American Airlines will cease operations at London Gatwick when it shifts its daily Dallas/Fort Worth flight to Heathrow on April 13. It has served LGW for 26 years. AA did not disclose how much it paid for its newest LHR slot pair, but Continental Airlines recently stated it spent $209 million for four pairs at the airport ( ATWOnline, March 5). AA currently operates three daily flights to/from LGW--two to/from DFW and one to/from Raleigh Durham. One DFW flight and the RDU service will move to LHR on March 30.
US airlines carried 769.4 million passengers in 2007, up 3.3% from 2006 and an all-time high, according to US Dept. of Transportation statistics released last week. Domestic passengers were up 3.1% to 679 million while international passengers rose 4.7% to 90 million. Southwest Airlines carried more total system passengers (101.9 million) than any other carrier, the first time it has topped the list, besting American Airlines (98.2 million), which led each of the previous five years.
Boeing secured orders for an additional 35 787s, all for unidentified customers, that are part of 85 new aircraft orders the manufacturer listed this week. It also sold 40 737s and 10 777s, again to unnamed customers. The orders take its 2008 total to 275, comprising173 737s, one 747, 26 777s and 75 787s.
London Heathrow faced a security scare yesterday after a man with a rucksack scaled the perimeter fence and ran into the path of an aircraft. Armed police arrested the man and sniffer dogs found no explosives, UK media reported. The southern runway remained open throughout the incident but the northern runway was closed for a few hours, causing delays and some cancellations. "Clearly this incident is a matter of some concern, and will be fully investigated in conjunction with the police," BAA said in a statement. The incident poses additional questions about LHR's security.
Singapore Airlines will fly the A380 to Tokyo Narita on May 20, making the Japanese capital the fourth city to receive A380 commercial flights. Flight SQ636 will depart Changi at 12:40 a.m. and arrive at NRT at 8:30 a.m. local time. Return flight will take off at 1 p.m. local time. Service will continue daily thereafter.
AerCap Holdings, the Dutch lessor, will lease 10 new A330-200s to Aeroflot for 9-10-year periods with deliveries beginning in November and extending to April 2010. AerCap has an additional 20 A330s on order with Airbus but has not yet announced placement.
Emirates will launch daily Dubai-Los Angeles Sept. 1 aboard a 266-seat 777-200LR. It will be EK's third US gateway after New York JFK and Houston Intercontinental. United Airlines will operate daily Denver-London Heathrow beginning March 30. Qantas will launch its first nonstop South American service, a thrice-weekly Sydney-Buenos Aires, on Nov. 24 aboard a 747-400. WestJet will launch daily Calgary-Newark on June 2.
Continental Airlines, in partnership with Boeing and GE Aviation, will conduct a biofuels demonstration flight in the first half of 2009 using one of its 737NGs. It will be the first such flight in North America and the third overall. Virgin Atlantic Airways carried out a demonstration flight last month on a 747-400 with one engine partially powered by a blend of babassu oil and coconut oil ( ATWOnline, Feb. 26) and Air New Zealand will conduct one later this year with an undisclosed fuel mix.
Southwest Airlines yesterday returned to service 34 of 38 737 Classics it temporarily grounded Wednesday for inspection and operated a normal schedule, saying the other four aircraft will need "surface repairs" expected to be completed by this weekend.
Air New Zealand is staying true to the philosophy that earned it Air Transport World's 2008 Passenger Service Award and embracing more product upgrades designed to snare premium customers, rather than cost cuts, to combat soaring fuel prices. Speaking to ATWOnline in Auckland, CEO Rob Fyfe reasoned, "In a cross-country race, the best time to pass the guy ahead is on the hill. And we are fighting fit and in great shape and we should look at this time to pass our competitors."
CIT Aerospace this week signed a firm contract for 15 A320s and five A330-200s. The aircraft are worth approximately $1.9 billion at list prices, CIT said, and will be delivered from 2011 through 2014. "We continue to see a growing demand from our customer base for more efficient aircraft similar to the Airbus A320 and A330 family of aircraft. As a result of this demand we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to further enhance and diversify our fleet," President-Transportation Finance C. Jeffrey Knittel said. No engine choices were announced.
TAM suffered precipitous drops in full-year unit revenue and yield in 2007, according to select operating indictors released this week. Yield declined 13.6% year-over-year to BRL25.3 cents and RASK fell 17.1% to BRL17.08 cents, according to US GAAP. Load factor dropped 3.5 points to 70.4% while unit cost improved 7.6% to BRL16.22 cents, or 5.8% to BRL10.89 cents excluding fuel. On domestic services, yield fell 19.4% to BRL23.42 cents and unit revenue declined 22% to BRL15.51 cents. Internationally, yield was down 17% to BRL17.66 cents and RASK plunged 23.3% to BRL12.44 cents.
Austrian Airlines Group finished its "successful transitional year" €11.5 million ($17.7 million) in the black, reversed from a €51.6 million loss in 2006, as "redimensioning of the long-haul segment produced a significant stabilization in our business model, and strengthened us overall," CEO Alfred Oetsch said.
Bombardier announced that the Iraqi government placed firm orders for six CRJ900 NextGens with options for an additional four. The aircraft will be used for civilian air service. The firm contract is valued at $239 million and would increase to an estimated $400 million with all options exercised.
IATA this week condemned UK CAA's decision to allow significant charge increases at London Heathrow and Gatwick ( ATWOnline, March 12), saying that "failure is the only word to describe the CAA's decision." IATA claimed that BAA generated an operating profit of 35% at LHR, producing a net return on invested capital of 15.3% that was twice the level of the cost of capital set by CAA.
JP Morgan projected a collective full-year loss of $4 billion-$9 billion for US airlines yesterday. In a research note, analyst Jamie Baker forecast continuing high oil prices and declining demand and warned, "We don't believe the industry can move quickly enough to put much of dent in forecasted losses." He projected a decline in demand of 6%-7% owing to a weak US economy that JP Morgan believes is already in a recession. "Even a best-ever recessionary demand scenario results in a $4 billion industry loss," Baker wrote.
El Al said it is "continuing advanced discussions with Boeing" to order four 777-200s for delivery beginning in 2012 that will be used on US-Israel routes. It will have the option to switch to the 777-300. A decision on the order is expected before year end.
Air Berlin's acquisition of LTU has proven to be costly, as the German LCC reported a steep drop in full-year profit to €11 million ($16.9 million) from the €50.1 million earned in 2006. "We are right on track with the LTU integration," CEO Joachim Hunold said yesterday as the carrier released preliminary financial figures. "Although the preliminary earnings for 2007 did not meet our expectations, we have reason to be optimistic for 2008." He said capacity utilization and unit revenue improved "significantly" through February and he was "pleased" with bookings.
Aer Lingus did well in its first full year as a privatized company, with a net profit of €105.3 million ($161.8 million) compared to a net loss of €69.9 million in 2006. Revenue rose 15.2% to €1.28 billion on a 7.8% growth in passengers to 9.3 million. Operating costs increased 15.1% to €1.19 billion, primarily owing to greater volumes and higher oil prices. Fuel cost jumped 26.3% on an underlying basis to €253.3 million. Operating profit before employee profit share came in at €88.5 million, up 16.4% from €76 million a year earlier.
Air France confirmed that its offices were raided this week by the European Commission as part of its investigation into alleged price-fixing practices on passenger flights between Europe and Japan ( ATWOnline, March 12). Lufthansa and KLM revealed Tuesday that they had been targeted. "Air France confirms that in similar fashion to other airlines, it is being questioned by the European Commission about links between the EU Union and Japan.
Royal Jordanian took delivery of the first of four new A319s in two-class configuration. The second will arrive in October and the remaining two in February and March next year. RJ also will introduce two new A321s and two E-175s during the coming three months while phasing out two older A321s. Its fleet will consist of 30 aircraft in June.
Flight Safety Foundation announced a partnership with Eurocontrol aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two organizations in order to reduce safety risks.
US Airways and International Assn. of Machinists announced a tentative labor agreement that will move all US MRO and related employees under one labor contract. Pre-merger America West Airlines staff will move to the higher pay scales of pre-merger US employees and the contract also "modifies the existing East [US] agreement in ways that are mutually beneficial to IAM mechanic-and-related employees and the company," US said. Contract covers approximately 800 West and 2,500 East employees and, if ratified by IAM membership, will become amendable on Dec. 31, 2011.
GEnx-2B for the 748-8 demonstrated 70,950 lb. of takeoff thrust during ground testing yesterday at GE's outdoor testing facility in Peebles, Ohio. Ground testing on the engine began with idle runs on Feb. 29. "This achievement marks a significant milestone in the GEnx-2B program," Program GM Tom Brisken said. Certification will involve five engines and is anticipated in the first half of 2009 with EIS later next year.
