Germanwings MD Thomas Winkelmann said the LCC is expecting to increase its turnover this year by 15% compared to 2006 based on an expected load factor of 82% and more than 8 million passengers. "We plan to grow profitably in 2007. We will add three more A320s to our fleet, new destinations and will present new innovations in the first quarter of this year," he said. Separately, the airline announced several new European services to launch by March 25.
LAN Airlines board scheduled an extraordinary shareholders meeting for Jan. 26 to approve a capital increase of 7.5 million common shares (equivalent to 1.5 million American Depository Shares). Part of the proceeds will be used for a stock option plan, LAN said.
Ryanair said it filed a legal action in the Council of State, France's highest administrative court, against the government and a complaint to the European Commission challenging what the LCC called "an unlawful labor decree" that forces foreign airlines to apply domestic labor laws when basing aircraft in France. Ryanair claims that the regulation, which came into force Nov. 23, "is contrary to European laws on free movement of labor and services and the freedom of establishment and is also contrary to the liberalized air transport market."
Nordam Group extended Ken Lackey's tenure as chairman and CEO through 2008. President and COO John Uczekaj left the company. CFO Bill Peacher will take over as COO of Nordam's Repair Group and Lackey will handle COO duties for the manufacturing divisions.
Korean Air last week finalized its $5.6 billion order for 10 777-300ERs, five 747-8Fs, five 777Fs and five 737NGs, along with options for eight additional aircraft (four -300ERs, two -8Fs and two 737-900ERs). The purchase agreement was signed in November ( ATWOnline, Nov. 22, 2006). Deliveries will begin in 2009. Separately, KE is expecting to post a KRW240 billion ($255 million) pre-tax profit in 2007, 33.3% higher than the KRW180 billion expected for 2006, according to a regulatory filing cited by Reuters.
Virgin America insisted it remains "committed to getting our wings" despite a sharp rebuke last week from the US Dept. of Transportation, which tentatively denied the proposed startup's application for an operating certificate on grounds that it is not clearly 75% owned and controlled by US citizens.
Serial airline investor FL Group was busy over the holidays, announcing that it had purchased a 5.98% stake in American Airlines parent AMR Corp. for more than $400 million and selling LCC Sterling Airlines for €210 million ($277 million) in cash and a three-year shareholder loan to Icelandic consortium Northern Travel, of which FL Group is a member. FL Group now is AMR's third-largest shareholder with 12.8 million shares. It said it has been building the stake "for a considerable period of time" and made the announcement once it exceeded the 5% reporting threshold.
Qatar Airways will launch service to Lagos today and to Dar Es Salaam on Jan. 9. Hawaiian Airlines said it will suspend its daily San Diego-Maui service Jan. 9-March 15 due to "an unexpected delay in getting interior modifications completed and certified" on four 767s.
Madrid Barajas flights are operating normally this week even as rescue workers continue to clear rubble from last week's car bomb explosion that destroyed a large portion of a parking garage attached to Terminal 4, which opened in February 2006 and cost approximately $8 billion. The blast, which Spanish officials blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA, injured 26 and left two men missing and feared dead, according to press reports from Madrid. Terminal 4, where Iberia and other oneworld carriers are based, was evacuated shortly after the Dec.
World Air Holdings, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, last week said it posted a $5.9 million net profit in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 8.5% from the $5.5 million earned in the year-ago period. Its operating income of $8.2 million was a 20.2% decline from the year-ago quarter's but higher than the $6-$8 million forecast in November when it announced the delay in its third-quarter report ( ATWOnline, Nov. 22, 2006).
Jet Airways signed a purchase agreement for 10 787-8s "in order to maintain and expand the company's international operations. . .and to deploy the most modern and economically efficient aircraft," the airline said yesterday in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. Jet expects to take delivery between July 2011 and December 2012. No engine choice was indicated. Boeing confirmed the order and said the aircraft are valued at more than $1.5 billion at list prices.
Lufthansa will add around 3,000 new employees in 2007, according to Bild. The carrier is looking for 1,200 flight attendants, 800 ground staff and 240 pilot cadets. It currently employs 94,000, up from 92,300 at the end of 2005.
South African Airways introduced lie-flat seating on all long-haul routes. In addition, it increased the pitch on its A340 economy seats and added amenities to its first class service including enhanced seats, revamped lounges and check-in services, chauffeur service in Johannesburg and London and other improvements.
China Airlines is expected to order 10 747-8 Intercontinentals later this month, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily. CI denied the report but analysts suggest the airline will place the order, which will finalize a commitment made in mid-2006 but put on hold for political reasons. The aircraft will replace both 747-400s and A340-300s, insiders say.
Eurocontrol announced that the Maastricht Upper Area Control Center has been certified formally as compliant with Single European Sky requirements for the provision of air navigation services. MUAC provides ATC in the upper airspace of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and northwest Germany.
SriLankan Cargo will launch a regional charter service that will include destinations not served by regularly scheduled flights. It said it will obtain all landing clearances. It operates two freighters and also carries cargo on 14 mainline aircraft.
Vietnam Airlines is among the companies selected by the government to become a public stock company in 2008, the state Vietnam News Agency reported. The carrier has registered capital of VND5.74 trillion ($344.2 million).
Aviation Partners Boeing said Hainan Airlines has committed to install winglets on up to 55 737-800s (25 firm and 30 option) from this summer ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15, 2006).
An Adam Air 737-400 that disappeared Jan. 1 after sending out two distress calls still has not been found, Indonesian officials said yesterday, casting doubt over whether any of the 96 passengers and six crew aboard the flight survived the apparent crash.
Monarch Airlines carried more than 3.2 million scheduled passengers in 2006, a 24% increase over 2005 when the UK-based LCC carried 2.6 million. The figures exclude charter activity and represent earned seats flown on scheduled services to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Aberdeen, Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester. Monarch will increase capacity on a number of popular services and launch eight new routes in 2007: To Ibiza from LGW, LTN, BHX and MAN, LGW-Murcia, LTN-Almeria, LTN-Larnaca and MAN-Jerez.
Aviation Safety Network yesterday said that the 27 fatal airline accidents that resulted in 888 deaths during 2006 were "significantly lower" than the 10-year average of 36 accidents and 1,005 fatalities but that the number of "loss of control" accidents was a "noteworthy" statistic. Those crashes accounted for 17 of the 27 accidents and more than 800 deaths. "The moving 10-year average trends show a decrease in the average number of fatal accidents for all continents.
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. André Hebért, 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."
WHEN ASKED TO IDENTIFY the feature upon which Vienna International Airport has built its reputation, Herbert Kaufmann, member and speaker of the board of Flughafen Wien, owner and operator of VIE, does not hesitate: "We are the gateway to Eastern European countries. Vienna Airport is the most natural link to the emerging markets of Eastern Europe with its close geographical proximity and our wide range of destinations throughout the region."
OVER THE LONG TERM, AIR CARGO is a reliable growth industry. Nearly all experts tracking the movement of airfreight globally, including both Boeing and Airbus, project average annual scheduled air cargo traffic growth of about 6% over the next 20 years, higher than the anticipated rate of growth for passenger traffic. But from year to year, and even within the same year, airfreight traffic can fluctuate wildly, subject to the changing winds of an unpredictable and often volatile global economy.
THREE YEARS INTO AN AMBITIOUS transformation plan intended to enable Alaska Airlines to grow and prosper in both good and bad times, executives here say they are making solid progress in achieving the goals of "Alaska 2010." Unit costs are falling, revenues are rising and the improvements are finding their way to the bottom line. Excluding special items, earnings at the parent company level for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 totaled $77.9 million compared to $71.5 million a year earlier on an 11% rise in revenues to $936 million.
