Air France KLM is actively pursuing its co-location strategy, opening a joint office last week in Brussels from where a single management team will oversee operations in Belgium and Luxembourg. A joint office is scheduled to open this week in Israel while the possibility of implementing a similar structure in Germany and Great Britain is being studied. "We are committed to move ahead with this co-location/joint management strategy unless there are some legal and practical restraints," KLM Senior VP and Area Manager-Benelux Bram Graber told ATWOnline.
Wizz Air announced it will expand its operations from Katowice with the launch of a daily service to London Stansted on May 29, thrice-weekly service to Malmo starting in July and a thrice-weekly flight to Brussels Charleroi beginning Oct. 2. Bmi will launch twice-daily London Heathrow-Jersey flights on March 25. The carrier, which in 2005 introduced a single-class cabin and paid-for catering on most of its short-haul network from LHR, said it will offer a full-service operation on the new link.
ANA announced that the South Pier of Tokyo Haneda's Terminal 2 will open Feb. 15, "completing the final phase of construction at the terminal occupied almost exclusively by ANA." Currently, 70% of ANA flights are served through attached gates and this will rise to 90% with the addition of the new pier. The South Pier will add approximately 11,000 sq. m. of space including a Starbucks, a Relaxation Corner with massage chairs and a Business Support area equipped with computers, printers and photocopiers.
Air Deccan parent Deccan Aviation reported a INR96.4 million ($2.2 million) net profit in the three months ended Dec. 31, its first profit since going public last summer, Reuters reported. The company lost INR429.4 million in the September quarter and INR3.4 billion in the 15 months ended June 2006, the news agency said. Last quarter's revenues of INR6.37 billion were boosted by the $100 million October sale of delivery rights to 60 A320s ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2006) and a 4% rise in yields.
CAE said Shanghai Eastern Flight Training Co. ordered an A320 full flight simulator while an unidentified airline ordered a 737-800 FFS and an A330/A340 FFS and another unidentified carrier ordered two 777 FFSs. CAE valued the orders including additional flight training devices and buyer-furnished equipment at C$75 million.
Lufthansa said it is extending its Lufthansa Private Jet cooperation with NetJets for a further five years after a successful 2006 in which the number of Private Jet flights rose 13%. Up to 10 private corporate jets were booked daily last year, with highest demand--60% of the total--coming from point-to-point connections to around 1,000 destinations in Europe and the Russian Federation. LH said "more jets will be on call" to accommodate increased demand and it is adding a Falcon 2000 capable of seating 10 passengers to its offering.
Midwest Air Group can attempt to fend off AirTran Airways' hostile takeover bid from a position of perceived strength following last week's announcement that it returned to the black, posting a 2006 net profit of $5.4 million after losing $64.9 million in 2005.
Aer Lingus carried 8.6 million passengers in 2006, up 7.3% year-over-year, as it added new routes and 11.6% more seats. Passenger numbers grew 9.3% on short-haul flights and fell 4.4% on long-haul flights. Load factor dropped 3.8 points to 77.6%, including a 5.8-point decline on long-haul services.
Frontier Airlines was hit hard by last month's Denver snowstorms and suffered a $14.4 million net loss in its third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, widened from a $10.3 million loss in the year-ago period. The carrier cancelled 875 flights in December due to inclement weather estimated to have reduced revenue by some $12.2 million. President and CEO Jeff Potter admitted it was "the greatest challenge in our history" save for 9/11.
DHL said it will invest an additional $35 million in its Hong Kong operation to increase ground handling capabilities in the growing market, lifting its total investment in the city to $645 million, which includes a $400 million investment in Air Hong Kong made in conjunction with Cathay Pacific Airways.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group reported a full-year 2006 net loss of $52.6 million, widened from a loss of $5.9 million in 2005, citing charges stemming from Alaska's ongoing transition to an all-737 fleet and voluntary severance programs related to new labor contracts. Excluding the impact of special charges, 2006 net income would have been $137.7 million, more than double the $55 million earned the year before. The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $11.6 million, narrowed from $33 million in the year-ago quarter.
US Airways Chairman and CEO Doug Parker's bold vision of a combined US/Delta Air Lines collided with the cold reality of Washington politics this week, providing a preview of the legal battles the proposed merger faces even if US can convince reluctant DL executives and creditors to back it. US lawmakers questioning Parker during a Senate Commerce and Transportation Committee hearing Wednesday ( ATWOnline, Jan.
Silverjet, the London Luton-based all-business-class carrier ( ATWOnline, Oct. 6, 2006), launched operations yesterday with its maiden flight to Newark. It said sales "are comfortably ahead of management's expectations." It will start a second daily LTN-EWR flight in July and is "investigating further long-haul route opportunities."
Adam Air 737-400's flight data recorder was detected yesterday by USNS Mary Sears, an oceanographic survey ship assisting in the search for debris from the aircraft that disappeared off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Jan. 1 with 102 aboard ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12). The US embassy in Jakarta said the ship located signals "on the same frequency of the black boxes associated with the missing airplane."
Boeing has been forced to drop its plans for a wireless IFE system on the 787 after it was found that regulatory issues would preclude the system's being activated over certain countries. Problems also were encountered with bandwidth limitations in some areas as well as weight. The silver lining is that the change will save 150 lb. In October Boeing acknowledged some problems with the 787's weight and delivery schedule ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26, 2006), forcing it to raise R&D spending to support suppliers.
ATR booked firm orders from 13 airlines for seven ATR 42-500s and 56 72-500s along with 25 options in 2006. Ten carriers are new ATR customers, which CEO Filippo Bagnato said confirmed that "a new wave of regional low-cost airlines are adopting turboprops in Europe and Asian markets." He said ATR also was seeing, as predicted, an increasing demand for its product in South America and Africa. Last year's orders included a previously unreported seven aircraft plus five options from Brazilian company TRIP Linhas Aereas, signed in December. African carriers committed to 12 new aircraft.
Air Transport World, sister publication to ATWOnline, named ANA as its Airline of the Year for 2007 and Horizon Air as its Regional Airline of the Year. Tokyo-based ANA is being recognized for its exemplary safety record, superb passenger service product, operational excellence, IT innovation and strong earnings performance. In choosing Seattle-based Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, the editors cited its strong brand and product identity in its local markets, technical leadership, friendly passenger service and profitability.
Airbus appears to be moving toward adopting a solid composite barrel for its A350 XWB after receiving mixed feedback on its plan to use composite panels on an aluminum frame. According to industry analysts, trade studies are underway in Toulouse for the change. Last fall ATWOnline revealed that Airbus was swapping to a composite structure ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25, 2006) and that the aircraft's EIS would slip to 2014.
Emirates will launch six-times-weekly Dubai-Sao Paulo service on Oct. 1, which it said will be the first-ever nonstop service between the Middle East and South America. It will operate the route with the first of its 10 ordered 777-200LRs ( ATWOnline, Nov. 21, 2005). Aircraft will seat 266 across three classes.
Expressing "deep regret" that it has been unable to reach an agreement with cabin staff represented by the Transport & General Workers Union, British Airways yesterday said it has cancelled all passenger flights out of London Heathrow and all domestic and European flights out of Gatwick scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday, when T&G plans the first of three walkouts ( ATWOnline, Jan. 25).
ANA will launch a 36-seat, all-business-class 737-700ER on the Tokyo Narita-Mumbai route Sept. 1, a move that underscores a focus on premium traffic that is a highlight of the corporate plan unveiled yesterday in Tokyo. The plan focuses on frequency, yield, capacity decreases and more daily services to China, which will see ANA's first 737-700 BusinessJet enter Nagoya-Guangzhou service on March 1. That aircraft is configured with Club ANA and Premium Economy seats. A320s also are part of the China ramp-up with the introduction of 20 business class seats.
An F100 operated by Regional, Air France's wholly owned subsidiary, overshot the runway while taking off at Pau Pyrenees Airport en route to Paris Charles de Gaulle yesterday morning. All 50 passengers and four crewmembers evacuated uninjured, but the aircraft hit a vehicle on a nearby road, killing one person and injuring another, AF confirmed. The French DGAC said that based on initial reports, the pilot was forced to execute an emergency landing after one of the plane's engines ingested several birds.
The Transport & General Workers Union agreed to cancel the first 24 hr. of next week's three-day British Airways cabin crew strike ( ATWOnline, Jan. 23) "as a goodwill gesture to allow more time for further negotiations" and "after the personal intervention" of BA CEO Willie Walsh. BA flight attendants still are prepared to walk off the job on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 and for three-day periods beginning Feb. 5 and Feb. 12 unless a deal is reached.
