TRANSAERO AIRLINES CAN BOAST OF A LOT OF FIRSTS IN THE Russian airline industry. It was the first carrier to be awarded an AOC following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was the first 100% privately owned passenger airline in Russia and the first to operate Boeing aircraft. It was the first Russian carrier to introduce business class on domestic routes, to ban smoking on all routes, to develop and introduce a loyalty program for frequent fliers and to open its own business class lounge at its hub at Moscow Domodedovo.
Qantas's international operation suffered its worst-ever traffic decline in February, with passenger numbers plummeting 16.8% year-over-year to 554,000. Domestic passengers slumped 10.1% to 1.2 million, while low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways' domestic passenger count was off 3.3% to 556,000. The only bright spot was Jetstar International, where passengers jumped 25% to 162,000. Overall the airline group reported an 8.4% decline to 2.7 million passengers, with RPKs dropping 10.1% to 7.31 billion and ASKs falling 7.6% to 9.32 billion. Load factor sank 2.2 points to 78.4%.
SAS Group announced official completion of its sale of 80.1% of Spanair to Initiatives Empresarials Aeronautiques, a Catalonian consortium comprising Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona, Catalana d'Inciatives, Volcat 2009 and Fira de Barcelona, for €1 ($1.32). SAS will continue to hold the remaining 19.9% and to partner with the carrier ( ATWOnline, Feb. 2).
Contact Air, a Lufthansa Regional partner, was hit by wildcat pilot strikes yesterday in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Hof, Nurnberg and Stuttgart. The Cockpit union said more strikes would follow today. It is seeking a new contract for the 130 Contact Air pilots.
American Airlines announced it will install Aircell's Gogo inflight Internet service in more than 300 domestic aircraft over the next two years. It has been trialing the product on 15 767-200s operating transcontinental routes since August ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21, 2008). Installation on 150 MD-80s will begin next year, followed by 737-800s. The service will cost $7.95-$12.95 depending on the length of flight and whether the passenger is using a laptop computer or a PDA.
Delta Air Lines said new signage will be appearing this week at former Northwest Airlines hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul as part of its $500 million integration effort. It expects to have all domestic airports re-branded by year end, with international facilities finished next year. Former NWA employees began wearing DL uniforms this week as well. The carrier said 33 NWA aircraft already have been repainted, with some 250 left to complete before the end of 2010.
Lufthansa Technik yesterday officially opened its new Cabin Innovation research center in Hamburg. The €10 million ($13.2 million), 6,300-sq.-m. facility features testing laboratories and an exhibition center to showcase newly developed cabin products. LH's Hamburg base also includes a new engine overhaul center and an expanded Airframe Related Components business unit.
Southwest Airlines has committed to growth in 2010, according to a copy of its tentative contract with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. ( ATWOnline, March 30) obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
Jet Airways yesterday launched daily Mumbai-Kuwait City service aboard a 737-800. Emirates announced a May 1 increase in flights from Dubai to Dammam (to seven-times-weekly from five), Beirut (to 17-times-weekly from 14) and Tehran (to 21-times-weekly from 19).
Avianca reported a $23 million profit in 2008, down from $222.4 million in 2007, a drop it attributed partly to early pension payments. Revenue rose 25.3% to $1.9 billion on a 2.4% climb in passenger numbers to 9.8 million.
Blue Wings ceased operations yesterday following suspension of its operating license by the German LBA, which had changed the Dusseldorf-based carrier's operating status to provisional in January. Blue Wings launched in 2003 and flew mainly for German tour operators with nine A320s but has faced significant financial difficulties recently. It had an additional 20 A320s on order ( ATWOnline, Oct. 18, 2006). It transported 1.1 million passengers last year and employs 400.
TAM sank to a BRL1.34 billion ($577.4 million) loss in 2008, a reversal from the BRL468.6 million profit the Brazilian carrier earned in 2007, as its fuel hedges and the depreciation of the real eclipsed operational improvements.
Sustainable biofuels could be in use by airlines by 2014, experts confirmed yesterday. "We think it is quite reasonable that there will be commercial availability of some type in the next 3-5 years," Boeing Commercial Airplanes MD-Environmental Strategies Bill Glover said.
US FAA yesterday projected "a sharp decline in [commercial aviation] activity in the near term with a return to growth over the long term," though it cautioned that "the downside risk has increased" and growth will be slower than previously anticipated.
Reeling from a C$1.03 billion ($824.3 million) loss in 2008 and facing worker discontent over a growing pension shortfall and the pending dissolution of parent company ACE Aviation Holdings, Air Canada yesterday announced a front office restructuring and the resignation of President and CEO Montie Brewer effective today. He will be succeeded by Calin Rovinescu, who was an AC executive from 2000 to 2004 before joining Genuity Capital Markets, a Canadian investment bank.
Nav Canada said it reached a tentative collective agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers/Canadian Air Traffic Control Assn. Agreement is subject to ratification. Terms were not released.
Bombardier landed another order for its CSeries, with Dublin-based Lease Corp. International Aviation signing a firm purchase agreement valued at an estimated $1.44 billion for three CS100 and 17 CS300 aircraft along with 20 unspecified CSeries options. Privately held LCI was founded in 2004 and currently has one A320-200, one A330-200, one 737-600, one 737-800 and one 747-400 in its portfolio. It has six A330-300s on order scheduled to be delivered by the end of next year. It sold 21 aircraft in late 2007 as part of a fleet renewal program.
Usablenet, a mobile-Web platform, launched mobile browser service for Emirates' and British Airways' websites, allowing travelers to access them from phones or PDAs.
East Star Airlines will go bankrupt because of its inability to pay off its debts, according to the Wuhan municipal government. East Star's six debtors reportedly have asked the local court to liquidate the carrier, which suffered a CNY500 million ($73.1 million) operating loss last year. It is in arrears with both GECAS and Wuhan Tianhe International Airport and also is behind on its fuel and insurance payments ( ATWOnline, March 25).
Nordam Group's interiors and structures division delivered bar structures for Air New Zealand's 777-200s and V Australia's 777-300s. Nordam was awarded the ANZ bar project by Altitude, ANZ's aircraft interiors business, in December covering eight aircraft. Two delivered in February, four are scheduled to deliver this month, with the last in April. Additionally, Nordam said it was awarded a contract from Altitude for 20 shipsets that represents the first program award directly to the OEM.
41st Parameter said US Airways selected its FraudNet solution to detect and prevent "card not present" fraud across multiple reservation channels and to protect its loyalty program accounts from compromise and fraudulent access. Solution uses PC fingerprinting technology.
