Jetstar Airways launched services in New Zealand, taking over parent Qantas's flights between Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown. The QF mainline, which operated a small fleet of 737-400s in New Zealand, will withdraw from domestic service there.
Travelport GDS announced the launch of Travelport Agencia, an "industry-first" Web application used by Air Canada that will allow Galileo-connected travel agents to sell AC's full content. Travelport Agencia will enable agencies to display and book all AC fare families with real-time access to price and availability in addition to AC's a la carte offerings, the company said.
ICAO said it now expects global RPKs to fall 3.8% this year, a "bleak forecast" that it said "reflects the worsening of economic prospects," although it added that "signs of stabilization have emerged and further improvements in traffic results are expected for the remaining months of the year." North American traffic is forecast to fall the furthest at 7.2% while Europe drops 3%, Asia/Pacific 4.5% and Africa 4.2%. The Middle East is expected to increase 8% and Latin America and the Caribbean should rise 5.3%.
Jet Airways blasted a move by authorities in Delhi and Mumbai to hike airport costs as a "disaster," according to The Economic Times. "Airport charges are crazy. This is a disaster. This is absolutely not fair to the industry," Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal told media at IATA's annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week. He said Jet would cut capacity on its US service by 30% to reduce costs. The paper reported that each city's main airport increased charges by 10% while Mumbai raised development fees 278% and Delhi 137%.
United Airlines' credit facility rating was downgraded yesterday by Fitch Ratings, which warned that the carrier is facing "full-year passenger RASM declines of more than 10%" and "could report substantially negative free cash flow for the final three quarters of 2009."
Delta Air Lines said its international product will be standardized this month as it continues to integrate Northwest Airlines. All long-haul aircraft will feature DL's BusinessElite cabin, complimentary alcoholic beverages in economy and other offerings. In the coming months, DL will introduce a new business class amenity kit. It said it "continues its progress to achieve a single operating certificate by the end of the year."
Aviacsa, the Monterrey-based LCC grounded temporarily by Mexican authorities that accused it of maintenance irregularities ( ATWOnline, June 5), said on its website that it resumed service last Saturday. A judge nullified the suspension, according to press reports.
AirAsia will launch daily Kuala Lumpur-Colombo service on Aug. 15. It will be the LCC's third destination in southern Asia after Dhaka and Tiruchirappalli. Pacific Blue will introduce twice-weekly Queenstown-Sydney and thrice-weekly Wellington-Sydney and Dunedin-Brisbane flights on Sept. 1. Eurowings will resume its seasonal weekly Dusseldorf-Newquay Cornwall flight June 20 aboard a CRJ200.
Augsburg Airways took delivery of its first E-195. Aircraft seats 116 passengers in two classes and is part of an order for 30 E-Jets placed by Lufthansa two years ago.
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark told ATWOnline at the IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur that year-to-date passenger numbers are up 13% year-over-year but that first and business class traffic have plunged 50% on certain routes, a dynamic he believes will alter the industry's pricing regime in the long term.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh is persisting with his message that "our business is under threat," and while promising that he "intends to do everything possible to ensure we don't become the next [General Motors]," which filed for bankruptcy protection last week, he reiterated that "in order to survive we all need to take long-term action, and do it quickly."
Airports Council International Europe said April passenger traffic at European airports fell 4.8% year-over-year while freight traffic dropped 25.4%. Flight movements were down 9.3%. For the first four months of 2009, passenger throughput declined 10.4% whereas freight traffic plunged 24.4% and movements decreased 9.7%. Separately, BAA reported a 7.3% year-over-year drop in passenger traffic at its seven UK airports in May, including a 6.5% fall at London Gatwick and an 18.5% decline at Stansted.
Aerosource was awarded a five-year LRU service contract by Bombardier Aerospace covering MRO of the air driven generator used on both CRJ and Challenger aircraft. Aerosource also is the OEM for the DC-10 and MD-11 air driven generator.
Air France's largest pilots union said yesterday that management had informed it that at least two of three pitot tubes on each of the carrier's A330s/A340s will be replaced "within days," while EASA issued a statement declaring that all A330s "are airworthy and safe to operate." AF has said that it began replacing pitot tubes on A330s/A340s in late April, but its pilots expressed concern that the replacements weren't being done quickly enough given the focus on the possible role of pitot tubes in last week's A330-200 crash. The French BEA has stated that data transmitted by Flight 4
Air Canada said it reached tentative agreements on a "21-month pension funding moratorium and collective agreement extension" with three of its five unions representing more than 60% of its unionized workers that stand to gain an "equity stake" in the airline. Around 16,500 employees represented by the Canadian Auto Workers, the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Canadian Airlines Dispatchers Assn. would be covered by the tentative deal aimed at providing relief that AC insists it urgently needs.
UPS Airlines said it averted a pilot furlough by reaching agreement with the Independent Pilots Assn. on "a variety of voluntary steps" to cut $90 million in costs.
China Southern Airlines and Air France KLM have postponed the launch of their cargo joint venture indefinitely owing to the rapid slump in the global cargo market, CZ Chairman Si Xianmin told ATWOnline at the IATA AGM in Kuala Lumpur.
Aer Lingus said it will launch service from London Gatwick to Bucharest, Eindhoven, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Warsaw and Vilnius and suspend flights to Nice for the winter schedule. Vilnius service will begin Sept. 10, with the remaining five routes starting Oct. 25. Ukraine International Airlines launched twice-weekly Kiev Boryspil-Nice service on a 737.
ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy said the lessor is in talks with Bombardier regarding a potential order for the CSeries 110/130-seat family of jets. Speaking to ATWOnline on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Kuala Lumpur, Udvar-Hazy emphasized that "there are a lot of commercial issues and technical issues" that would have to be resolved before ILFC would move forward with an order. Among the latter, he mentioned engine performance guarantees. The CSeries will be powered exclusively by Pratt & Whitney's PW1000G geared turbofan.
Midwest Airlines said it obtained $12 million in additional debt financing, divided evenly between TPG Capital, the majority owner of the Milwaukee-based carrier, and Republic Airways. Midwest also announced an agreement with Republic to operate 12 37- and 50-seat ERJs, which will be phased into service from July through January 2010. Republic struck a deal with Midwest last September to operate 12 E-170s. As it expands its partnership with Republic ( ATWOnline, Sept.
RIO, an all-cargo startup airline in Brazil, said it received certification from the country's National Civil Aviation Agency and will begin operations this month. RIO said it will focus on airport-to-airport flying and "leave the distribution (logistics) to the specialized companies." It initially will operate one 727-200 freighter with a second of the type to be purchased and put into service in the second half of 2009. A route network was not revealed, but it said it will operate both domestic and international flights based out of Curitiba.
Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler was named chairman of the IATA Board of Governors for 2009-10 at the organization's AGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, succeeding Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali. Speaking to media here, Tyler said his first priority is to achieve "a workable, sensible approach to [airline] emissions." On Monday, IATA announced a commitment to achieving carbon neutral growth from 2020 ( ATWOnline, June 8).
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline beside the IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur that the group expects around a 10% decline in passenger numbers this year and a drop in revenue of some 20%.
US FAA will inspect training programs at regional airlines to ensure they are fully compliant with federal regulations, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, joined by FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, announced yesterday. The call for inspection follows revelations surrounding the Colgan Air Q400 crash that claimed 50 lives in February ( ATWOnline, May 15). "I have no greater obligation than to ensure the safety of airline travelers in this country," LaHood said. "One fatality is one too many."
