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.
SkyEurope Airlines secured a €15 million ($22 million) loan from York Global Finance, the LCC's largest shareholder. It said it will use the funds "to continue with the execution of its turnaround plan without diluting shareholders' interests through the issuance of new capital." It lost €24.1 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace said subsidiary ST Aerospace Supplies will open an import, export and logistics facility, Guangzhou Aerospace Technologies & Engineering, to support customers in China and component maintenance-by-the-hour program participants. The 130-sq.-m. facility includes a warehouse and office at Guangzhou Baiyun. Initial investment is $500,000. Operations will commence immediately.
Yemenia Yemen Airways signed an agreement with Djibouti Airlines to help the African carrier renovate its eight aircraft and upgrade its operation, the Yemeni government news agency reported. Djibouti Airlines reportedly has secured financing from "a number of foreign investors" and would receive $12 million in a first phase.
The China Eastern Airlines/Singapore Airlines deal appears increasingly less likely to go through, with Air China stating yesterday that it is planning a counterbid while a change in CAAC leadership signaled that Beijing may be cooling to the stake sale. Li Jiaxiang, president of Air China parent China National Aviation Holding Co., was promoted to head China's aviation ministry on Dec. 28 and is known to be skeptical about foreign investment in Chinese airlines.
US Airways announced the recall of "more than" 200 flight attendants effective Feb. 15. Notices were sent in late December to furloughed US cabin staff. Recalled employees will be assigned to Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington National, New York LaGuardia or Boston.
UK airports operator BAA yesterday withdrew a plan to close its final salary pension scheme to new employees, removing the threat of a series of strikes scheduled at its seven airports. BAA airport firefighters, security, maintenance, administrative and clerical staff belonging to the Unite union had voted to stage two 24-hr. strikes and one 48-hr. work stoppage this month, although they called off the first, scheduled for Jan. 7, after BAA agreed to negotiate ( ATWOnline, Dec. 24, 2007).
Monarch Airlines carried 3.7 million passengers on its scheduled services last year, a 15.8% increase over 2006. The launch of eight new routes contributed to the surge, the airline said, noting it will continue its eastern Mediterranean expansion and will launch a new Manchester-Murcia service next month.
Martinair's supervisory board elevated Diederik Pen to COO. Mesa Air Group named Freedom Airlines President Jorn Bates as COO-Mesa Airlines and Joe Serratelli, most recently VP-operations and productivity for Delta Air Lines subsidiary Song, as COO-Freedom Airlines. Mesa Airlines VP-Flight Operations Mickey Morman was promoted to VP-safety and regulatory compliance for MAG, Mesa Airlines VP-Safety and Regulatory Compliance Eric Gust was named to succeed Morman and Mesa Airlines Senior Director-Dispatch Zaka Khogyani was named the carrier''s director of operations.
AirTran Airways said it will remain headquartered in Orlando and plans to build a permanent, "hurricane-hardened" systems operation control center at MCO. It said the existing SOC was damaged in a 2004 storm. It will add 121 jobs to an Orlando-based workforce numbering 300. Separately, AirTran reached a long-term deal with IAI's Bedek Group for landing gear maintenance on its current and forthcoming 737NG fleet to total 115 aircraft. Contract value was not disclosed.
Continental Airlines said mainline and consolidated unit revenue each climbed 5.5%-6.5% in December compared to the year-ago month. Consolidated traffic rose 1.9% to 7.62 billion RPMs against a 3% climb in ASMs to 9.69 billion. Load factor fell 0.8 point to 78.7%.
TAM signed a loan agreement with BNP Paribas to finance up to $117.1 million in pre-delivery payments on 30 Airbus aircraft scheduled to arrive through 2010. Separately, TAM launched daily Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Madrid service aboard an A330. The Spanish capital is its fifth European destination.
Aeroflot removed its final Tu-134 from service, RIA Novosti reported ( ATWOnline, Feb. 19, 2007). Final flight of the 14-strong fleet was on Dec. 31 from Kaliningrad to Moscow. The aircraft seats 76 passengers.
Panasonic Avionics said Grupo Marsans selected Panasonic eX2 IFE systems for installation on 12 A330-200s operated by Aerolineas Argentinas and Air Comet. First delivery is scheduled for August.
Boeing announced/finalized several aircraft deals over the holidays, including the signing by British Airways of a contract for 16 787-9s and eight 787-8s worth $4.4 billion at list prices. The deal, originally announced in September ( ATWOnline, Sept. 28), includes options for 18 787s and 10 purchase rights. Brazil's Gol converted its 34 remaining 737-800 options into firm orders and signed a new deal for 40 additional aircraft to be delivered in 2012-14. It now has ordered 161 of the type.
Airlines throughout the world are contending with antitrust charges made at the end of 2007 by the European Commission, which has accused at least 11 and as many as 25 carriers of "cartel" activity relating to airfreight transport.
Lufthansa will add 4,300 new employees this year in Germany, including 2,000 flight attendants and 1,000 ground staff to be based in Frankfurt and Munich. In addition, 360 flight cadets will start their careers at Lufthansa Flight Training in Bremen. LH employs 105,000, with 65,000 based in Germany.
Assn. of European Airlines elected KLM President and CEO Peter Hartman as chairman for 2008. Hartman takes over from Iberia Chairman and CEO Fernando Conte.
When all-business-class carrier MAXJet Airways announced it was filing for bankruptcy and shutting down service on Christmas Eve, two other all-business airlines quickly stepped forward to offer services to displaced passengers and reaffirm their commitment to the service model.
NASA released some 16,000 pages of data from its 2001-04 National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service survey, in which more than 25,000 pilots were asked a range of questions about air safety in the US and reported much higher rates of midair near misses, runway incursions and engine failures than reported by FAA. But NASA, which drew strong criticism two months ago for failing to release the results of the $11 million project publicly ( ATWOnline, Nov.
