Thai Airways took delivery of an A330-300 last week in Toulouse, the 1,000th A330/A340 family aircraft delivered by Airbus. Thai operates 15 A330-300s, four A340-500s and six A340-600s.
ANA released details of the "emergency income recovery plan" designed to produce an additional ¥30 billion ($316.7 million) in revenue during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, and keep it on course for a full-year profit of ¥3 billion. It reported a ¥29.2 billion net loss in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 3).
US FAA yesterday announced new standards for transport category aircraft requiring either the automatic activation of ice protection systems or a method informing pilots that they should be activated. Rule applies to new aircraft designs and "significant changes" to current designs but may be expanded to cover existing types, the agency said.
China Southern Airlines reached agreement to sell six A300-600Rs, plus five spare PW4158-3 engines and spare parts, for $124 million to Tigris International of the Netherlands Antilles. Hong Kong-based Galink Aviation Technology acted as broker, CZ said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CZ has been operating the aircraft for 14-16 years, it said, and expects a gain of approximately CNY46.6 million ($6.8 million) from the sale.
Air France started selling seats for its first commercial A380 flight on Nov. 23 from Paris Charles de Gaulle to New York JFK. It will be the first European airline to operate the A380 and the first carrier to fly transatlantic between Europe and the US. It also will operate the aircraft on a westbound flight Nov. 20 and return Nov. 21 and will auction off 380 of the 538 seats to benefit childrens' charities. The Web-based auction is scheduled for October.
Timco Aviation Services announced that its Aerosystems subsidiary was awarded Organization Delegation Authorization from US FAA. Timco said it was "the first major aircraft maintenance and modification provider to be appointed as a Supplemental Type Certificate and Parts Manufacturing Approval ODA." TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil was certified by US FAA to perform heavy maintenance on A330 and A340 aircraft. Company also is FAA-certified for the A300-B4, A300-600, and A310. It is a member of the Airbus MRO Network.
United Airlines, the Air Line Pilots Assn. and the International Assn. of Machinists submitted joint letters requesting mediation services from the US National Mediation Board. UA and the unions had agreed to seek mediation if they did not reach new labor agreements by Aug. 1. Similar deals exist with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Professional Airline Flight Control Assn., although those unions have agreed to continue with direct negotiations, UA said. A request for mediation with the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA is expected to be filed Friday.
Boeing moved to water down a Sunday report in The Seattle Times that painted a bleak picture of both the scale and time required to fix the 787's structural delamination problem. Citing two engineers "with knowledge of the problem," the paper claimed that "the wing damage that grounded. . .the 787 occurred under less stress than previously reported--and is more extensive."
Merpati Nusantara Airlines Twin Otter 300 carrying 16 passengers and three crew remained missing yesterday after failing to arrive at Oksibil on a scheduled 50-min. flight originating Sunday morning in Javapura. The aircraft first flew in 1979, according to the Aviation Safety Network.
Ryanair reached agreement with BNP Paribas, Calyon and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. for the financing of 55 737-800s scheduled for delivery between November 2009 and October 2010. Banks were mandated to act as joint arrangers for Ryanair's euro-dominated export credit facility from the US Export-Import Bank.
Bombardier Aerospace said it received an order for five Q400 NextGen aircraft plus five options from an airline that requested to remain unidentified. Firm order is worth $159 million at list prices.
Continental Airlines 767-200 scheduled to land yesterday morning at Houston Intercontinental after departing Rio de Janeiro Galeao Sunday night diverted to Miami after severe turbulence injured at least 26 occupants, four seriously. Fourteen passengers were hospitalized, according to officials. A Continental spokesperson said the turbulence was "unanticipated" and occurred around 900 mi. from Miami, according to press reports.
Emirates will launch daily Dubai-Durban service Oct. 1 aboard a 278-seat A330-200. Separately, it has postponed the launch of thrice-weekly Dubai-Luanda service to Oct. 25. Wataniya Airways will launch daily Kuwait City-Jeddah service Aug. 19. American Eagle on Nov. 19 will launch daily flights to Miami from Knoxville and Charleston, S.C., and increase Dallas/Fort Worth-Santa Fe service to twice-daily.
Airbus Friday told airlines that Thales pitot probes should be replaced with Goodrich models on all A330s/A340s as a "precautionary measure" and EASA said it will issue an order within two weeks calling for at least two of three Thales speed sensors on those aircraft types to be replaced with the Goodrich versions.
IATA said last week that June international passenger traffic fell 7.2% year-over-year, an improvement on May's 9.3% decline. But it noted that a capacity cut of 4.3% "did not keep pace with the fall in demand, leaving average fares and yields under significant pressure.
British Airways reported a £106 million ($174.3 million) net loss for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, reversed from a £27 million profit in the year-ago period, citing "volatile" yields and "trading conditions [that] continue to be very challenging." CEO Willie Walsh said the carrier sees "no visible signs of improvement" in its ability to generate revenue, but he noted that "traffic volumes [that] are down considerably" have "stabilized" and "show some signs of improvement for the peak summer months."
European Commission confirmed Friday that it will approve Lufthansa's takeover of Austrian Airlines Group ( ATWOnline, July 31). It did not offer details on its agreement with LH on concessions to alleviate antitrust concerns.
ANA Group posted a net loss of ¥29.2 billion ($306.6 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, reversed from a ¥6.6 billion profit in the year-ago period, as falling revenue "far outweighed" cost savings. "Beset by H1N1 influenza, which came on top of the global recession to further suppress demand to levels not seen before, the three-month period under review was tough in the extreme," Executive VP-Finance Tomohiro Hidema said. "Individual consumption in Japan was down, as companies saw tumbling revenues across the board and capital investment fell."
Spring Airlines reported a half-year net profit of CNY41.17 million ($6 million), a threefold year-over-year improvement, on a 20% lift in revenue to CNY894 million. The Shanghai-based carrier credited "effective cost control" and a "high load factor" for the result. It said it saved about CNY28.41 million in fuel expenses for the first six months and maintained a load factor of 95%, 17.4% higher than the domestic airline industry average.
Republic Airways Holdings reported second-quarter net income of $14.1 million, down 50.4% from a $28.4 million profit in the year-ago period, on an 18.2% fall in revenue to $320 million. Operating income dropped 18.4% to $53.6 million from $65.7 million as operating expenses lowered 18.2% to $266.3 million. During the quarter Republic made a bid to buy bankrupt Frontier Airlines.
