Southwest Airlines will launch four-times-daily Baltimore/Washington International-Detroit Metro flights from Sept. 14. Separately, Southwest flew 6.15 billion RPMs in June, a 13.2% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 7.3% to 7.65 billion ASMs and load factor increased 4.2 points to 80.4%. JetBlue Airways will expand its Syracuse service with a daily flight to Orlando starting July 20 and a fourth daily flight to New York JFK beginning Nov. 1.
ACE Aviation Holdings announced the sale of an additional 2.75 million shares of US Airways Group stock in June and July "through a series of transactions on the open stock market" that netted proceeds of $137.9 million. Air Canada's parent said it has earned $205.5 million from the sale of shares in its Star Alliance partner from an initial investment of $75 million in September 2005. ACE still holds 500,000 shares.
China's General Administration of Civil Aviation said Friday that Chinese carriers lost more than CNY3 billion ($374.7 million) in the first six months of 2006 owing to rising fuel prices, according to press reports. Passenger numbers climbed 17.9% to 74.3 million and freight increased 11.4% to 1.6 million tonnes.
Assn. of European Airlines blasted last week's resounding European Parliament endorsement of fuel taxes on domestic and intra-EU flights and other measures aimed at reducing aircraft emissions ( ATWOnline, July 6).
Outgoing US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said the US government must push forward with its proposal to allow increased involvement in US airlines by foreign investors even though Congress has shown little appetite for change. Giving his farewell address to the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington last week, Mineta said foreign investment in US transportation infrastructure, including airports and airlines, will be critical to the future health of the aviation industry and the overall US economy.
Brazilian bankruptcy court last week postponed both a new auction for Varig scheduled for July 12 and a meeting of creditors that was to consider a $500 million bid from VarigLog, the Associated Press reported. Judge Luiz Robert Ayoub apparently reversed his own decision of July 3 when he said VarigLog's bid was ready for review and that higher bids would be accepted at the new auction ( ATWOnline, July 3).
Airbus's shareholder committee officially confirmed Christian Streiff as president and CEO Friday as the aircraft manufacturer began to move forward following last month's A380 program setback and its politically contentious fallout, which led to the resignation of former CEO Gustav Humbert ( ATWOnline, July 3).
Boeing sold another 25 737s last week to unidentified customers in addition to the 10 ordered by Ryanair ( ATWOnline, July 6). One of the 25 is a BBJ. The company has sold 480 aircraft this year net of seven cancellations, comprising 374 737s, 11 747s, four 767s, 22 777s and 69 787s.
EasyJet issued new full-year profit guidance Friday, forecasting that its pre-tax earnings will increase 40%-50% rather than the 10%-15% originally predicted. It reported a net profit of £59 million ($108.3 million) for the year ended Sept. 30, 2005, based on International Financial Reporting Standards. The new guidance comes after unit revenue rose 17% in the third quarter. In June, passenger numbers climbed 15.6% over the year-ago month to 3 million and load factor increased 2 points to 87.6%.
Lufthansa chose SAS Ground Services Finland Oy for its ground handling services at Helsinki Vantaa. The three-year agreement goes into effect Aug. 15. LH operates eight flights per day from the airport.
AWAS and Viva Macau signed a deal for the lease of a 767-200ER and a 767-300. Viva Macau plans to launch its low-fare, long-haul services in the third quarter.
Iberia said a strike called by the SEPLA pilots union, scheduled to start today and last through July 16, will force the cancellation of 200 daily flights and affect more than 200,000 passengers during the week. The pilots announced the strike last month in response to Iberia's plans to participate in a new low-cost airline based in Barcelona ( ATWOnline, June 22).
Tunisair announced that its 2005 net profit improved 43% year-over-year to $29.6 million and that it is planning a $2.6 million capital increase to $60.5 million. It generated $676 million in operating revenues over the 12-month period, representing a 7% increase. Operating expenses also rose 7% to just under $664 million.
Northwest Airlines flew 7 billion consolidated RPMs in June, an 8.8% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 11.1% to 7.88 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.3 points to 88.9%. Domestic traffic fell 8.1% to 3.81 billion RPMs against an 11.5% decline in capacity to 4.36 billion ASMs, raising load factor 3.2 points to 87.4%. International RPMs decreased 8.6% to 2.71 billion, capacity was down 8.7% to 2.91 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.1 point to 93.1%.
China Southern Airlines confirmed it will take 50 A320s as its allocation from the Chinese government's order of 150 A320 family aircraft booked in December, which enabled Airbus to pip Boeing in the order stakes ( ATWOnline, Dec. 6, 2005). The third carrier to announce its allotment, China Southern's order is valued at $3.3 billion. It will take delivery in 2009 and 2010.
PrivatAir hopes to unveil another airline client for its all-business-class operations this summer. The Swiss company, which flies for Lufthansa, KLM and Swiss International Air Lines in addition to operating Airbus's corporate shuttle, said interest in its services is growing. "We are talking to several carriers, because the others [airlines] see that it is a success," CEO Greg Thomas told ATWOnline.
Saab Aerotech reached a five-year, $30 million spares support agreement with Colgan Air covering nearly 500 different components installed on its fleet of 38 Saab 340 and 340B aircraft. Colgan operates flights to 52 cities as Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express.
Boeing delivered 97 commercial aircraft in the second quarter, with 70 737NGs comprising most of the deliveries. The manufacturer also delivered 17 777s. In the year-ago period, Boeing delivered 85 commercial aircraft comprising three 717s, 59 737NGs, four 747s, one 757, four 767s and 14 777s. For the first half of 2006 it delivered 195 aircraft, including 142 737NGs and 34 777s.
Wizz Air announced the addition of nine new routes from Romania beginning with Targu Mures-Budapest from July 14. Flights from Bucharest Baneasa to Barcelona, Budapest, Dortmund, London Luton and Rome Ciampino, Arad to Milan Bergamo and Targu Mures to Barcelona and Rome Ciampino will begin on Jan. 15. All routes will operate thrice-weekly except for Bucharest-Ciampino, which will be four-times-weekly. Wizz also will launch a thrice-weekly Gdansk-Cork service on Dec. 15. Aeroflot started a twice-weekly Moscow-Yuzhno Sakhalinsk flight aboard a 767-300ER.
Las Vegas-based Primaris Airlines, as expected, postponed plans to order 20 787-8s and 20 737-800s. The original commitment was placed in October 2004 ( ATWOnline, Oct. 22, 2004), but as 787 sales have picked up, Primaris backers have come under pressure to firm up the order. Boeing requested a deposit to hold the slots, which had slipped during the past year but were understood to be for the 2009-10 timeframe. They now will be available to other customers.
Irish Transport Minister Martin Cullen yesterday outlined privatization plans for Aer Lingus to Ireland's parliament, confirming the government's April decision to sell off most of its stake in the carrier by the end of September.
