Brazil's National Civil Aviation Council imposed new rules for airline operations at Sao Paulo Congonhas beginning Oct. 1, changes that were anticipated in the wake of the fatal TAM A320 crash in July that killed 199 people ( ATWOnline, July 30). According to TAM, from Oct. 1 flights departing from Congonhas can only fly to destinations within 1,000 km. of the airport. In addition, all flights to and from CGH must be direct, eliminating all stopovers and connections at the airport.
Austrian Airlines Group plans to launch 10 weekly Vienna-London City flights on Oct 29 using F70s. TAM said yesterday it will launch daily Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Montevideo service from Nov. 5.
Southwest Airlines said in an investor update yesterday that third-quarter unit costs will rise 4%-5% owing mainly to a $25 million charge related to its voluntary employee buyout program. The cost increase is more than double its projected growth in quarterly unit revenue and caused analysts to project lower-than-expected earnings for the LCC in the quarter. JP Morgan's SWA third-quarter earnings estimate was lowered to 20 cents per share from 23 cents previously.
SAS said yesterday that it expects its fleet of 27 Q400s to remain grounded "for at least another week" to allow for required inspections and the replacement of landing gear components.
The US Dept. of Transportation yesterday awarded coveted new China route authorities to all six US legacy carriers. Two of the route awards, going to Delta Air Lines and United Airlines for service that can begin on March 30, are "final decisions," DOT said. Four additional routes, on which service can begin in 2009, are "proposed" designations that likely will become final "in the near future."
Oman Air signed an agreement with Aviation Lease and Finance Co. to lease six 787s for 12 years, with deliveries occurring in 2012, 2014 and 2015, the Arab Air Carriers Organization reported.
Volvo Aero Services entered into a five-year agreement with Emirates whereby it will become the exclusive distributor of the airline's spare parts. Under the agreement, Volvo will open a spares distribution center in Dubai. The logistics services will be managed by Volvo Parts on behalf of Volvo Aero Services.
AirAsia X officially will announce its first long-haul, low-cost route and open bookings Friday, CEO Azran Osman-Rani told ATWOnline at the Routes Leaders Forum in Stockholm.
Cathay Pacific Airways abruptly backed away yesterday from its proposed bid to buy a stake in China Eastern Airlines that could have trumped the share sale agreement between CEA and Singapore Airlines. SIA and its parent Temasek earlier this month agreed to purchase 15.7% and 8.3% stakes respectively in CEA but the deal has not yet been approved by CEA shareholders ( ATWOnline, Sept. 5).
Emirates will launch daily 777-300ER service between New York JFK and Dubai via Hamburg on Oct. 29. Emirates enjoys fifth freedom rights between the US and Germany and is offering an introductory NY-Hamburg roundtrip fare of $425. Also, from Oct. 1 the carrier will substitute a 777-300ER for an A340-500 on one of its two daily nonstop services between New York and Dubai.
AirTran Airways pilots, represented by the National Pilots Assn., voted 788-496 to reject a tentative labor agreement that NPA's board had negotiated with management and endorsed last month. AirTran said it will resume negotiations with NPA in an effort to reach a new accord.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. projected in a regulatory filing that third-quarter unit revenue will increase 3.7%-4.7%, surprising Wall Street analysts who had predicted growth of more than 5% and causing AMR's stock price to fall more than 14% yesterday. It marked the company's largest single-day share price drop since 2003.
Airbus said yesterday it has narrowed the list of potential investors bidding to take stakes in industrial sites and become partners in A350 XWB development/production to five candidates, but emphasized that no "identifiable frontrunners" have emerged. The manufacturer said six of 11 bidders already have been eliminated from consideration, leaving GKN, Latecoere, Spirit AeroSystems, Voith and MT Aerospace as the remaining contenders.
News from Travel Technology Update: Sabre and Amadeus revealed details of their new joint venture that aims to provide an industry solution for secure, automated payment processing, clearing and reconciliation of non-air travel components.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh does not expect the first stage of EU-US open skies, set to take effect at the end of March, to have a major impact. "I expect nothing radical and nothing like the predictions of [European Commissioner of Transport Jacques] Barrot," he said at the Routes Leaders Forum in Stockholm. He foresees a move of some capacity from London Gatwick to London Heathrow, but nothing far-reaching and nothing that will cause BA to lose significant transatlantic market share.
AeroMexico's board said a $151 million bid by a group of Mexican investors represented by Banamex to take a controlling stake in the airline is "reasonable." The carrier, which currently is controlled by government holding company Consorcio Aeromexico, previously said that a $100 million bid by Mexico's Saba family was reasonable. It is unknown how long a decision could take on whether to sell the country's second-largest airline.
Air Canada introduced paperless boarding passes for customers who check in using a PDA or cell phone. The service allows the option of receiving an electronic boarding pass in the form of an SMS text message that the customer shows to airport security screening personnel and Air Canada gate agents in lieu of a paper boarding pass. The mobile service currently is available for boarding domestic Canada flights and those to international (non-US) destinations, including connecting flights, from 60 airports across Canada served by Air Canada and Jazz.
Shenzhen Airlines plans to seek a share listing in three years when it enters into the second phase of its "369" strategy, Chairman Zhao Xiang told China Business News last week. The 369 strategy is divided into three phases, namely to expand its fleet to 70 aircraft in three years, 100 in six years and 160 in nine years. "Currently we don't have to go listed, which won't make any financial sense to us now," Zhao said. The carrier has negotiated more than CNY30 billion ($4 billion) in bank credits since its May 2005 transition from a state-owned enterprise to a private company.
Emirates will acquire a 49% interest in inflight catering specialist Alpha Flight Services Australia. As part of the agreement, Alpha will provide catering for Emirates flights from Australia starting in January.
The US House of Representatives last week passed an FAA reauthorization bill that provides more than $67 billion to fund the agency's operations through 2011, but the legislation contains a number of provisions objected to by the White House and airlines and that puts it in conflict with a proposed Senate version.
Lufthansa will increase ASKs by 5.7% on its global network for the winter season starting Oct 28, including the launch of new services to Orlando, Karachi and Lahore. Additionally, it is resuming five-times-weekly nonstop service to Buenos Aires. The winter timetable includes 13,272 scheduled flights, 2.9% more than in the year-earlier period. Beginning Oct.
Mesa Air Group placed CFO Peter Murnane on administrative leave late Friday following allegations by Hawaiian Airlines that he deleted data that could be material to the ongoing legal dispute over Mesa-owned go!'s entrance into the inter-island market last year.
