Emirates will quit its management contract with SriLankan Airlines following a public spat after the Sri Lankan government withdrew the work permit of Peter Hill, Emirates' secondee and CEO of the Colombo-based carrier. The trouble started when SriLankan refused to offload 35 passengers on a London Heathrow-Colombo flight in order to accommodate President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his entourage. The government owns 51% of the airline while Emirates holds 43.6%, and negotiations have been underway for 18 months to renew an eight-year-old management contract.
GuestLogix will provide mobile virtual store onboard technology across Ryanair's fleet under a deal announced Friday. Cabin crew will use handheld electronic point-of-sale devices to streamline transactions. Rollout is scheduled for April.
Poland's Treasury Ministry plans to sell its 68% stake in LOT Polish Airlines, Deputy Treasury Minister Zdzislaw Gawlik said last week, although there first must be changes to current regulations that permit the sale of only a minority stake, Reuters reported. "There are no rational grounds for the carrier to remain state-owned. We want to change the law in order to sell the shares," Gawlik said. The ministry plans to float the carrier this year on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, possibly in the third quarter.
Rolls-Royce said Air Astana selected the Trent 1000 for its initial three 787-8s plus an additional three aircraft for which it holds purchase rights. Firm engine orders are worth $90 million at list prices and are scheduled for a 2016 delivery.
United Airlines flew 9.23 billion system RPMs in December, down 1.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.1% to 11.76 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 0.8 point to 78.8%. A record 19 "severe" weather days during the month will result in a 1% year-over-year drop in fourth-quarter capacity rather than the forecast 0.8%, UA said. Ryanair transported 3.95 million passengers in December, up 18% from the year-ago month. Load factor slipped 2 points to 79%.
Finnair said it intends to buy back up to 600,000 shares through public trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, with the purchase beginning on Feb. 5 at the earliest and ending April 1. Separately, the carrier announced the sale of the last three ATR 72s operated by its Aero subsidiary to Russia's Utair. Aero's four other ATR 72s were sold last year to ATR Leasing ( ATWOnline, July 25, 2007).
The number of passenger fatalities on revenue flights declined by 20% in 2007 to 631 from 790 in 2006 although the number of fatal accidents rose from 13 in 2006 to 15 last year, according to the "Annual Aviation Safety Report" from Ascend. However, Ascend noted that despite the numeric increase, the industry maintained "the long-term improvement" trend in safety. It stated that "the average number of fatal accidents since 2000 is 16.0, and in the 1990s the average was 24.2."
Fraport Cargo Services said the German Civil Aviation Authority granted it final accreditation as a regulated agent. Awarded until December 2011, accreditation follows efforts by FCS to observe EU Directive 2320/2002 including measures to enhance air cargo handling safety, operating area security, warehouse entrance efficiency and various training initiatives.
China Southern Airlines will report a nearly tenfold increase in full-year pre-tax profit under domestic accounting standards, to CNY3 billion ($411.9 million) in 2007 from CNY306 million the year before, GM Liu Shaoyong told the state Xinhua news agency. Revenue rose 13.6% to a record CNY50 billion on a 15.3% year-over-year increase in passenger numbers to 56.7 million.
US Air Transport Assn. on Friday projected that US airlines will post a collective $3.5-$4.5 billion net profit in 2008, which would mark the US industry's third consecutive profitable year (excluding bankruptcy restructuring-related losses in 2006), a feat not achieved since 1998-2000.
China's two principal state-owned aircraft makers, AVIC I and AVIC II, are planning to restructure in order to pave the way for the realization of the country's ambition to manufacture and market a "jumbo" commercial aircraft.
Boeing smashed its previous commercial aircraft sales record in 2007, with 80 customers placing orders net of cancellations for 1,413 aircraft. The manufacturer topped the 1,000-order mark for the third consecutive year after posting 1,005 orders in 2005 and 1,044 in 2006. It set sales records for the 787 and 737 while the 747, 777 and 767 programs also passed order milestones. The 2007 orders take Boeing's backlog to more than 3,400.
Bombardier said Libyan Airlines exercised two CRJ900 NextGen options from an order placed in June ( ATWOnline, June 18, 2007). The three firm aircraft from the original order already have been delivered and the two new aircraft are worth $76 million at list prices, the manufacturer said. They will be configured with seven business class seats and 68 in economy.
UK Dept. for Transport lifted the restriction limiting passengers to one piece of hand luggage effective today at 22 of the domestic airports ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16, 2007). Airports where passengers will be allowed to take two bags into the cabin include London Heathrow, Stansted, London City, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and Aberdeen, according to a list on DfT's website. Airports where the one-bag rule will stay in place include London Gatwick, Luton, Leeds Bradford, Nottingham East Midlands and Liverpool.
Skybus Airlines launched flights from Portsmouth, N.H., to Punta Gorda/Fort Myers and St. Augustine. JetBlue Airways launched daily Burbank-Salt Lake City service aboard A320s. It will start a daily New York JFK-St. Maarten service on Jan. 17 and a daily JFK-Puerto Plata flight on Jan. 10, both aboard A320s.
Virgin Atlantic Airways said Friday that "hundreds of cabin crew volunteers" had come forward to ensure the airline is able to operate a near-normal service during the planned forthcoming industrial action ( ATWOnline, Jan. 4). VS hopes to operate 90% of its schedule during the Jan. 9-10 and Jan. 16-17 strikes. It also reiterated that there will be no pay increase if cabin staff strikes.
Southwest Airlines will begin charging each ticketed customer for a third piece of checked luggage on Jan. 29, according to regulations published on its website. Its current policy requires passengers to pay $50 each for the 4th-12th item and $110 for each bag thereafter. On Jan. 29, passengers will be charged $25 for a third bag, $50 for a fourth-ninth bag and $110 for every item thereafter. SWA told The Dallas Morning News that only 2% of passengers checked a third piece of luggage last year.
Boeing finalized Dubai Aerospace Enterprise's 100-aircraft order valued at $10.9 billion and also officially completed a $2 billion order for 12 787-8s from Vietnam Airlines and Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Co., pushing its total 2007 commercial aircraft orders to well over 1,300, a single-year record.
Air China plans to raise its stake in Air China Cargo to 76% from 51% in order to pave the way for its joint venture with Cathay Pacific Airways ( ATWOnline, April 17, 2007).
Turkish Airlines said it will lease two A340-300s from ILFC for six years each beginning in February and April. It currently operates seven of the type. Separately, THY is targeting a net profit margin of 10% for 2007 and 20% passenger growth in 2008, CEO Temel Kotil told Reuters. The carrier expects 24 million passengers this year. It plans to join Star Alliance in March.
US Airways received final approval from the US Dept. of Transportation to launch its first service (Philadelphia-Beijing) to China in 2009. DOT granted additional rights to American Airlines (Chicago O'Hare-Beijing), Continental Airlines (Newark-Shanghai) and Northwest Airlines (Detroit-Shanghai) as well. The agency issued a tentative decision in September ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26, 2007).
Vietnam Airlines earned a pre-tax profit of VND370 billion ($22.8 million) in 2007, according to a company statement cited by press reports, a 6.4% improvement over the 2006 figure. Revenue climbed 15.5% to VND20.37 trillion as passenger numbers eclipsed 8 million and load factor rose 4.2 points year-over-year to 75.4%. International traffic comprised 40% of its operations. GD Pham Ngoc Minh told Agence France Presse that VN is targeting 14% revenue growth in 2008 and 9 million passengers.
Oman is planning to build three new regional airports in Adam, Haima and Shaleem. The government has allocated $43.9 million for consultancy studies, design and supervision of the proposed airports, the Arab Air Carriers Organization reported. The country also is planning to expand facilities at Muscat and Salalah.
EasyJet now is selling tickets on its website for 32 routes operated by GB Airways. The LCC's purchase of the London Gatwick-based carrier is expected to close this month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26, 2007). GB will cease operating under the British Airways banner on March 29.
