Finnair took delivery of its first new 269-seat A340-300E, the first of three ordered in December 2005. The second CFM56-5C4-powered A340 will arrive in mid-June. The aircraft will operate on the carrier's Helsinki-Tokyo Narita service.
BCI Aircraft Leasing acquired the first of three 737-300QCs that it had been leasing. The aircraft are on long-term operating lease to Europe Airpost. The other two will be purchased in the coming months.
Saudi Arabian Airlines will start issuing electronic boarding passes to passengers traveling through Saudi airports in August, the Arab Air Carriers Organization said.
Aeroflot on Friday denied Italian media reports that it plans to drop out of the bidding for Alitalia ( ATWOnline, May 31), while revealing that it is working with the EU on maintaining AZ's European traffic rights if its consortium beats out Air One and wins the privatization tender. "There is no hesitation to leave the bidding. There is no question of dropping out," Lev Koshliakov, an SU deputy DG, told Thomson Financial.
Kingfisher Airlines revealed a few more details Friday about parent United Breweries Group's acquisition of 26% of Air Deccan parent Deccan Aviation ( ATWOnline, June 1), including that the promised offer to acquire an additional 20% of Deccan will be priced at the same INR155 ($3.82) per share. The initial stake cost UBG INR5.46 billion. UBG will be the largest shareholder in Deccan and will nominate three directors to the 12-member board.
Bombardier last week formally introduced the Next Generation version of its CRJ700, 900 and 1000 that feature all-new cabins with increased use of composite materials. "The NextGen aircraft will offer advantages in operating costs versus their nearest competitors, which will have up to 15% higher trip cash operating costs," Bombardier Regional Aircraft President Steve Ridolfi said. The Canadian manufacturer said NextGen improvements include fuel burn savings up to 4%, lower maintenance costs and longer intervals on maintenance schedules.
US Airways launched daily Philadelphia-Brussels service last week. EasyJet will start daily Madrid-Ibiza flights on June 21. Etihad Airways launched thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Thiruvananthapuram service. Hamburg International will begin weekly Weeze-Erbil service on June 21. The carrier has served the Iraqi city from Munich and Frankfurt since 2005. Sky Express of Russia will increase Moscow Vnukovo-St. Petersburg service to thrice-daily from daily beginning today.
STG Aerospace is offering a wireless system designed to monitor and diagnose onboard emergency light systems for commercial aircraft. The Wireless Emergency Primary Power System eliminates the need for visual inspection of the cabin lighting system with the use of a wireless monitoring unit that enables cabin crew to test the entire emergency light system from a control panel. WEPPS is in the final stages of FAA certification.
SkyEurope Airlines reported a consolidated net loss of €32.5 million in the fiscal semester ended March 31, a slight amelioration from the €33.6 million lost in the year-ago period.
Delta Air Lines promoted VPs Robert Cortelyou to senior VP-network planning, Pam Elledge to senior VP-global sales and distribution and Gail Grimmett to senior VP-revenue management.
While China Eastern Airlines is on the verge of selling a 25% stake to Singapore Airlines ( ATWOnline, May 30), Shanghai Airlines appears to be interested finding its own foreign investor.
While US carriers are certainly in far better shape financially than in recent years, "profitability" is a relative term. Even considering that the first quarter is traditionally the weakest reporting period, it's hard to view the year's first three months -- when half of the 10 largest US airlines were in the red -- as anything but slightly disappointing given that 2006 was the industry's best year since 2000 and better results are expected in 2007.
First, the good news. Global airline yields and traffic growth are on the upswing and have contributed to a significant expansion of aggregate industry revenue to approximately $470 billion in 2007. This is a welcome development after years of staggering financial losses. The bad news is that airline costs, led by a doubling of fuel prices, are increasing at 4%-5% per annum and will reach $450 billion, resulting in a paltry 3% estimated operating margin, according to IATA.
WHEN IT SURFACED YEARS AGO, radio frequency identification technology was heralded as a breakthrough tool in supply chain management. But while manufacturers and users continue to refine and test it through pilot programs, RFID still is not considered ready for prime time, interviews with the technology's experts indicate. Cost of implementation, resistance to switching from existing technology and competing budgetary demands have slowed its adoption by OEMs, airlines and maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities.
AIRPORT PRIVATIZATION HAS SPREAD RAPIDLY throughout the world since Margaret Thatcher's UK government sold off airports operator BAA in 1987, with one glaring exception: The US. Major airports in the world's largest air transport market are not viewed, as they increasingly are in much of Europe and Asia, as for-profit, self-sustaining businesses. Rather, Americans largely perceive airports as public utilities, much like libraries and motor vehicle administrations, that should be owned and managed by state and local governments.
Galileo said it can "state unequivocally" that it has no intention of forcing any customers to migrate to a new system in the U.S. The statement was the clearest indication yet that if Travelport, Galileo's parent, succeeds in acquiring Worldspan, it does not intend to integrate the two systems. That means Travelport will operate three GDS platforms; Galileo, which was developed in Europe, was never integrated with the U.S. born-and-bred Apollo system.
WITH A HISTORY dating back to 1932, UK-based A J Walter Aviation today lays claim to being the largest privately owned stocker of aircraft spares in the world, with more than 4 million parts of some 400,000 line items. It currently boasts a staff of 140 at the world headquarters, located in a small village in the heart of the Sussex countryside not far from London Gatwick, and another 40 at more than 30 offices around the globe.
One of the earlyand substantialpurchasers of the 787 is Continental Airlines, which has placed orders for 25 Dreamliners. In an e-mail Q&A with Airline Procurement, Senior Engineering Director John Wiitala revealed how the carrier will deal with some of the MRO issues. Airline Procurement: How is Continental setting up for maintenance, repair and overhaul of the 787? What will be different versus the existing fleet?
AerCap Holdings welcomed Thomas MacAleavey as chief executive-engine leasing. Alaska Air Group elected Gregg Saretsky executive VP-flight & marketing, Glenn Johnson executive VP-airport services, maintenance & engineering and Brad Tilden VP-finance & planning. American Eagle named Dave Campbell senior VP-technical operations and Cathy Jacobs VP-people. AWAS introduced Angus Williamson as head-risk management. Boeing selected Mary Armstrong as VP-environment, health & safety.
KEEPING AN AIRLINER aloft to generate maximum profits calls for efficient management of a vast number of spare parts. Making sure there are enough pumps, tires, avionics gear, engines, cabin carpets, brackets and thousands of other aircraft supplies available for MRO is a major procurement challenge. No wonder that maintenance and supply managers worry ceaselessly about whether there is a shortage of this or that bit of hardware at the right time and in the right place to keep aircraft flying.
BADGERS AND RAZORBACK HOGS didn't make the cut. Grizwald the bear, a clever fox, a wisecracking jackrabbit and a quartet of penguins are in, along with a snowy white owl named Doc who is acceptable everywhere but in Mexico where he raises superstitions. These decisions are all part of the business strategy of Frontier Airlines, which markets itself as "A Whole Different Animal" and reflects that sentiment by having every aircraft tail painted with a creature indigenous to the regions served.
