Cathay Pacific Airways will start a second-daily Hong Kong-San Francisco flight Oct. 18 aboard a 777-300ER. CX and Dragonair flew a combined 6.57 billion RPKs in September, up 5.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.6% to 8.32 billion ASKs and load factor was ahead 3.4 points to 79%.
Ancra International said Cargo Aircraft Management placed an order for its 757-200 Cargo Loading System. Installation is scheduled to take place during the ongoing Precision Conversions passenger-to-freighter modification at Flightstar in Florida.
Finnair said yesterday it has approved a new long-term plan that focuses on developing Europe-Asia services with a future goal of also boosting North America-Asia service by turning Helsinki Vantaa into a significant connecting hub. "We will take advantage of Helsinki's geographical location even more extensively," President and CEO Jukka Hienonen said. "In years to come, the airspace and terminal facilities of large European airports are likely to become increasingly congested while Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has plenty of room for construction and possibilities for development."
S7 Airlines said revenue through the year's first nine months rose 27% year-over-year to $845 million and full-year turnover will reach $1.17 billion compared to RUB24.97 billion ($1 billion) in 2006. The company expects full-year EBITDA of $57 million. Nine-month passenger numbers grew 10% year-over-year to 4.3 million, with RPKs up 5% to 10.42 billion and load factor ahead 3.6 points to 81.9%.
There was a guarded sigh of relief in Toulouse yesterday as Airbus handed over the first of 19 A380s to launch customer Singapore Airlines, and a clearly delighted SIA CEO Chew Choon Seng said, "better late than never."
AerCap announced that subsidiary AeroTurbine promoted Senior VP-Materials Michael King to the newly created position of president reporting to AeroTurbine CEO Nicolas Finazzo.
CAAC is aiming to boost China's long-neglected domestic regional market further with the distribution of new subsidies even as the recent trend of companies investing in regional startups appears to be accelerating.
Gol said it concluded a committed aircraft pre-delivery payment loan facility worth $310 million covering the 21 737-800s scheduled for delivery from July 2008 through 2009. It said the financing comprises eight banks and was led by Calyon and Citigroup.
UPS Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew will retire at the end of the year and be succeeded by Vice Chairman and CFO Scott Davis, the parcel delivery giant said yesterday. Davis, 55, joined UPS in 1986 when it acquired technology company II Morrow, of which he was CEO. He served in positions of increasing responsibility in finance and accounting before assuming the role of CFO in 2001. He was named vice chairman and elected to the UPS board in 2006.
Finnair flew 1.73 billion RPKs in September, a 16.8% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 18.6% to 2.31 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.1 points to 75%. WestJet flew 963.4 million RPMs in September, up 18% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 13% to 1.22 billion ASMs and load factor increased 3.5 points to 78.7%. Austrian Airlines Group flew 1.82 billion RPKs in September, down 17.8% from the year-ago period, against a 17.9% fall in capacity to 2.3 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.1 point to 79%.
Delta Air Lines plans to launch five-times-weekly Atlanta-Queretaro service on Jan. 14, subject to regulatory approval. The city would be DL's 19th Mexican destination, the most it serves in any foreign country. Aerolineas Argentinas will launch twice-daily Buenos Aires-Asuncion flights on Oct. 22. One daily flight will be nonstop while the other will stop in Corrientes four-times-weekly and Resistencia thrice-weekly. It also will launch weekly Cordoba-Rio de Janeiro Galeao service on Dec. 16 aboard a 108-seat 737-500.
Nacional de Aviacion Let 410 that had been missing since departing Villavicencio on Oct. 8 was discovered last week in mountains near Cubarral, with all 15 passengers and three crew onboard killed, Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network reported. The aircraft belonging to the Bogota-based airline was on its way to Uribe and first flew in 1990.
Japan Airlines said it will offer early retirement plans to 900 cabin staff who will have completed 15 years of service and will be at least 54 years old if managerial or 50 if nonmanagerial on March 31. JAL said it is working to cut yearly employment costs by ¥50 billion ($425 million) from FY06 by increasing productivity 10%, a hiring freeze and early retirement incentives. It said 630 ground staff employees holding middle management positions have accepted an early retirement package offered in August and will leave the carrier Nov. 30.
Ryanair said Friday it will appeal the decision of the TAR Lazio, a regional court in Rome, to uphold flight cuts at Rome Ciampino ( ATWOnline, Aug. 9). The LCC is accusing the Italian government of "unlawfully restricting the availability of low fares in the Rome market, a move that provides further illegal protection of Alitalia and restricts consumer choice."
AMC Airlines MD-82 was destroyed following an emergency landing in Istanbul last week, according to press reports. All 156 passengers and seven crew aboard the aircraft, which reportedly requested the landing owing to problems with the landing gear, escaped before fire consumed it. AMC is an Egyptian charter and ACMI carrier.
Delta Air Lines announced the sale of $1.4 billion in Pass Through Certificates, which were sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers. The funds generated will be used to refinance nearly $1 billion in existing debt currently secured by aircraft.
Porter Airlines will operate seasonal Toronto City Centre-Mont Tremblant service from Dec. 22 to March 31. Flights will be four-times-weekly Dec. 22-Jan. 6 and twice-weekly thereafter.
US airlines will convene for a meeting with Bush Administration officials Oct. 23-24 to discuss ways of reducing airspace congestion, with particular focus on the crowded New York market, the Dept. of Transportation announced.
Volga-Dnepr Airlines put its second next-generation Il-76TD-90VD freighter into operation last week, carrying a load of 32.5 tonnes from Gothenburg to Washington Dulles. The carrier will take delivery of three more, to be built by TAPO under an August order placed with MAK Ilyushin, in 2009-10.
Mexico's Federal Competition Commission last week rejected Mexicana's bid to acquire AeroMexico, ruling that a merger of the country's two largest airlines would be unfair to competitors and "unfavorable to consumers."
Kingfisher Airlines appears to have taken a significant step toward winning the right to begin long-haul flights next year, as Indian authorities have proposed that fleet size, rather than the age of the carrier, be the determining factor, The Economic Times reported from Bangalore. Previously, airlines had to operate domestically for five years before applying for overseas rights, and a move to reduce that to three years met with stiff opposition. Kingfisher launched in spring 2005 and hopes to fly long-haul next year.
Singapore Airlines today will take delivery of the first A380 at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse, where the carrier also will unveil the cabin interior. The Trent 900-powered aircraft is scheduled to depart for Singapore Tuesday and will begin operating on SIA's Sydney service with a special charity flight on Oct. 25-26.
Hamilton Sundstrand Power Systems signed a maintenance support agreement with Singapore Airlines that includes an asset management plan for its A380s, which will be equipped with the Pratt & Whitney Canada/Hamilton Sundstrand PW980 APU. Under the agreement, HSPS will perform MRO and provide spares support for up to 17 years.
Megadata Corp. said US Airways will use PASSUR FlightPerform live airspace analysis tools at US's Pittsburgh operations control center "for improved airspace utilization, fuel management and diversion management."
