OpenSkies said it will suspend its daily Amsterdam-New York JFK service on Aug. 16, citing a significant drop in demand due to the current economic environment. The British Airways subsidiary launched the route late last year and said it developed a 16% market share since then, but "it was not enough to sustain a profitable service at this time," CEO Dale Moss conceded.
Cambodia Angkor Air, a joint venture between the Cambodian government (51%) and Vietnam Airlines (49%), was launched at a Phnom Penh ceremony yesterday. Officials said the startup is capitalized at $100 million and will begin flying today to Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City with two ATR 72s, according to press reports from the capital. Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said the carrier will operate an A321 in the "near future," and eventually will serve Sihanoukville and Bangkok. The country's Royal Air Cambodge shut down in 2001.
Ryanair reported a €123 million ($174.6 million) net profit in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, reversed from a €90.5 million loss in the year-ago period, but it issued a warning that full-year net income will be at the lower end of its previous guidance of €200-€300 million because its full-year decline in yield will be "at or slightly more" than 20%.
Airports Council International-World said the number of arriving and departing passengers worldwide was 4.87 billion in 2008, up just 0.1% from 2007. A record 1,357 airports, which account for 98% of global traffic, were included in the report released yesterday. "We are a long way from the dynamic 6.8% growth witnessed in 2007," ACI-World DG Angela Gittens said. Domestic freight dropped more than 5.4% while international freight was reduced by 2.5%. Aircraft movements fell 2.1% to 77 million. The impact of crude oil prices and the global recession were cited as reasons for the decline.
United Airlines said that around 2,100 flight attendants have accepted voluntary furloughs, eliminating the need for involuntary measures. By Aug. 31 UA will reduce its cabin staff by 2,100 positions, including the original 1,550 voluntary furloughs announced last fall ( ATWOnline, Sept. 29, 2008).
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings remained in the black in the second quarter, posting a $27.5 million profit that compared to a $54.3 million surplus in the year-ago period.
Aircell Chairman Ron LeMay and President and CEO Jack Blumenstein have swapped titles, the inflight Internet and communications service company announced.
Jet Airways suffered a INR2.25 billion ($46.1 million) loss in its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, a reversal from the year-ago period's INR1.43 billion profit, but said that "operationally the performance has stabilized" and that efforts to reduce capacity and costs "have started to show results."
Volga-Dnepr Group, the outsize air cargo specialist that also operates scheduled 747 freighter carrier AirBridgeCargo Airlines, said its overall traffic for the first six months of 2009 fell 5% to 835,000 FTKs. ABC actually saw an uptick as it transported 65,100 tons of freight during the half year, a 4.6% year-over-year increase.
AirTran Airways will launch thrice-weekly Harrisburg-Fort Lauderdale service Nov. 5 aboard a 717. Wizz Air will commence twice-weekly service from Bucharest to Catania and Forli Sept. 21 and Oct. 28 respectively. It will launch twice-weekly service from Katowice to Munich West and Venice Treviso Sept. 22 and 29 respectively (increasing to thrice-weekly from the winter schedule). Icelandair last week launched four-times-weekly Seattle-Reykjavik service and will begin twice-weekly Reykjavik-Brussels flights in June 2010.
American Airlines Friday raised its fee for a first and second checked bag on flights within the US by $5. The fee for the first bag will be $20 instead of $15 and for the second $30 instead of $25. The change, which also applies to American Eagle and AmericanConnection flights, will take effect for tickets purchased on or after Aug. 14.
Aria Air Il-62 originating in Tehran crashed on landing at Mashhad Friday, killing at least 16 including the carrier's managing director, in the second fatal crash in Iran in fewer than 10 days. Mehdi Dadpey, who was one of Aria's founders in 1999, headed the Iranian airline and also served as a flight captain including on Friday's doomed Flight 1525. The carrier was grounded by Iranian authorities following the crash.
Curtiss-Wright signed a data license with Boeing for the use of detail engineering design to obtain parts manufacturing authority for replacement flight control spare parts. License permits Curtiss-Wright Controls to manufacture licensed PMA parts under its FAA-approved system and distribute directly to operators.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Friday he would approve Air Canada's agreements with its unions and retirees for a 21-month moratorium on pension fund contributions and fixed payments for the 2011-13 period ( ATWOnline, July 21). He added that he "would not have [granted approval] without the consent of the unions."
ARINC was awarded a contract to install its vMUSE passenger check-in platform at Manila International's two main terminals. ARINC recently won the contract to supply the new passenger systems at Manila including 84 check-in counters and 15 boarding gates in Terminal 1 and 40 check-in counters and 6 boarding gates in T2.
Garuda Indonesia last week rolled out a new product, service concept and corporate identity. The carrier, which earlier this month was removed from the EU's list of banned airlines ( ATWOnline, July 15), is in the process of taking delivery of 64 aircraft over the next two years including 10 777-300ERs in 2011.
UK passengers have been making claims against British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways in increasing numbers relating to the carriers' price-fixing practices on long-haul flights between Aug. 11, 2004, and March 23, 2006, Dow Jones reported ( ATWOnline, July 14). More than 211,000 refunds have been processed so far, of which 170,000 are from UK passengers, claimant law firm Hausfeld & Co. LLP said. Payment has been authorized in 133,000 of these cases.
Embraer President and CEO Frederico Curado told reporters in Washington last week that keeping E-Jet production levels stable in 2010 will be "challenging" owing to the global economic downturn. "The [economic] signals we're getting are too faint to be regarded as a recovery," he explained, adding, "There's the economic downturn that affects airline demand. And then there's the [tight] financing market. We are shooting for a flattish 2010. We do have a sales challenge right now to keep our production levels stable in 2010, and 2011 is still very foggy."
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker ratcheted up his rhetoric about Boeing Friday, telling reporters ahead of a meeting with the manufacturer regarding the airline's delayed 787 program that "a lot of heads would roll" if he were running the company, according to USA Today.
ASIG renewed agreements with American Airlines to provide aircraft refueling services at seven US airports including Seattle-Tacoma, John Wayne, New Orleans and Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood.
Hainan Airlines opened a branch office in Shenzhen and said the move is part of an effort to expand its presence in the Pearl River region. "We plan to interconnect Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhuhai with Hong Kong," HNA VP-Marketing Chen Ming said. The company already has set up a branch office in Guangzhou and a sales center in Zhuha and holds 45% stakes in Hong Kong Express Airways and Hong Kong Airlines.
Kales Airline Services was appointed by Canadian carrier Air Transat Cargo to be its GSA in Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic states, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania and Ukraine.
Travelport GDS announced a new full-content agreement with Finnair providing Travelport GDS-connected travel agents worldwide with access to Finnair's entire published inventory and fares.
Air France KLM Group said revenue in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 plunged 20.5% year-over-year to €5.19 billion ($7.37 billion), reflecting continuation of the January-March trend and "in line with our expectations." Revenue in the passenger business fell 18.7% to €4.01 billion on the back of a 4.7% reduction in capacity, a 5.8% drop in traffic and a 14.5% decline in yield. Cargo revenue plummeted 41.5% to €544 million on a 22.7% decrease in traffic and 17.2% cut in capacity. Unit revenue was down 25.1%.
Aeroflot will defer delivery of two A320-200s from the 2010 first quarter to the first quarters of 2011 and 2012 and the delivery of three A321-200s from the 2010 third quarter to the first and third quarters of 2012, it said in a statement cited by Agence France Presse. "Given the current situation on the international air transport market, the board agreed to change the delivery schedule," SU said. Jat Airways announced plans to lease two 737-700s. It already has one 737-300 and one -400 on lease. No timetable for the -700s' arrival was announced.
