A spokesperson for MAIR Holdings, parent of bankrupt Mesaba Airlines, confirmed to ATWOnline that the company is in discussions with Northwest Airlines about a possible acquisition.
Air Berlin launched a thrice-weekly Nurnberg-Moscow Domodedovo service. Norwegian will begin a thrice-weekly Edinburgh-Oslo Gardermoen service April 15. Swiss International Air Lines announced that Zurich-Tokyo Narita flights will increase from six-times-weekly to daily on Feb 19. Five-times-weekly onward service to Los Angeles will operate six-times-weekly. Services to Santiago (via Sao Paulo) and Johannesburg also will increase to daily next summer.
Qantas delivered Airbus an early Christmas present, signing for eight more A380s and four A330-200s yesterday in Sydney. The order makes the airline the second-biggest A380 customer after Emirates and left Airbus President and CEO Louis Gallois looking forward to 2007. The signing was confirmation of an October announcement ( ATWOnline, Oct. 31).
Ryanair shelved, at least temporarily, its plan to acquire Aer Lingus following the European Commission's decision to refer its hostile €1.48 billion ($1.95 billion) takeover offer to a Phase II investigation, which can take 3-5 months.
Boeing said yesterday that KLM exercised three 737-800 options and ordered a fourth 777-300ER. The narrowbodies, worth $212 million at list prices, will be powered by CFM56-7s and delivered in 2008. The 777, which had been attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing's website, will be powered by the GE-90. Separately, Boeing named company veteran Tom Downey senior VP-communications.
US Airways Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said yesterday that the assumptions underlying Delta Air Lines' standalone reorganization plan are "out of whack" and that warnings of a US/DL merger being derailed by antitrust issues are "misleading" and "superficial."
Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy has conceded the top spot in 2007 orders to Boeing. Speaking yesterday to ATWOnline in Sydney about the prospect of another come-from-behind order surge, he said Airbus has "outsold Boeing every year for the last five years. I think it's always nice to share as long as we stay within a 40% to 60% band. There are two players in the market and you don't have a very stable market if one is always on top." But he reminded media that Airbus will deliver more aircraft (420) than Boeing in 2006 and 2007.
Finnair launched commercial flights with its first E-190. The carrier will receive a total of 10 100-seat E-190s within the next three years. It currently operates 10 E-170s.
Lufthansa Technik signed a five-year Total Technical Support contract with French startup Elysair for its 757-200. Elysair will operate all-business-class flights from Paris Orly to Newark starting this month.
London Heathrow is suffering another operational meltdown, this time owing to persistent severe fog. ATC placed restrictions on the number of flight movements at LHR, resulting in a 50% reduction in flow rates throughout yesterday. All airlines at the airport were affected. British Airways cancelled its entire domestic schedule from LHR as well as some European flights. Bmi, the second-largest carrier, cancelled more than 40 flights. Several other UK airports, including Gatwick, were affected, while others operated normally.
Midwest Airlines signed a deal with SkyWest Airlines to operate up to 25 50-seat CRJs in a move that would expand operations and open new markets. The agreement calls for SkyWest to operate 15-25 aircraft over a five-year period, with the first 15 delivered between April and October 2007. The delivery schedule for additional aircraft has yet to be determined.
Heico Aerospace Holdings Corp. announced the acquisition of an 80.1% stake in Prime Air Inc. and its Prime Air Parts affiliate. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Chicago and Miami, Prime offers niche accessory component exchange services as an alternative to OEMs' spares services.
CFM International said its CFM56-5B Tech Insertion Package was certified by both US FAA and EASA. Aircraft certification is expected to occur early next year.
Delta Air Lines reached agreement with Massport, the airport authority for Boston Logan, to pay off construction debts related to the airport's rebuilt Terminal A, which was constructed exclusively for Delta but not used to the degree originally planned. According to The Boston Globe, DL will give up more than one-third of its 22 gates at the $500 million terminal, which opened in March 2005, leading to speculation about who will enter the new facility.
FedEx reported net income of $511 million for its fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30, up 8% over earnings of $471 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 10% jump in revenues to $8.93 billion. "Earnings...were better than forecast primarily due to lower-than-expected fuel prices, [strong growth in ground delivery services] and insurance proceeds related to Hurricane Katrina," Executive VP and CFO Alan Graf said.
A380 launch customer Singapore Airlines gave the beleaguered aircraft program a boost yesterday by ordering nine more of the type along with six options, bringing to 19 the number of A380s it has on firm order. The nine new aircraft are worth a combined $2.7 billion. SIA also ordered 11 A320s plus nine options to be delivered to regional affiliate SilkAir from 2009 to 2012 and said it is planning to lease 19 A330-300s. The SilkAir order is valued at $1.33 billion. The regional said it will use the aircraft for flights in Asia.
CSA Czech Airlines said employee reductions and a more efficient organizational structure will produce CZK100 million ($4.7 million) in savings next year even though costs will rise as a result of existing labor agreements. It intends to shed approximately 200 of its 5,300 employees during the first quarter.
European Commission yesterday decided to partially exclude Bulgaria, which is set to become a full EU member in January, from the internal aviation market. Bulgarian airlines will not be considered as "community carriers" and will continue to operate as "third-country operators" to and from member states in accordance with existing bilateral agreements. The decision follows EASA inspections in the past two years that revealed problems with the Bulgarian CAA's ability to exercise adequate oversight of aircraft personnel and maintenance organizations.
Austrian Airlines Group established a new subsidiary to promote third-party MRO. Austrian Airlines Technik Marketing GmbH will employ 10 and look to generate business for AUA's maintenance division, which employs 1,100 workers and staff and produces €230 million ($302.1 million) in maintenance work annually.
Commercial Jet of Miami will convert three 737-200 passenger aircraft to freighters for Northern Air Cargo. CJI will use Aeronautical Engineers' STC and also will perform C checks and upgrade avionics.
JetBlue Airways cut its 2007 capacity guidance again yesterday, announcing in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects to post 11%-14% ASM growth next year rather than the 14%-17% it forecast earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 5). The figure accounts for the carrier's plan to remove one full row of seats from each of its A320s by March. It expects to be operating 108 A320s and 33 E-190s by the end of next year compared to 96 A320s and 23 E-190s at the close of 2006.
ATR signed a contract with Airlinair, a regional partner of Air France, for one new ATR 72-500 scheduled for delivery in 2009. The deal is valued at $17 million. Airlinair is Europe's largest ATR operator with a fleet comprising seven ATR 42-300s, 11 42-500s, four 72-200s and one 72-210.
TAM launched daily Confins-Buenos Aires service via Rio de Janeiro Galeao aboard 156-seat A320s. It is the carrier's first international flight from Minas Gerais. Separately, TAM will operate daily Galeao-Paris Charles de Gaulle service from Jan. 12. It currently flies to CDG from Sao Paulo Guarulhos.
