Continental Airlines broke the silence on the US side in the standoff between US and Venezuelan authorities, announcing Friday that it "will try to accommodate travel needs of passengers flying to and from Caracas through its extensive network into the region" if Venezuela follows through with its threat to restrict access of US carriers from the end of this month ( ATWOnline, Feb. 27). CO said it will allow passengers to exchange tickets without penalty or apply for refunds.
Flynordic, Finnair's Stockholm-based low-cost subsidiary, faces significant challenges in adapting to new market realities in Sweden. "Every airline is losing money [there], including us," Finnair CEO Jukka Hienonen told ATWOnline in Helsinki. "The Swedish market has changed." Asked how much time remains for Flynordic to improve its results, he said, "more important than time is to find the right direction. We need more efficiency on the route network and frequencies.
Latin American Airline Assn. members flew 10.88 billion RPMs in January, a 1.7% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 1.3% to 15.02 billion ASMs, raising load factor 0.2 point to 72.5%.
CAE will design the first full flight simulator for the ARJ21 regional jet being developed in China by AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co. CAE valued the deal at C$15 million ($13 million). The ARJ21 is a 90-seat RJ expected to enter service in 2009. "The CAE-built ARJ21 simulator will be delivered to the ACAC Customer Service Center that is to be established in Shanghai," said AVIC I VP Qinghong Xu.
Goodrich was selected by Boeing to supply the flightdeck lighting system and cabin attendant seating for the 787. Goodrich valued the contracts at up to $110 million in original equipment and aftermarket sales over the initial contract period.
The 15-year campaign to replace Berlin's fractured three-airport system with a single modern facility built to international standards gained a major victory when a German court overruled environmentalists and local residents who objected to plans to replace Berlin Schoenefeld with a new Berlin-Brandenburg International. Work had been halted on the €2 billion ($2.42 billion) project pending the decision. The new airport is scheduled to open in 2011.
Italian government said Friday that it conditionally approved Alitalia's €38 million ($45.9 million) takeover of struggling Volare Airlines, according to press reports. Alitalia's bid had been challenged in court by domestic competitor Air One, which will continue to press its claims. The acquisition depends on Alitalia's keeping Volare's operations going for at least two years while maintaining year-end 2005 employment levels.
JetBlue Airways continued its Northeast expansion yesterday with the announcement of a four-times-daily New York JFK-Pittsburgh service, a twice-daily Boston-Pittsburgh service and thrice-daily Boston-Buffalo flights beginning June 30 aboard its new Embraer 190s. It also will launch thrice-daily JFK-Jacksonville service on June 15 with A320s. Malev Hungarian Airlines is increasing weekly service to Romania. From March 26 it will operate up to four daily flights between Budapest and Bucharest, raising weekly frequencies from 15 to 26.
China Southern Airlines selected Rolls-Royce Trent 700s to power 10 A330s in a $600 million deal that includes a support package. Delivery of the new aircraft will occur in 2007 and 2008 and will add to the carrier's fleet of four Trent-powered A330s. Rolls said the Trent 700 has won a 42% share of the combined firm and option A330 business and holds the entire market in mainland China and Hong Kong.
BAA said Friday that it had rejected a "pre-conditional" 810-pence-per-share, all-cash buyout offer from Spain's Grupo Ferrovial and its consortium partners. BAA shares closed at 839 pence Thursday. Ferrovial's offer valued BAA, which operates London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, among others, at £8.8 billion ($15.39 billion.).
Although still flying profitably during difficult times for US airlines, cargo carrier ABX Air said yesterday that its failure to reach certain revenue incentives under a Hub Services Agreement with primary customer DHL was the principal cause of an 18% drop in annual net profit to $30.3 million from $37 million in 2004.
Aviareps was selected by Air Madrid to be its general sales agent in France. The airline, which operates transatlantic flights from Madrid and Barcelona, will begin feeding its Spanish hubs with flights from Paris, Frankfurt and Milan later this month.
Bmi selected Discover the World Marketing to handle sales and marketing through its Russian office for Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Qantas denied reports that it intends to outsource its A330 heavy maintenance permanently, saying it always has used outside providers when operating a new aircraft type and eventually will bring the work to Australia. It currently operates 14 A330s.
Sabre Travel Network signed a multiyear, full-content agreement with SN Brussels Airlines. Meanwhile, four additional airlines upgraded their connections to Sabre. Aegean Airlines, Helios Airways, Yemenia Yemen Airways and Afriqiyah Airways now are participating at Direct Connect Availability, the "highest level of participation in the Sabre GDS," according to the company.
SkyTeam launched a German version of its website this week. It now offers its site content in nine languages. No SkyTeam member is based in Germany but the alliance does serve 12 destinations in the country.
Cargolux will add a third weekly frequency to its Hong Kong-Barcelona-Luxembourg service from March. Air Berlin will launch a 12-times-weekly Belfast-London Stansted service on May 2. Vueling Airlines will start a daily Barcelona-Santiago de Compostela flight aboard A320s from April 13. Jet2.com will launch daily Leeds-Dusseldorf service on May 8.
Lufthansa Systems will join G2 SwitchWorks and ITA Software as a preferred supplier to provide an Alternative Content Access Platform to Star Alliance airlines, Star and LHS announced yesterday. LHS is teaming with Farelogix on the project and will base its ACAP solution on "core GNE [GDS new entrant] technology" from the Miami-based company, Anselm Eggert, LHS senior VP-Business Division Passenger Airline Solutions, told journalists during a conference call.
Oasis Hong Kong Airlines acquired two 747-400s previously operated by Singapore Airlines. Aircraft will be delivered in July and enter service later this year on the Hong Kong-London Gatwick route. "They are in excellent condition and perfect for our exclusive new long-haul, nonstop services priced for the budget-conscious traveler," CEO Stephen Miller said.
United Airlines expanded the role of CIO Garry Kelly to include oversight for enterprise-wide strategic sourcing and continuous improvement. He is replacing Rick Poulton, who is leaving the company. Tampa Cargo President and CEO Fred Jacobsen is resigning for "professional reasons" after eight years, the company said earlier this month. His departure becomes effective March 30. The search for a successor is underway.
US airlines flew 572.89 billion domestic RPMs in 2005, an increase of 4.5% over 2004, according to statistics released yesterday by the US Dept. of Transportation. The number of passengers increased 4.1% to 634.5 million. Capacity rose just 0.9% to 742.27 billion ASMs and load factor grew 2.7 points to 77.2%. Southwest Airlines continued to set the pace with 88 million passengers, compared with 81 million in 2004. Delta Air Lines was second and American Airlines third.
