Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 6.67 billion RPKs in June, down 14.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 9.1% to 8.67 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 4.5 points to 76.8%. Iberia flew 4.34 billion RPKs in June, down 5.1% year-over-year. Capacity fell 7.3% to 5.23 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.9 points to 83%. EasyJet transported 4.1 million passengers in June, up 0.8% year-over-year. Load factor dipped 0.6 point to 86.3%.
Innovata signed a long-term contract to supply its worldwide schedules data, minimum connect time and "full range of reference support files" to Sabre Holdings to support Sabre's GDS business.
Pet Airways, a pets-only airline operated by Omaha-based Suburban Air Freight, operated its inaugural flight Tuesday on a New York Republic-Baltimore-Chicago Midway routing with 35-40 pets onboard. The airline's Beech 1900 has had the seats and overhead bins removed, leaving space for pet carriers in the main cabin. It also will serve Denver Rocky Mountain and Los Angeles Hawthorne.
AirBaltic CEO Bertolt Flick will be one of just a few airline heads to regard 2009 as a success, despite the fact that the "whole Baltic market has been affected by the [economic] crisis," he told ATWOnline, because the carrier has "found our niche with less competition and is expecting a very profitable year."
OAG said global airline passenger capacity cuts "are starting to stabilize," evidenced by 315 million seats on offer for this month, down just 1% from July 2008. VP-Market Intelligence David Beckerman said the figures, "show a clear and very welcome upward trend from the dramatic [capacity] declines we have seen in recent months. We can only wait and see if this outlook bears financial fruit in actual passenger numbers and airline load factors."
Singapore Airlines will begin operating the A380 to Melbourne on Sept. 29. The Victoria capital will be the second Australian city, and sixth overall, to which SIA flies the aircraft. Daily service will replace an existing 747-400 frequency, increasing seat capacity by 10% on the 21-times-weekly service. SIA currently has nine A380s in operation.
Nordic Aviation Capital, a lessor of turboprop transports, is opening an office in Singapore. It will be headed by VP-Sales and Acquisitions Mats Ericson, who joined NAC in May from Avion Aviation.
Aircell yesterday unveiled two new pricing options for its Gogo inflight Internet service. Access on flights shorter than 1.5 hr. on AirTran Airways, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Virgin America will cost $5.95, while a 24-hr. pass on either AirTran or DL will cost $12.95. Aircell also offers a 30-day pass on FL, DL or VX for $49.95. Standard rates of $9.95 for flights of 1.5-3 hr. and $12.95 for flights longer than 3 hr. still apply. Individual airlines had the option to adopt the various pricing plans.
Japan Airlines' loss for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, originally expected to be similar to the ¥63.1 billion ($681.2 million) lost last year ( ATWOnline, June 16), may double if retirees do not approve pension reductions exceeding 50%. According to Bloomberg News, two-thirds of the approximately 9,000 pensioners must agree to the cuts, and a website operated by JAL's retirees said that 2,900 already have registered their disapproval.
Sensis said its Low Cost Ground Surveillance was selected for evaluation by US FAA as part of the agency's LCGS Pilot Program aimed at reducing runway incursions at small- and medium-size airports. Sensis will be deploying its initial system at Long Beach.
US Airways will cut 600 ground positions at nine airports in response to declining revenue and the falloff of business demand, it said yesterday. Work will be outsourced to contractors at airports served primarily by regional partners operating as US Airways Express. US also said it will ask 400 flight attendants to take voluntary furloughs in order to prevent layoffs. "Today's economy demands we continue to look for ways to control costs," COO Robert Isom wrote in a memo to employees provided to ATWOnline.
US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an incident in which a Southwest Airlines 737-300 flying Monday from Nashville to Baltimore made an emergency landing in Charleston, W.Va., owing to "a 1 ft. hole. . .discovered in the top of the fuselage" that caused cabin depressurization. There were no injuries reported. SWA said yesterday it had inspected its more than 180 -300s following the incident and found no similar structural problems.
Austrian Airlines Group will need €1 billion ($1.39 billion) in new capital if its pending acquisition by Lufthansa falls through, Chairman Peter Michaelis told shareholders yesterday at a Vienna meeting. The company has spent two-thirds of the €200 million loan from the Austrian government and is carrying more than €1 billion in debt, Reuters reported.
News from Travel Technology Update: If you disappoint your passengers, "it will be public, and it will live forever," Forrester Research analyst Henry Harteveldt said at the recent SITA IT Summit in Cannes, France. Harteveldt was talking about social media phenomena such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter, which allow travelers to broadcast their experiences immediately to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people.
Spirit Airlines will launch twice-weekly Fort Lauderdale-Armenia, Colombia, service Nov. 13. Wizz Air will launch thrice-weekly Budapest-Dusseldorf Weeze service on Sept. 21 and twice-weekly Sofia-Eindhoven on Oct. 25. AirAsia will launch flights to Singapore from Miri (four-times-weekly on Sept. 9) and Tawau (thrice-weekly on Sept. 10).
Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines and Iran's Mahan Air were added to the EU's list of banned airlines, while Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Premiair were removed from the "blacklist." The latest update, issued yesterday, did not include Yemenia Yemen Airways despite recent controversy following the June 29 A310-300 crash that killed 152 passengers and crew ( ATWOnline, July 8).
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh continued to maintain yesterday that the carrier is in a "fight for survival" and that "just hoping for old high-roller times to return is the road to oblivion" at the company's annual shareholders meeting in London.
Jetlink Express, a Nairobi-based regional, will take delivery of a BAe 146 this month on wet-lease from Albanian Airlines. Aircraft will be in use for six months to serve Kisumi, replacing a CRJ200 that will be unable to handle that airport's shortened runway during refurbishment. Albanian operates three BAe 146s but can spare one following its recent wet-lease of an MD-82.
Norwegian Air Shuttle reported consolidated net profit of NOK180.2 million ($27.6 million) in the second quarter, an impressive reversal from the NOK62.2 million loss incurred in the year-ago period. "I am very pleased with the company's performance. Despite operating in an industry facing large economic challenges, we deliver the most profitable second quarter in the company's history," CEO Bjorn Kjos said, noting that the carrier's "competitive cost base enables us to be profitable across our whole route network."
Key US senators yesterday introduced an FAA reauthorization bill that would provide more than $40 billion in funding for agency operations in 2010 and 2011 and set accelerated deadlines for modernizing the US ATC system, but would push contentious questions over long-term funding and how to cover the cost of upgrading ATC to 2011.
AirTran Airways said it has completed installation of Gogo inflight Internet in its entire 136-aircraft fleet ( ATWOnline, May 13). Continental Airlines said it has completed installation of live DirecTV service on 15 aircraft operating in the continental US. It plans to offer the service on its entire 737NG fleet, numbering more than 200 aircraft, by the end of 2010. First class passengers can watch for free while economy passengers must pay $
Atlantic Southeast Airlines will furlough 56 pilots beginning Sept. 1 in addition to the previously announced 80, it confirmed yesterday ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12). "The furlough is a result of the recessionary economy that has driven down demand, resulting in our fall schedule to be lower than our original estimate," an ASA spokesperson told ATWOnline. The wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest Holdings operates as a regional partner for Delta Air Lines.
