EgyptAir and Boeing said yesterday that the airline converted a previous order for two 777s into an order for an additional eight 737-800s. The order previously had been added to Boeing's Orders & Deliveries website and attributed to an unidentified customer ( ATWOnline, July 17). The carrier has seven 737-800s in operation and is slated to take delivery of an additional five this year. It has five 777s in its fleet and is scheduled to receive six 777-300ERs beginning next year.
United Airlines announced yesterday that it will be moving its Operations Center to Willis Tower in downtown Chicago from its current location in the suburban town of Elk Grove near Chicago O'Hare. The move, which will affect 2,800 employees, was decided on after the airline and the City of Chicago "agreed to an economically viable incentive program that will ensure the city is competitive to other locations and makes financial sense for United," according to UA.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told an industry forum in Sydney that the time is "absolutely not right" for mergers with competitors and would represent a distraction from managing the airline. The strongly worded statement, reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, distanced Joyce from his predecessor Geoff Dixon, who touted industry consolidation at the same forum the previous day. Joyce said mergers between airlines in the Asia/Pacific region are more than 10 years away owing to regulatory and competition hurdles.
Gulf Air will have to cut costs significantly to reduce its perennial losses, members of the Bahrain parliament said, adding that the state-owned airline is expected to post a 2009 loss of $200-$300 million, Reuters reported. New CEO Samer Majali ( ATWOnline, July 7), who officially started this week, is expected to focus on closing unprofitable routes and enhancing the airline's Internet booking capabilities so the number of call-center agents can be reduced.
Monarch Aircraft Engineering signed a five-year contract with Wizz Air Ukraine to provide A320 line and light maintenance services in the Ukraine. Goodrich Corp. said it added electronic engine control accessories to its MRO capability at its Dubai MRO campus. The capability covers all electronic engine controls for Rolls-Royce Trent 500, 700 and 800-powered aircraft. AAR announced that AeroControlex Group selected it as a distributor of aftermarket parts for AeroControlex's lubrication pump product line.
Ryanair reiterated that it will continue to cut flights at "high cost, tourist tax airports" in the UK and Ireland and switch aircraft to EU countries and airports that offer no tourist taxes and lower airport costs. To that end, the LCC said it will operate to 43 new Spanish destinations, a notable contrast with its recently announced steep capacity reductions at Stansted and Dublin ( ATWOnline, Aug. 1).
Copa Holdings, parent of Copa Airlines and Aero Republica, posted second-quarter net income of $55.2 million, an 81.3% increase over a $30.4 million profit in the year-ago period that was aided by a $27.1 million noncash mark-to-market fuel hedge gain.
Delta Air Lines said July system traffic including regional affiliates decreased 2.5% year-over-year to 19.52 billion RPMs on a 3.6% reduction in capacity to 22.27 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 87.7%, up 1 point. Air Canada said July system traffic including Jazz Air decreased 3.3% to 4.85 billion RPMs on a 4.1% dip in capacity to 5.8 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 83.6%, up 0.6 point.
China's airlines earned a collective net profit of CNY3.85 billion ($563 million) in the first half of 2009, a 4.1% increase over a CNY3.7 billion profit in the year-ago period. The earnings improvement was helped by lower fuel prices, elimination of the civil aviation infrastructure tax that was imposed in the second half of last year and an exemption from bunker surcharges, CAAC Minister Li Jiaxiang said. China's domestic jet fuel price lowered 34.7% year-over-year in the first half, leading to an estimated CNY10.5 billion in savings for the country's carriers.
Pinnacle Airlines and the Air Line Pilots Assn. reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract covering the carrier's 1,250 pilots, which will have to vote on its ratification. Talks had been ongoing since 2005. Pinnacle revealed few details, saying only that the tentative deal includes a pay increase.
Pegasus Airlines is planning an IPO for the second half of next year, Chairman Ali Sabanci said yesterday on Turkey's CNBC-e network. Pegasus parent ESAS Holding is Air Berlin's largest shareholder at 15.3%.
SuperJet International received EASA Part 147 certification from the Italian Aeronautical Civil Authority authorizing it to develop training courses for the first customers of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. Certification also enables SuperJet to conduct training specifically for aeronautical engineers responsible for maintenance and release to service of the aircraft.
US Air Transport Assn. said yesterday that it "applauded" the ASTM International Committee on Petroleum Products and Lubricants, which develops standards related to oil products, "for passing a new specification that will enable the use of synthetic fuels in aviation." President and CEO James May said the specification "brings us one step closer to our aim of widespread production of cleaner, alternative fuels that will help the industry meet its environmental goals while enhancing the security and competitiveness of its energy supply."
Vueling Airlines A320 "experienced a small fire" in its right engine yesterday morning while being pushed back from Paris Orly's Terminal South, triggering an emergency evacuation. Flight VY9127 was bound for Alicante and had 165 passengers onboard. All passengers and crew were evacuated although eight suffered minor injuries, the LCC said in a statement.
EADS established a subsidiary in Japan that the Airbus parent said will "help coordinate and support [its] marketing campaigns and industrial partnerships" in the nation. EADS Japan will be based in Tokyo and "will forge further long-term business relationships with Japanese industry and aerospace institutions," it said, noting that EADS and its subsidiaries "already buy directly or indirectly through its first tier suppliers products worth some $1 billion annually in the country."
Wataniya Airways parent Kuwait National Airways Co. reported a KWD5.9 million ($20.4 million) loss in the first half of 2009. Wataniya launched flight operations on Jan. 24. The premium carrier posted 89% traffic growth in the second quarter against a 75% lift in capacity, it said, although "yields remain under pressure and below expectation." It will take delivery of its fourth 122-seat A320 in October and plans to begin serving Jeddah, its eighth destination, within the next month.
Cathay Pacific Airways returned to profit in the first half of 2009 thanks to fuel hedge gains and cost/capacity cuts, posting an HK$812 million ($104.8 million) surplus compared to a HK$760 million loss in the year-ago semester.
Continental Airlines said July estimated consolidated RASM fell 16.5%-17.5% year-over-year, while mainline unit revenue dropped 17.5%-18.5%. CO flew 8.89 billion consolidated RPMs during the month, down 3.4%, against a 6.9% cut in ASMs to 10.17 billion. Load factor climbed 3.1 points to 87.3%. United Airlines flew 11.15 billion consolidated RPMs in July, down 4% year-over-year, against a 7% cut in capacity to 12.84 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 2.7 points to 86.9%.
CSA Czech Airlines confirmed in several press reports that it will reduce its workforce by around 20% as it attempts to negotiate the industry downturn. A spokesperson was quoted in German media saying that some 860 of CSA's 4,600 employees will be let go and that the cuts will affect all areas of the company. President Radomir Lasak told Czech daily Pravo that "it has become clear we have to reduce fleet and network capacity." The job reductions are expected to occur between September 2009 and March 2010.
Blue Wings plans to wet-lease three A320s to Iraqi Airways for flights to Europe, the Dusseldorf-based carrier said yesterday. Blue Wings launched service in June to Baghdad, Erbil and Sulaimaniya.
TAP Portugal parent TAP Group reported a €72.4 million ($104.3 million) net loss in the first half, a 53.2% improvement on the €154.9 million lost in the year-ago semester. Operating revenue decreased 11.8% year-over-year to €927 million and costs fell 19.9% to €855.2 million, including a 49.7% reduction of its fuel bill to €157.6 million.
Sixteen passengers and crew on the Merpati Nusantara Airlines Twin Otter that crashed Sunday in eastern Indonesia were confirmed dead yesterday. Merpati President Director Bambang Bhakti confirmed the loss, according to press reports, some of which claimed there were 15 onboard. Crash site was on the slope of Bintang Mountain at 9,300 ft. ( ATWOnline, Aug. 5).
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, reported second-quarter net income of $11.3 million, a more-than-sevenfold increase over a $1.5 million profit in the year-ago period, as it continued to benefit from Polar becoming a DHL Express carrier and its cost-cutting initiatives.
Thai Airways said it cut nonfuel costs through the first five months of this year by 18.9% from the year-ago period to approximately THB34.76 billion ($1.01 billion).
