Qantas exercised options for two 72-seat Q400s for January 2008 delivery to its QantasLink regional carrier. Qantas ordered seven Q400s in early 2005 and the first entered service in early 2006. QantasLink operates 46 aircraft including eight 717s and 28 Dash 8s on 1,900 weekly flights to 49 destinations.
Azerbaijan Airlines placed an order for two ATR 42-500s and four 72-500s worth a combined $100 million at list prices, ATR said. The aircraft will be delivered this year and next and allow the Baku-based carrier to renew its fleet of Antonov and Tupolev aircraft and open new regional routes.
In 2005 a disastrous fourth quarter dragged JetBlue Airways to its first full-year loss, while in 2006 a fourth-quarter turnaround saved the airline from what could have been another ugly 12-month result. JetBlue posted a $17 million profit in the final three months of 2006, a reversal from the $42 million hit that it took in the year-ago quarter, leaving it with a full-year deficit of just $1 million compared to 2005's $20.3 million loss.
US Airways Group reported 2006 net income of $303 million, reversed from a pro forma net loss of $335 million in 2005, results that Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said put the carrier in such a strong position that "we're not going to keep chasing" a merger with Delta Air Lines if DL's creditors' committee doesn't meet US's Feb. 1 deadline.
Alitalia Group expects to post a consolidated operating loss of about €380 million ($490.7 million) in 2006 on revenue of €4.33 billion, the company said in a statement Sunday following a request from the country's securities regulator. AZ's operating loss up to Nov. 30 was €197 million instead of the €364 million profit it had projected.
ILFC announced the following lease deals: KrasAir Airlines for four used 757-200ERs for six years, Air Europa for one new A330-200 for 5.5 years, Golden International Airlines of Turkey for one used 757-200ER for six years, JETX of Iceland for two new 737-800s for eight years and KLM for one new A330-200 for six years.
Sky Express, which is billing itself as Russia's first LCC, launched operations yesterday at Moscow Domodedovo. The startup is leasing two 737-300s and said it plans to add six more by June. According to its website, it will fly to Sochi, Murmansk, Rostov-on-Don and Tyumen. Yesterday's maiden flight was to Sochi, according to Russian press reports. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reportedly contributed $10 million to Sky's $48 million initial capitalization, the Associated Press reported.
British Airways was able to avert a potentially damaging two-day cabin crew strike called for today and Wednesday, plus two further 72-hr. walkouts next month, by forging a last-minute agreement with the Transport & General Workers Union after negotiating through the weekend over sick leave, pay, staffing and pensions.
Japan Airlines flew 6.94 billion RPKs in December, down 8.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity decreased 5.1% to 10.9 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 2.3 points to 63.9%.
CFM International won an order from Air China valued at $345 million for CFM56-5Bs to power 24 A321s scheduled to be delivered in 2008-12. In addition, CA signed a 15-year maintenance agreement. Air China and CFM agreed to establish a JV to develop a new MRO facility in China.
With its $10.2 billion offer to acquire Delta Air Lines set to expire Thursday, US Airways reportedly is willing to raise the cash portion of its bid to $6 billion from $5 billion if DL's creditors committee agrees to pressure the carrier's executives to allow due diligence to begin and to postpone a key bankruptcy hearing scheduled for next week. US yesterday neither confirmed nor denied the report, published in the The Wall Street Journal Monday.
Finnair appointed Anssi Komulainen senior VP-human resources, Kristina Inkilainen senior VP-catering and Sami Sarelius VP and general counsel. British Airways promoted BA World Cargo MD Gareth Kirkwood to director of operations for the airline, effective April 2. Steve Gunning, currently BWAC's finance head, will succeed Kirkwood.
IATA estimated that its member airlines posted a collective operating profit of $10.2 billion for 2006, with net losses totaling $500 million--entirely owing to red ink among North American carriers--on a decelerating passenger traffic growth rate of 5.9%, down from 7.6% in 2005. But the organization said growth was "more profitable" in 2006 than in recent years as "careful capacity management" led to a record average load factor of 76%, up 0.9 point. Worldwide capacity growth for the year was just 4.6%.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard hinted yesterday that the government's approval of Aviation Partners Australia's A$11.1 billion ($8.58 billion) bid for Qantas will not be unconditional.
News from Travel Technology Update: ITA Software, which revolutionized air fare shopping, is applying its shopping technology to a new arena: frequent flyer rewards. Its first client is Aeroplan, founded as Air Canada's frequent flyer program but spun off as a separate company after the carrier's bankruptcy reorganization. Andre Hebert, Aeroplan's vice president of IT and eBusiness, said the move was part of a larger project called ClassicPlus, whose goal was "to offer not just more seats for redemption, but every seat on the aircraft."
Etihad Airways will launch thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Sydney service March 26, becoming daily June 29, with a 240-seat, three-class A340-500. Sydney will be Etihad's fifth destination in the Asia/Pacific region. Clickair will launch daily flights from Seville and Valencia to London Heathrow on Feb. 2 aboard A320s. The LCC is taking over the routes from Iberia and will operate them under codeshare. It also will start flights from Barcelona to Berlin Tegel and Prague on Feb. 1 and from BCN to Dublin, Frankfurt, Basel and Amsterdam on March 1.
China Southern Airlines told the Shanghai Stock Exchange it will return to profitability in 2006 following a CNY1.79 billion ($229.9 million) loss in 2005, according to press reports. It will release its results in April. It said on its website that it will report CNY46.54 billion in revenue for 2006, of which more than 30% came from online sales.
MNG Airlines, a Turkish freight operator, signed an MOU for two A330-200Fs plus one option, Airbus announced. MNG currently flies 10 A300B4-200s and eight F-27s.
Japan Airlines Group took a hatchet to its 165-route domestic network in its biggest overhaul since 9/11. Changes announced yesterday include introduction of one new route (a daily Kobe-Ishigaki service starting in July), a frequency increase on four, reductions on five and suspension of 10 regional domestic services. Key drivers of the change are the availability of more slots at Tokyo airports in FY09, a focus on yield and competitive pressures from ANA.
AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings posted 2006 net income of $15.5 million, nearly double the $8.1 million it earned in 2005, despite a fourth-quarter net loss of $3.3 million, reversed from a $369,000 profit in the year-ago quarter. "The year 2006 was very challenging with our average fuel prices again rising over 20% for the third year in a row," Chairman and CEO Joe Leonard said. Speaking of the fourth-quarter loss, President and COO Bob Fornaro added, "While we were profitable in November and December, these profits were insufficient to offset our losses in October."
Arab multilateral agreement to liberalize air transport, which was adopted by the Arab Civil Aviation Commission at a ministerial level, will enter into force Feb. 18 following expected ratification by Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine and Lebanon, the Arab Air Carriers Organization is reporting. UAE is the most recent ratifier of the accord, which already has been signed by Tunisia, Somalia, Bahrain, Sudan, Iraq, Oman and Egypt.
Two Air Nostrum aircraft were forced to make emergency landings at Barcelona last week with landing gear problems. Two of 40 passengers aboard a CRJ200 were injured while arriving from Valladolid, the Iberia Regional franchise partner said. A Q300 with 23 passengers coming from Pamplona also made an emergency landing after having problems with its nose gear.
Emirates and Boeing are working to try and reduce the weight of the 747-8 Intercontinental so the airline can operate Dubai-Los Angeles with 400 passengers (a 50-ton payload) year round. "We need another 500 miles and we are not there yet," EK President Tim Clark said, indicating he wants more capacity than is available aboard the 777-200LR. "We think we can fill 400 seats a day."
Mesa Air Group's first fiscal quarter earnings fell 38% year-over-year to $8 million on a 7.4% increase in operating revenue to $347.6 million. Operating expenses were up nearly 10% from the year-ago quarter to $328.4 million owing to adverse weather, fuel and maintenance. Operating income was down 30% to $19 million. Mesa Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said he expects to see "steady improvements, quarter by quarter.
