IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said yesterday that India's airlines could collectively lose as much as $1.5 billion in 2008 and called on the nation to take "urgent action. . .to help Indian carriers weather the perfect storm of high costs and falling demand."
Austrian Airlines last week inaugurated the third training center at its Vienna Aviation Campus. Designed by ARGE BWM Architects and Partners, the center will enable OS to train staff at a single location.
Jet Republic, a new private aviation company headquartered in Lisbon, announced yesterday that it placed a firm order for 25 new Bombardier Learjet 60 XR aircraft (with options on 85 more) that it intends to fly to more than 1,000 European airports from next summer on. The order, placed in June, is valued at $1.5 billion and will see 25 aircraft delivered over the first 22 months and the remainder delivered one every three weeks thereafter.
Two pilots who fell asleep while flying for Mesa Air Group's Hawaiian subsidiary go! were suspended by US FAA in addition to being fired by the airline, the Associated Press reported. Capt. Scott Oltman had his license suspended for 60 days and copilot Dillon Shepley was suspended for 45 for "careless and reckless operation" of an aircraft, an FAA spokesperson said. The suspensions were completed Sept. 9. No action was taken against go!, which provided the required 15-hr. rest between flights. The highly publicized incident occurred on a Feb. 13 flight from Honolulu to Hilo.
Airports Council International's North American and European arms called for negotiators in the US, EU and Canada to move forward on a fully liberalized transatlantic regime, including relaxing remaining restrictions on airline ownership and control. "Additional flexibility would provide greater opportunities for airlines in Europe, the US and Canada to obtain access to capital to the ultimate benefit of consumers.
Ryanair will reduce its presence at London Stansted this winter from 42 aircraft to 28, the LCC confirmed, although it remains confident it can meet its target of growing passenger numbers in the year ending March 31, 2009, by 14% to 58 million.
Air France KLM flew 19.89 billion RPKs in August, up 2.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.7% to 23.77 billion ASKs, reducing load factor 1.6 points to 83.7%. Delta Air Lines flew 11.84 billion system RPMs in August, down 0.5% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 1.6% to 13.89 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.9 point to 85.2%. Air Canada and Jazz flew 5.18 billion RPMs in August, down 1.5% year-over-year. Capacity fell 2.2% to 6.14 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.6 point to 84.4%.
Saudi Arabian LCC Sama announced a reduction in its domestic schedule and the possibility of suspension of all domestic service, saying that "it is impossible. . .to make money on domestic routes despite high passenger demand and full aircraft" because of a fixed economy fare cap that prevents the airline from adding fuel surcharges.
Hungarian real estate developer Biggeorge's Holding announced plans to build a new airport in Szekesfehervar about 60 km. southwest of Budapest, in a statement cited by Reuters. Alba Airport is scheduled to be operational in the first half of 2010 and "will cater primarily to low-cost, charter and other airlines serving European point-to-point destinations, offering an alternative to Budapest [Ferihegy]," it said.
DAE Capital said it signed a deal with Aviation Partners Boeing to purchase 50 blended winglet shipsets for 737-700s/-800s. Delivery will begin in 2010.
British Airways said yesterday that it has cancelled its six-times-weekly London Heathrow-Islamabad service in response to the Sept. 20 Marriott hotel bombing in the Pakistani capital that killed at least 50 people. "In light of the security situation in Pakistan, British Airways has cancelled its flights from Islamabad to Heathrow indefinitely," it said. "The safety and security of our customers, our staff and our operation is always our absolute priority."
US Dept. of Transportation yesterday tentatively granted Oregon-based Evergreen International Airlines authority to operate six weekly roundtrip cargo flights between New York JFK and Shanghai from March 25. Flights would make stops at Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth and Columbus. Evergreen is scheduled to take delivery of three 747-400BCFs next year. FedEx, Northwest Airlines, Polar Air Cargo and UPS are the four US carriers that currently have US-China freighter rights.
Lufthansa Consulting signed an Air Service Development contract with Moscow Sheremetyevo. SVO handled 14 million passengers in 2007 and announced 10% year-over-year passenger growth in the first six months of this year.
ST Aviation Services, a Singapore Technologies Aerospace subsidiary, reached agreement with Airbus to provide heavy maintenance checks for 19 A330s leased to Singapore Airlines. Agreement is part of a multiparty contract to provide SIA with support under prior lease arrangements. Heavy maintenance is slated to begin in 2015 and expected to last 18 months.
Spanish civil aviation authority suspended the operating license of Futura International Airways, according to press reports. The license could be reactivated if Futura finds an investor to finance its restructuring plan before Jan. 1. The charter carrier suspended operations two weeks ago and filed for bankruptcy protection ( ATWOnline, Sept. 9).
Emirates President Tim Clark said the carrier's thrice-weekly Dubai-New York JFK A380 service, launched on Aug. 1, is performing well. Speaking to ATWOnline en route to Toulouse, where EK will be discussing future A380 deliveries with the manufacturer, Clark said he has received positive feedback from passengers in all three cabin classes and that the bar at the rear of the business class cabin is especially popular and "constantly frequented by up to 25 passengers" ( ATW, September 2008).
SAS Chairman Fritz Schur said the airline company has had "loose talks with different parties" regarding its future but rejected persistent speculation in European media that Lufthansa is negotiating a takeover ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15).
S7 Airlines will launch thrice-weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Bangkok Suvarnabhumi on Dec. 23 using 767-300ERs. Separately, S7 said passenger numbers through the first eight months of 2008 rose 16.1% year-over-year to 4.2 million, while load factor was down 1.1% to 80.1%.
Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India Ltd. sealed $548.6 million in loan guarantees from the Export-Import Bank of the US for the purchase of Boeing aircraft. The bank concluded $1.2 billion in financing for NACIL last year.
Quintiq will provide LSG Sky Chefs-Brahim's with its advanced ramp operations scheduling solution under a deal announced yesterday. Technology features advanced visualization capabilities aimed at optimizing workforce, facilities and equipment utilization. Implementation began this month and is slated for completion by year end.
American Airlines said it will introduce "PriorityAAcess" for first and business class passengers and top frequent-flier program members from Sept. 30, an initiative that will include fast-track security screening lanes at 10 major US airports. "Where permitted by airport policy and government security regulations, American will offer exclusive. . .security screening lanes," it said. Airports that will have the new security lanes are Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago O'Hare, Miami, Los Angeles, New York JFK , New York LaGuardia, St. Louis, San Francisco, Boston and San Juan.
Air Astana said it continued to experience strong growth during the first half of 2008, recording a 16% year-over-year increase in passengers carried to 1.3 million. The carrier expects to carry 2.4 million for the full year. First-half revenue lifted 26% to $312 million.
