Air China and Air Macau parent Air China Ltd. earned a 2006 net profit of CNY3.19 billion ($411.8 million), up 86.71% over the prior year, on a 17.4% lift in operating revenue to CNY44.9 billion.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.6 billion RPKs in February, down 0.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.9% to 3.97 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 0.6 point to 65.5%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 1.79 billion RPKs, down 6.3%, against a 5.1% fall in ASKs to 2.63 billion, dropping load factor 0.8 point to 68%.
There is a potential capacity crunch looming for landing gear MRO, according to Lufthansa Technik Director-Business Unit, Landing Gear Hamburg Michael Kirstein.
American Airlines said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that first-quarter mainline passenger RASM will increase 3.5%-4.5% year-over-year and consolidated unit revenue will rise 2.7%-3.7% from last year's 10.26 cents. Consolidated unit cost, which was 11.46 cents in January and 11.84 cents in February, is expected to come in at 11.52 cents for the quarter and 11.51 cents for the year, up from 10.90 cents in 2006. Consolidated CASM excluding fuel is forecast at 8.42 cents for the first quarter and 8.19 cents for the year, up from 7.82 cents in 2006.
Ryanair will launch thrice-weekly London Stansted-Maribor service on June 5. It expects to carry 40,000 passengers in the first year of operation. Iberia is increasing its New York JFK-Madrid service to 14-times-weekly from 10 beginning March 25. It also will begin using A340-600s on the route, raising overall capacity 68% compared to the winter season.
Accident investigators are looking at whether heavy fog played a role in Saturday's crash of a UTair Tu-134 that killed six passengers at Samara Airport. Reports from the city in southwest Russia and data supplied by the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network said the aircraft landed 400 m. short of the runway and flipped over after the left wing touched the ground. There were 50 passengers and seven crew onboard.
Alpi Eagles of Italy ordered five E-195s, plus five options and six purchase rights, Embraer announced yesterday. The order, which had been listed as "undisclosed" in the manufacturer's order book, will be valued at $584 million if all options and purchase rights are exercised. Based in Venice, Alpi is the launch customer for the high-capacity, 122-seat, single-class E-195, which was announced at Farnborough last July ( ATWOnline, July 24, 2006).
Airbus is facing an uphill battle to retain Malaysia Airlines as an A380 customer. According to Business Times, MAS remains in discussions with the manufacturer on "various options" for its order for six. The newspaper reported that the airline and parent Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd. said in an e-mailed statement that they had "yet to come to any conclusion." It also cited sources stating that a cancellation is likely.
Alitalia flew 2.67 billion RPKs in February, up 4.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.4% to 3.91 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2.9 points to 68.3%.
Jazeera Airways yesterday announced the submission of its application for listing on the Kuwait Stock Exchange ( ATWOnline, Oct. 13, 2006). Jazeera Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said the KSE has the second-highest capitalization in the Middle East and that the application process is expected to take 6-8 weeks. J9 claims to be the only airline in the region not owned or subsidized by any government.
Etihad Airways will launch thrice-weekly service to Toronto (aboard an A340-500 from June 2) and Brussels (aboard an A330-200 from June 1) from Abu Dhabi. Air Berlin will begin a six-times-weekly Berlin Tegel-Gothenburg service on May 2. Malaysia Airlines and Transaero Airlines have launched a partnership to develop Moscow Domodedovo-Kuala Lumpur service. Initial phase lasts through this month during which Transaero will operate the route with a 767-300 with MAS as a codeshare partner.
Thai Airways, Nok Air, One-Two-Go Airlines and Orient Thai Airlines will resume domestic operations at Bangkok's old Don Muang Airport on March 25. Last Sunday Thai moved 29 truckloads of passenger and ground handling equipment back to Don Muang from the new Suvarnabhumi International, where a few gates at a time are being taken out of service to facilitate airfield pavement repairs ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8). Don Muang was closed to scheduled commercial traffic when Suvarnabhumi opened Sept.
Gulf Air named former British Airways employee and private consultant Jeffrey Solomon as acting VP-technical. Swiss International Air Lines said that MD and Head of Sales and Marketing-Intercontinental Markets Marcel Biedermann will head the carrier's North and South American management operations.
Japan Airlines was anticipating a one-day strike by approximately 2,000 "cockpit crew and other staff" today but promised all flights will operate normally and that there will be no cancellations. JAL said three unions--JAL Cockpit Crew Union, JAL Labor Union and JAL Domestic Labor Union--voted yesterday to strike. JAL Cabin Crew Union declined to join in the work action.
A380 development aircraft MSN7, with nearly 500 passengers onboard and operated with assistance from Lufthansa, made a smooth landing at New York JFK shortly after noon yesterday, becoming the first of the aircraft type to land at a US airport (see story below). A second development A380 carrying no passengers arrived shortly thereafter at Los Angeles International Airport. "We're testing actual factors in a real airline environment. This shows the A380 works," Airbus CCO John Leahy said.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said last week in Washington that the tentative open skies accord reached by the US and EU is "just a first step" and that the industry must strive for more freedom both in the transatlantic market and globally. EU-US open skies "should be a blueprint" for the global industry and a long-term accord should significantly expand the business flexibility of carriers, he said.
Vietnam Airlines unveiled a redesigned and upgraded website enabling it to launch e-ticketing this quarter. Domestic fares are available online with the rest of the schedule slated for release next month. Separately, VN started four-times-weekly Hanoi-Luang Prabang service aboard 65-seat ATR 72s. It is the carrier's second destination in Laos.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Anthony Shorris blasted airlines for poor treatment of passengers at New York JFK and other New York airports during recent winter storms. Noting "uniquely powerful ice storms" that hit New York over the weekend and earlier this winter, he told media gathered at the airport yesterday for the A380 proving flight landing that bad decisions were made and resulted in too many passengers stranded on delayed aircraft. He did not single out specific carriers.
The A380 landed in the US for the first time yesterday, at New York JFK's Terminal 1, following a quiet flight from Frankfurt that took 45 min. less than the 7 hr. 45 min. scheduled flight time.
Aeroflot said it will take delivery of two A320s this month and will take three A319s and three A321s by year end. Next year it expects to take delivery from Airbus of 11 purchased A320s. It currently operates 26 A320 family aircraft.
Aerolineas Argentinas and Avianca signed a codeshare agreement last week under which AR passengers on the carrier's thrice-weekly flights to Bogota will be able to connect to AV's domestic services while AV passengers flying to Argentina will have access to domestic flights operated by AR or Austral Lineas Aereas. Singapore Airlines and US Airways announced a codeshare deal under which SIA passengers to Los Angeles or San Francisco can connect to US flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix and New York JFK via Charlotte.
Republic Airways Holdings is unlikely to hold onto the 15 ERJ-135s released from the amended service agreement with Delta Air Lines announced last week.
The tentative EU-US open skies agreement continued to elicit a variety of responses last week, including unexpectedly strong support from Airports Council International-Europe and ACI-North America, which issued a statement jointly urging the signing of the accord at the forthcoming EU/US Summit on April 30.
