Lufthansa Systems said AeroLogic, the cargo airline owned by DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo, will use the Lido eRoute Manual for its navigation charts. It also chose the Lido FMS navigation database service for the flight management system and will calculate crew rotations with NetLine/Crew. In addition, AeroLogic will use NetLine/Sched for schedule management, NetLine/Ops for all operational control processes and Lido OC for flight planning via DHL Express.
Emirates will operate one of its two daily Dubai-Birmingham flights with an A380 on Sept. 9 to celebrate Birmingham International's 70th anniversary. "We hope that many travelers from around the region will take advantage of this opportunity to fly on the superjumbo for the first time," President Tim Clark said.
US federal judge ruled against defendants including Boeing and five US airlines on a pre-trial motion relating to 22 9/11 lawsuits that are likely to start later this year. The judge stated that the defendants will not be allowed to question the FBI and other government agencies during the trials.
Aer Lingus on Friday named Christoph Mueller CEO, replacing Dermot Mannion, who stepped down in April. Mueller, 47, most recently served as TUI Travel's aviation director, a position that gave him responsibility for the company's seven airlines. He joined TUI in early 2006 ( ATWOnline, Oct. 1, 2008). Prior to that, he was DHL Worldwide's CFO and a member of Duetsche Post's executive committee. EI said he also has held senior positions with Daimler Benz Aerospace, Lufthansa and Sabena.
Germania will launch weekly 737-700 flights between Dusseldorf and Zonguldak, Turkey, on July 21. Turkish Airlines is adding a stop in Jakarta to its five-times-weekly Istanbul-Singapore service from Aug. 30. Route will be flown IST-SIN-JKT-SIN-IST. World Airways extended its contract with Allied Air to operate an MD-11 freighter on a fulltime basis through December 2011 on an Ostend-Lagos-Nairobi-Ostend routing. It has been operating the MD-11F on the route for Allied since October 2008.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the government is strongly considering providing a INR25 billion ($512 million) capital injection to Air India.
WestJet and Air France KLM launched their interline partnership, allowing AF KLM passengers to connect to Calgary-Vancouver WS flights as well as flights from both cities to Edmonton. In February the airlines said they had signed an MOU signaling their intention to codeshare by late 2009 or early 2010 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5).
Delta MEC of the Air Line Pilots Assn. said yesterday that 215 pilots have opted to take advantage of the carrier's Pilot Retirement Incentive Program, which ended Wednesday night.
Acculynk announced that AirTran Airways has started offering customers the option to pay for online purchases with its PaySecure software, which offers users a PIN debit system that does not require enrollment or a password.
Two flight data recorders were recovered but reportedly were badly damaged at the site of the Caspian Airlines Tu-154M crash Wednesday morning that killed all 168 onboard ( ATWOnline, July 16). A third recorder has not been located. A spokesperson from Armenia's General Dept. of Civil Aviation told RIA Novosti that the aircraft underwent a full maintenance check last month and was cleared to fly until year end.
American Airlines is reevaluating the future of 757-200s in its fleet, Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey revealed this week. Speaking to reporters and analysts following the release of second-quarter results highlighted by a steep revenue drop ( ATWOnline, July 16), he said the carrier is continuing to look for ways to operate more cost efficiently. While emphasizing that no decisions have been made, AA is trying to determine whether it wants its more than 120 757s to play a prominent role in its long-term future.
US National Transportation Safety Board said "no significant corrosion or obvious pre-existing mechanical damage" was found on the Southwest Airlines 737-300 that developed a hole in its fuselage Monday while flying from Nashville to Baltimore ( ATWOnline, July 15). SWA is repairing the aircraft in Charleston, W.Va., where it landed following a "rapid decompression." NTSB said the hole measured approximately 17 in. by 8 in. and that its investigation will continue.
TAM flew 1.97 billion domestic RPKs in June, up 0.8% year-over-year. Capacity rose 4.7% to 3.05 billion ASKs and load factor fell 2.5 points to 64.7%. International traffic was up 18.1% to 1.42 billion RPKs, capacity rose 25.5% to 2.08 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 4.3 points to 68.3%. SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.63 billion RPMs in June, up 4.9% year-over-year, against a 1.9% rise in capacity to 1.98 billion ASMs. Load factor climbed 2.3 points to 82.3%.
Copa Airlines signed up for 13 additional 737-800s yesterday, an order worth approximately $1 billion at list prices, while Boeing said it has inked orders for eight more 737s from unidentified customer(s). The Copa commitment also includes eight options and brings to 27 the number of 737NGs the Panamanian carrier has on firm order. Delivery of the 13 new aircraft is scheduled to run from 2012 into 2015, with the eight options available between 2015 and 2017. Aircraft will be outfitted with Boeing's Sky Interior, designed to mimic the more modern cabin of the 787.
Lufthansa is moving forward with its effort to achieve €1 billion ($1.4 billion) in cost savings through the end of 2011, according to an internal letter to employees sent by Lufthansa Passenger Airlines Chairman and CEO Cristoph Franz.
Additional East Star Airlines debtors have applied to take over the troubled carrier despite the fact that China National Aviation Fuel Holding Co. and Shanghai YuField have made no progress in their appeals to acquire the Wuhan-based airline. The newly interested debtors include five CNAF subsidiaries and airports in Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.
Juneyao Airlines took delivery of its first purchased A320, Airbus announced. The Shanghai-based carrier also operates two leased A319s and eight leased A320s, with 10 more due to join the fleet through lease and purchase by 2013. Juneyao ordered six A320s from Airbus in June 2007. Aircraft is powered by CFM56 engines and will seat 158 passengers across two classes.
Ryanair announced an expansion to its Oslo area service comprising new routes from Rygge to Brussels Charleroi (seven-times-weekly), Bremen (thrice-weekly), London Stansted (twice-daily) and Madrid (four-times-weekly) beginning in October and to Alicante (twice-weekly), Girona (twice-weekly) and Bergamo (thrice-weekly) in November. It also will launch flights from Oslo Torp to Paris Beauvais (seven-times-weekly) in September and to Krakow (four-times-weekly) Lodz (thrice-weekly) and Rome Ciampino (thrice-weekly) in November.
APG-GA was selected by Santa Barbara Airlines as its GSA in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Nordic and Baltic countries, France and the UK. Aviareps was selected by Air Arabia Maroc to serve as GSA in Germany.
Continental Airlines Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner will leave the airline at year end after five years at the helm and 14 with the Houston-based carrier and will be succeeded by President and COO Jeff Smisek, CO announced late yesterday.
London Gatwick's sale by UK airports operator BAA is in doubt after the last remaining bidder reportedly refused to budge from its original £1.4 billion ($2.29 billion) offer. BAA parent Ferrovial apparently 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. A second bidder, Global Infrastructure Partners, which owns about 75% of London City, reportedly dropped out after BAA rejected its £1.36 billion offer.
Air Canada said all five of its domestic unions have ratified cost-neutral agreements on labor stability and pension relief following the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers vote Wednesday. The union had rejected the deal two weeks ago ( ATWOnline, July 2).
International passengers traveling on premium tickets decreased 23.6% year-over-year in May, marking the 12th consecutive month in which premium traffic was in decline, IATA said yesterday, warning that a "de-globalization" may be occurring that could discourage international business travel and trade even as economies recover.
Singapore Airlines is retrofitting seven 777-300s with new first and business class seats and improvements to the economy cabin including new seat covers and IFE systems. It said the remainder of the 777 fleet will be upgraded "at a later date." First aircraft is due to enter service with the enhancements on July 22, with the rest introduced before year end.
