S7 Airlines, Air Berlin and Niki announced a codeshare agreement yesterday in Moscow and promised that "all three airlines intend to deepen their relationship in other areas in the future." The agreement initially covers flights from Moscow Domodedovo to Frankfurt, Hannover (both operated by S7), Dusseldorf, Munich (both operated by S7 and AB) and Vienna (operated by Niki). The airlines "plan to offer unrestricted sales of tickets for each others' flights" and passengers will have access to all three networks with one ticket. Talks among the trio began five months ago.
American Airlines placed a firm order for 42 787-9s valued at more than $8 billion with first delivery scheduled for September 2012, a move it said signals its continued focus on the future even as it navigates current economic difficulties. AA also has options for 58 more Dreamliners. The order is contingent upon reaching an agreement with its pilots that would allow the carrier to operate 787s. A provision in the purchase agreement with Boeing forces AA to "reconfirm" its order 18 months before each scheduled delivery.
EMS Technologies said Panasonic Avionics Corp. selected its eXConnect antennas for inflight broadband under a multiyear deal. EMS Technologies' Defense & Space Systems Division will provide the AURA-LE Ku-band antenna, a core system component developed by Panasonic and EMS.
Delta Air Lines reported a third-quarter net loss of $50 million, reversed from net income of $220 million in the year-ago period, a result CEO Richard Anderson referred to as "a modest loss considering costs related to fuel prices.
S7 Airlines, Air Berlin and Niki are expected to announce a strategic cooperation today in Moscow, a source close to the deal told ATWOnline in the Russian capital.
Chinese airlines showed a slight recovery last month as the "golden week" travel period starting Sept. 29 helped boost passenger traffic that had been declining since May. According to CAAC, passenger boardings rose 0.7% year-over-year to 16.4 million while cargo traffic plummeted 8.8% to 360,000 tonnes. In contrast with the overall growth, China Southern Airlines continued to suffer from declining market demand last month as passenger boardings fell 1.1% to 5 million with a 2.4-point decrease in load factor to 67.1%.
Turkish Airlines A320 on the way from Antalya to St. Petersburg landed safely after a passenger who handed a note to a flight attendant claiming he had a bomb was subdued by fellow passengers. The passenger, an Uzbek or Russian national, according to varying press reports, demanded access to the cockpit but was "pacified," said Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim.
Jet Airways, India's largest airline by market share, announced yesterday that it will lay off 1,900 employees across all levels. The news, which sent ripples through the domestic airline industry, came two days after Jet sealed a surprising partnership with former rival Kingfisher Airlines ( ATWOnline, Oct. 15).
Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services, a joint venture among Boeing, Shanghai Airport Authorities and Shanghai Airlines, won US FAA repair station certification to provide MRO to Chinese airlines as well as regional and international carriers.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. posted a $45 million third-quarter net profit, a result skewed by the sale of American Beacon Advisors, which netted the company a $432 million gain in the quarter.
Air Transport Assn. and IATA followed through on their promise to fight the US Dept. of Transportation's final rule on slot auctions and flight caps at New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark announced last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 10). ATA sued FAA in US federal court to invalidate the rules and is seeking a stay on the auctions scheduled to begin in January.
Chicago City Council unanimously accepted the lease of Midway Airport to a consortium led by Vancouver Airport Services ( ATWOnline, Oct. 2). US FAA is expected to approve the 99-year contract by year end, according to a city spokesperson. The Transportation Security Administration also must okay the arrangement, but no opposition is anticipated. Closing on the contract is expected in the first quarter.
Wizz Air will base a third A320 at Budapest and launch four-times-weekly Madrid and twice-weekly Naples on April 1. It will restart flights to Barcelona (thrice-weekly on April 2) and Oslo Torp (twice-weekly on April 3) and increase frequencies to Paris Beauvais, Eindhoven, Gothenburg, Malmo, Treviso and London Luton. It will launch twice-weekly flights from Poznan to Rome Fiumicino (Dec. 16), Bergamo (Jan. 17) and Cork (Dec. 19), from Bologna to Warsaw and Katowice (both Oct. 27) and from Gdansk to FCO (Oct. 28). On Dec.
Aeroflot's first-half 2008 profit calculated under IFRS dropped 55% year-over-year to $72.2 million, according to an SU statement cited by press reports from Moscow. Last month it said profit under Russian accounting standards fell 29.7% to RUB2.25 billion ($85.9 million) on a 39.4% rise in revenue. Deputy DG-Finance and Planning Mikhail Poluboyarinov said full-year earnings may plunge nearly 67% to $80-$85 million, according to RIA Novosti. "We forecast that [traffic] will shrink.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.29 billion RPMs in September, down 10.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 11.1% to 1.69 billion ASMs, raising load factor 0.5 point to 76.5%.
Re-launched negotiations aimed at settling the five-week-old International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers strike at Boeing broke down without any indications of progress.
Abu Dhabi International's second runway is operational following completion of construction in early September. The new AED1 billion ($272.1 million), 4,100-m. runway is located 2 km. north of the first runway. Project includes development of the airstrip, two major taxiways, two cross-field taxiways and two fire stations.
Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways are emphasizing that their newly formed "alliance" is not a merger or a precursor to one but was necessary to "enable a stabilization of the Indian aviation industry in the larger public interest."
US State Dept. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs John Byerly once again warned that the liberalization of present rules on airline ownership and control, as sought by the European Commission as part of second-phase EU-US open skies negotiations, will be a "tough case" although he said the US is not totally against it. "We have an open mind, but it cannot be an easy thing to do," he said in Kuala Lumpur. He called for a proactive approach from Europe and asked it to present its case in compelling terms.
Airbus issued an Operators Information Telex to all operators of its aircraft in the wake of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's investigation into the Qantas A330-300 incident on Oct. 7. The instruction advises crews to shut down the entire Air Data Inertial Reference Unit No. 1 in case of partial failure, which would isolate both IR and ADR to prevent the ADR from continuing to provide erroneous data. The A330 has three ADIRUs.
SITA reached a five-year, $10 million agreement with Kenya Airways to provide its VSAT technology for deploying satellite networks. System will streamline 46 remote sites into a single satellite hop to head offices in Nairobi and the reservations host in Europe.
Bmi announced the promotion of Interim Commercial Director Martyn Bridger to commercial and service director and Interim Marketing Director Katherine Gershon to sales and marketing director.
Turkish Airlines moved forward with its fleet renewal, announcing yesterday its intention to place an order for 25 widebody and 50 single-aisle aircraft plus 10 widebody and 10 narrowbody options.
Virgin America will add a second daily New York JFK-Las Vegas on Dec. 11. TAM will launch daily A330 Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Orlando International Nov. 21.
