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.
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.
Lufthansa Italia asked for 10 additional slots at Milan Malpensa to enable it to offer more flights to other European destinations as well as more frequencies on domestic services within Italy. LH Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber has said that LH wants to play a central role at MXP in the future. An LH spokesperson told ATWOnline that LH Italia currently operates seven A319s including one wet-leased from BMI.
IBS Software Services signed a five-year contract with startup Japanese domestic carrier Fuji Dream Airlines to supply its iFly Res technology to manage the carrier's inventory and reservation system.
SkyEurope Airlines, the financially troubled LCC based in Bratislava, said it has secured a new investor, FOCUS Equity B.V., which it said plans to invest €16.5million ($23.2 million). The carrier also said it will lease two 737-300s from Air Slovakia.
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.
World airport passenger traffic fell 5% in June compared to June 2008 to 262.3 million, which represented a slowing of the downward trend from May, when traffic was down 8% year-over-year, according to Airports Council International.
The sale of London Gatwick by UK airport operator BAA is up in the air after the last remaining bidder refused to budge from its original £1.4 billion ($2.29 billion) offer. BAA parent Ferrovial reportedly wanted £1.5 billion, but a consortium led by Manchester Airports Group and Canadian infrastructure fund Borealis declined to increase its bid, according to press reports.
WWF-UK last month launched its "One in Five Challenge" to persuade businesses and governments to reduce their business travel by 20% by 2014. Officially launched on July 20 with five founder members including heavyweight companies such as Capgemini UK, Marks & Spencer and Vodafone UK, the program is highlighting that 25% of businesses in the UK now are measuring their carbon footprint.
In the final years of a $6.3 million airport redevelopment program, Miami International is looking at everything from a diversified shopping and services center to mineral extraction to gambling machines for the additional $500 million a year it will need to cover airport operations and debt service. In the first six months of this year, MIA's passenger traffic was down 1.4% and aircraft movements off 9.3% compared with last year. It has lowered its landing fees 39% for the current fiscal year to help its airline tenants get through the recession.
