Jet Airways sought court relief yesterday from a continued sickout by nearly half its pilot workforce that has caused about half its flight schedule to be canceled since Monday night. Jet wants the National Aviators Guild, the union representing its 760 pilots, to be held in contempt of court for engaging in what it deems an "illegal action." The union has demanded that two recently fired pilots be reinstated and said it will continue the unofficial work action until the airline agrees to bring the pilots back.
Airbus delivered 32 aircraft in August and received orders for seven A330-300s from Turkish Airlines ( ATWOnline, Aug. 19). Deliveries comprised 27 A320 family aircraft, two A330-200s, one A340-600 and one A380 (to Qantas).
Naverus said that Air China, with support from CAAC, successfully completed an RNP validation flight to Tibet's Linzhi Airport on Sept. 2 using an A319. Naverus called the 95-mi. RNP approach into the Himalayan airport at 9,760 ft. elevation "one of the longest and most challenging commercial jetliner landing paths." Without RNP, the airport "is accessible by air only 100 days a year, in daylight only, due to weather and terrain challenges."
ICAO and IATA will develop two online services that they said will improve and streamline tracking of dangerous goods shipped by air. A website called iShip will be "targeted especially at the shipping community" and aims to integrate information on "dangerous goods shipping tools" with IATA's dangerous goods regulations content. It will be available in the first half of next year.
The UK government has to defend a cap on aviation emissions at "no higher, and possibly lower, than 2005 levels in the period to 2050" as part of a wider global agreement to tackle climate change at December's UN summit in Copenhagen, the UK's Committee on Climate Change argued in a letter to Secretary of State for Transport Andrew Adonis and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband.
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 15.42 billion RPKs in August, up 9% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 7.2% to 18.48 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.4 points to 83.5%.
Qantas is considering selling its 46.3% in Air Pacific, Fiji's national carrier, in order to compete with Virgin Group on routes to the tropical tourist destination. QF applied to Australia's International Air Services Commission, the route regulator, for capacity to Fiji on behalf of its Jetstar Airways subsidiary, but it would need to sell off its stake in Air Pacific. An airline spokesperson confirmed that the Air Pacific stake was under review and it is understood that the Fijian government is amenable to the sale.
AeroMexico 737 hijacking ended without further incident yesterday afternoon in Mexico City after the suspect were taken into custody. The Bolivian suspect claimed he was carrying a bomb onboard the flight originating in Cancun and reportedly demanded to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. The 104 passengers and seven crew were freed without injury. There were no explosives onboard and the suspect never entered the cockpit, according to reports.
Airbus executives remain adamant that reported findings by the World Trade Organization challenging the legality of government loans and launch aid for the A380 program will not affect plans for the A350 ( ATWOnline, May 21).
Delta TechOps signed a three-year contract with EVA Air and its UNI Air subsidiary under which it will provide component services for EVA's 747s and UNI's MD-90s in partnership with Evergreen Aviation Technologies.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. yesterday announced the final configuration of its MRJ, showing a taller cabin, increased overhead bin space and a wing box made of aluminum rather than composite materials.
Air Arabia signed a joint venture agreement with Egyptian travel and hospitality conglomerate Travco Group to launch an Egypt-based low-cost carrier that will serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The new base will be Air Arabia's third after Sharjah and Casablanca. It did not say where the new LCC will be based or give details on specific routes or a timeline for launch. The venture will have startup capital of $50 million with Air Arabia Group holding 40% stake, according to several press reports.
Boeing is forecasting that the Asia/Pacific region will be the world's largest aviation market over the next 20 years, with a need for 8,960 aircraft seating more than 100 passengers worth $1.1 trillion. The manufacturer said that 40% of the world's airline traffic will begin, end or take place within the region. Over the two decades, Asia/Pacific air travel will grow from 32% of the global market to 41%. The area currently accounts for more than 8,300 flights and 1.2 million passengers daily and travel is expected to grow 6.5% per year over the next 20 years.
EasyJet appointed former AOL Europe CEO Dana Dunne as chief commercial officer, replacing Saad Hammad, who is leaving the LCC to join private equity firm Gores Group as MD. EgyptAir announced that GM-Network Planning Alaa Ashour has been named chairman and CEO of the airline and Vice Chairman Hussein Massoud has been named chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Holding Co.
Lufthansa granted interested airlines access to bmi's books as it considers the fate of the UK carrier, which it was forced to acquire when Chairman Michael Bishop exercised his put option last December ( ATWOnline, June 23). Sources told both The Times and Dow Jones that British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Flybe and carriers in the US, East Asia and the Middle East have signed confidentiality agreements and expressed interest in bmi or its assets.
Jet Airways said yesterday that about 40% of its pilot workforce "reported sick" starting Monday night, "disrupting the flight schedule and causing inconvenience." It said in a statement that 186 flights had been cancelled. The National Aviators Guild, the union representing the carrier's 760 pilots, said it wants two pilots who were fired to be reinstated.
China Eastern Airlines was granted approval at a Monday shareholder's conference to issue 1.35 billion A shares and 490 million H shares worth a combined CNY7.02 billion ($1.03 billion). The shares will not be available to the general public and will be circulated on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges respectively. The capital injection is expected to reduce the airline's debt ratio to 94.7%.
SITA won a $4.6 million, five-year contract from Oman Air to implement and maintain a voice and data hybrid network solution for the airline connecting 50 offices worldwide.
Finnair announced the withdrawal of three 757s currently used on leisure routes effective next spring. It plans to reduce leisure capacity next summer and said it intends to "use our long-haul fleet more flexibly on scheduled and leisure flights according to seasonal fluctuations in demand structure." It will continue to operate four 757s, with newer A330s operating certain leisure flights this winter. Finnair flew 1.74 billion RPKs in August, down 10.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 10.1% to 2.17 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 0.1 point to 80.2%.
Bordeaux-Merignac will construct a low-cost terminal scheduled to open in May 2010. Dubbed Billi, short for "Bordeaux illico" or "Bordeaux straight away," the facility will cost €5.5 million and is promising turnaround times of less than 25 min. "Our research highlighted a real need for a product tailored to accommodate the low-cost airlines, a product that would sit alongside our existing regional and international airport products," BOD CEO Pascal Personne said.
Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China yesterday unveiled the first mockup of its C919, the narrowbody aircraft the country is building as a follow-up to the regional ARJ21. Guo Bozhi, president of CACC affiliate Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute, said in Hong Kong that the model is the "most precise" rendering to date of the aircraft, slated to seat 156-168 passengers ( ATWOnline, March 12). It reportedly is 10% of the C919's anticipated size.
Air France will introduce its Premium Voyageur premium economy product on flights to Singapore and Beirut beginning Dec. 28 and flights to Hong Kong and Beijing from Jan. 18, 2010. Second daily PV-equipped flights to New York JFK and Tokyo Narita will launch in early December. AF expects the product to be available on all its 777s, A330s and A340s by the end of 2010 ( ATWOnline, March 23).
El Al CEO Haim Romano will leave the carrier within the next 18 months, according to a statement from the airline. No replacement was announced. El Al suffered a $19.7 million loss in the second quarter ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20).
