LOT Polish Airlines has a new chairman. Tomasz Dembski has replaced Krzysztof Kapis, who was asked to leave by the board, according to PAP. No further details were available. Kapis, former head of the Polish civil aviation authority, was named chairman in March. JetBlue Airways named Trey Urbahn executive VP-chief revenue officer. Urbahn comes from OneSky Jets, an on-demand private jet travel provider. He was a founding officer of Priceline.com.
EasyJet celebrated a 59.5% surge in fiscal year profit to £94.1 million from £59 million last year with a massive aircraft order encompassing 52 firmed options on A319s scheduled for delivery between 2008 and 2010 and 75 new options on A320 family aircraft. If all options are exercised, the order will more than double the carrier's current fleet of 122 aircraft. It now has 104 airplanes on firm order worth more than $4 billion and holds purchase rights with Airbus on an additional 123.
Boeing yesterday delivered to Air China a 737-800 adorned with an official Beijing 2008 Olympics livery, marking the 150th Boeing plane delivered to the carrier.
Precision Conversions delivered a 757-200 converted freighter to Icelandair Cargo last week. Modification was performed at Flightstar Aircraft Services in Florida.
EVA Air will convert eight 747-400s to freighters, with the first conversion entering service next year, UDN News reported. They will replace the carrier's MD-11Fs. According to airline sources, EVA will convert one of its three outstanding 777-200LR orders to a dash 300ER and the balance to dash 200Fs. It had ordered the dash 200LRs to perform the Taipei-New York mission year round but found that the dash 300ER is achieving 3% lower fuel burn than guarantee, enabling it to operate the route.
Korean Air reported third-quarter net income of KRW126 billion ($132.3 million), down 17.7% from KRW154 billion in the year-ago quarter, but pointed to a 3.4% rise in revenues to KRW2.19 trillion and an improvement over second-quarter net income of KRW15 billion as evidence of solid financial performance.
Hawaiian Airlines flew 598.9 million RPMs in October, up 2.3% from the year-ago period. Capacity rose 7.1% to 692.8 million ASMs, dropping load factor 4.1 points to 86.4%. Copa Airlines flew 349.2 million RPMs in October, a 27.1% lift over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 22.1% to 461.8 million ASMs and load factor climbed 3 points to 75.6%.
Citing union unrest in September and the sharp increase in fuel prices, Alitalia reported a pre-tax loss of €65.8 million ($84.5 million) in the third quarter, which compares to a €15.7 million profit in the year-ago period. The embattled Italian carrier said it expects a positive result for the fourth quarter, yet warned that full-year consolidated net loss will exceed last year's deficit of €167.6 million.
Aeromexico yesterday announced firm orders for two 787-8s and 10 737-700s, orders that previously were listed by Boeing as unidentified. The combined value of the 12 aircraft is more than $830 million. The 787s, to be delivered in 2011, are in addition to three the carrier plans to lease from ILFC ( ATWOnline, June 30).
Swiss International Air Lines will continue its long-haul expansion with the addition of three A340-300s in the next two years. It took two ex-Sabena A330-200s last month, one of which entered service yesterday with the other set to begin flying in mid-December ( ATWOnline, Oct. 19). By summer 2008 it will operate 23 long-haul aircraft. Its fleet expansion, which includes two A321s and one A320, will create 550 new jobs.
Ryanair extended the deadline for its offer for Aer Lingus to Dec. 4 from Nov. 13 as it conceded that fewer than 0.1% of EI shareholders have accepted its €2.80 ($3.60) per share bid. The LCC said that "valid acceptances of the offer had been received in respect of 504,994 Aer Lingus Shares," representing about 0.095% of the issued share capital. EI urged its shareholders earlier this month to take no action on the offer ( ATWOnline, Nov. 6).
Bombardier yesterday inaugurated a new £1.5 million ($2.9 million), 50,000-sq.-ft. repair and maintenance facility in Belfast that will serve Emirates, UPS, British Airways, bmi and Icelandair aircraft.
Iberia Group posted consolidated net profits of €75.6 million in the third quarter, down 80% from the €372.6 million earned in the year-ago period, which encompassed capital gains realized from the sale of its Amadeus stake. Operating revenue excluding nonrecurrent items grew 6.7% to €1.42 billion with revenue from passengers and freight up 5.2% to €1.195 billion. Excluding nonrecurring items, operating expenses rose 6.6% to €1.34 billion. Operating profit reached €87.7 million, up 8.6%.
TAAG Angola Airlines took delivery on Nov. 11 of three 737-700s and two 777-200ERs. Chairman Jesus Nelson said TAAG will take delivery of an additional 737-700 in January and another 777-200ER in the fourth quarter of next year. He added that the airline is in negotiations to acquire a 777-300ER.
Airbus won six and two A320 firm orders from Kuwaiti lessor ALAFCO and Pakistani carrier Airblue respectively. ALAFCO Chairman and CEO Ahmad Alzabin predicted "strong demand for the A320 family aircraft during the coming years."
Eurocontrol's Maastricht Upper Area Control Center, which provides air traffic services in the upper airspace of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and northwestern Germany, was formally certified as compliant with European Community requirements for the provision of air navigation services. MUAC's certification represents "a unique example of a multi-States joint service and a precursor to Functional Airspace Blocks," Eurocontrol DG Víctor Aguado said.
Centavia, Serbia's first LCC, ceased operations after just a few months of service. Austria Press News Agency reported that Serbian authorities did not grant permits for Centavia to operate scheduled flights to Montenegro, Croatia, Switzerland and Germany, a major setback for the fledgling airline. The carrier said both of its BAe 146s have been returned to their lessor.
Cathay Pacific Airways will expand its all-cargo Hong Kong-Shanghai flights to 17 weekly from 12 currently on Dec. 2 and to 18 weekly on Jan. 5 aboard 747Fs. Pacific Director and GM-Cargo Ron Mathison said the added flights "will enable us to get further leverage on the Eastern China market as demand remains high." Cargolux plans to add a fourth weekly frequency to its Luxembourg-Johannesburg freighter service from Nov. 28 using a 747-400F.
Aeromexico will launch four-times-weekly Mexico City-Austin flights from Dec. 15, providing the only scheduled air link between the capital cities of Mexico and Texas. United Airlines said it will switch from a 777 to a 747 on its daily Chicago-Shanghai service from March 25, boosting capacity on the route by 658 seats weekly. It also will add a second daily flight on its San Francisco-Frankfurt route from April 24 aboard a 777.
Boeing revealed yesterday that KLM converted six options for 737-800s that will be delivered before mid-2008. The firm order, previously listed by the manufacturer as "unidentified," is valued at $423 million. Boeing said KLM plans to use the new planes to "replace several Classic 737s." "In the current market environment, our customers want the most fuel-efficient products to keep their costs under control," said Marlin Dailey, Boeing Commercial Airplanes VP-sales-Europe, Russia and Central Asia.
Pratt & Whitney signed a three-year agreement to provide its EcoPower engine wash services on Martinair's fleet of PW4000, CF6 and V2500 engines. The engine washing will take place at Amsterdam Schiphol and is projected to save the airline up to $2.3 million in annual fuel costs. "Earlier this year we completed an EcoPower engine wash pilot program that resulted in engine performance improvements, operating cost reductions and emission reductions," Martinair VP-Maintenance and Engineering Paul Horstink said.
British Airways yesterday moved to raise the premium-service bar with the rollout of a £100 million ($191.1 million) overhaul to its Club World business class cabin featuring "next generation" lie-flat beds, multiple channel video/on demand IFE and in-seat laptop storage bins and hookups.
