Frontier Airlines flew 669.3 million RPMs in October, a 15.4% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 14.1% to 920.9 million ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 72.7%. Separately, Frontier named Dennis Crabtree VP-safety and security.
Airbus will boost production of A320 family aircraft to 36 per month from the current 30 over the next two years, Reuters reported. It had intended to produce 34 per month by the second quarter of 2008.
Jetstar Airways announced that it has received permission from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to operate long-haul services from Australia ( ATWOnline, July 27). The carrier said the addendum to its AOC was the "final hurdle" it needed to negotiate before launching thrice-weekly Melbourne-Bangkok service on Thursday. It subsequently will start flights from Sydney to Phuket (thrice-weekly from Nov. 24), Ho Chi Minh City (thrice-weekly from Nov. 30) and Bali (twice-weekly from Dec. 8).
American Airlines said it has equipped more than 365 self-service kiosks with passport readers to allow international self-service check-in, with more to come.
Gol 737-800/ExcelAire Legacy 600 accident investigators released a report last week indicating that the Legacy pilots, who have been detained at a Rio de Janeiro hotel since the September collision ( ATWOnline, Oct. 10), attempted to contact Brasilia air traffic control 19 times in the 8 min. prior to the crash without success. The report was translated from Portuguese by Newsday and indicates that ATC and the aircraft lost contact with each other repeatedly during the 54 min.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority, in a move that likely will have more of a symbolic effect than a practical one, yesterday announced it will stop regulating long-haul fares after 30 years "because of greater competition in the airline market." CAA said that in recent years it has focused on "a very small subset of fares on a shrinking number of mainly long-haul routes...paid by what the CAA perceived to be 'captive' passengers," such as those working for a small business or traveling due to an emergency.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 6.02 billion RPKs in October, a 9.1% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.8% to 7.58 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 3.1 points to 79.4%.
Kingfisher Airlines and Pratt & Whitney signed a $300 million agreement at a Washington ceremony yesterday covering 10 PW4000-100 engines to power the carrier's five ordered A330s as well as one spare engine, 10 options and an exclusive overhaul and repair program. The deal, first announced at Farnborough, will be worth $500 million if all options are exercised. The US Dept. of Commerce hosted the signing to highlight the growing trade relationship between the US and India and several dignitaries, including FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, were on hand.
Bmibaby will launch service from its Birmingham base to Glasgow International (twice-daily), Faro (thrice-weekly) and Murcia (four-times-weekly) from March 25. The LCC intends to add more new destinations from BHX later next year, according to MD Crawford Rix. Etihad Airways will operate a six-times-weekly Abu Dhabi-Kuala Lumpur service from Jan. 15 using A340-300s. Allegiant Air will launch four-times-weekly Knoxville-Las Vegas service and twice-weekly Orlando Sanford-Fort Wayne flights on Feb. 15 aboard 150-seat MD-80s.
Lufthansa Technik is offering an Oil Smell Detection Service to eliminate unconfirmed engine or APU removals following oil smells in the cabin. The tool, for which a patent is pending, allows rapid on-wing diagnosis and spares a carrier the associated costs of removing an intact engine. "Every engine dismantled costs the operator at least $350,000 in expenses for C check, transport, capital cost and minor shop visit.
WestJet will operate seasonal Halifax-Tampa service weekly from March 13 to May 1. It also will add frequencies from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Nassau Jan. 8-April 28. WestJet flew 826.3 million RPMs in October, up 24% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 22% to 1.1 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.4 points to 74.9%.
Embraer is forecasting a demand for 7,500 jets in the 30/120-seat range over the next 20 years, a market valued at an estimated $220 billion. Of that number, only 1,400 aircraft will have 60 seats or fewer. The forecast maintains that the 30/60-seat segment has "reached maturity," but also indicates that those aircraft will continue to play an important role in both North America and Europe. At the same time, new markets for 50-seaters are expected to develop in China, Mexico and Russia, Embraer said.
Norwegian is taking SAS Braathens back to court, this time in an attempt to secure financial damages, according to press reports. Braathens was acquitted in a September criminal trial of illegally accessing Norwegian's reservations system ( ATWOnline, June 14) but paid a NOK400,000 ($62,300) fine for misusing confidential business information. Norwegian now wants a civil court to award further damages.
Tyrolean Airways installed Rockwell Collins Head-up Guidance Systems on five of its 10 Dash 8-Q400s, making it the second operator to do so worldwide after Horizon Air. The Austrian Airlines subsidiary, which operates as Austrian Arrows, invested up to €400,000 for each aircraft. The remaining Q400s will have HGS next year. Tyrolean is the only carrier that has installed HGS on Q300s. It operates 54 regional aircraft and will add three former Austrian F70s and two F100s to its fleet by next year.
The Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines slammed aviation service providers, highlighting a lack of transparency and excessive pricing for their services. AAPA DG Andrew Herdman told delegates and media at the organization's Assembly of Presidents in Osaka that aviation service providers should "adopt transparent, fair and reasonable user charges in accordance with ICAO principles."
Air Transport Assn. promoted Director-Government Affairs Marc Gonzales to VP-congressional affairs. President and CEO James May said Gonzales "has made great contributions in shaping public policy."
Spirit Airlines is taking delivery of five new A319s through year end through a sale and leaseback arrangement with GECAS. Three have been delivered. When the remaining two arrive, Spirit's fleet will comprise 25 A319s and six A321s.
British Airways yielded to union concerns over its effort to raise the normal retirement age to 65 from 55 for aircrew and 60 for ground staff as part of a series of concessions required to tackle the £2.1 billion deficit in the New Airways Pension Scheme ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16). "The airline has now included the option of a normal retirement age of 60 in return for increased contribution rates," BA said.
Alitalia flew 3.4 billion RPKs in October, up 2.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.7% to 4.51 billion ASKs and load factor improved 0.7 point 75.3%.
Vueling Airlines expects to lose €7.1 million ($9.1 million) this year but to post profits of €24.2 million in 2007 and €36.2 million in 2008, according to a regulatory filing and IPO prospectus cited by press reports.
A380 launched a series of global route proving flights this week as it approaches type certification, Airbus said. A Trent 900-powered aircraft--the second A380 produced--will fly Singapore-Toulouse today after leaving France on Nov. 13 and stopping in Seoul. It will depart tomorrow on a Toulouse-Hong Kong-Tokyo Narita-Toulouse routing and a third journey starting Nov. 21 will include stops in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai before a Nov. 24 return. The final flight traverses both poles and will stop in Johannesburg on Nov.
Calling itself "a pro-consumer maverick," US Airways moved quickly Friday to head off an antitrust challenge to its proposed $8 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines, asserting in a government filing that the "New Delta" will offer "consumer-friendly fares" and will not stifle competition in a market in which LCCs play a significant role.
