ABX Air posted third-quarter net income of $2.4 million, down 63.4% from a net profit of $6.6 million in the year-ago quarter, and said it has agreed to arbitration to resolve its dispute with DHL over reimbursement of expenses related to its contract flying for the express delivery giant.
Airbus and French authorities launched an investigation Friday into an accident involving an A340-600 carrying out engine runup tests at the manufacturer's Saint-Martin site near Toulouse ahead of the aircraft's scheduled delivery to Etihad Airways. The jet, carrying nine people, apparently crashed through a barrier. Photographs show the badly damaged A340, bearing Etihad livery, nearly split in two, with the destroyed cockpit and nose area of the fuselage mostly severed.
Aer Lingus said it signed a contract with Airbus for six A330-300Es and six A350-900 XWBs. The order was announced in June ( ATWOnline, June 7). EI holds also six A350 options.
Despite falling passenger traffic revenue and continuing labor unrest, Alitalia managed to narrow its third-quarter deficit. Its pre-tax loss of €57.6 million ($84.3 million) was an improvement over the €66.4 million suffered in the year-ago period, while its operating loss narrowed to €19.1 million from €42 million in the third quarter of 2006.
Spatial Composite Solutions of Dubai won an $8.8 million contract from Emirates to design and install 13 cabin service trainers for assorted Airbus and Boeing aircraft, including the A380.
UK government intends to ease the present single cabin bag restriction from next year. Under the plan, airports will be able to seek permission from the Dept. for Transport beginning Jan. 7 to allow passengers to take more than one item of hand luggage onboard. Airports must prove they can maintain existing security levels. The UK is the only EU country to limit hand luggage to one item.
ATR signed an MOU with Mexican carrier Aeromar for two PW127M-powered ATR 72-500s. Value of the agreement is more than $36 million, ATR said. The aircraft will be equipped with the Elegance cabin and IFE.
UK Office of Fair Trading is seeking comments on easyJet'acquisition of GB Airways ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26). The LCC announced last month that it agreed to acquire the British Airways franchise partner, excluding its London Heathrow slots, from Bland Group for £103.5 million ($214.4 million) in cash.
Air France Industries was contracted by Nouvelair to provide CFM56-5A/5B engine support for its fleet of A320/A321 aircraft. Contract gives access to AFI's engine and component pools.
Lufthansa added 350 flight attendants in the first nine months of this year at its Munich base, 25% more than in 2006. LH now employs 2,700 cabin staff at MUC. Next year it will add three long-haul aircraft to the base.
Skybus Airlines finalized an agreement with BOC Aviation providing pre- and post-delivery financing for 13 new A319s worth more than $750 million at list prices. Aircraft will be delivered in 2009-10. The parties reached a similar deal last spring covering four aircraft. Skybus currently operates seven A319s and will take delivery of 67 over the next five years.
Continental Airlines will launch twice-daily flights to London Heathrow from Newark and Houston Intercontinental beginning March 29 aboard 777s and 767-200ERs, subject to government and slot approval, it announced yesterday. Wizz Air will launch flights from Bucharest Baneasa to Cluj (four-times-weekly), Brussels Charleroi (thrice-weekly) and Milan Orio al Serio (thrice-weekly) on Feb. 28.
Lufthansa flew 10.48 billion RPKs in October, up 5.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.1% to 13.46 billion ASKs and load factor climbed 1.9 points to 77.9%. Iberia flew 4.8 billion RPKs in October, a 3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 1% to 5.7 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.6 points to 84.2%.
China Southern Airlines became the first mainland Chinese carrier to gain full membership in a global airline alliance yesterday as it officially became the 11th member of SkyTeam.
Industry experts discussed the challenges of current weather radar systems and how weather impacts airlines on a daily basis in the ATWOnline webcast "Not Your Father's Radar: How current technology is reducing training costs." The webcast, available here, focused on weather hazard detection and highlighted wide variances in weather radar training for pilots. Speakers also detailed new technology that can better decipher weather data and provide clearer information to pilots.
Airbus said it received firm orders from 10 customers for 163 aircraft worth more than $28 billion at list prices at the recently completed Dubai Air Show. Emirates' order for 70 A350 XWBs and 11 A380s was the most valuable single order in the manufacturer's history ( ATWOnline, Nov. 12).
Iberia's sale is looking more probable following its confirmation yesterday that it received a takeover approach from a consortium led by private equity group Gala Capital. In March, a consortium led by US investment fund TPG that included British Airways (which holds a 10% stake in IB) made an indicative offer of €3.60 ($5.28) per share ( ATWOnline, July 13).
Ethiopian Airlines will wet-lease two GE-powered 747-200Fs from US-based Southern Air. First aircraft will arrive Nov. 17 and be leased for 14 months; second will arrive Dec. 31 and fly for ET for 19 months. The aircraft will fill the gap until it takes delivery of two MD-11Fs, the first in December 2008 and the second in August 2009. The first 747F will fly daily Addis Ababa-Brussels from Nov. 8, becoming twice-daily at year end. On Jan. 4, ET will launch weekly Hong Kong freighter service, becoming the first African carrier to fly the route. It also operates two 757 freighters.
US Transportation Security Administration faced harsh criticism yesterday following the release of a Congressional report stating that undercover investigators were able to pass through security checkpoints at 19 airports "undetected with components for several improvised explosive devices. . . concealed in their carry-on luggage or on their person."
Saying that flight delays and cancellations have turned the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday period into "a season of dread for far too many Americans," President George W. Bush outlined a series of initiatives to alleviate congestion, including temporarily opening up military airspace on the East Coast, and signaled his support for "congestion pricing" at crowded airports.
IATA said worldwide premium traffic growth slowed to 2.6% in September from 5.3% in August. "There is much volatility and distortion in the data at present but the [premium traffic] growth trend remains positive," IATA said. "Excluding structurally weak within-Europe markets, premium traffic grew 6.8% in September. . .Strong premium revenues have been key to protecting profitability from high fuel costs."
Dutch Transport and Water Management Inspectorate levied a €30,000 ($43,740) penalty on TAP Portugal and a €15,000 fine on Pegasus Airlines for repeated abuse of the legally set special noise regime during the night and early morning period at Amsterdam Schiphol. Compliance with the relevant environmental standards at AMS has been tightened since July following an agreement between Airport Coordination Netherlands, the Dutch slot coordinator, and the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works.
Etihad Airways and Virgin Blue announced a comprehensive interline deal that will provide passengers connectivity to 22 Australian cities and from Brisbane and Sydney to Abu Dhabi and beyond to Etihad's 45 international destinations. Deal is effective immediately. Etihad launched daily flights to Sydney in March (becoming 11-times-weekly in March 2008) and thrice-weekly service to Brisbane in September.
EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva yesterday said that an investigation of websites selling airline tickets showed that "over 50% used misleading advertising and unfair practices." According to a statement from the European Commission, the investigation covered "Europe's leading airlines, low-cost carriers as well as other websites selling airline tickets." Kuneva did not identify any airlines by name, but in a preemptive move Ryanair defended its pricing transparency and availability of low fares in a statement issued Tuesday: "Ryanair hasn't been contacted by the [EC] as part of
