Greek Transport Minister Costis Hadzidakis said "at least" 10 companies expressed interest in acquiring Olympic Airlines' flight, maintenance and ground handling operations, with six being interested in all three, according to press reports from Athens ( ATWOnline, Nov. 3). He confirmed that neither Aegean Airlines nor Lufthansa are among the interested parties.
Bmi declined comment on rumors that it intends to cancel long-haul operations from Manchester. A source told ATWOnline that CEO Nigel Turner will inform unions about the restructuring and make a formal announcement Wednesday. Bmi presently flies to Chicago O'Hare, Las Vegas, Antigua and Barbados from MAN.
Frontier Airlines won US Bankruptcy Court approval to cancel its labor agreement with mechanics and material specialists represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union announced yesterday. IBT agreed to wage concessions last week but would not consent to permanent outsourcing of heavy check maintenance to Aeroman. The court said Frontier may outsource "only as a last resort, after it has exhausted all other options to perform the heavy check work at its Denver repair station," according to IBT.
Cathay Pacific Airways finally has decided to phase out its 777-200s, rationalizing its 777 fleet around the -300 and -300ER while cutting capacity. It has been considering the future of its -200s for some time, as its fleet is built around the A330-300 for regional flying and the 777-300 for heavy trunk routes. It will attempt to sell the aircraft.
Singapore Airlines will cancel its Singapore-Amritsar service on Feb. 4. KLM Cityhopper will operate thrice-daily Amsterdam-Liverpool next summer aboard 80-seat F70s. EasyJet will launch daily London Gatwick-Copenhagen on Jan. 15. Jet Airways started four-times-weekly Bangalore-Brussels. Service will operate daily Dec. 15-Jan. 15. Pacific Blue launched four-times-weekly Brisbane-Port Moresby aboard 737-800s. Airlines PNG is codesharing on the route.
AirAsia X took delivery of the first of 25 new A330-300s last week in Toulouse. Aircraft is powered by Trent 700s and will seat 28 premium and 355 economy passengers.
EU's revision of the third package of its aviation regulation became law Saturday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 5, 2007). The regulation lays down rules for the granting of operating licenses, control of airlines and market access. It also requires carriers to include all taxes and charges in published ticket prices and bans price discrimination based on place of residence. "Fair competition is the key to success.
IATA late last month extended its e-freight pilot program to the US, New Zealand and Australia. American Airlines, United Airlines, British Airways and KLM began transporting a portion of cargo between New York JFK and London Heathrow and Amsterdam without most paper documents. Similarly, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and DHL began paperless cargo carriage on flights from New Zealand to Singapore and Hong Kong.
Olympic Airlines employees walked out again last Thursday, grounding nearly 100 flights and disrupting other air traffic in a runway protest against Greece's plan to sell the ailing state carrier ( ATWOnline, Oct. 1). The Greek government is looking for an investor to bail out Olympic, which has been losing nearly €2 million per day. Deadline for bidders was Sunday, and as of last week Qatar Airways was the only potential investor whose interest had been made public ( ATWOnline, Oct.
Air New Zealand today will roll out its new domestic airport product featuring a range of technical and design innovations designed to speed check-in and boarding. Unveiling will take place at Auckland's domestic terminal, where new kiosks will enable passengers to print their own bag tags and a conveyor belt bag drop zone will help shorten or eliminate queues. New gate scanners will allow for straight-to-gate check-in and boarding for those without bags.
APG Global Associates added Transaero and Daallo Airlines of Djibouti to its interline e-ticketing program. More than 20 carriers have signed with APG-GA in the past five months and 13 more are expected, according to President Jean Louis Baroux.
Admitting that "conditions for profitable business are increasingly marginal," Finnair reported a €17.3 million third-quarter loss, reversed from a €39.6 million profit in the three-month period ended Sept. 30, 2007. "What is usually our best quarter of the year fell far short of expectations," President and CEO Jukka Hienonen said, citing high fuel prices and the fact that "aircraft are increasingly filled with leisure passengers who pay less for their tickets."
Kuzu Airlines Cargo took delivery of the first of three A310-300 freighters it said it has purchased from Emirates. Remaining two will be delivered to the Istanbul-based carrier this month and next.
A J Walter Aviation will provide Jet Time with power-by-the-hour for four 737s under a five-year deal. Consignment stock will be positioned in Copenhagen.
US Airways confirmed last week in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects mainline CASM excluding fuel, special items and transition expenses to rise 6%-8% year-over-year as it cuts capacity 5%-7%. Fourth-quarter Express capacity will fall 1%-3%, with unit cost excluding fuel rising 4%-6%. In 2009, US plans to cut mainline capacity 4%-6% and Express ASMs by 5%-7%. At year end it will operate 354 aircraft in the mainline fleet and 296 in the Express fleet.
Ryanair said it will base two new 737-800s at Trapani from May and has cancelled plans to operate a base at Forli, which "withdrew the agreement it had reached with Ryanair." Trapani service will comprise new routes to Oslo Torp, Turin, Treviso (all starting May 1), Brussels Charleroi and Paris Beauvais (from May 2), plus increased frequencies to Bergamo and Rome Ciampino.
ANA Group reported a net profit of ¥22 billion ($224 million) for its fiscal first half ended Sept. 30, a 79.1% drop from ¥105.5 billion in the year-ago period.
Boeing's ambitious plans to ramp up 787 deliveries may be under serious threat, according to forecasts from New York-based Bernstein Research. In a wrap-up following the manufacturer's third-quarter earnings teleconference, Bernstein warned that 787 deliveries may be a further 53 short of plans in the first four years of production (2009-12) and 153 short of plans from last January.
Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines posted third-quarter net losses of CNY260.8 million ($38.1 million) and CNY437.4 million respectively as declining domestic demand and high fuel prices continued to wreak havoc on China's airlines ( ATWOnline, Oct. 31). Hainan reported a CNY228.9 million profit in the third quarter of 2007 while SAL was CNY77.3 million in the black.
Delta Air Lines, which completed its acquisition of Northwest Airlines last Wednesday ( ATWOnline, Oct. 31), on Friday revealed its new officer lineup serving under CEO Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian, headed by COO Steve Gorman, previously executive VP-operations, and Senior VP and CFO Hank Halter, a 10-year DL veteran who previously was senior VP-finance and controller.
AAR was selected by Allegiant Air to perform maintenance and modification services on six MD-80s on a nose-to-tail basis at AAR Aircraft Services-Oklahoma. Work on the first aircraft began last month.
IN THE LATE 1990S, THE AIRLINE industry was making big profits, traffic was rising, manufacturer assembly lines were humming and Airbus and Boeing were locked in a battle trying to sell their proposed giant people-movers, the A3XX and 747X. The future of commercial aviation was clear to everyone: More people flying more places at steeper and steeper discounts.
