ILFC is planning an imminent announcement of an order for 20 A350 XWBs valued at about $4 billion, Les Echos and Bloomberg News reported Friday. While there was no official confirmation, Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy last week said he was in talks with the lessor regarding the revamped aircraft, while Airbus North America Chairman Allan McArtor said ILFC was "very comfortable" with the redesigned aircraft and the manufacturer would be "thrilled" with an order from the lessor.
Chalk's Ocean Airways, which suffered a fatal crash of a Grumman Turbo Mallard in December 2005 ( ATWOnline, May 31), lost its operating license and has not operated since early last month, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. Chalk's had been leasing aircraft from Big Sky Airlines but failed to secure FAA re-approval for its own aircraft or acquire new ones, the paper said, so it lost its license.
Air India Chairman V. Thulasidas said Friday that the carrier remains in negotiations with Star Alliance but has not reached a final decision to join, The Economic Times reported. "We can announce our alliance only after a formal agreement is reached," he told the paper.
Air Arabia last week launched four-times-weekly Sharjah-Bangalore service, becoming daily Oct. 29. It also will increase twice-weekly flights to Coimbatore to thrice-weekly next month.
The European Commission is seeking comments from interested parties on commitments proposed by SkyTeam members hoping to obtain antitrust immunity, including the ceding of slots at certain EU airports to competitors.
Middle East Airlines announced that it earned a net profit of $39 million in 2006 despite the hardships it faced when Beirut Rafik Hariri International was closed for 36 days that summer during hostilities between Lebanon and Israel. The result was down 36.5% from the $61.4 million earned in 2005. Chairman Mohammed Hout said the carrier partially offset a $32.5 million revenue decline with the leasing out of its aircraft, which netted $13.3 million. He said MEA will float a 25% stake "when the time is ripe."
Consolidation appears to be the development trend in China's airline industry, but Hainan Airlines Group President Chen Feng said that the "super carrier" idea promoted by some officials will not work. Chen was speaking yesterday after attending the Communist Party of China's national congress in Beijing. He noted that Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan have controlled 90% of the domestic market since 2002 despite the increase in new entrants. "I don't think there is a possibility that these four bigger airlines will merge," he said.
Aerolineas Argentinas and Air Comet parent Grupo Marsans, the Spanish tourism and transport giant, is planning to deploy its four A380s on Madrid-Buenos Aires service, but its desire to boost capacity to Mexico City may force it to increase its order. Marsans President President Gonzalo Pascual told ATWOnline at Monday's Singapore Airlines delivery ceremony in Toulouse that "for Mexico City we need two more A380s.
ANA yesterday confirmed a report in The Wall Street Journal that it will take a one-time charge of ¥66 billion this fiscal year owing to a change in accounting related to aircraft and equipment depreciation, although it has not changed its full-year guidance of ¥64 billion in net earnings ( ATWOnline, Aug. 1). Qantas yesterday said it is "looking at restructuring opportunities" for Qantas Holidays, its wholesale holidays business.
Frontier Airlines is relying on regional partners to bridge the gap until its new Lynx Aviation subsidiary receives FAA certification. Some of the flying scheduled for Lynx currently is being operated under contracts with Horizon Air, ExpressJet Airlines and Republic Airways. The company does not know when it will receive FAA approval, a Frontier spokesperson told ATWOnline. Initially, Lynx was scheduled to begin flying Oct. 1 with two Q400s. It eventually will operate 10 of the turboprops. Tickets were booked and routes scheduled but Lynx was never certificated.
Southwest Airlines reported a third-quarter profit of $162 million, more than triple than the $48 million earned in the year-ago period, even as operating income fell slightly. Special gains more than made up the difference, and CEO Gary Kelly promised that barring an economic slowdown, revenue and schedule initiatives will bear fruit in the fourth quarter.
IATA briefed the US Dept. of Transportation yesterday on possible congestion management solutions for New York JFK, arguing ahead of next week's meeting of airlines in Washington that a "peak pricing" system will not work.
Austrian Airlines Group will reconfigure four A320s with a fixed business class cabin to operate on longer routes to the Middle East and Central Asia, a source close to the airline told ATWOnline. No further details were provided, and CEO Alfred Oetsch said news would be released in due course.
Air Canada will launch four-times-weekly Toronto-Caracas service on April 6 and thrice-weekly Toronto-Port of Spain flights on April 8, both aboard 120-seat A319s.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft announced the following deals: Blue1 signed long-term lease extensions on four RJ85s. It currently operates a fleet of nine Avros along with three MD-90s. CityFlyer, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways that operates a fleet of 10 RJ100s, signed a lease for two RJ85s. Spanish charter carrier Orion Air signed a long-term lease for a BAe 146-200.
The highest quarterly revenue in company history helped boost Continental Airlines to a third-quarter net profit of $241 million, which represented a 1.7% increase over the $237 million earned in the year-ago quarter.
Mexico's government agreed to sell its 62% stake in AeroMexico to a group of investors led by Banamex, the Mexican arm of Citigroup, for MXN2.7 billion ($249 million) following an intensifying bidding war.
American Airlines, which has seen significant growth at Miami International Airport, said it is working with local officials to speed up construction of a new North Terminal. In September, AA reported a 14.4% year-over-year increase in passengers at MIA. As the project progresses, the airport will close Concourse A and American will operate out of C, D and E.
In a deal clearly inspired by the KLM-Northwest Airlines transatlantic joint venture, Air France and Delta Air Lines yesterday confirmed the creation of 50-50 JV to share revenues and costs on their transatlantic operations.
KLM Engineering and Maintenance signed a five-year component maintenance and availability contract covering BRA Transportes Aereos' eight 737s. Iberia Maintenance won a one-year contract from Pluna to conduct A-type inspections of a 767. Under a separate agreement, IB's maintenance division will maintain and overhaul the RB211-535E4s on one of the Uruguayan carrier's 757s.
FKI Logistex won a $123 million baggage handling system contract and a $67 million, five-year, full service and maintenance contract for New Doha International Airport.
Alaska Airlines launched the first phase of an $18 million check-in facility dubbed the Airport of the Future at Seattle-Tacoma International. The system, shared with Horizon Air, replaces traditional ticket counters with a series of kiosks and bag check stations designed to reduce customer wait times. The first of three check-in "islands" features 11 kiosks and 16 bag check stations. Remaining islands will enter service by mid-2008.
GE Aviation began testing the new CF34-10A that will power the ARJ21-700 being built by China Aviation Industry Corp. After a successful break-in run, the engine achieved 70% of its maximum thrust capability of more than 20,000 lb. during an initial test conducted on Oct. 8. The CF34-10A has about 80% commonality with the CF34-10E used on Embraer 190/195 aircraft. It will be certified at up to 18,500 lb. to meet thrust requirements for the 90-passenger ARJ21-700. Certification by US FAA is expected by late 2008. GE has sold almost 4,000 CF34s for regional jets.
ACTS Aero Technical Support & Services reached a 10-year, C$70 million ($71.5 million) deal with SkyWest Airlines to provide maintenance support on a "significant number" of airframe and engine components including line replaceable units for the airline's fleet of 121 CRJ200s and 70 CRJ700s.
