British Airways CEO Willie Walsh, writing in the company's in-house BA News, told employees that the carrier "is in a fight for survival" and cautioned that temporary solutions "just aren't enough."
SR Technics signed a technical training agreement with Etihad Airways running until February 2010 covering 1,000 instructor days of theoretical and practical training on A320s and A330s/A340s as well as difference training, run-up in simulators, health and safety and aviation/technical English.
Alitalia received a fifth new A320, part of a major fleet renewal comprising 90 new A320s by 2013 and 14 A330s. It will take delivery of a further nine A320s by year end. All seats on the new A320 fleet are equipped with LCD screens and AZ is replacing seats on its existing Airbus fleet. Its fleet currently comprises 153 aircraft, 135 used for short/medium haul and 18 on long-haul flights.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters that an Air India IPO will be "considered" once the "stock markets do better," but that the government will "keep control." He said the airline "is not going to lose its public sector character. It is not going to be privatized or disinvested completely. It would bring in much needed equity infusion." The government reversed course on plans to offer 15% of AI last summer ( ATWOnline, Aug. 22, 2008).
BAE Systems Asset Management arranged the placement of a BAe 146-200QT freighter with PT Nusantara Air Charter of Indonesia. Aircraft was owned by Erik Thun and previously was managed by European Turboprop Management of Sweden.
China Eastern Airlines is expected to hold 65% of its new Kunming-based joint venture with the Yunnan provincial government, with which it signed an agreement Sunday. The government will hold the remainder and is investing both real estate and cash. The new carrier will not fly with CEA's logo or code but will use the green logo of Yunnan Airlines, the predecessor of CEA's local branch company that merged with the larger airline in 2002. It will adopt its own name and flight code.
Gate Gourmet announced the purchase of United Airlines' Tokyo Narita flight kitchen and will provide catering and provisioning services to UA under a new long-term deal. The company said the acquisition will more than double its production capacity at NRT.
China Southern Airlines received government approval for a private placement of 721.2 million A shares worth more than CNY2.28 billion ($333.4 million), SinoCast reported. Proceeds will be used to pay off loans and are part of a capital increase that also will include 721.2 million H shares. Both reportedly will be subscribed to by an overseas subsidiary of CZ parent China Southern Air Holding Co.
Air Malta is enjoying a reasonably stable ride through the current industry crisis thanks to decisions made several years ago, but it remains weighed down by excess staff, CEO Joe Cappello told ATWOnline recently. "Thanks to increased efficiency and productivity, today our cost base is significantly lower than what it was six years ago. Had these changes not been implemented, KM would not have had a fighting chance to survive in the turbulent aviation business, especially in these last couple of years," he said.
Amadeus said total travel bookings fell 2.1% last year to 526.6 million but its revenue was up 2.2% from 2007 to €2.86 billion ($4.05 billion). It said its market share rose 1.7 points to 35.6%. In the first quarter of 2009, its travel agency bookings slid 9.1% year-over-year and the entire GDS market dropped an estimated 13.2%, it said.
SkyTeam said the first level of its first co-branded alliance lounge, located in London Heathrow's Terminal 4, will open Thursday. Facility eventually will consist of two floors covering more than 1,600 sq. m. Second level is scheduled to open in November. Eligible passengers on Delta Air Lines, KLM, Continental Airlines and Kenya Airways will have access immediately, with more coming as additional SkyTeam carriers shift operations to T4.
Assn. of European Airlines members said last week that there remains no indication about when an economic recovery might begin and that the current downturn could have a "profound impact on the market" well past this year. IATA said last week, "The worst may be over.
Flydubai's inaugural flight departed from Dubai International's Terminal 2 yesterday morning on its way to Beirut, marking "an opening of the skies for low-cost travel to and from the Emirate," the startup said. The 737-800, operating as FZ157, carried 189 passengers and arrived in Lebanon a little more than 3.5 hr. later.
Emirates yesterday began serving Toronto (thrice-weekly) and Bangkok (daily) with the A380. EK's next new A380 destination will be Incheon on Dec. 1. It also announced the addition of 22 weekly flights to India, bringing the number to 185 in the coming months. It serves 10 Indian cities. Royal Jordanian yesterday launched twice-weekly Amman-Benghazi service. It also added a fourth daily flight to Beirut. AirAsia yesterday launched daily service from Singapore to Penang and Langkawi.
AAR was selected by IAI's Bedek Aviation Group to provide the cargo system for its 767-300 conversion program. AAR and IAI developed a GMF system for the 767-200 conversion in 2002.
Search aircraft scoured wide swaths of the South Atlantic yesterday in search of any trace of the Air France A330-200 that lost contact with Brazilian ATC after possibly encountering a severe thunderstorm Sunday night. AF Flight 447 departed Rio de Janeiro Galeao at 7:30 p.m. local time May 31 carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew. Contact with the aircraft was lost approximately 3.5 hr. later, shortly after the pilots reported encountering heavy turbulence some 360 mi. off Brazil's northeast coast, according to press reports.
AIR NOSTRUM CHIEF EXECUTIVE CARLOS BERTOMEU TAKES A deep, long draw from his Montecristo cigar before responding to the inevitable question about the kind of year the airline is having: "2009 will be point of inflection in our history of steady growth and profitability," he says with noticeable regret in his voice.
FOR THE US TRANSPORTATION SECURITY Administration and the international air cargo industry, the definitions of "screen," "cargo" and "100%" have become critically important. That's because by August 2010, 100% of cargo transported on passenger aircraft to, from and within the US must be pre-screened under the Improving America's Security Act of 2007 (also known as the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act, or the 9/11 Act).
IT'S HARDER THAN EVER AMID THE CURRENT financial crisis to find a buyer for a commercial aircraft, let alone one that's been grounded for some time or retired. Most of the hundreds of planes parked in the desert boneyards of the western US never again will return to revenue service. Boeing projects more than 8,000 aircraft will be retired by 2025.
An International Chamber of Commerce arbitration tribunal ordered IATA to cease using any ticketing information transmitted by Amadeus in its PaxIS product. The tribunal found that IATA's use of the data breached its contractual agreements with Amadeus and infringed on Amadeus' rights under the European Union Database Directive. The directive states that the holder of database rights may prohibit the extraction and/or re-utilization of the whole or of a substantial part of the database contents.
