WestJet is consolidating its domestic and international charter operations at Toronto Pearson on Concourse C in Terminal 3 effective June 16. The airline operates more than 300 flights per week at the airport and said it represents 86.9% of enplaned passengers in T3.
Alitalia and Meridiana signed a codeshare agreement for the Rome-Cagliari route. Alitalia will add its code to Meridiana's flights while Meridiana will lease an AZ aircraft to operate on the route. Alitalia lost the right to fly to Cagliari and Olbia in April because it applied for renewal after a deadline set by ENAC. The three-year concession was awarded to Air One and Meridiana. Separately, Alitalia flew 3.35 billion RPKs in May, a 2.3% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.9% to 4.55 billion ASKs and load factor climbed 3 points to 73.6%.
Re-regulating the US airline industry in order to avoid future pension defaults by airlines would reverse the benefits to consumers of deregulation "and would not save airline pensions," according to a new study by the US Government Accountability Office, the research and investigation arm of Congress.
AirBridge Cargo added a second weekly IL-76 freighter operation to connect with its international services from its hub in Krasnoyarsk to Sakhalin to satisfy demand from the oil and gas industry in the region and opened an office on the island as well. It launched a weekly service to Sakhalin from Frankfurt and Amsterdam in March last year.
Air Berlin is expanding its presence in Zurich, turning it into a minihub for flights to Spain and Portugal. From Nov. 4, the carrier will start weekly flights from ZRH to Las Palmas, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Madeira. A spokesperson confirmed to ATWOnline that flights will be fed by services from Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Vienna. Air Berlin will add a third daily flight from Zurich to Hamburg on Nov 1. It has become the No. 2 carrier at ZRH behind Swiss International Air Lines, serving 700,000 passengers in 2005.
EgyptAir is looking for ways to increase its capital by 20% by year end to finance fleet expansion. According to the Arab Air Carriers Organization, the airline intends to add another 12 aircraft by 2016, a mix of short- and long-haul types. It ordered six 737-800s plus six options in 2005 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 10, 2005) and plans to take delivery of all 12 by 2010, increasing its fleet to 52 aircraft.
Air New Zealand said it will replace 15 standard economy seats with eight premium economy seats in the main cabin of its eight 747s by the end of October. It also is near completion of the first stage of its two-stage cabin upgrade on its five 767s. By July it will finish replacing carpets, seat covers and curtains. Later in the year it will refurbish the galleys and lavs and add more IFE screens. ANZ leases two additional 767s and will not upgrade those aircraft, which are scheduled to leave the fleet in October 2006 and August 2007.
Delta Air Lines asked Wednesday for a four-month extension to the exclusivity period for filing its reorganization plan. The period is set to expire on July 11. The airline said in its filing submitted to the US Bankruptcy Court in New York that the extension to Sept. 9 is required to address pension plan obligations, retiree benefit issues and its business model, "among other things."
British Airways announced changes to its baggage policy on mainline services, including allowances for hand, checked and excess baggage that will be phased in over the next five months. BA will not, at least yet, start charging for checked luggage as do LCC peers like FlyBE and Ryanair ( ATWOnline, Jan. 26). "We have created new policies which are easier to understand and will reduce queuing time at airports," BA Commercial Director Martin George said.
Boeing denied reports that its 787 program schedule has been affected by a fault in a composite fuselage barrel section. According to Mike Bair, VP and GM-787 program, the fault had been expected owing to a problem with a particular mandrel that developed a flaw. "We knew there was a problem with the mandrel, which we tried to fix but we should have scrapped it," he said.
The tentative open skies agreement negotiated last year between the US and EU was dealt a potentially fatal blow Wednesday when the US House of Representatives voted to delay by a year a DOT rulemaking that is seen as key to winning European support for the air service agreement, while Air France-KLM Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta said he does not believe European policymakers will find the rulemaking palatable in the wake of recent changes by DOT.
Finnair said a €100 million bond issued Wednesday and directed at Finnish institutional investors was fully subscribed. It matures in 2012. "With this emitted bond we wanted to expand our financing flexibility. Our fleet investment program is over €1 billion for the years 2006-2015," CFO Lasse Heinonen said.
Republic Airways Holdings promoted Tim Dooley to VP-financial planning & analysis. Alaska Airlines named Chris Glaeser VP-safety. He comes from Northwest Airlines, where he was director-flight safety, quality assurance and industry affairs.
Copa Holdings, parent of Copa Airlines and AeroRepublica, filed a registration statement yesterday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the sale of 6.6 million nonvoting shares held by Continental Airlines, which would hold a 12.3% stake in Copa following the sale or 10% if the overallotment is exercised. Copa said it will not receive any of the proceeds.
SITA signed an agreement with Athens International Airport to distribute and sell its AirportConnect CUTE, AirportConnect Kiosk, BagManager and BagMessage IT applications in Greece. This is the third agreement of its kind since SITA announced plans in February to establish a global network of Indirect Channel partners to provide its IT solutions to medium-size and small airports that handle 5 million passengers or fewer per year ( ATWOnline, Feb. 3).
After nearly three decades of frustration, Southwest Airlines will have to wait only eight more years to unleash itself from its Love Field base. The mayors of Dallas and Ft. Worth, along with Southwest and American Airlines, yesterday unveiled a long-awaited compromise that--subject to approval and appropriate legislation from the US Congress--will dilute and eventually repeal the Wright Amendment. Through-ticketing will be made available to DAL passengers as soon as Congress acts, and all flight restrictions will be removed in 2014.
Gol flew 1.17 billion RPKs in May, a 55.9% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 53.8% to 1.6 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1 point to 73%.
US Homeland Security Dept. said airlines are withholding $14.5 million per year from the Transportation Security Administration, according to press reports. The money is supposed to come from the $2.50 charge levied to passengers for each leg of a flight. TSA said it plans to audit airlines to ensure it receives the money.
China and Taiwan continued to relax air transport restrictions with the decision to allow more direct flights during holiday periods and cargo charters for the first time, Reuters reported. Flights operated between the countries during the Chinese New Year proved popular and led to calls for increased service ( ATWOnline, Feb. 9). Passenger flights could take place as early as October's Mid-Autumn Festival, Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu said.
Air China will purchase 24 A320 family aircraft for $1.74 billion, Reuters reported. The order is part of the deal Airbus signed with Chinese Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group last year for 150 aircraft ( ATWOnline, Dec. 6, 2005).
AAR Aircraft Component Services-New York recently received repair authorization certification from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China.
