Continental Airlines 737-500 that crashed on takeoff at Denver last month suffered a ruptured fuel tank in the right wing ( ATWOnline, Dec. 23, 2008), causing fuel to spill onto the engine, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
Russian aerospace manufacturer NPK Irkut invited bids from both domestic and foreign suppliers to provide engines and major systems for the prospective medium-range MS-21 twinjet.
The European Commission extended the deadline of its review of Lufthansa's bid to acquire Brussels Airlines parent SN Airholding to Jan. 26 from Jan. 12. The parties notified the EC of the intended transaction in late November ( ATWOnline, Sept. 16, 2008). In a first stage, LH would take 45% of the Belgian carrier through a capital increase of €65 million ($89.4 million) following regulatory clearance. It holds an option to buy the rest from 2011.
Ryanair extended to Feb. 13 the deadline for Aer Lingus shareholders to accept its takeover offer while confirming that on the initial closing date of Jan. 5 it had received acceptances totaling just 29.83% of the shares in EI, including its own stake of 29.82%.
Turkish Airlines late last month announced the acquisition of four new A321-200s. Source of the aircraft was not announced. They will seat 20 in business class and 158 in economy. Two joined the fleet last month, one is scheduled to arrive this month and the fourth will be delivered in February. Separately, THY announced the launch of services from Istanbul Ataturk to Nairobi (thrice-weekly from Feb. 23), Sao Paulo Guarulhos via Dakar (twice-weekly from March 22), Lviv (thrice-weekly from April 20) and Mashad (thrice-weekly from March 15).
Aeroflot said it plans to post a profit of RUB9.3 billion ($316 million) this year, which would be "higher than the expected level of 2008," as it moves forward with a plan and budget "taking into account the anti-crisis-management program aimed at increasing the efficiency of the operational and commercial activity."
Seven US airlines late last month filed suit in the US Court of Appeals seeking to reverse a new FAA rule requiring pilots to take additional rest following nonstop flights longer than 16 hr. The carriers--American Airlines, Continental Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, JetBlue Airways, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and Evergreen International Airlines--claimed that FAA "bypassed the rulemaking process" and "deprived stakeholders with expertise on the underlying safety issues the opportunity to participate in a public comment process," according to press reports.
The mystery surrounding what is now dubbed the Ningaloo Triangle centered at Western Australia's North West Cape near Exmouth deepened last week when it was confirmed that Qantas experienced a second air data inertial reference unit failure in just four months in the area ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17, 2008).
Air Canada boosted its liquidity with a series of financial agreements in late December. It arranged a five-year, $78 million loan from Calyon New York Branch and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale and secured a revolving credit facility with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which agreed to provide AC with up to C$100 million ($82.9 million) of revolving credit for one year. AC said it drew C$50 million from the facility upon closing. The carrier also concluded a series of agreements for secured financings with General Electric Capital Corp.
The Chinese government injected an additional CNY4 billion ($584.5 million) into China Eastern Airlines on top of the CNY3 billion provided last month in an effort to help the carrier work through its financial difficulties. The Shanghai-based airline plans to sell nonpublic shares to its parent China Eastern Air Holding Co. in order to reach the CNY7 billion total ( ATWOnline, Dec. 11, 2008). The holding company's stake in CEA will rise to 74.6% from 59.7%.
Republic Airways flew 783.4 million RPMs in December, up 6.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.1% to 1.12 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.4 points to 79.75.
Ryanair called a recent amendment to Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion's employee contract awarding him €2.8 million ($3.9 million) if he resigns following a takeover as "indefensible and unprecedented." Irish media revealed the clause over the weekend. In a letter to EI Chairman Colm Barrington, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary argued that the contract proves that management has no faith in Aer Lingus's future as an independent airline.
Copa Airlines announced a firm order for four 737-800s for delivery "within the next three years." It now has 13 737s on order, plus options, and currently operates 27 737NGs and 15 E-190s.
Airbus delivered its 12th A380 in 2008 and fourth to Emirates on Dec. 30 in Hamburg, meaning the manufacturer met its delivery schedule for the year, President and CEO Tom Enders announced. "This gives us a good basis to further ramp up our production in 2009," he said. Singapore Airlines took five A380s last year and Qantas three.
Lufthansa Flight Training and Moscow Vnukovo signed an MOU to form a joint venture to establish and operate a simulator center for pilot training. LFT said Vnukovo already has funded preparatory work for construction, which is slated for completion by year end. Training is scheduled to begin in January 2010.
Etihad Airways carried just over 6 million passengers in 2008, a 34% increase on 2007, as it expanded its fleet with nine aircraft to 42 and launched six new routes on a network now spanning 50 cities. Load factor soared 7 points to 75%, with business class loads rising to 63%. Etihad Crystal Cargo reported a 16% increase in freight to 202,430 tonnes. EY will launch new service to Melbourne and Lagos in March. This month it officially will open a new passenger terminal at Abu Dhabi International. Terminal 3 is a 550,000-sq.-ft.
Air New Zealand operated a 2-hr. 747-400 biofuel test flight from Auckland on Dec. 29 using a 50/50 blend of jatropha-based fuel and standard jet fuel to power one of the aircraft's Rolls-Royce RB211s.
Southwest Airlines said it reduced its fuel hedge contracts to cover just around 10% of its estimated consumption each year through 2013. This year it expects to save approximately $1.4 billion compared to the guidance provided last summer as its economic fuel cost per gal. excluding taxes is expected to be around $1.80. Its current unhedged estimate is $1.60 per gal.
Tiger Airways scrapped its plan to launch a low-cost airline at South Korea's Incheon International, which announced a delay to the project last summer ( ATWOnline, Aug. 27, 2008). Tiger (49%) and the Incheon city government (51%) cited "the global economic situation" and "continued regulatory uncertainty in Korea," according to press reports.
GKN Aerospace yesterday said it will assume ownership and operational control of Airbus's former UK-based wing component and assemblies manufacturing plant at Filton. The move follows European regulatory approval and is projected to double GKN's order book for large civil aircraft structures. The Filton site has 1,500 employees and brings GKN's global workforce to 10,000.
Singapore Airlines is negotiating leave without pay with its cargo pilots, VP-Public Relations Stephen Forshaw told Agence France Presse. Unpaid leave periods could reach 30 months. "The outlook for the freight industry is weak. . .shipping companies are parking vessels and all-cargo airlines are being severely affected," Forshaw told the news agency. He said SIA Cargo "will work cooperatively with its staff and unions" on the matter and that layoffs "will only be considered as a matter of last resort." There are no discussions for unpaid leave with passenger pilots, he noted.
On Jan. 1, Lufthansa Technik established Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International, a 100% subsidiary integrating the former Condor/Cargo Technik it previously had acquired. LTMI will be based at Frankfurt Airport and will assume responsibility for airline third-party MRO activities previously handled by LHT.
The late November seizure of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport by political protesters and the more limited incident by environmentalists at London Stansted in December have again illustrated the air transport industry's extreme vulnerability to disruptions caused by external forces. We hope that these incidents will provide a wakeup call to governments and airport operators that may have grown sleepy and overconfident in recent years as the immediacy of 9/11 has receded.
