Worldspan and Northwest Airlines signed a five-year, full-content distribution agreement designating the GDS as a "preferred distribution channel." The companies said that "in conjunction with the agreement, Worldspan has developed two new optional products to introduce into the marketplace" but did not define the products.
Iberia Group reported a consolidated net loss of €45 million ($57.4 million) for the three months ended March 31, a sharp increase from the €16.1 million deficit posted in the year-ago quarter. The carrier said the principal reason for the red ink was the steep rise in the price of aviation fuel, on which it spent €257.6 million, an increase of 45.3%. Fuel accounted for 20.3% of its operating costs last quarter.
When Boeing begins delivering 787s to airlines in 2008, it expects to deliver something else as well: A total maintenance and supply chain solution that will permit operators to focus entirely on flying the airplane. GoldCare, the name of the product, will provide carriers with comprehensive line and base maintenance support, as well as supply chain management, on a cost-per-flight-hr. basis.
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise reported a profit of $34.7 million for the financial year ended March 31, "a sixfold increase from the previous year" when it earned $5.2 million. Revenues rose 29% to $255.1 million.
Eleven US Major passenger airlines in aggregate earned $19.31 billion in the first quarter ended March 31 compared to a loss of $3.3 billion in the year-ago period. Bottom-line results for the group were distorted heavily by large bankruptcy-related items at Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and United Airlines. United, for example, booked a $22.9 billion noncash gain owing to the adoption of "fresh-start" accounting upon exiting bankruptcy Feb. 1.
American Airlines flew 11.94 billion system RPMs in April, a 5.5% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity remained flat at 14.61 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 4.3 points to 81.7%. Domestic traffic grew 3.3% to 7.83 billion RPMs against a 2.3% decline in capacity to 9.33 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4.6 points to 83.9%. Internationally, traffic was up 10.1% to 4.1 billion RPMs, capacity increased 4.4% to 5.27 billion ASMs and load factor improved 4 points to 77.7%.
Continental Airlines launched daily Newark-Cologne/Bonn service aboard a two-class 757-200 Wednesday. Flights will operate five-times-weekly during the winter.
Embraer launched a Chinese version of its corporate website as part of its ongoing effort to gain a foothold in the burgeoning Asian market. It has an ERJ-145 assembly plant in Harbin, but thus far only a dozen aircraft have been delivered into the Chinese market. The Brazilian manufacturer, which is forecasting demand for some 600 RJs in China over the next 20 years, also has a commercial office in Beijing.
In a first quarter it called "sturdy" and "in line with our expectations," Lufthansa Group reported a net loss of €98 million for the three months ended March 31, narrowed from a €116 million deficit in the year-ago quarter. Changes in the group's composition that included the integration of Swiss International Air Lines and Eurowings affected the bottom line. It said its operating loss of €75 million, nearly triple its loss of €26 million in 2005, would have been €47 million if not for the additions.
Largely driven by proceeds from the partial sale of Regional subsidiary Jazz, Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings posted first-quarter net income of C$118 million ($107.3 million), a figure that represented a vast improvement over a C$77 million loss in the year-ago quarter and overshadowed a C$29 million operating loss. "During the quarter we made substantial progress in creating shareholder value through the successful monetization of our Regional carrier Jazz," Chairman, President and CEO Robert Milton said.
Cathay Pacific flew 5.86 billion RPKs in April, a 16.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 11.5% to 7.26 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 3.3 points to 80.7%.
Thai Airways reported a 78% rise in its fiscal second-quarter profit to THB6.2 billion ($164.7 million) from THB3.49 billion in the year-ago quarter, according to a filing submitted to the Thai Stock Exchange cited by press reports. Key to the earnings increase was a 19% rise in sales to THB46.1 billion and a strengthened baht, which resulted in a THB3.86 billion foreign exchange gain. Expenses advanced 20% to THB40.5 billion and load factor climbed 6.1 points to 76.7% as Thai added four aircraft during the quarter. Additional passenger data were not released.
British Midland Chairman Michael Bishop tightened his control on the UK airline group by buying out his long-term sleeping partners in the BBW Partnership, which holds the controlling majority stake in the group. John Wolfe and Stuart Balmforth each owned stakes of 24.9% in BBW with Bishop holding the remainder. The group confirmed the transaction in a short statement.
Singapore Airlines appointed Senior VP-Finance Goh Choon Phong as president of SIA Cargo effective June 1. He replaces Hwang Teng Aun, who will become senior VP-marketing (special projects). Divisional VP-Finance Chan Hon Chew will replace Goh.
ExpressJet Holdings, Regional partner of Continental Airlines, reported first-quarter net income of $23.8 million, 2% above earnings of $23.3 million in the year-ago quarter. ExpressJet cited rising demand as a key factor behind its 20th consecutive profitable quarter. The Houston-based carrier reported a 7.7% rise in revenues to $404.2 million while operating expenses increased 9% to $366.8 million, producing operating income of $37.3 million, down 3.9% from the year-ago quarter.
Virgin Blue's unhedged exposure to escalating jet fuel prices undermined its net earnings for the first half of the financial year, with the carrier reporting an 8.5% fall in profit to A$68.2 million ($52.4 million), reflecting a 33.7% rise in the cost of fuel over the six-month period to March 31. CEO Brett Godfrey said the A$49 million in additional fuel expense was offset partially by the benefits of Virgin Blue's new corporate business strategy and improved productivity, which contributed to a 6.1% increase in revenue to A$935.9 million.
Ryanair said it filed a complaint to the European Commission claiming Air France received some €1 billion ($1.28 billion) in illegal state aid "over the past number of years."
Frontier Airlines selected the CFM56-5B to power six new A320s scheduled for delivery between 2008 and 2010, it announced yesterday. List price for the order is $75 million. The carrier placed an order for six A320s in February and converted orders for four A319s into an additional four A320s ( ATWOnline, Feb. 24). It already operates 52 CFM56-5B-powered A318s and A319s.
Condor Airlines, the German leisure carrier jointly owned by Lufthansa and tour operator Karstadt/Quelle, denied rumors that it will take over certain long-haul services on behalf of Lufthansa in markets where yields are too low for LH to operate profitably. "We can operate flights for Lufthansa as we did in the past. But so far there are no discussions about that," MD Ralf Teckentrup told ATWOnline. Condor made a profit of €20.5 million ($26.2 million) in 2005 compared to a loss of €39 million the year before.
South African Airways announced the launch of a daily Johannesburg-Washington Dulles service via Dakar beginning July 1 aboard an A340-600, replacing a four-times-weekly flight aboard a 747-400 stopping in Accra. Times have been adjusted to conform more closely with United Airlines' Dulles schedule. SAA will discontinue its daily service to Atlanta the same day and but will continue to operate to New York JFK. Emirates will increase its Dubai-New York JFK service to thrice-daily with the addition of a new flight via Hamburg on Oct. 29.
Japan Airlines Group blamed sluggish traffic growth caused by "safety-related occurrences" and anti-Japanese sentiment in China for its inability to overcome rising fuel costs, resulting in a drastic reversal in financial fortunes and a loss of ¥47.2 billion ($423.2 million) in the fiscal year ended March 31 compared to earnings of ¥30 billion in FY05.
Turboprops are generating renewed interest from airlines just a few years after many industry players predicted their demise in the face of the invasion of regional jets, experts said yesterday during an ATWOnline webcast. Turboprops "have made a comeback," Meridian Aerospace Group President Bill Gardner said. "They've become pervasive again...I don't think operators are turning away from regional jets. I think they're revisiting whether it was a good idea to get rid of turboprops." Carriers are interested in 50/70-seaters such as the Q300 and Q400 for 60-90-min.
Ryanair will open its 16th European base at Marseille Provence, where it will base two new aircraft and fly to 13 destinations from November. The carrier said it expects to deliver 1 million passengers per year to MRS, which since 2000 has experienced a 10.8% decline in passenger throughput to 5.8 million. It will serve Brussels Charleroi, Dublin, Eindhoven, Fez, Frankfurt Hahn, Glasgow Prestwick, Karlsruhe Baden, London Stansted, Marrakech, Oujda, Sandefjord, Porto and Rome Ciampino. Separately, Ryanair will launch a daily Dublin-Berlin Schoenefeld service on June 1.
Airbus said it achieved "two major test milestones in the A380 program this week." Fatigue tests on an A380 in Dresden reached 10,000 cycles, twice as many as needed for certification, according to COO Charles Champion, who heads the A380 program. Fatigue testing began in September 2005 and will continue through 2008 to simulate 47,500 flights. In Hamburg, Airbus completed "the first extensive ground cabin tests in a fully equipped A380." During 5 hr. of testing, 474 passengers and 20 crewmembers simulated a 15-hr.
Bankruptcy-related charges totaling $975 million propelled Northwest Airlines to a net loss of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2006 from a loss of $537 million in the year-ago period. NWA filed for Chapter 11 protection last September. Excluding reorganization and unusual items, the carrier trimmed its first-quarter deficit to $129 million from $450 million in 2005, largely on the strength of improved cost performance.
