Southwest Airlines, which launched service at Denver a little more than three years ago, announced yesterday that it has submitted a nonbinding proposal to bid for bankrupt Frontier Airlines, which now is scheduled to be sold at auction next month.
Citing sharp declines in volume and unit revenue for both passenger and cargo transport, Air France KLM yesterday announced a €431 million consolidated net loss in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, a marked deterioration from the €132 million profit earned in the year-ago period.
Ryanair will reduce Dublin winter capacity by 22% year-over-year, or by four aircraft to 14 based aircraft. It did not specify which routes would be affected, but weekly flights will drop below 1,000 from the approximately 1,200 operated to/from DUB in winter 2008-09. Last month it said it would lower the number of aircraft at DUB to 16. It said the newest cuts are the result of "high and rising costs at Dublin Airport, combined with an insanely stupid €10 ($14.12) tourist tax" imposed by the Irish government.
Alitalia released select financial and operating data for the period from Jan. 13, when it re-launched under new ownership as a merged company with Air One, to June 30 ( ATWOnline, March 4). It posted an operating loss of €273 million ($385.5 million), comprising a €210 million first-quarter loss and a €63 million second-quarter deficit.
Russian State Civil Aviation Administration said domestic airlines carried 18.8 million passengers through the first six months of 2009, down 18% year-over-year, Reuters reported. June passenger numbers fell 13.4% to 4.6 million. Frontier Airlines flew 804.4 million RPMs in June, down 13.1% year-over-year. Capacity fell 14.9% to 903.8 million ASMs, lifting load factor 1.8 points to 89%. Allegiant Air flew 468.8 million system RPMs in June, up 25.6% year-over-year. Capacity rose 29% to 527.3 million ASMs and load factor dropped 2.4 points to 88.9%.
Star Alliance added functionality to its website allowing customers to book and purchase round-the-world tickets. Such transactions previously required the assistance of an airline call center, ticket office or travel agent.
British Airways will remove inflight meals in economy class on flights shorter than 2.5 hr. from next week, although it will continue to serve breakfast on flights departing before 10 a.m. and offer free drinks and snacks. It expects to save £22 million ($36.1 million) annually as a result. It will not sell food onboard and claimed it is "not unusual to make small changes [to inflight catering] to avoid waste and save money where it makes sense and it meets customers' changing tastes." British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Assn.
Japan Airlines' last 747 Classic, a -300, operated its final flight yesterday from Honolulu to Tokyo Narita. Aircraft was in service for 26 years. JAL took delivery of its first 747-100 in 1970 and operated a record 65 747 Classics in 1987-89. The -300 will be replaced by a 777-300ER.
Ameco Aviation College opened its new CNY50 million ($7.3 million), 7,400-sq.-m. extension at Beijing Capital International. Facility contains classrooms and a workshop. AAC now can host some 400 students for type training and 550 for basic/apprentice training at any given time. Ameco Beijing is a joint venture between Air China (60%) and Lufthansa (40%).
Turkish Airlines flew 17.3 billion RPKs through the first six months of 2009, up 11.2% from the year-ago semester. Capacity rose 19.1% to 25.3 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 4.8 points to 68.2%. Finnair flew 1.55 billion RPKs in June, down 13.4% year-over-year, against a 14.2% cut in capacity to 2.1 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.6 point to 74%. Air Berlin said June unit revenue rose 14% to 6.07 euro cents (8.63 cents). Passenger numbers fell 4.9% to 2.6 million on a 2.7% cut in seats to 3.3 million. Load factor slipped 1.8 points to 79.1%.
Air Canada and Jazz Air this week signed an MOU modifying their capacity purchase agreement. AC said the new accord will "provide us with reduced capacity purchase costs that are more consistent with market realities and will allow us to enjoy greater flexibility in our fleet deployment." Highlights of the revised agreement include a reduction in the mark-up rate paid to Jazz on the first 375,000 block hr. of flying from 16.7% to 12.5%; a reduction in AC's commitment to Jazz's minimum fleet from 133 aircraft to 125; an extension of the capacity purchase arrangement to Dec.
Frontier Airlines, operating under bankruptcy protection, reported net income of $12.6 million for the second quarter, reversed from a $57.7 million loss in the year-ago period. It said profit would have been $27.6 million excluding $14.9 million in reorganization expenses. It also reported a $5.1 million mark-to-market gain on fuel hedges. Revenue fell 23.6% to $275.6 million while expenses lowered 39.7% to $242.6 million, producing operating income of $33 million, reversed from a $41.5 million loss in the year-ago period.
Airbus and Boeing yesterday confirmed Ethiopian Airlines' orders for 12 A350-900s and five 777-200LRs respectively. The airline announced the deals Tuesday ( ATWOnline, July 29). The A350s are the first aircraft ET has ordered from Airbus, which has sold 493 of the next-generation widebodies.
Delta TechOps entered into an MOU with Hawaiian Airlines to provide Complete Fleet support for HA's new A330-200 fleet. Long-term agreement, which is valued at up to $500 million, also includes an extension of an existing deal covering its 767s.
Royal Jordanian reported net earnings of "around" JOD7.7 million ($10.8 million) for the first half of 2009, reversed from a JOD4 million loss in the year-ago semester. Revenue decreased 12.7% to JOD274 million on a 6% drop in passengers carried and a 33% fall in uplifted cargo. Operating cost fell 19.6% owing to cost-cutting measures and the dramatic decrease in fuel prices, the airline said. Passenger yield fell 9% and cargo yield 10%. Seat load factor in the first half dropped 6 points to 65%.
Ryanair yesterday said it has complained to the European Commission about Ireland's €10 ($14.23) air passenger duty, which it blamed for last month's decision to cut capacity at Dublin and Shannon ( ATWOnline, June 18).
Air France confirmed a Le Figaro report that one of its A320s flying from Rome Fiumicino to Paris Charles de Gaulle on July 13 had a "very brief six-second anomaly" in its airspeed data display that was "probably due to icing at high altitude." The aircraft was fitted with the new Thales BA probes, AF noted, adding that the crew applied the necessary procedures and the aircraft maintained its flight path with no change. The incident was reported and is being examined closely by manufacturers and authorities, AF said.
Lufthansa Group posted a €40 million ($56.9 million) profit in the second quarter, down a sharp 88.4% from the €345 million earned in the year-ago period, but remained €216 million in the red through the first half of the year owing to a rough first quarter.
While warning that it is too early to assess the potential financial impact of the swine flu outbreak, easyJet yesterday maintained its former guidance and said it expects to post an underlying pre-tax profit of £25-£50 million ($41.2-$82.4 million) in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 compared to a £123 million pre-tax profit in the year ended Sept. 30, 2008.
SpiceJet reported a INR263 million ($5.4 million) profit in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, reversed from a INR1.29 billion loss in the year-ago period. It said operating revenue rose 15% year-over-year on a 21% jump in passenger numbers. Unit cost fell 24% as ASKs climbed 12%. Load factor rose 6 points to 76%. "We had a great quarter given the challenges the industry continues to face. We saw an increased acceptance of our service by the consumers. This helped in absorbing the additional 10% capacity that we deployed over last year," CEO Sanjay Aggarwal said.
Air China (CNY1.5 billion ($219.3 million)), China Southern Airlines (CNY1.5 billion) and China Eastern Airlines (CNY100 million) are expected to receive additional capital injections from the Chinese government, according to Shanghai Securities News. CEA Board Secretary Luo Zhuping responded by saying that the airline will not receive any new money until its merger with Shanghai Airlines is complete ( ATWOnline, July 14).
LAN Airlines reported second-quarter net income of $4.2 million, down 93% from a $60.5 million profit in the year-ago period, but touted its continued growth even in a recession as traffic rose 13.5%.
Aria Airlines Il-62 that crashed in Mashhad on July 24, killing 16, was attempting to land too fast, Iranian Civil Aviation Organization Director Mohammad Ali Ilkhani told state television. "This plane should have landed at a maximum speed of 165 miles per hr. but it in fact landed at around 200 miles per hr.," he was quoted as saying by Agence France Presse. Deputy Transport Minister Ahmad Majidi told the ISNA news agency that "instead of landing at the beginning of the tarmac, the plane landed in the middle of the runway.
