FlyLAL Lithuanian Airlines has been invited to join SkyTeam as an associate member, the carrier announced, joining Spain's Air Europa, Panama's Copa Airlines and Kenya Airways in the alliance's associate program. Tarom of Romania and Beirut-based Middle East Airlines also are potential associate members. FlyLAL said the invitation followed a two-year negotiation and that "final criteria for admission" and a join date "will be confirmed in the short run." It currently operates three 737-300s, five 737-500s and four Saab 2000s. It plans to introduce a 737-200 on April 1.
VRG Linhas Aereas, the new Varig, unveiled a revamped domestic schedule yesterday focusing on business markets, its new Brasilia hub and Sao Paulo Congonhas ( ATWOnline, Jan. 31). It will fly to nine domestic airports from CGH and eight from the capital, operating 737-700s/-800s on a majority of the routes. Korean Air will launch thrice-weekly Los Angeles-Sao Paulo Guarulhos on June 2 aboard a 777-200.
LAN Airlines flew 2.27 billion RPKs in February, up 15.8% from the year-ago month, against a 15.1% increase in capacity to 2.8 billion ASKs that lifted load factor 0.5 point to 81%. TAM flew 1.88 billion domestic RPKs in February, up 21.8% from the year-ago month, against a 17.2% rise in ASKs to 2.67 billion. Load factor lifted 2.7 points to 70.5%. International traffic was up 65.2% to 1.22 billion RPKs, capacity grew 55.1% to 1.65 billion ASKs and load factor increased 4.5 points to 73.9%.
International Air Carrier Assn., which claims its members account for nearly 40% of flights to Egypt, reached agreement with Egyptian aviation authorities to improve airport infrastructure in the country. Upgrades will include improved and increased fueling facilities, more cooperation in security screening and the addition of more female screening personnel and professional slot coordination conforming to international standards.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. is forecasting a consolidated mainline first-quarter unit cost of 12.66 cents, up 16% year-over-year, as fuel expenses increase to an expected $2.73 per gal., it said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Full-year mainline unit cost now is expected to be up 7.4% to 12.9 cents. First-quarter mainline and consolidated passenger unit revenue is expected to rise 6.9%-7.9% year-over-year, AMR said.
Ryanair said last week that the European Court of First Instance dismissed an Aer Lingus request for an injunction against the LCC that would force it to sell its minority shareholding in EI ( ATWOnline, Nov. 20, 2007).
Jeppesen won US FAA authority for its Airport Moving Map application for Class 2 EFB devices. Technology features GPS capabilities, an airport surface map database and positional awareness functionality. Integration with Continental Airlines' EFB system by NavAero is slated for this month.
Skybus Airlines CEO Bill Diffenderffer has resigned, the startup LCC announced yesterday, and will be replaced by CFO Mike Hodge. The news comes several days after the carrier announced some cuts in service from its Columbus and Greensboro hubs in favor of more point-to-point flying.
China Southern Airlines and Malaysia Airlines signed an expanded codeshare agreement in Guangzhou Friday that will include sales of tickets by each carrier for travel to regional destinations in the other country. CZ began codesharing with MAS in November on routes to Kuala Lumpur from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. "We can expand our route network from Kuala Lumpur to other cities in Malaysia as well as facilitate Malaysian passengers to reach our more than 100 Chinese domestic destinations," CZ Chairman Liu Shaoyong said at the signing ceremony.
United Airlines briefly grounded seven 747s last week when it was discovered that equipment used to test aircraft systems at a Korean Air-operated facility in Busan had not been checked as scheduled. UA said it voluntarily decided to ground the aircraft for several hours for inspections that led to "minimal disruption" of its schedule. No irregularities were found.
Silvio Berlusconi, who is favored to take over as Italian prime minister following next month's elections, said Friday that he will reject Air France KLM's acquisition of Alitalia if and when he assumes office.
S7 Airlines will launch thrice-weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Dublin on April 27 aboard an A319. American Eagle Airlines will begin daily Dallas/Fort Worth-Tampico on April 7 with ERJ-140s. Cathay Pacific Airways will launch four-times-weekly Hong Kong-Madras on June 1. Iberia will start twice-weekly flights from Madrid to St. Petersburg (April 1) and Dubrovnik (June 7).
Avianca inked a $750 million, 15-year OnPointSM solution deal with GE Aviation for MRO services on CFM56-5Bs powering 50 A319s and A320s. Work will be conducted at GE's facility in Petropolis, Brazil.
Iberia Handling will provide First Choice with handling services for its 4,000 flights to Spain during the summer and winter seasons. Contract covers all Spanish airports.
SITA reached agreement with Yemen Airways to provide its online booking SITA E-Commerce Platform. Technology will launch in August and is expected to cut fees by bypassing global distribution systems.
CAAC said it has adopted measures to curb flight delays in advance of this summer's Olympic Games. According to the regulator, Chinese airlines based in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other Olympic-related cities are being ordered to have one or two backup aircraft on hand to guarantee ontime performance. Carriers canceling flights during the period must transfer passengers to other airlines and cover their fares in full.
Aloha Airlines, which emerged from bankruptcy in February 2006, filed Chapter 11 again last week and cited actions by Mesa Air Group's go! as the main impetus behind the latest filing.
Germany and Russia reached an agreement on moving Lufthansa Cargo's regional transit hub from Astana in Kazakhstan to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, ending a dispute that had resulted in the temporary cessation of LHC's Russian overflight rights. "Our overflight rights via Russia are now granted," LHC Chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr told ATWOnline last week in Frankfurt, adding that LHC will move to Krasnoyarsk once operational and commercial conditions are met and modernization projects at the airport are completed. He expects the earliest possible date to be sometime in 2009.
Lufthansa announced the payment of an approximately CHF269 million ($267.5 million) out-performance option to the former majority shareholders of Swiss International Air Lines. Combined with the fee LH paid for approximately 15% of Swiss's equity in 2005, the price for the complete acquisition now stands at some CHF339 million. LH said the out-performance option payout level depended on the performance of LH shares compared to those of British Airways, Air France KLM and Iberia.
Singapore Airlines will reduce the weight limit for each piece of luggage on its US services to 50 lb. from 70 lb. effective April 1. Each passenger will be entitled to check two bags.
Frontier Airlines reached agreement to sell two of its 49 A319s and two of its 11 A318s to VTB Leasing, which in turn will lease them to St. Petersburg-based Rossiya Airlines. SkyWorks Leasing arranged the sale. Financial terms were not disclosed. The move is part of the Denver-based carrier's effort to modernize its fleet in the face of high energy costs. President and CEO Sean Menke characterized its recent financial losses as "clearly not acceptable" and vowed to make necessary changes ( ATWOnline, Jan. 28).
Oneworld airlines serving Shanghai Pudong will begin collocating in Terminal 2 starting this week when British Airways and Qantas transfer to the new facility Wednesday. Finnair, Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair will follow on April 29 and American Airlines will move at an unspecified date. It currently operates out of T1, where Japan Airlines will remain.
Frontier Airlines flew 744.8 million RPMs in February, up 18.1% from the year-ago month, against a 7.5% rise in capacity to 957.6 million ASMs. Load factor rose 7 points to 77.8%. Passenger yield was down 3.9% to 9.95 cents while unit revenue rose 5.6% to 7.74 cents. Mesa Air Group flew 447.9 million RPMs in February, an 11.6% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 8.1% to 627.8 million ASMs, dropping load factor 2.8 points to 71.4%.
Kale Consultants was contracted by Finnair Cargo to provide airmail cargo revenue accounting services including scans, document processing and invoice production. Work will take place at Kale's MPS center in Mumbai.
