Hapagfly and Hapag Lloyd Express integration is reflected in the release Friday of a joint flight schedule for 2007, according to parent TUI Group ( ATWOnline, Sept. 1). "With the joint flight schedule for summer 2007 we have reached the first major milestone on the path to integrating Hapagfly and HLX," said Hapagfly Executive Board Chairman Christoph Mueller, who also sits on the executive board of TUI.
IATA reported that international passenger traffic growth continued to soften in August as member airlines reported a 4.8% increase in international RPKs compared to August 2005. According to IATA, this is the smallest monthly passenger traffic increase since the end of 2003 "and marks the fourth consecutive month of declining growth in passenger demand." With ASKs up 4.3%, load factor was 79.4%.
GATX Corp. last week announced it will sell the majority of its aircraft leasing business to a consortium of investors including Macquarie Bank and investment fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group in a transaction expected to close by year end. GATX has been in the aircraft leasing business since 1968. The value of its aircraft assets, including its joint-venture investments, is approximately $1.5 billion in net book value and includes 87 aircraft.
Wizz Air will start new flights to Belfast International from Katowice and Warsaw from May 29 and July 28 respectively. Norwegian will launch twice-weekly service from its newest base in Warsaw to Bergen Nov. 11. In addition, it is increasing service between Warsaw and Oslo to nine weekly flights from eight and to five weekly flights from three between Krakow and Stockholm.
AerCap Group named Keith Helming CFO and Heinrich Loechteken chief investment officer. Airbus promoted Mario Heinen to senior VP & A380 Program head, replacing Charles Champion, and Alain Flourens to succeed Heinen as head-Single Aisle Program. Air Canada elevated Daniel Shurz to VP-network planning and Charlie McKee to VP-marketing. AirTran Airways elected Mark W. Osterberg as VP & chief accounting officer. Aloha Airgroup tapped Gordon Bethune as chairman and named Mike Malik CIO of Aloha Airlines. ATA Airlines appointed Gary Ellmer senior VP-operations & GM-charter.
The mid-August terrorism scare in London exposed for all to see the continued vulnerability of air transport to a major operational disruption. Despite nearly five years to prepare, airports and airlines were left scrambling to cope with unprecedented (and, we would argue, ludicrous) carry-on restrictions imposed in the US and UK in hopes of denying Islamist terrorists another shot at a 9/11-style atrocity.
A profit in the airline industry these days is not so rare, but when you increase profits and every other significant parameter against soaring fuel prices and a new robust competitor, that certainly is something to celebrate. However, Australia's Virgin Blue is not celebrating. Like its latest advertising campaign, "Getting into Business," the airline's management is getting on with the job of attracting more traffic from the business end of town.
As 2005 drew to a close, European Commission VP for Transport Jacques Barrot and Moroccan Minister for Equipment and Transport Karim Ghellab met in the attractive Moroccan holiday resort city of Marrakech to initial a comprehensive air transport agreement between the EU and Morocco. The setting was appropriate: Marrakech has the largest souk, or traditional market, in the country, and what was being traded was nothing less than access to the air market between the 25 EU member nations and the North African nation of 33 million.
The dictionary defines a hybrid as something that has two types of components performing essentially the same function. That pretty well describes Seattle-based Horizon Air, which maintains codesharing/feeder relationships with larger affiliate Alaska Airlines as well as Denver-based Frontier Airlines while operating an extensive network in the Pacific Northwest that does not touch either carrier.
The image of the traditional airline mechanic is firmly established: Toolbox in hand, he dutifully checks a plane's systems and components, relying on an intimate knowledge of various parts and how they interact to conduct the maintenance necessary to keep the aircraft in protected working order. He is someone who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty and is highly skilled at using conventional tools. But with high-tech, next-generation planes such as the 787, A380 and A350 XWB set to enter service in coming years, it may be time to reevaluate this image.
Distribution has become "a very significant strategic issue for us," Shafiq Khan, senior vice president of e-commerce for Marriott International, said. Now that airlines have addressed their distribution costs through new deals with the GDSs and by eliminating travel agency commissions, hotels "have become the biggest payer of commissions and a big revenue source for the GDSs," Khan said. "We need to get to "more rational economics" with the GDS companies.
Integrating the information technology systems of America West Airlines and US Airways, carriers with vastly differing operating methodologies and cultures, may be a watershed event for IT vendors and airline users alike. US Airways Senior VP and CIO Joe Beery says the merged airline is an industry "pioneer" owing to the noticeable differences between the large, inflexible legacy IT systems of US Airways and the more nimble in-house applications developed by America West, which Beery joined in 1999 from Motorola Semiconductor.
"We're very excited about this," Chacko told TTU. "We plan to focus on developing the right merchandise tools for airlines that want to unbundle or differentiate their products." Worldspan announced its new agreement with Delta on Sept. 29. Delta, one of Worldspan's former owners, was the last of the major U.S. network carriers to sign a deal with the company. The agreement calls for Delta to participate in Worldspan's Super Access product, which provides agencies with full content from participating airlines in exchange for reduced incentive payments.
Like a teenager fixated on the latest fad, US aviation security keeps chasing the wrong thing, perpetually playing catch-up to an enemy both ingenious and infinitely adaptable. First it was fingernail files. Then flammables. Now it's fluids, gels and lotions.
Six years ago this month, then Continental Airlines Chairman and CEO Gordon Bethune responded to a reporter's query about rising business fares by pointing out that higher prices weren't discouraging corporate travelers from buying tickets on his airline. Noting that Continental's load factor was up by more than a point on a 4% lift in capacity and a 9% gain in yield during the 2000 third quarter, he could not resist cracking: "Maybe fares aren't high enough."
Spring is the time of year associated with renewal, but this year it is the holiday season that will herald regeneration for inflight connectivity. By year end, a host of new services for airline passengers are scheduled to be springing to life. Counterbalancing the arrivals will be the departure of the 800-lb. gorilla of connectivity: Connexion by Boeing.
Only the COLOR is the SAME. In 1996, All Nippon Airways, "Japan's second airline," operated 17 550-seat domestic 747SR-100s and flew through clouds of red ink to a host of international destinations to try and match rival Japan Airlines. Today, ANA is at the cutting edge of aircraft efficiency and flies only where it can make money, as it has done in each of the past three fiscal years.
JetBlue Airways is returning to all four GDSs with a new five-year, full-content agreement with Worldspan and participation in Amadeus in the works. Worldspan said its agreement with JetBlue will provide access to the carrier by "business travelers who book trips online using Worldspan Trip Manager XE, as well as travel buyers who purchase opaque flights or travel packages at designated Worldspan-connected travel Web sites," in addition to travel agencies.
Regional Express of Australia will lease 25 Saab 340Bs from Saab Aircraft Leasing as part of its fleet modernization and expansion program. The first aircraft will arrive in January.
ALTA (formerly AITAL), the Latin American Air Transport Assn., announced that three more airlines have joined the organization. Air Jamaica, Icaro and Aerolitoral bring membership to 32 carriers. Brazilian petroleum company Petrobras joined ALTA as an affiliate member.
Bmibaby will terminate operations at Durham Tees Valley Airport in northeast England. Flights between MME and Cork, Paris CDG and London Gatwick will be cancelled from Oct. 29; all services between Durham Tees Valley and Alicante, Malaga and Palma will be cancelled from Nov. 6.
A350 XWB entry-into-service date appears to be sliding 6-12 months owing to the ongoing A380 wiring difficulties. At the Farnborough Airshow, Airbus said the 314-seat A350-900 would be the first variant to enter service, in mid-2012. However, sources at Airbus told ATWOnline that "the program is likely to slip into 2013 because all the engineering talent is focused on the A380," echoing a previous statement by ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy
Rockwell Collins will install its Head-up Guidance System on Lufthansa CityLine's 12 CRJ900s as the aircraft are delivered. The system is currently in use on CityLine's 36 CRJ200s and 20 CRJ700s. HGS displays critical flight information in the pilot's forward field of view. Also, Air Canada Jazz will equip its fleet of 15 CRJ705s with HGS by March 2007.
Sabre Airline Solutions said Toronto-based startup Porter Airlines selected the Sabre Flight Control Suite of operational support solutions including Sabre FliteTrac, CrewTrac and Dispatch Manager. Porter plans to launch service in October from Toronto City Centre Airport.
New Bangkok Airport opened Thursday morning with a couple of hitches temporarily interrupting service. Passengers arriving on the first few flights to Suvarnabhumi were forced to wait more than an hour for their luggage as ground crews struggled to move bags from planes to conveyer belts owing to a delay in the transfer of ground equipment from the old Don Muang Airport to NBK. Another problem was the crash of Thai Airways' computer system, with airline staff issuing boarding passes and luggage tags by hand. Most flights landed and took off on time.
