Bombardier signed a five-year Component Repair & Exchange agreement covering Luxair Luxembourg Airlines' three Q400s. The component pool covers nearly 250 part numbers and will be located at Bombardier's Frankfurt distribution center.
Qantas's interest in the 777-300ER as a partial replacement for its 747-400 fleet is growing, Australian media are reporting. QF has 20 A380s on order for key routes such as Los Angeles and London Heathrow, but flights to destinations such as Tokyo Narita, San Francisco, Johannesburg and Frankfurt will not justify the A380, at least initially.
Lufthansa will begin phasing out its 60-strong 737-300/-500 fleet by next year, with the -500s leaving by the end of 2009 and the remaining aircraft being retired by 2012, depending on market developments.
Singapore Airlines is achieving load factors of 95% on its A380 services to London Heathrow, according to airline sources, while the four A380s currently in service are averaging nearly 80%. SIA officials said the novelty of flying aboard the new jumbo aircraft has contributed to their popularity. It launched A380 flights to Tokyo Narita last month ( ATWOnline, May 21) and is scheduled to take delivery of its fifth A380 before July.
Korean Air changed the name of its short-haul domestic LCC, slated to start operations next month, from Air Korea to Jin Air ( ATWOnline, May 5). KE said the name change is intended to signal the carrier's "practical" approach, also to be signified by employee uniforms comprising jeans, t-shirts and jackets. The LCC's livery will feature a butterfly with blue and purple wings on a bright green background emblazoned on the tails of its 737-800s and A300-600s. The bodies of the aircraft will be painted silver.
Gate Gourmet entered into a joint venture with Western Group to form Gate Gourmet Middle East. The new company will look for strategic investments and flight kitchen development in the Gulf region. Offices will be in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Financial information was not disclosed.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said the LCC will be "comfortable" even if oil prices reach $200 per barrel, the Associated Press reported from Kuala Lumpur. "We have taken a very different approach in that we will market ourselves out of this problem," he said. "We think that just putting your head in the sand and crying about oil and cutting routes is not the solution." He said reduced competition will be the "silver lining" during the current downturn. AirAsia also will focus on boostin onboard sales, AP reported.
US majors (the six legacy carriers plus Alaska Airlines) reported a system operating loss margin of 5.2% in the first quarter, reversed from a 2.5% profit in the year-ago period, according to the US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The seven carriers reported a combined operating loss of $1.32 billion compared to a $559 million profit in the year-ago period ( ATW, June 2008). Summaries of low-cost carriers and regionals were not completed because bankrupt Frontier Airlines and Comair did not file their results on time.
AirTran Airways said second-quarter "yield growth has been slower" than expected "despite numerous fare increases," leading it to drop its unit revenue forecast to a year-over-year improvement of 1.5%-2% from April's prediction of 5%-6% ( ATWOnline, April 23). It said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that in "some" markets, "fares were increased too rapidly, which limited the company's ability to effectively manage close-in demand," resulting in an increased mix of lower-yield connecting traffic.
TAM and Swiss International Air Lines yesterday signed an MOU establishing a codeshare agreement and loyalty program link-up. It is expected to be implemented in the second half of this year.
German airlines will need more than 900 commercial aircraft valued at $109 billion over the next 20 years, with 100 around A380 size, 200 mid-to-long-range and 600 short-haul, Airbus VP-Market Forecasting Laurent Rouaud told media in Frankfurt yesterday.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 7.59 billion RPKs in May, up 19.6% on the year-ago month, against a 16% increase in capacity to 9.81 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2.3 points to 77.4%. Gol and VRG flew a combined 2.36 billion RPKs in May, up 20.7% year-over-year. Capacity climbed 18.6% to 3.61 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.1 points to 65.4%. WestJet flew 1.13 billion RPMs in May, a 19.3% year-over-year increase, against a 20.1% lift in capacity to 1.42 billion ASMs. Load factor slipped 0.5 point to 79.5%.
UK-based Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways will begin operating jointly under the name Thomson Airways from May 1, 2009. The rebranding of the two leisure carriers follows the merger of the tourism division of TUI AG and First Choice Holidays last fall. Changes will be phased in gradually with rebranding work on the fleet expected to be completed over the next two years. "Our aim is to build on the very best from these two award-winning airlines that share a very strong drive to provide a truly exceptional customer experience.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber remains confident that the current downturn in the industry will not force the German carrier to reduce capacity like European rivals British Airways and Air France KLM.
US Dept. of Transportation is considering an extraordinary request by the six US legacy carriers and Alaska Airlines to issue a "blanket waiver of all dormancy conditions" for up to two years that would allow airlines to scale back or stop serving "limited entry" international routes without losing coveted traffic rights.
US FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell yesterday announced the elimination of flight caps at Chicago O'Hare, saying that the city "has outdone itself when it comes to boosting capacity" by completing the extension of one runway two months early and adding a new runway by year end. In October 2004, arrivals at ORD were capped at 88 during most hours of the day, but Sturgell said the upgrades will allow for an additional 4-5 arrivals per hr., or 56-70 each day. FAA claimed that "this additional capacity is expected to result in a modest decrease in delayed flights."
Air Mauritius expects its profit for the year ending March 31, 2009, to fall to €4 million from the €16 million it earned in the recently completed year, according to a statement cited by Reuters. It said the drop is due to "prevailing market conditions and current fuel prices."
TAM will operate twice-weekly Sao Paulo Guarulhos-San Carlos de Bariloche service July 3-Aug. 10 aboard an A320. The route currently is served only by charter flights, according to TAM, which said it will evaluate the viability of the route for scheduled service.
Airlines are concluding preparations for the launch of commercial charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, which are expected to start July 4, after an agreement between the Strait Exchange Foundation (Taipei) and the Assn. for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (Beijing) was signed Friday in Beijing.
Deutsche Flugsicherung reached agreement with Office National Des Aeroports in Casablanca to provide a €2.4 million ($3.7 million) training simulator with 17 workstations. Software features en route and approach control procedure testing and ATM system simulation. Contract covers training courses for ATC instructors and technical staff.
Mechtronix Systems last week unveiled its "new generation" A320 FFS X full flight simulator that has been purchased by TACA and IFTC Istanbul (International Flight Training Center Istanbul), a subsidiary of Turkey's Gozen Group and affiliate of Freebird Airlines.
Delta Air Lines flew 10.51 billion system RPMs in May, up 4.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.5% to 12.67 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.1 points to 82.9%. It said RASM performance was "strong" and that it was "well positioned" to deliver on its summer revenue targets. SAS Group flew 3.05 billion RPKs in May, up 12.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 11.3% to 4.26 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.7 point to 71.7%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.61 billion RPKs, up 11.8%, against a 10.5% lift in ASKs to 3.56 billion.
