Arik Air of Nigeria launched its first regional route, Lagos-Accra, this month. Service will operate twice-daily on a 737-700. The carrier said it "plans to cover the West African subregion before making a foray into the entire African continent" and eventually plans to operate 40 international flights per day. It also announced an expansion of its domestic network to Owerri, to which it will fly from Lagos and Abuja. Arik now serves 12 Nigerian destinations and plans to take delivery this year of six 737-700s, four 737-800s and two Q400s.
Northwest Airlines flight attendants represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA released a set of conditions under which they would support a merger, including a labor agreement "that provides substantial improvements in compensation and work rules to the current flight attendant agreement" and continuation of a "strong hub presence" at Minneapolis-St. Paul. The union claimed that NWA executives confirmed details of their severance packages in the event of a merger prior to the airline's exit from bankruptcy, citing a 2007 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
US Airways named VP-Financial Analysis Dion Flannery as president of US Airways Express. He succeeds the retiring Robert Martens. Finnair named Alliance Director Kati Ihamaki as VP-sustainable development.
Frontier Airlines Holdings, parent of Frontier Airlines and Lynx Aviation, reported a $32.5 million net loss for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, widened from a loss of $14.4 million in the year-ago period.
Coast Air, a Norwegian regional carrier that operated eight domestic routes as well as international service to Copenhagen and Gdansk, shut down last week, according to press reports.
Lufthansa Cargo will expand its foothold in China with a joint venture with Hua Yu Air Cargo Terminal Co. at Tianjin Binhai. A new 90,000-sq.-m. air cargo center is expected to become operational this year and will offer the capacity to handle 360,000 tons of cargo annually. LHC will own a 46% stake in HYACT while Taiwanese investor Hwa-Hsia International Holding will hold 49% and Tianjin Airport International Logistics will have the remaining 5%.
American Airlines introduced a mobile version of its website that will allow users to check in and confirm their itinerary and schedule/status in addition to other features. Booking, reservation changes and loyalty program features will be available this spring.
Emirates Chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum confirmed the airline's intention to float a 20%-30% stake in a wide-ranging interview with Emirates Business 24/7 in which he also said EK continues to target a $1 billion profit for the fiscal year ending March 31.
Air New Zealand slashed its standard domestic fares 9%-27% to stimulate travel and tourism. The changes, effective from Feb. 23, are for lead-in "smart saver" fares on 40 domestic routes. These will be introduced alongside reductions of 20%-30% in top-end fares on a number of regional routes popular with business customers and cuts of 15% in top-end fares on main trunk routes. The restructuring comes after a two-year, NZ$350 million ($268.6 million) buildup of the regional fleet that has seen average seat capacity increase 46%.
Chinese carriers are expecting airport charges to rise for international operations following Friday's CAAC announcement that it will adopt a new policy on March 1. The regulator intends to eliminate the discrepancy between the charges paid by domestic airlines and their foreign counterparts. Under the new policy, Chinese carriers will see an increase in the fees they pay to operate internationally while foreign airlines are expecting a reduction in their charges. Currently they are forced to pay 2-3 times more at Chinese airports.
Estonian Air said it reached a labor agreement with the Estonian Transport and Road Workers Union that will include a 12.1% salary increase this year. ETTA called off a "warning strike" scheduled for today.
Astraeus wet-leased a 757 to British Airways for operation on European routes to and from London Gatwick through March. Astraeus said it is entering negotiations "with a number of airlines and operators" to provide similar services.
India and Saudi Arabia signed an air services agreement that will more than double the number of available seats per week between the countries to 20,000 from 8,500. Saudi carriers now can fly to Bangalore, Lucknow and Calicut in addition to the five Indian cities already permitted. Indian airlines will have access to Madina, their fourth destination in Saudi Arabia. Cargo flights will have no restrictions.
Air India, Jupiter Aviation and Airbus signed an MOU last week to establish a three-way JV MRO facility in India to perform work on all types of Airbus aircraft operated by AI and other Indian airlines. Air India told The Economic Times that it will develop a business plan for the MRO over the next two months to be submitted to its board for approval. The deal was reached during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to India last week.
Japan Airlines will link its loyalty program to those of China Eastern Airlines and Mexicana from Feb. 1. JAL has similar agreements with Air France, Emirates and its oneworld partners.
Aviation Capital Group said it concluded 48 aircraft lease and acquisition transactions in 2007. It also placed orders for 45 A320 family aircraft, 30 737s and five 787s worth more than $5 billion at list prices and arranged 19 aircraft sale/placement transactions.
SAS said yesterday that inspections revealed that a majority of SSV valves on the landing gear of its Q400 fleet were defective, thereby relaunching the blame game that started when the carrier removed the aircraft from service following three incidents last fall.
Japan Airlines will offer first class on two of its 18 daily Tokyo Haneda-Fukuoka flights from April 1. JAL said it will be the first time that first class will be available on a domestic flight.
CSA Czech Airlines approved the sale of its Air Czech Catering subsidiary to Alpha Overseas Holdings. Final settlement of the transaction is expected in late March/early April. Separately, CSA will expand its codeshare with Korean Air to cover flights from Prague to Bratislava, Zilina, Ostrava and Budapest and negotiations are ongoing concerning KE flights to Japan. KE currently puts its code on CSA flights to 13 destinations in Western Europe.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group reported 2007 net income of $125 million, reversed from a net loss of $52.6 million in 2006, on a 5.4% boost in revenue to $3.51 billion. The company posted fourth-quarter net income of $7.4 million, turned around from an $11.6 million net loss in the year-ago quarter, but acknowledged that the profit was attributable to "fuel hedge accounting adjustments." Excluding the impact of the adjustments, it said it would have sustained a loss of $17.9 million.
Lufthansa is continuing to withhold comment on speculation that it is considering the purchase of a majority stake in LOT Polish Airlines even after Polish Deputy Treasury Minister Zdzislaw Gawlik told the daily Dziennik that the German carrier "is interested in a stake in LOT under the condition that, one, the transaction is fully approved by the Treasury, and two, that the Treasury sells a majority stake." An LH spokesperson told ATWOnline that the carrier had "no comment" on the minister's statement.
