IATA last week issued a strong criticism of proposed air travel taxation plans in Belgium and Ireland and calculated that, combined with the proposed UK Aviation Duty and the recently implemented Dutch departure tax, passengers could face an annual tax burden of up to €3.8 billion ($5.11 billion) in those four countries by 2010. "Collective madness is the only way to describe the €150 million Irish and €132 million Belgian departure tax proposals.
LTE International Airways, a Palma de Mallorca-based scheduled and charter carrier, suspended flight operations Friday "due to the financial situation of the company that makes it difficult to meet the operational expenses in the next days," it said on its website. "After 20 years operating with maximum dedication to our clients it just was not possible to avoid this situation given world events lately." It operated seven 180-seat A320s.
The fuel hedges that helped Southwest Airlines stay profitable while surging oil prices crippled its US rivals now have resulted in the carrier's first quarterly net loss in 17 years, a $120 million deficit that represented a reversal from the $162 million profit reported in the third quarter of 2007.
United Airlines said that 332 International Assn. of Machinists members have taken advantage of early out and voluntary furlough programs as part of UA's effort to reduce employment rolls by 7,000 positions, reducing the need for involuntary furloughs among IAM employees by 40%. UA sad more than 1,500 cabin staff represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants around 200 pilots and 100 mechanics have taken leave so far.
Volatility in the Indian market continued yesterday as Air India said it is working on a plan to offer unpaid 3-4-year leave to up to 15,000 employees and Kingfisher Airlines reported a heavy third-quarter loss. The AI announcement came one day after Jet Airways, which had just unveiled its alliance with former rival Kingfisher, revealed a controversial plan to lay off approximately 1,900 workers ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16).
Airbus decided to pull back on planned production rate increases, citing "uncertainty in the financial markets." A320 family production will stay at 36 per month rather than being ramped up to 40 by 2010 as planned and A330 production will grow from eight to 10 per month but not up to 11 by 2010 as previously planned. "This is clearly the prudent thing to do," COO-Customers John Leahy told The Wall Street Journal. "We will reevaluate the situation in the first half of next year and decide whether to [reinstitute] the ramp-up."
Spanish Judge Javier Perez, who is overseeing a judicial inquiry into August's Spanair MD-82 crash, summoned three Spanair mechanics for questioning this week, including the pair who inspected the aircraft before its failed second takeoff attempt. The third reportedly is the airline's head of maintenance. A court spokesperson told reporters that the mechanics could be charged with manslaughter.
Airbus and Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India signed a joint venture agreement to establish an MRO center at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International. Work on AI Airbus aircraft will start early next year with ATR and third-party work expected eventually. AI currently operates 43 A320s, 11 A319s, 10 A321s, eight A310s and two A330s. Total project cost is estimated at $40 million over five years and facility will handle more than 100 single-aisle and 10 widebody aircraft per year by 2013.
Republic Airways Holdings confirmed that it will operate four E-170s on behalf of Hawaii's Mokulele Airlines under a 10-year capacity purchase agreement ( ATWOnline, Oct. 10). Mokulele will be responsible for scheduling, pricing, distribution and promotion. First two aircraft, to be operated by Republic subsidiary Shuttle America, will be placed into service by Nov. 19. The remaining pair will be in revenue service by spring.
SkyEurope Airlines said that York Global Finance, which holds 29.9% of the LCC, has offered to buy the remaining shares and inject more capital into the carrier. It said it will negotiate with York but "will continue to look for alternative investors who might ascribe a higher value to the company's airline business," according to Reuters ( ATWOnline, Sept. 1).
Air China told the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday that it expects to report a nine-month deficit owing to falling demand and fuel hedge losses. It did not reveal specific figures. Its profit through the first nine months of 2007 was CNY3.5 billion and it was CNY1.24 billion in the black through the first half of 2008 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 28). Through Sept. 30, CA had flown 48.87 billion RPKs, down 2.6% year-over-year, against a 2.2% increase in ASKs to 65.47 billion.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 6.87 billion RPKs in September, a 4.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 14.2% to 9.5 billion ASKs and load factor fell 6.7 points to 72.3%. Air Canada and Jazz flew a combined 4.26 billion RPMs in September, down 5% year-over-year. Capacity fell 6.4% to 5.33 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.2 points to 79.9%. AirTran Airways flew 1.23 billion RPMs in September, down 2% year-over-year, against a 9.7% fall in capacity to 1.66 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 5.9 points to 74.4%.
Primaris Airlines, a Las Vegas-based charter carrier, sold 75% of its preferred and outstanding stock to CorpoPetrol Global Energy Development and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to allow CorpoPetrol to finalize the financing. Primaris operates 757-200s.
Continental Airlines yesterday reported a third-quarter net loss of $236 million, reversed from a $241 million profit in the year-ago period, and announced that it has pushed back delivery of 18 aircraft scheduled to arrive over the next two years. Two 777s will be delivered in 2010 instead of 2009 and 16 737NGs slated for 2009-10 have been deferred to 2011 and beyond with no new schedule set. CO still is scheduled to take delivery of 14 737NGs next year, though executives concede that the Boeing machinists strike could push some of those back as well.
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.
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.
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.
