DHL relocated its office and warehouse facilities in Charlotte to a 52,000-sq.-ft. site near Charlotte International Airport that is twice the size of its previous location. The facility will include 38,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space and is aimed at expediting air and ocean shipping by taking advantage of proximity to the airport and its customs facilities.
Air Berlin said yesterday that it intends to buy 60 737-800s and revealed that dba, which it agreed to acquire in August ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18), placed an order earlier this year for 15 737-700s.
Cebu Pacific will launch four-times-weekly Manila-Kuala Lumpur service on Dec. 1 aboard A319s. Gol launched daily Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Chapeco service via Florianopolis.
Thai Airways posted a fiscal year-end profit of THB9 billion ($246.7 million), a 32.7% rise over full-year earnings of THB6.78 billion in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2005. Revenues climbed 9.9% year-over-year to THB178.61 billion.
The EU and the Russian Federation finally agreed to phase out costly Siberian overflight fees by 2013. "This is a big success. The agreement will significantly improve the competitive situation of our European airlines and ease their operations between Europe and the growing markets in Asia," European Commissioner for Transport Jacques Barrot said.
Transavia.com's French equivalent will commence operations next summer with four leased 737-800s following approval by the boards of Air France and Transavia.com ( ATWOnline, Nov. 20). Initial startup capital will be €22 million ($28.8 million) split 60/40 between Air France and the Dutch transavia.com. Lionel Guerin, currently chairman and CEO of French regional airline Airlinair, has been appointed chairman of the management board.
Air New Zealand announced an 11% reduction in transtasman seat capacity beginning in April. Seats to Australia will fall by 15% from Wellington, 28% from Dunedin, 15% from Palmerston North and 7% from Christchurch compared to April-October 2006. "Not even the low airfares generated by significant excess capacity and competition have driven enough customer demand from these four centers to maintain the status quo," GM-Shorthaul Airline Norm Thompson said, citing a 63% load factor out of Wellington as an example. In addition, ANZ will use smaller aircraft on the Auckland-Sydney route.
Air France KLM Group improved its fiscal first-half profit to €618 million ($809 million), up 50.7% from €410 million in the year-ago semester, results Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta attributed to the "unique competitive position" of the merged airline company.
Delta Air Lines will launch a Boston-Chicago Midway service on Jan. 11, operating thrice-daily on weekdays and twice-daily on weekends aboard Comair 50-seat CRJs.
Swiss Pilots Assn., which represents Swiss European Air Lines pilots, rejected the company's offer for a new labor agreement ( ATWOnline, Oct. 23). Despite concessions on the part of Swiss European, SPA said it is not prepared to negotiate further on the current offer. Swiss said the union's demands would result in a cost increase of approximately 35%. The pilots currently are flying under an interim agreement reached in April.
KLM, as expected, appointed Deputy CEO and COO Peter Hartman to take over from CEO Leo van Wijk, who will step down at the close of the company's AGM on July 5, 2007. Hartman will be acting CEO as of April 1. He was appointed to the KLM board of MDs in 1997, having joined the carrier in 1973 as a controller at Engineering & Maintenance. Van Wijk, 60, will continue to be involved in the management of Air France KLM as vice chairman, KLM said.
Northwest Airlines said it will not renew interline agreements with approximately 50 carriers that do not have plans to offer interline e-ticketing when the accords expire on Jan. 1.
Lufthansa is expanding its presence in Malta. First, Lufthansa Technik will set up new MRO capabilities for C and D checks on the A330 and A340 families. Under terms of an MOU signed by the Maltese government and LHT Malta, a joint venture with Air Malta, a hangar will be constructed by Malta Industrial Parks and leased to LHT.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Peter Costello has dampened the bid for Qantas, making it clear over the weekend that the government will decide whether last week's offer from a consortium led by Texas Pacific and Macquarie Bank ( ATWOnline, Nov. 23), which some estimate to be worth $8 billion, is in the national interest.
News from Travel Technology Update: The defections of online travel companies to other GDSs are making sizable dents in Worldspan's revenues and net income. Like other GDSs, Worldspan's revenues also have shrunk due to lower transaction fees from airlines that have signed new distribution agreements. Worldspan reported a 14% decline in net income for the third quarter, to $15.5 million, on revenues of $212.5 billion, down 11%.
MAXJet Airways named Chairman William Stockbridge President and CEO replacing Gary Rogliano, who left "to pursue other opportunities," according to the airline. "I will work closely with our team to accelerate MAXJet's expansion," Stockbridge said. He formerly was CEO of Centurion Air Cargo and founder, president and CEO of Gemini Air Cargo. Board member Rick Sharp will take over as chairman.
Alteon Training expanded its agreement with Asiana Airlines and will install a 777-200/-300 FFS at Asiana's training center in Seoul by April. In addition, an Asiana 737-500 FFS will be transferred to Alteon's new center in Singapore.
CSA Czech Airlines board postponed indefinitely construction of its CZK1.35 billion ($61.9 million) Hangar G MRO center. The airline said the financial burden imposed by the project, which was to include CZK400 million of CSA's own resources, was too great. "The parameters of this investment project have not changed, and they are still very interesting," President Radomir Lasak said. "The conditions in CSA have changed, and that is decisive for us today.
IATA DG Giovanni Bisignani warned airlines and governments in the Middle East not to "lose the plot on cost-efficiency" and to "differentiate growth and profitability" in an address to the Arab Air Carriers Organization AGM in Kuwait.
Northwest Airlines ground workers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport staged a brief walkout yesterday to protest the hiring of nonunion contract workers to clean aircraft, part of NWA's effort to slash costs to emerge from bankruptcy. The protest reportedly involved 250 workers and lasted less than an hour. It is believed to be isolated and merely symbolic; the IAM union representing NWA ground workers agreed to the contract cleaners as part of a concessionary deal. The airline said the protest did not disrupt operations.
Jade Cargo International took delivery of its second of six 747-400ERFs. The third is scheduled to come in February. From Nov. 27 Jade will add thrice-weekly flights from Shenzhen to Barcelona (via Brescia) and Osaka.
Arab Air Carriers Organization Secretary General Abdul Wahab Teffaha refuted the mounting calls to curb the expansion of some Arab carriers in the EU because they are subsidized by their governments. "We find these calls unbalanced, as they overlook the forms of indirect support awarded to some airlines in the EU, and in other regions, especially in the area of slots, priority terminals in airports, and sometimes limiting ground services providers in those terminals," he said in his state of the industry speech at the organization's AGM in Kuwait.
