Former Air Wisconsin Chairman and CEO Preston Wilbourne died April 20. He was 80. Wilbourne joined the airline as GM in 1965 shortly after it commenced operations. At the time, it operated a single de Havilland Dove. He rose through the ranks to become chairman and CEO, retiring in 1990. Etihad Airways announced a revamp of its commercial management team, which now will feature four regional GMs based in Abu Dhabi and five department managers.
Air Berlin, as expected, on Friday began the road show for its initial public offering that is expected to raise gross proceeds of €350 million ($431.8 million) with net proceeds to the low-fare airline of €290 million.
Sabre Holdings announced agreements with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. The latter signed a seven-year, full-content agreement with Sabre Travel Network to make all published fares and inventory available to Sabre subscribers, including published fares that the airline sells through any third-party distributor and through its reservation offices and website. In addition to the Sabre agreement, Delta also signed a new marketing agreement with Travelocity and a participation agreement with Travelocity's Site59 unit. Sabre signed a similar agreement with United good for five years.
Air New Zealand will raise fares on all domestic flights and outbound international flights by 10% on May 1. The carrier said rising fuel costs necessitated the change. "Fuel is now our number one cost," said CFO Rob McDonald. "We regret having to increase fares but the numbers are stark." The airline's annual fuel bill has more than doubled since 2004, jumping from NZ$480 million ($303.3 million) to NZ$1 billion. ANZ also announced a NZ$42 million upgrade to its domestic terminal facilities at Auckland International Airport.
Swiss International Air Lines boosted its fuel surcharge on long-haul flights to CHF106 ($83.29) in each direction from CHF93. European and domestic services will see a fuel surcharge of CHF32 each way. The revised surcharges will be levied on all tickets issued in Switzerland from April 25. Swiss last increased its fuel surcharges in September 2005.
Empire Aero Center of New York was awarded a contract to provide heavy maintenance on Transaero Airlines 747-200s. The first aircraft is slated to undergo C and D checks at the end of April. Contract value was not disclosed.
BAA for the third time advised its shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid from Ferrovial, which again offered £8.75 billion ($15.62 billion) for the UK airport management company. The BAA board said Friday that it will be writing to shareholders "within the next 14 days" to explain the reasons the offer was rejected and urged shareholders to "take no action" in respect to the offer. "The Ferrovial Consortium's offer cannot be taken seriously," BAA Chairman Marcus Agius said.
Dniproavia accused Lufthansa of influencing German aviation authorities to get the Ukrainian carrier's route authority to serve Frankfurt and Berlin cancelled in violation of a 2005 open skies agreement between the countries. According to an "open letter" from Dniproavia to the Dept. of Aviation of the Federal Republic of Germany and shareholders of Lufthansa Airlines, the German LBA, "on Lufthansa's advice," on March 8 prohibited the airline from flying to Germany and cancelled its flights to Berlin and Frankfurt. Dniproavia alleged LH's goal is to monopolize the markets.
MAT Macedonian Airlines took delivery of a CRJ900, Bombardier announced. The 86-seat aircraft will replace a 737 and an F100. MAT holds options for two additional CRJ900s.
Bmi leased a 767 to be operated on its service to Riyadh from April 22 and a new route to Jeddah scheduled to launch May 18. The aircraft will be configured with two classes and will feature Star Alliance livery.
Austrian Airlines Group unveiled a new fare concept for short- and medium-haul flights permitting passengers to combine different fares and booking classes on the same itinerary, booking economy for an outbound flight and business class for the return, for example. Austrian also restructured economy fares to narrow the range of prices and is offering a "red-ticket" fare with an "all-in" price ranging from €159 ($196.2) to €299 depending on destination. It introduced a new business class fare, Business Holiday, for leisure travel on routes with high tourist potential.
Venezuela's threat to restrict flights by US airlines into the country appears to have been successful, as the US FAA raised the nation's safety rating to Category 1, meaning it complies with ICAO standards. US aviation officials conducted a safety audit and inspections last month after the South American country agreed to postpone until April 25 its ban on all operations conducted by Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines and some American Airlines flights ( ATWOnline, March 31).
ARINC will unveil a new airport IT systems support program today at the annual conference of the American Assn. of Airport Executives. The program includes "integrated systems support, operations, maintenance support and technical staffing." Separately, ARINC said Sun Country Airlines signed a long-term extension of its datalink communications contract.
Aer Lingus said Friday it will add a fuel surcharge to flights to and from the US and Middle East of €35 ($43.20)/$40 each way effective May 15. It said it is the first time it has imposed a fuel surcharge on any of its routes and that the move is "regrettable but necessary." The airline said it is 51% hedged in 2006 and that fares on transatlantic flights fell nearly 5% last year while fuel costs increased by €33.1 million.
Wizz Air took delivery of a new IAE V2500-powered A320, which the low-fare airline plans to operate to Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia as part its expansion of Eastern European services. The aircraft is leased from ILFC. Wizz also plans to launch thrice-weekly flights on July 14 between Cork and Katowice, the first direct service on the route.
Air Canada said it welcomed "the successful conclusion of an Open Skies Agreement for Canada and the UK." AC said the deal will allow it to introduce "more flexible simplified pricing" and enable it to expand its popular multitrip flight passes. London Heathrow is the carrier's most important international gateway.
Copa Airlines exercised options for one 737-800 and three Embraer 190s, a transaction worth $180 million at list prices. The dash 800 brings Copa's 737NG order to eight firm with purchase rights for an additional nine. It will take delivery of the 155-seat 737 in October 2009. The three 190s bring to 15 the number of Copa's firm orders and it holds 15 options. The three 94-seat, GE CF32-10E-powered aircraft are Advanced Range versions and are scheduled for delivery in 2007 and 2008.
Singapore Airlines now offers interline e-tickets for connections to American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Varig, bringing to 17 the number of carriers with whom SIA has partnered for interline e-ticketing.
Austrian Airlines reduced frequencies from Vienna to Tehran from five to three weekly flights owing to lower demand attributed to the worsening political climate. Meanwhile, in order to be more competitive against carriers such as Emirates, Austrian plans to install intercontinental business class seats in several 737-800s for flights to the Middle East. Currently it operates one 737-800 outfitted with 16 C class and 142 Y seats for flights to Dubai.
US Airways announced that ACE Aviation Holdings Chairman, President and CEO Robert Milton resigned from the US board of directors, as previously announced ( ATWOnline, April 12). Also, US named MD-Revenue Management Brad Beakley as VP-reservations and inventory services and Tom Trenga as VP-revenue management.
British Airways announced a "radical shakeup" in its short-haul fare structure in an apparent attempt to stay competitive with LCCs such as Ryanair and easyJet. One-way fares for flights within the UK and Europe were reduced by up to 50% to more than 65 destinations. Prices start at £29 ($51.76) and BA will allow travelers to change their flights up to midnight on the day prior to departure for £30. "This is not a short-term gimmick but a long-term commitment to our millions of customers to offer irresistible low fares every day of the year.
Southwest Airlines managed to stave off rising unit costs and a 79.6% jump in fuel expenses to record a first-quarter profit of $61 million, up 3.4% over the $59 million earned in the three months ended March 31, 2005. The carrier also announced yesterday that it will exercise options for 79 737-700s for delivery from 2007 through 2012, bringing its firm orders to 140.
Air China will take 15 of the 80 737NGs purchased earlier this month by China ( ATWOnline, April 12), according to an airline spokesperson cited by press reports. The deal is worth approximately $982.8 million.
American Airlines and American Eagle announced yesterday a $25 million series of upgrades at their Boston Logan facilities. Improvements include the combining of mainline and Eagle gates and US Transportation Security Administration facilities, shifting Eagle departures from the Amelia Earhart General Aviation Terminal to AA's facilities in Terminal B, renovating retail space to include a 15,000-sq.-ft. food court and an increase in the number of concessions from 17 to 23, renovation of AA's 10,000-sq.-ft. Admirals Club and an increase in the number of self-service kiosks.
