THERE IS POSSIBLY NO MORE demanding yet resource-rich territory than the "outback" of Western Australia. With summer temperatures above 40 deg. C (104 deg. F) and rugged mountain ranges, it is a challenging environment for the airlines that service almost 50 towns and mine sites spread over an area about one-third the size of the continental US. But those challenges are the fuel that feeds the innovation and success of Perth-based Skywest Airlines, one of Australia's fastest-growing carriers.
THE ASSEMBLY LINES INSIDE PRATT & WHITNEY'S ENGINE FACILITY IN Middletown, Conn., seem unhurried and rather subdued when we arrive. It's Tuesday, nearly 5 p.m., and, aside from two men working in the near distance, there isn't much activity amid the initial workstations. "Looks like they knew we were coming," a fellow tour member says.
V Australia, the long-haul international arm of Virgin Blue, announced yesterday that it will launch daily Sydney-Los Angeles on Dec. 15. It offered 1,000 fares at A$999 ($916) including taxes to celebrate the launch that were snapped up in minutes. Its standard economy return fare is A$1,899, which it claims is 16% lower than the current lowest available published fare. V Australia's 777-300ERs will be fitted with a three-class configuration including a business cabin with lie-flat seats. Premium economy will feature a 2-4-2 layout with 38-in.
Disruption at London Heathrow's new £4.3 billion Terminal 5, at which British Airways is the sole tenant, continued for a fifth day yesterday with 54 flights cancelled, bringing to more than 300 the number of cancelled flights since the opening of the modern facility. The backlog of hold baggage rose to some 28,000 pieces, according to several news reports, and an additional 50 flights have been struck from the schedule both today and Wednesday. Further disruptions are likely for the remainder of the week.
FL Group has sold its entire stake in Finnair, the airline announced yesterday. It reduced its 24.4% stake to 12.7% in December ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20, 2007) and yesterday sold all of its remaining 16.3 million shares. Neither company revealed the buyer[s], but FL said the transaction was valued at ISK13.6 billion ($174.4 million).
Air France KLM and Alitalia unions will continue negotiations today after AZ Chairman Maurizio Prato gave both parties another 24 hr. to reach a basic accord, according to widespread press reports. Neither AF KLM nor the Italian carrier issued a formal statement yesterday as the deadline for reaching an agreement on the so-called effectiveness clauses for a possible tie-up expired. AF KLM previously had indicated a willingness to continue negotiating beyond the deadline ( ATWOnline, March 31).
Austrian Airlines will add three new destinations to its network this month as part of its Focus East strategy, which it credits with helping its return to profitability in 2007 ( ATWOnline, March 14). The cities, Sochi and Nizhniy Novgorod in Russia and Baia Mare in Romania, bring to 48 the number of destinations in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS served from Vienna. But OS still sees plenty of opportunity for growth, Executive VP Rudolf Mertl told journalists assembled in Vienna yesterday.
SATA Air Acores parent Grupo SATA ordered four Q400 NextGens, Bombardier announced. Aircraft are worth $113 million at list prices and will seat 80 passengers each. Delivery date was unannounced. Air Acores currently flies five BAe ATPs and one Do-228.
Malaysia Airlines yesterday announced an order for 35 737-800s and 20 options plus an agreement with Airbus regarding the delayed delivery of its six A380s. The narrowbody order is worth $4.2 billion at list prices assuming all options will be exercised. Delivery will begin in September 2010, "when the weakness of the global economy should be less of a concern," MAS MD and CEO Idris Jala said.
AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co. will postpone the first flight of the ARJ21 at least six months to this September/October owing to the fact that "supplier[s] of key systems were not able to provide necessary test conditions on time." The aircraft was scheduled to take to the skies in March ( ATWOnline, Dec. 24, 2007). ACAC promised it is making efforts to ensure that the delivery of key systems is on schedule.
Iraqi government signed an agreement for the purchase of 10 787s and 30 737NGs, Boeing announced yesterday ( ATWOnline, Feb. 21). Contractual terms are yet to be finalized.
TAM's 2007 net income dropped 78.9% to BRL128.8 million ($74 million) from BRL611.8 million in the prior year as it contended with both the aftermath of the July A320 crash that killed 199 people and ongoing ATC problems in Brazil. The carrier called 2007 "a year of many challenges" and said the accident combined with Brazil's aviation "infrastructure" issues ( ATWOnline, July 30, 2007) and "high volatility" in the global economy drove the poor result, but it expressed optimism about future prospects.
British Airways cancelled an estimated 150 flights over the first three days of London Heathrow Terminal 5's chaotic opening and CEO Willie Walsh conceded that the launch of operations at the highly touted facility was "definitely not British Airways' finest hour."
Boeing reached agreement with Vought Aircraft Industries to acquire its interest in Global Aeronautica, a fuselage subassembly facility in North Charleston that performs work on the 787.
Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline last week that THY's new "full-service" low-cost carrier will be named Anatolia Jet and will start operations on April 23 with five 737-400s from its Ankara base. "As a first step, we will use Anatolia Jet on domestic routes. Then we will grow internationally," Kotil said. The THY mainline currently operates to 29 destinations from Ankara in addition to Istanbul. That network "could" be taken over by Anatolia Jet in the future, he said.
S7 Airlines will add four A320s to its fleet during its summer schedule, which began yesterday. First already has been delivered and will begin flying from Moscow Domodedovo to Barnaul and Krasnodar this month. Others will fly from DME to Kemerovo, Sochi, Novosibirsk and Frankfurt and from Novosibirsk to Vladivostok and Beijing, where S7 will operate out of the new Terminal 3. A320s will replace Tu-154s. It will use A319s on a thrice-weekly DME-Dublin service beginning April 27.
Ryanair will close its Dublin Telesales Operation at the end of May and cut up to 40 positions as part of a cost-reduction program announced last week ( ATWOnline, March 27). CEO Michael O'Leary said phone bookings now account for fewer than 1% of sales. Ryanair will maintain call centers in Germany and Romania, which he said are 60% cheaper to operate than the Dublin office.
Alaska Airlines flew 1.42 billion RPMs in February, up 13.5% from the year-ago month, against a 9.4% increase in capacity to 1.94 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 2.6 points to 73.3%. Finnair flew 1.77 billion RPKs in February, a 17.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 20.3% to 2.37 billion ASKs and load factor fell 2 points to 74.8%. Estonian Air carried 51,851 passengers in February, up 18.4% from the year-ago month.
Sri Lankan government named P. B. Jayasundera as the new chairman of SriLankan Airlines, in which the government holds 51.05%. It will seat four on the new board while Emirates, which holds 43.63%, will have three seats. Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India named Raghu Menon as chairman and MD effective today, when he will replace Vasudevan Thulasidas, whose term is concluding. Menon has been serving as special secretary and financial advisor in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft purchased the Pacelab Cabin solution in order to develop customer-specific cabin configurations and "promote sales" of the Superjet 100 regional aircraft.
Northwest Airlines will join several US legacy competitors and begin charging North American economy passengers $25 for a second checked bag on each segment ( ATWOnline, March 19). Policy goes into effect May 5, applies to Northwest Airlink customers and includes an increase to $100 from $80 for three or more checked bags and to $50 from $25 for pieces weighing more than 50 lb.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines resumed normal schedules Friday after completing inspections of wiring on hundreds of temporarily grounded aircraft, while US FAA said it will issue preliminary findings this week of its audit of domestic carriers' compliance with airworthiness directives.
Kingfisher Airlines will eliminate the Deccan brand once the carriers complete their merger in late April, Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya told reporters, according to widespread press reports ( ATWOnline, Dec. 21, 2007). He also said Indian civil aviation authorities confirmed that Kingfisher will be able to fly abroad using Deccan's original operating certificate beginning Aug. 28 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 14).
AVIC I announced an MOU with GECAS for the sale of five ARJ21-700s, China Daily reported from Beijing. AVIC I Vice GM Hu Wenming, speaking at the ceremony launching Joy Air (see item above), confirmed that GECAS is the new aircraft's first overseas customer and that the lessor "said it will buy more ARJ21 planes to strengthen its fleet. . .This means ARJ21 planes have been accepted by the market."
