Air France KLM flew 16.12 billion RPKs in December, a 3.3% rise from the year-ago month. Capacity was up 3.8% to 20.29 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 0.4 point to 79.4%.
US Navy ship is expected to join the search today for the missing Adam Air 737-400 off the coast of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island, where the vessel will deploy high-tech equipment to help determine whether or not metal found on the ocean floor is from the 737's wreckage ( ATWOnline, Jan. 9). Flight 574 disappeared from radar during a heavy rainstorm on Jan. 1 and all 102 aboard are feared dead.
Alitalia is attracting the interest of Rothschild investment bank, which is forming a consortium of Italian and international investors to present a bid for the stake being sold by the Italian government, according to several press reports. The consortium will include privately held Italian carriers Air One and Meridiana and two US private-equity funds. Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo also is involved.
The EU, which hopes to jumpstart transatlantic open skies negotiations this week in meetings with US officials in Brussels, said yesterday that it plans to seek a separate open skies accord with Canada. The European Commission said an EU-Canada deal "may generate consumer benefits of at least $94 million through lower fares and could create 3,700 jobs in the first year." Canada currently has separate bilateral agreements with 17 EU member states, accords the EC said are in conflict with current EU law.
US passenger and cargo airlines should earn $4 billion this year excluding bankruptcy restructuring and reorganization gains, up from an estimated $2-$3 billion in net income in 2006, according to ATA's annual economic outlook released yesterday.
Citing the "potential to benefit the greatest number of passengers," the US Dept. of Transportation yesterday awarded United Airlines the tentative right to operate a new daily service between Washington Dulles and Beijing as early as March 25, thus ending months of lobbying by the four legacy carriers hoping to fly nonstop to the world's fastest-growing large aviation market.
WestJet indefinitely postponed installation of the aiRES reservation system from Travelport that was supposed to replace its OpenSkies system this year and allow it to interline with other carriers ( ATW, November 2006). The LCC extended its support agreement with Navitaire for the OpenSkies system through the end of 2008, indicating that it could be 2009 before it converts to aiRES.
LTU German Airlines wants to take over certain Latin American routes belonging to Air Madrid, which shut down operations Dec. 15 ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18, 2006), but an LTU spokesperson told ATWOnline that the airline does not plan to take over the bankrupt Spanish carrier despite rumors to the contrary. Spanish transport authorities reportedly said that LTU also plans to absorb 568 Air Madrid employees, some 52% of the total, as part of its plan to create a subsidiary named LTU Espana within six months.
Caribbean Sun Airlines will shut down on Jan. 31, according to company officials, and close its operational hub at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan. Sister carrier Caribbean Star Airlines was granted permission by US FAA in October to expand service to US destinations. "When Caribbean Star was launched in 2000 it could not serve San Juan and other US destinations, which of course hindered growth," Star and Sun President and CEO Skip Barnette explained.
Ryanair will launch service from Dublin to Bydgoszcz and Gdansk in May, bringing to 22 the number of new European destinations it will serve from the Irish capital this summer. It also will increase frequencies from DUB to Bratislava, Biarritz, Carcassonne, Kaunas, Krakow, Malaga, Murcia, Riga and Rome Ciampino. The LCC expects to carry 9 million passengers through Dublin this year. Kuwait Airways and Alitalia will codeshare on KU's thrice-weekly service to Rome Fiumicino effective Jan 14.
US Airways named Morgan Stanley as joint lead arranger, joining Citigroup, to underwrite the carrier's $7.2 billion in debt financing for its proposed merger with Delta Air Lines.
MAIR Holdings minority shareholder Riley Investment Management, which reportedly holds 5.2% of the Mesaba Airlines parent, said last weekend that Northwest Airlines' offer to acquire Mesaba ( ATWOnline, Jan. 8) is "grossly inadequate" and that it will attempt to block or change the deal. Riley said NWA deliberately "destroyed value for MAIR shareholders" and is now trying to buy the bankrupt regional below fair market value.
Gol is lowering its full-year earnings per share and revenue forecasts following a plunge in December load factor. The Brazilian LCC now predicts revenues of BRL3.85 billion ($1.79 billion) rather than BRL3.9 billion and EPS of BRL3.15-3.30 rather than BRL3.40-3.65. It flew 1.53 billion RPKs in December, up 48.4% from the year-ago month, but capacity soared 65.4% to 2.26 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 7.8 points to 67.4%.
Etihad Airways confirmed yesterday that it will launch service to Australia "within the next few months" thanks to the conclusion of an "extended aviation bilateral agreement" between the UAE and Australia. "I believe that our service will significantly drive and support the development of trade and tourism between the UAE and Australia," Etihad CEO James Hogan said. "We are finalizing the arrangements and hope to announce the details shortly."
Iran Air's six A310s can be fitted with new GE engines thanks to a special approval granted by US authorities, according to Iranian officials cited in press reports. The A310s are stored at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.
US FAA unveiled its long-awaited and controversial Extended Operations rule yesterday that brings two-, three- and four-engine aircraft under a common regulation for long-haul operations with limited diversion airports. According to the agency, the new rule is "intended to eliminate propulsion system reliability as a consideration from the maximum diversion time capability of the airplane. Only the most time limiting airplane system capability [fire suppression, oxygen, etc.] will determine the maximum diversion time capability for a two-engine airplane under the new requirements."
United Airlines expects to post a "modest operating loss" in the fourth quarter after it was hit hard by blizzards at its Chicago and Denver hubs. United and United Express canceled about 3,900 flights last month, resulting in a $40 million drop in anticipated revenue. December traffic fell 0.8% year-over-year to 9.38 billion RPMs against a 1.5% decline in ASMs to 11.77 billion. Load factor dipped 0.4 point to 79.6% and passenger numbers were down 2.5% to 5.4 million.
British Airways appeared to take an important step toward resolving its pension deficit ( ATWOnline, Nov. 20, 2006) last week after the British Airways Forum, which represents the airline's four unions, agreed to recommend BA's latest proposals to union members. "We have come a long way with our staff, trustees and trade unions on this issue," BA CEO Willie Walsh said. "We can now move forward on our plans for fleet renewal and replacement."
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines' 17 members reported a 6.2% year-over-year increase in November passenger numbers to 11.2 million. RPKs rose 3.3% to 44.72 billion against a 0.2% fall in capacity to 59.46 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2.5 points to 75.2%. Cargo jumped 6.2% to 4.89 billion FTKs, capacity grew 5.7% to 7.1 billion ATKs and load factor was up 0.4% to 68.9%. Northwest Airlines flew 6.38 billion RPMs in December, up 1.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.1% to 7.9 billion ASMs and load factor went up 0.7 point to 80.7%.
Indonesian officials were attempting to determine late yesterday whether metal detected on the ocean floor off the coast of Sulawesi Island could be the wreckage of the missing Adam Air 737-400 that disappeared Jan. 1 in a heavy rainstorm ( ATWOnline, Jan. 5). More than 100 passengers and crew aboard flight 574 are feared dead.
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise yesterday ordered 20 A320 family aircraft and exercised 20 options and purchase rights with Boeing for 737NGs in deals valued at a combined $2.8 billion, with all 40 aircraft to be delivered between the 2009 second quarter and the 2012 first quarter.
Plagued by production and boardroom problems throughout the past year, Airbus is off to a fast start in 2007 with an order from AirAsia for 50 A320s plus 50 options valued at about $3.3 billion that was signaled last week ( ATWOnline, Jan. 8).
SITA and Qatar Airways signed a five-year, $30 million contract to build and maintain a global intranet leveraging a suite of TCP/IP protocols operating over SITA's IP Virtual Private Network.
Air Berlin will start a weekly Munich-Ras Al Khaimah service from Feb. 10 aboard 737-800s. It will be the first AB flight to the Persian Gulf and will be operated for a German tour company.
Australia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services Mark Vaile hosed down media reports that the government only will approve Airline Partners Australia's A$11.1 billion ($8.64 billion) takeover of Qantas if the airline guarantees that jobs and maintenance facilities remain in Australia.
