EgyptAir reached agreement with US Export-Import Bank to help finance the purchase of five 737-800s and guarantee a loan from JP Morgan Chase. MS will take delivery of the first aircraft Friday in Seattle.
Australia's Rex Regional Express reported a A$23 million ($19.2 million) profit in the fiscal year ended June 30, down just 5.6% from the A$24.3 million earned the prior year and a result Executive Chairman Lim Kim Hai called "almost comforting" when compared to the ills facing the industry. Full-year revenue fell 3.7% to A$251 million, with passenger revenue declining 3.3% to A$204.3 million. Expenses were down 3.4% to A$220.2 million and pre-tax profit dropped 5.2% to A$30.8 million.
Air India employees represented largely by the Air Corp. Employees Union and the Aviation Industry Employees Guild continued with a hunger strike yesterday in protest of planned wage cuts. An AI spokesperson told The Economic Times, "We have a well formulated contingency plan and have deployed additional manpower to ensure smooth operations." Some 20,000 employees, or about two-thirds the carrier's workforce, reportedly are involved. ACEU General Secretary J.B. Kadian said AI management "is delaying and ignoring us.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. announced the signing of a letter of intent with HP "to develop a next generation Passenger Service System" for use by AA and American Eagle encompassing reservations, pricing and ticketing, revenue management, inventory, flight information and check-in. Value of the proposed investment was not disclosed. The news came a day after TAM said it had selected Amadeus to provide its Altea passenger system to the Brazilian airline ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
AirTran Airways applied for authority to serve both Nassau and Montego Bay from Atlanta, Baltimore and Orlando International and to fly to Aruba from ATL and MCO. It said service, if approved, will start "later this year and early in 2010." Alaska Airlines will launch six-times-weekly Portland-San Jose service on Sept. 2, increasing to daily March 14 aboard a 737-700. Air Canada will offer daily Montreal-Houston Intercontinental service beginning Nov. 30 aboard Jazz Air CRJ700s.
Alaska Airlines will launch daily Seattle-Houston Intercontinental flights on Sept. 23 aboard 737-800s. Aerolineas Argentinas launched thrice-weekly Buenos Aires-Bogota service aboard a 737-700. Route previously stopped in Lima. Four-times-weekly 737 service to Caracas becomes daily on Sept. 1. JetBlue Airways applied for route authority to serve Montego Bay from both Boston (weekly from Jan. 9) and Orlando International (daily beginning Feb. 8).
Norwegian took delivery of its first directly purchased 737-800. It now operates 13 -800s, 28 737-300s and four MD-80s and still has 45 -800s on order.
The Air Line Pilots Assn. yesterday urged the US government "to prohibit shipments of lithium batteries on passenger and all-cargo aircraft until new regulations are in place to ensure the safe transport of these hazardous materials," citing three recent incidents in which "fire, smoke or evidence of fire associated with battery shipments has occurred" on freighter aircraft.
News from Travel Technology Update: Amadeus introduced a "holistic" solution for corporate travel agencies that aims to provide a complete "start-to-finish" system. Called Amadeus One, the Web-based, multisource solution includes profile integration, mid-office functions, agency administration tools and new productivity tools.
Delta Air Lines added its BusinessElite lie-flat bed service on all New York JFK-London Heathrow flights and will launch the product next month on flights from JFK to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
KLM received its fourth new 777-300ER, part of an order for seven of the type. New aircraft features SkyTeam livery and will perform its first commercial flight on Aug. 28 to Nairobi. Boeing said the delivery will mark an in-service evaluation of a new chrome-free primer and paint, which it will apply to 14 aircraft initially "with the intention of making it a standard option in the future."
Gol filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed global offering of preferred shares expected to gross BRL550-BRL650 million ($299.7-$354.1 million) "depending on market conditions." Gol said it intends to use the proceeds "for general corporate purposes and to strengthen its balance sheet, particularly its cash and cash equivalents position."
EasyJet transported 4.7 million passengers in July, up 4.3% year-over-year. Load factor rose 1 point to 90.3%. SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew 1.75 billion RPMs in July, up 8.9% year-over-year, against a 4.5% lift in capacity to 2.09 billion ASMs. Load factor climbed 3.4 points to 83.5%. Frontier Airlines said July mainline yield fell 15% year-over-year to 10.27 cents while RASM dropped 11% to 9.44 cents. It flew 862.3 million RPMs, down 12%, against a 16% cut in capacity to 937.4 million ASMs. Load factor rose 4.2 points to 92%.
TAM and Amadeus announced yesterday in Sao Paulo a 10-year technology partnership to replace multiple legacy applications currently in use by the airline with a single integrated platform based on Amadeus's Altea Customer Management Solution. The carrier will implement the full package including reservations, inventory and departure control, with the first phase expected to be complete by year end and total implementation within three years.
Korean Air said the number of reserved seats on international routes for September is up 21% year-over-year on a 9% increase in supply. Largest gain is to Japan at 59%, followed by the Americas at 12% and Europe at 10%. Chinese demand is level. KE's international passenger numbers are up 9% this month and rose 5% in July.
Virgin Nigeria signed an agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to cooperate on MRO for VK's seven aircraft, pool technical resources and conduct joint training, according to a statement cited by widespread press reports. Contract ends a four-year technical partnership between VK and Virgin Atlantic, which is looking to sell its 49% stake in the Nigerian carrier ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20, 2008).
Austrian Airlines Group's acquisition by Lufthansa could be completed as early as Sept. 3, a source close to the transaction in Brussels told ATWOnline. "We expect news from the EU very soon, and this date could be possible," the source said. Media in Germany and Austria were reporting yesterday that an official confirmation of the takeover from EU authorities should come by the end of this month. An AAG spokesperson declined to comment on the possible schedule.
Boosted by a domestic market that "did better than expected," Air China reported a CNY2.82 billion ($411.8 million) profit in the first six months of 2009 under IFRS, more than double the restated CNY1.05 billion earned in the year-ago semester.
China Equity Group yesterday revealed additional details of its plan to re-launch East Star Airlines, including its intention for it and its partners to hold 70%-80% of the reorganized carrier with debtors holding the remainder ( ATWOnline, Aug. 24). East Star Group currently owns the largest share (40%) while GECAS, China National Aviation Fuel Co. and several airports are the debtors.
Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold yesterday expressed satisfaction that the carrier returned to profitability in the second quarter with net income of €7.1 million ($10.2 million) despite the fact that the "sector continued to struggle." He cited "rigorously enhancing performance" as a primary reason AB had a relatively positive quarter during which expenses lowered 4.3% year-over-year to €825.5 million ( ATWOnline, Aug. 25).
Naverus said it delivered a National Aerospace Assessment to Swedish air navigation service provider LFV designed to develop a "roadmap" for Performance Based Navigation implementation. Naverus said PBN at Sweden's major airports could save an estimated 9 million kg. of fuel per year and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 30,000 tonnes.
Continental Airlines will launch flights to Washington Dulles from both Houston Intercontinental (thrice-daily) and Cleveland (twice-daily) on Nov. 1. ExpressJet will operate the Houston flight aboard an ERJ-145 and CommutAir will operate the Cleveland service with a Q200. CO said the new routes are designed to increase connections with future Star Alliance partner United Airlines. Etihad Airways' winter schedule beginning Oct. 25 will feature a 15% year-over-year increase in capacity and 950 weekly flights, including new service to Hyderabad starting in November.
