Citing "huge demand," Silverjet CEO Lawrence Hunt told ATWOnline that the all-business-class carrier is preparing to announce new US destinations just six months after launching service between London Luton and Newark. "We had a 61% load factor in our second month," he said. He specifically mentioned Chicago and Los Angeles as potential new markets. Silverjet features lie-flat beds, in-seat entertainment systems and reduced check-in times from a private terminal at Luton. Some 70% of tickets are purchased online, while travel agents book the remainder, Hunt said.
With a critical vote by shareholders for its board of directors coming tomorrow, Midwest Airlines yesterday said that second-quarter earnings will "fall short of analysts' expectations" and could dip below the $8.8 million earned in the 2006 second quarter, a revelation quickly seized upon by AirTran Holdings as supporting its attempt to acquire the Milwaukee-based carrier.
China Southern Airlines has outlined its strategy to seize a greater share of the international cargo market. It will begin by converting six A330 passenger aircraft into freighters over the next two years in addition to taking delivery of six 777Fs in 2008-10. It intends to add to its domestic network but will commit most of the increased capacity to international routes.
Lufthansa flew 10.37 billion RPKs in May, up 6.2% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.4% to 13.64 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.3 points to 76.1%.
Shannon-based Genesis Lease Ltd. signed a definitive agreement with InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. (IndiGo) for the sale and leaseback of two new A320-200s. Aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to IndiGo in July and September.
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation warned that commercial aviation's growth in India may depend on whether or not the government is willing to "redouble their commitment to reform." CAPA said it conducted an industry survey in India and found that "investor uncertainty related to issues of transparency, evenhanded application of regulations and policies governing inter-airport competition and this was limiting potential new investment in the country, especially in its critical airport sector." Executive Chairman Peter Harbison said the Indian government "must institute a clear policy road
Sabre Airline Solutions signed a "major" revenue management contract with Aegean Airlines. The Greek carrier will use the product to control seat price and availability by both flight leg and segment. It anticipates "significant" incremental revenue as a result.
Alteon Training signed an agreement yesterday with Northwest Airlines to provide simulator training for carriers on seven aircraft types at NWA's training center in Eagan, Minn. NWA and Alteon will place a 787 full flight simulator and other 787 training equipment in the center by April 2008. Alteon will have exclusive rights to market excess simulator time to all 787 operators and will provide training at the facility to airlines throughout the world on the 747-400, 747-200, 757, DC-9, A320 and A330.
Finnair President and CEO Jukka Hienonen has concluded that the airline's Asian strategy has "paid off." He told ATWOnline at last week's IATA AGM in Vancouver that 2007 Asian traffic has grown 30% year-over-year and is expected to maintain that rate through year end. Last month, 70% of passengers inbound from Asia connected on Finnair's European network, he added. He said the airline is considering opening a fifth Chinese destination and is targeting South Korean service as well.
Rolls-Royce said it shipped the first pair of Trent 1000 engines for installation on the 787. A total of nine development engines are involved in ground running, with a further 10 scheduled to support the flight test phase. Production engines are due to begin delivering to Boeing in the first quarter of next year.
EADS named Marwan Lahoud, currently CEO of missile manufacturing subsidiary MBDA, chief strategy and marketing officer replacing Jean-Paul Gut, COO-marketing, strategy and global development, who will leave the company Oct. 1. ATR named Stephane Mayer CEO replacing Filippo Bagnato, who is now chairman of the turboprop manufacturer's board. Mayer, whose appointment is effective immediately, has been chairman and CEO of EADS Socata since 2003.
American Airlines flew 11.89 billion system RPMs in May, down 2.9% from the year-ago month. Domestic traffic fell 2.5% and international was down 3.7%. Capacity dropped 4% to 14.55 billion ASMs on a 4.0% domestic decline and a 4.1% international decrease. Load factor rose 1 point to 81.7%--domestic was up 1.2 points to 84.2% and international 0.3 point to 77.2%.
VGS Aircraft Holding (Ireland) Ltd. acquired an A320-200 from RBS Aerospace through wholly owned VGS subsidiary Johannesburg Ltd. The aircraft is leased to Kingfisher Airlines until September 2012 and financed by HSH Nordbank AG.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft last weekend announced the signing of a 10-year, €100 million ($133.7 million) loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to fund construction of the Superjet 100. Sukhoi said that along with Boeing's assistance (see story above), Alenia of Italy "is considering acquiring an equity stake" in the Russian manufacturer in addition to its marketing and after-sales support roles.
Continental Airlines said yesterday in an investor update that second-quarter mainline unit cost is expected to rise just 1.2%-1.6% year-over-year to 10.84-10.89 cents on a 6.1% lift in capacity. Mainline CASM excluding fuel and related taxes is expected to be 7.74-7.79 cents. Full-year unit cost will stay nearly in line as well, from 10.56 cents in 2006 to 10.66-10.71 cents in 2007, an increase of 0.9%-1.4%. Growth rate is less than half of last year's 3.3%.
ARINC said US FAA awarded it a three-year contract to continue providing the VHF Extended Range Network that supports ATC communications in the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite the fact that its initial order lapsed last November and it signed on for 22 A350 XWBs in the interim, Aeroflot opted to join the rush to order the 787 with a commitment to Boeing for a reported 22 aircraft.
AirTran Holdings once again extended its tender offer to Midwest Air Group shareholders, this time through Aug. 10. When the third extension expired on June 8 ( ATWOnline, May 18), Midwest shareholders had agreed to tender 59.5% of outstanding shares, or 64.1% of the outstanding shares not held by members of Midwest's board or management. AirTran's current offer values Midwest at $389 million.
Air France yesterday launched daily Paris CDG-Seattle flights aboard an A330-200. Separately, the airline said it operated its last 737 flight yesterday aboard a -500 on its Paris CDG-Turin route. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines plans to launch six-times-weekly Hong Kong-Vancouver service from June 28 aboard 747-400s purchased from ANA. Air China plans to operate a dual-class A340 in daily Beijing-London Heathrow service from June 21. It currently operates the aircraft to Frankfurt from Beijing and Shanghai.
Boeing said yesterday that its engineers have completed "50% of the design for the new 777 freighter" and suppliers are beginning to build parts, assemblies and tools. The first 777F is scheduled for delivery to Air France in the 2008 fourth quarter. The manufacturer currently has 71 orders from 11 customers for the aircraft, which is based on the 777-200LR.
Air France KLM is seeking full control of Amsterdam-based Martinair and has begun lobbying the European Commission to obtain clearance for a 100% holding, according to widespread reports from the Netherlands. Martinair is owned jointly by KLM and Danish shipping group Moeller-Maersk. KLM initially launched a bid in 1998 but was rebuffed by the EC, which also imposed a fine equal to €40,000 ($53,474) on the Dutch flag carrier for supplying incorrect and misleading information regarding transavia.com, the LCC that operates as an independent subsidiary of AF KLM.
Republic Airways Holdings reached a five-year labor agreement with more than 60 dispatchers represented by the Transport Workers Union and working at Republic Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines and Shuttle America.
China's traditionally isolationist flag carriers are taking the initiative to ally with foreign counterparts in order to take advantage of increasing liberalization and maintain their competitive position.
Brussels Airlines plans to make a fleet renewal decision next year, CEO Philippe Vander Putten recently told ATWOnline. "The choice to buy Airbus or Boeing is easy. The difficulty is to define what our future fleet requirements will be," he said. "What will our business model be? A lot will depend on how successful our new positioning [from a yield-oriented to a more volume-oriented carrier], will be.
