that "deliver a small amount of nicotine through inhalation" without being lit. Packs of 10 will be available to adult passengers for €6 ($8.82).
United Airlines will retire its final 737, a -300 on Oct. 28. It has operated 737s for more than 41 years, having placed the launch order for the 737-200 version in April 1965. According to an internal communication, the aircraft has been numbered UA737 for its final journey, which begins at Washington Dulles with stops at Chicago O'Hare, Denver and Los Angeles, then on to San Francisco where it will be decommissioned at UA's maintenance base before being transported to Victorville for storage.
British Airways said Friday that it has gotten involved in American Airlines' talks with Japan Airlines as part of an effort to keep JAL in the oneworld fold, while Japan's new government indicated it may not be fully supportive of the carrier's restructuring plan.
CTT Systems announced that Jet2.com ordered seven Zonal Drying Systems for installation on its 737QCs. Magellan Aircraft Services will disassemble 10 CRJ100s and refurbish and remarket parts under a deal with Bombardier Services.
American Airlines expects third-quarter consolidated unit revenue to fall 14.3%-15.3% year-over-year, it said in a US Securities and Exchange filing Friday. Mainline RASM is forecast to fall 14.5%-15.5%, it said, and parent AMR Corp. expects to end the period with a cash and short-term investment balance of at least $3.7 billion, including some $460 million in restricted cash and short-term investments. Last week the company said it had obtained $2.9 billion in new liquidity and aircraft financing ( ATWOnline, Sept.
Southwest Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said the chances of reporting a full-year profit "are better today than they were 60 days ago," Dow Jones reported. "We haven't conceded that we will lose money for the year," he said. SWA was $37 million in the red through the first six months of 2009 and said in late July that "based on weak travel demand and fuel price volatility, we cannot predict a profitable third-quarter 2009." Kelly said SWA's 2009 result will hinge on fuel costs.
TAP Portugal will launch flights from Lisbon to Valencia (twice-daily on Oct. 25) and Algiers (thrice-weekly from Nov. 25). Five-times-weekly LIS-Casablanca service will increase to 12 on Oct. 25. Blue1 will resume operating seasonal service from Helsinki Vantaa to Kuusamo (Nov. 29-April 11), Ivalo (Dec. 6-April 11), Kittila (Nov. 6-April 18) and Rovaniemi (Dec. 4-April 11) and from Kittila to Paris Charles de Gaulle (Dec. 16-April 3) and Dusseldorf (Dec. 17-March 11).
Spring Airlines plans to establish a base in Shenyang and signed an agreement with the municipal government detailing plans to build the city into an aviation hub for northeast Asia.
Jet Airways lost approximately $80 million in revenue during the six-day work action by its pilots that ended early last week, Executive Director Saroj Datta told CNBC ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15).
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol said it will not raise its airport charges on April 1, 2010, "in view of the current economic situation." It set its charges as of April 1, 2009, in late 2008 and said those were reduced by an average 10% from the prior year.
Airbus last week said it expects operators to take delivery of approximately 25,000 new passenger and freighter aircraft valued at $3.1 trillion over the next two decades, compared to Boeing's recent target of 29,000.
AerCap Holdings and Genesis Lease Ltd., two midsize operating lessors, announced Friday that they will merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.75 billion. Genesis will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Amsterdam-based AerCap and its stockholders will receive one share of AerCap stock for each Genesis ADS (each ADS represents one Genesis common share). AerCap's ordinary shares were valued at $8.81 at the market close on Sept. 17.
Amadeus IT Group is considering an IPO and has retained Rothschild & Sons to evaluate the possibility, sources close to the deal told Bloomberg News. No decision has been taken, but an IPO would allow current shareholders to sell their shares. Amadeus has been majority owned since 2005 by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are private equity firms BC Partners and Cinven. WAM owns nearly 53%, Air France holds 23% and Iberia and Lufthansa each have about 12%. All shareholders declined comment, Bloomberg said.
United Airlines Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton visited with the chairman of China Eastern Airlines this month to try to persuade the Shanghai-based carrier to join Star Alliance. CEA, which is unaligned, is acquiring current Star partner Shanghai Airlines ( ATWOnline, Aug. 31). "As the financial capital of China, Shanghai is an important destination for us," Tilton explained in an employee communication.
Lufthansa plans to exchange 45 of its 109 regional aircraft in the coming years, Passenger Airlines CEO Christoph Franz said in the staff magazine Lufthanseat. An LH spokesperson confirmed to ATWOnline that 50- and 70-seat aircraft like the CRJ200s and ATRs operated by Eurowings and CityLine will be replaced by 118-seat E-190s. "The smaller aircraft are not economical enough anymore compared to more modern aircraft in the 70/90-seat segment," the spokesperson said.
Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn. board voted unanimously yesterday to endorse a new tentative labor contract with the airline and send it to membership for ratification. SWAPA members rejected a previous TA in June ( ATWOnline, Sept. 11).
United Airlines decided to return a leased 757 at the expiration of the current lease in October because it was unable to reach satisfactory renewal terms, it told employees in an internal communication. The aircraft is used on domestic routes and its departure will not affect UA's schedule or available spares.
Olympic Air, the new name of the privatized and restructured Olympic Airlines, officially will begin flying on Oct. 1 with 21 aircraft, increasing shortly to 32 (16 A319s/A320s, 10 Q400s, five Dash 8-100s and one ATR 42), according to press reports. Marfin Investment Group bought the carrier last spring ( ATWOnline, March 25), and executives said yesterday that Olympic has signed a codeshare agreement with Delta Air Lines with a view toward joining SkyTeam eventually, according to Reuters.
