Kunpeng Airlines, the regional joint venture between Shenzhen Airlines and Mesa Air Group, formally launched on Saturday after nine months of preparation. It had been operating a Xi'an-Taiyuan-Tianjin route on a trial basis but now is flying on 11 routes to the aforementioned cities plus Yichang, Huhehaote, Nanchang, Zhengzhou and Hefei with three 48-seat CRJ200s ( ATWOnline, Sept. 28).
In a quarter during which it added three 777-300ERs and launched service to North America, Jet Airways posted income of INR284 million ($7.2 million), reversed from a INR551 million deficit in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2006. Revenue for the second fiscal quarter climbed 26.1% to INR22.54 billion against an 18.9% rise in expenses to INR22.12 billion. The carrier reported a 6% year-over-year increase in passenger numbers to 2.6 million and a 3.3-point lift in load factor to 66.8%. Traffic was up 30% to 3.62 billion RPKs and capacity grew 23.6% to 5.42 billion ASKs.
Sensis was selected by CAAC's Air Traffic Management Bureau to deploy ADS-B at Chengdu Shuangliu International and Jiuzhai Huanglong. Timing of installation at the two central China airports was not revealed and financial terms were not disclosed. It will mark the first formal trial of ADS-B technology in China for use by commercial aircraft.
Following three incidents involving faulty landing gear on Q400 aircraft, SAS Group decided to remove its 27 turboprops from service permanently owing to safety issues as well as concerns about its image and financial health. The latest incident occurred Oct. 27 when the right main landing gear failed to extend fully on a flight into Copenhagen. No injuries were reported among the 40 passengers and four crewmembers onboard.
Air Berlin will launch its first long-haul route May 1, a five-times-weekly Dusseldorf-Beijing-Shanghai Pudong service aboard A330s. Aer Lingus and British Airways signed a codeshare agreement covering all EI flights between its new Belfast base and London Heathrow. EI will launch thrice-daily BFS-LHR service on Jan. 14 and add a fourth daily flight at the end of March.
AmSafe Partners, which claims to be the largest supplier of passenger, flight attendant and cockpit safety restraining systems, was acquired by Greenbriar Equity Group LLC and Berkshire Partners LLC from Pritzker Group and Admiralty Partners. Terms were not disclosed.
Barco was awarded a contract by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Dept. to provide an arrival metering and sequencing system based on its OSYRIS arrival management software for a six-month trial period. The system, to be installed by year end, will enhance air traffic efficiency at Hong Kong International. Separately, Barco in cooperation with Marshall Aviation Services of the UK announced that its OPScenter-based Airport Display System entered operational service at Inverness Airport.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace's Panama Aerospace Engineering subsidiary won a contract valued at S$4.5 million ($3.1 million) from Transaero Airlines for maintenance and C checks on 10 737-500s. Work will begin this month with redelivery slated for December. PAE plans to redeliver the final aircraft in late 2008.
Northwest Airlines earned $244 million in net income for the third quarter, its first full reporting period out of bankruptcy protection, significantly reversing a net loss of $1.2 billion in the year-ago quarter when it was operating under Chapter 11. President and CEO Doug Steenland hailed the "remarkable turnaround" and said the "strong performance makes it possible for us to continue to invest in the airline so that we can enhance shareholder value." One possible way of growing shareholder value, he said, is to spin off the WorldPerks frequent-flier program.
Gol continued its resurrection of Varig last weekend with the launch of VRG Linhas Aereas daily Rio de Janeiro Galeao-Sao Paulo Guarulhos-London Heathrow service. VRG already served Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino.
Boeing's board approved a new share repurchase plan under which the company plans to buy back up to $7 billion worth of its common stock. The planned repurchase is in addition to approximately $8 billion of its stock it has bought back since 2004 and follows a $3 billion buyback approved by the board in August 2006. The company also yesterday declared a quarterly dividend of 35 cents per share payable Dec. 7 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 9.
Paxport announced the launch of PaxRelax, a Web-based sales platform that allows airlines and tour operators "to sell services such as choice of seats, catering, excess and/or special baggage." Launch customer is Thomas Cook Northern Europe, which will offer the service to customers in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.
Sabre Travel Network said Porter Airlines will have the capability to display branded fares via Sabre-connected travel agents. Porter also recently signed a full-content agreement with STN.
Kitty Hawk, the Dallas/Fort Worth-based air cargo operator that specialized in expedited delivery of time-sensitive heavyweight cargo in the US, said yesterday that it "will immediately cease all scheduled network air and ground operations" owing to declining demand and rising fuel costs.
British Airways announced the conclusion of arrangements for a long-term, multiple-option debt facility for $1.7 billion that will be used to finance aircraft delivered over the next five years. Banks from China, Japan and Europe are participating.
Porter Airlines, a regional carrier that launched operations from Toronto City Centre Airport last October, on Friday sought an injunction from an Ontario Superior Court to force Air Canada and its Jazz affiliate to sever all ties for allegedly violating Canadian competition laws and to pay Porter C$850 million ($878.4 million) in damages. Porter's allegations were filed in a counterclaim to a lawsuit previously filed by Jazz, which operates regional services on behalf of AC via a capacity purchase agreement.
Swiss International Air Lines will increase its commitment to its Geneva hub with an additional based A319, a new daily service to Rome Fiumicino, a new thrice-weekly flight to Bucharest Otopeni and a second daily Moscow Domodedovo service pending the rights award. On Nov. 16 Swiss will open a new first class lounge at the airport in addition to a new facility for Miles & More members. Separately, Swiss will take delivery of a second former Austrian Airlines A340-300 this quarter.
Swiss International Air Lines did its share to boost Lufthansa's group profit ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26), posting a third-quarter operating profit of CHF190 million ($163.1 million), nearly double the CHF101 million earned in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed 16.8% to CHF1.29 billion. "Our clear positioning as a quality airline, our consistent strengthening of our Zurich hub and our gradual and sustainable expansion of our aircraft fleet and our route network are the foundations of our present success.
Wuhan-based East Star Airlines will become the first Chinese low-cost carrier to fly outside the country, announcing the launch of services to Hong Kong and Macau from Wuhan beginning Nov. 6 that will be followed by planned flights to Singapore and Thailand early next year.
ILFC and Airbus confirmed that the lessor has ordered 20 A350 XWBs valued at $4 billion. The order was reported earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 22), but confirmation did not come until Friday. It provides a boost to the next-generation aircraft program, particularly considering ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy's public criticism of the initial A350 design ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25, 2006).
Moments after Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson claimed that attempting to solve capacity problems with congestion prices or flight caps would be "an admission that we as an industry have failed," US FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell told ATWOnline that last week's meetings between the government and airlines serving New York JFK were "productive" but that there was "still more to do."
TAM on Friday took delivery of an A340-500, its first of the type, and said it will use the aircraft to launch daily service between Brazil and Frankfurt from Nov. 30.
Kuala Lumpur-Singapore service is set to see a major price war erupt after the Malaysian government decided to abandon its protection of the route and several others well ahead of the originally scheduled January 2009 date.
Midwest Air Group, parent of Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect, fell to a $3.9 million loss in the third quarter, reversed from a $1.7 million profit in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed 20.2% to $202.6 million but costs were up 24.1% to $208.7 million, leaving the company at an operating loss of $6.1 million compared to the $427,000 profit earned in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2006. Group airlines flew 1.31 billion RPMs, up 25.1%, against a 23.7% increase in capacity to 1.66 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 79%.
