ASIG renewed its agreement to provide ramp handling services to Aeromexpress Cargo for an additional three years at Los Angeles International. It has been providing Aeromexpress with ramp handling services at LAX since 2000.
Iran Civil Aviation Org. banned airlines from leasing Russian-built aircraft following two July accidents involving a Tu-154M and an Il-62 in which a combined 185 people were killed ( ATWOnline, July 27). "Eastern planes would be able to operate in the air sector only when they are brand new and made according to our order," CAO head Mohammad Ali Ilkhani was quoted as saying by Reuters.
IATA said that while June passenger traffic figures indicated "some stabilization in air travel demand," noting that even the fall in premium demand "moderated," premium revenue "was still declining at a rate close to 40% in June." In a "Premium Travel Monitor" issued yesterday, the organization explained that "the issue now is that this stabilization of passenger numbers is partly being achieved at the expense of much lower yields as airlines seek to boost cash flow by making more cheaper seats available. Revenue from premium travel fell an estimated 33% in Q1 and 41% in Q2."
An estimated 100 Midwest Airlines employees will lose their jobs following its acquisition by Republic Airways Holdings, a Republic spokesperson confirmed yesterday to ATWOnline.
Libyan Airlines signed an MOU with OnAir to install mobile and inflight Internet service on its seven new A320s, which it expects to start taking next year.
Air China reached an agreement with CITIC Pacific to purchase a significant portion of the latter's stake in Cathay Pacific, raising its share in the Hong Kong carrier to 29.99% from 17.49%.
Gulfstream International Airlines parent Gulfstream International Group announced a $2.2 million second-quarter profit, reversed from a $3.5 million loss in the year-ago quarter. Result largely was due to a $2 million noncash tax benefit, although the Florida-based regional was profitable on the operating level as well with a $984,000 surplus comparing to a $5.5 million deficit in the second quarter of 2008.
Continental Airlines yesterday announced that Oct. 27 will be its first day as an official member of Star Alliance. Separately, it said it will operate daily Houston Intercontinental-Edmonton flights beginning Nov. 1 aboard a 737-500.
Kenya Airways workers represented by the Aviation & Allied Workers Union called off a two-day strike Sunday after reaching an agreement with management on a pay increase, KQ said in a statement. Flights from Nairobi were delayed Friday and Saturday as some 3,000 workers went on strike over pay. The new plan includes an interim wage award of 10% for the first year and another 10% for the second, the airline said.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. confirmed in a statement issued Friday that the union's refusal to integrate its seniority list with that of Frontier Airlines led to the impasse that scuttled SWA's bid for the Denver-based carrier ( ATWOnline, Aug. 17).
Turkish Airlines flew 21.3 billion RPKs during the first seven months of 2009, up 12.4% over the year-ago period. Capacity rose 19.7% to 30.6 billion ASKs and load factor fell 4.5 points to 69.5%.
US Air Transport Assn. predicted a 3.5% year-over-year drop in the number of passengers traveling globally on US carriers over the Sept. 2-Sept. 9 Labor Day holiday period. It expects that an estimated 16 million travelers, down from 17 million last year, will take to the skies. "Passengers should expect airports to be less crowded, but planes will be at or near capacity during this Labor Day holiday period," ATA President and CEO James May said.
Ryanair yesterday announced that it will close nine of its 10 routes to/from Manchester and switch them to "lower-cost competitor" airports such as Nottingham East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and Liverpool on Oct. 1, citing MAN's refusal to lower its charges.
Australia and New Zealand are expected to move toward common air travel borders this week, cutting red tape and airfares. New Zealand Prime Minister John Keys and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd are expected to announce Thursday the streamlining of arrivals and departures that may see transtasman flights operating from domestic terminals and elimination of departure taxes and duplication of quarantine, customs and security checks.
Southwest Airlines yesterday launched its Boston service, which will comprise five daily flights to Chicago Midway and five to Baltimore. Royal Air Maroc will launch twice-weekly Casablanca-Dubai service on Oct. 27 using 767-300ERs. RwandAir yesterday added a fifth weekly Kigali-Johannesburg flight.
Strategic Airlines, an Australian scheduled, charter and ACMI operator, said it received an AOC from the French DGAC last week. It plans to operate two A320s in Europe. One already is flying on wet-lease with Solomon Airlines and the second is expected to be available this month for ACMI and charter flights. Strategic acquired OzJet Airlines in June ( ATWOnline, June 30).
UK government will provide Airbus with up to £340 million ($562.2 million) of repayable launch aid for development of the A350, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson confirmed during a visit to Airbus's Filton facility Friday. At the Paris Air Show in June, European governments said they reached agreement to give Airbus €3.5 billion ($4.97 billion) in soft loans for A350 development. The French and German governments already have pledged a combined €2.5 billion for the project, while Spain is expected to loan around €400 million. A statement from the UK Dept.
British Airways said it held "positive" talks with Iberia last week in London about their planned merger. "We have now met twice with the new management team at Iberia and will meet again in due course," CEO Willie Walsh told BA News, the carrier's in-house weekly.
V Australia, the long-haul subsidiary of Brisbane-based Virgin Blue, announced a major expansion of its route network focused around Melbourne and Brisbane. It will launch twice-weekly Brisbane-Phuket service on Nov. 22, followed by weekly MEL-Phuket on Dec. 3. It will commence twice-weekly MEL-Johannesburg flights on March 13. It currently operates three 777-300ERs between Sydney and Brisbane and Los Angeles and will add an MEL-LAX service on Dec 1. It is due to take its fourth -300ER by early October, will add a fifth in September 2010 and has another two on order plus eight options.
Spain's Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Commission released another report yesterday on the August 2008 crash of a Spanair MD-82 that killed 154 people, confirming that the pilots did not know the aircraft's flaps and slats were not extended as it attempted to take off from Madrid ( ATWOnline, Oct. 13, 2008). "The aircraft had the standard procedures and checklists in force. . .which included the selection and confirmation of the correct configuration for takeoff," the report said, according to Reuters.
LOT Polish Airlines suffered a PLN178 million ($60.9 million) loss in the first six months of 2009, which included the closure of its low-cost subsidiary Centralwings ( ATWOnline, April 2), and will bring in a financial adviser to help sell new shares, Reuters reported. "Options include selling a stake to another carrier, a financial investor or even floating the airline on a stock exchange," CEO Sebastian Mikosz was quoted as saying.
Republic Airways Holdings confirmed late Thursday that it had been declared the winner in the court-monitored auction for bankrupt Frontier Airlines and plans to purchase the Denver-based carrier when it emerges from Chapter 11, likely in the fall.
Aircraft Leasing and Management arranged the sale of and delivered an additional BAe 146-300 to Lima-based Star Peru on behalf of Flybe, which has replaced its BAe 146 fleet with E-195s. ALM is remarketing the remaining Flybe 146s.
