Embraer 170 has been certified by Brazilian and European aviation authorities to perform CAT IIIa autoland operations. Aircraft also is certified for CAT I and CAT II operational conditions. Certification is expected soon from US FAA.
Northwest Airlines will increase service from Indianapolis, adding a daily San Francisco flight from June 1, an additional daily frequency to Los Angeles from June 8 and seasonal service to Seattle June 8-Aug. 21, all aboard A319s.
US Dept. of Transportation reported yesterday that domestic traffic in November grew 2.3% to 43.87 billion RPMs. Capacity fell 2.2% to 59.87 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 3.3 points to 73.3%. Southwest Airlines led with 7.4 million enplanements. Mountain Air Cargo of North Carolina carried 8.2 million lb. of freight in January.
Air France-KLM reported a sharp increase in net earnings in the third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31 to €77 million ($91.7 million) from €23 million in the year-ago quarter thanks to "dynamic" passenger activity featuring record load factors and strong unit revenues plus an "encouraging recovery" of its cargo business.
Republic Airways, which operates Republic Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines and Shuttle America, reported a net income of $60.6 million for 2005 compared to a $38.8 million profit the prior year. Operating revenues jumped 40% to $905 million as expenses increased 34.5% to $746.3 million, leading to a 73.8% rise in operating profit to $158.7 million. Traffic grew 47.5% to 4.52 billion RPMs on a 42.1% capacity increase to 6.56 billion ASMs, sending load factor up 2.5 points to 68.8%. Republic lifted its operating fleet to 142 aircraft from 111 in 2004.
India and Italy signed an expanded air services agreement Wednesday in New Delhi adding frequencies, destinations and fifth freedom rights on specified city-pairs.
Northwest Airlines and its unions were given an extra week to reach an accord by a US Bankruptcy Court yesterday. Judge Allan Gropper originally was scheduled to rule Thursday whether the carrier could cancel agreements with its pilots and flight attendants, but after meeting with attorneys during the day he gave NWA and its unions until close of business on Feb. 24 to negotiate. "We will continue our efforts to reach a consensual agreement," Professional Flight Attendants Assn. President Guy Meek said.
Delta Air Lines' turbulent year, which featured its September bankruptcy filing, ended with a net loss of $3.82 billion, or $2.21 billion excluding reorganization and special items, with the former figure representing a 26.5% improvement over a 2004 deficit of $5.2 billion.
EasyJet is adding four direct routes from Glasgow, bringing the number of destinations served from its Scottish base to nine and increasing capacity by 19%. A daily flight to Berlin Schoenefeld commences May 3, dailies to Alicante and Malaga start July 7 and a weekly service to Palma begins May 20. The route to Berlin is a result of investment from the Scottish Executive in the form of a route development fund. EasyJet also will benefit from funding and marketing support from VisitScotland and the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.
European Commission and US Dept. of Justice investigation into alleged price-fixing and anticompetitive activity among major airlines' cargo operations took on a worldwide character as antitrust officials raided the offices of several Asian carriers yesterday following similar unannounced raids at major European carriers and American counterparts American Airlines and United Airlines Tuesday ( ATWOnline Feb.
US FAA named Dr. Frederick Tilton the new Federal Air Surgeon. He served as deputy Federal Air Surgeon for the past six years and replaces recently retired Dr. Jon Jordan.
SITA and Airservices Australia announced an alliance to offer ADS-B services across Australia's entire upper-level airspace by early 2007. The two also will support an Indonesian Directorate General for Air Communications ADS-B trial in Indonesia.
UK's National Air Traffic Services and its Spanish counterpart Aena officially launched a joint venture company, cementing a memorandum of cooperation signed last year to develop an air traffic management system for both countries. It is the first time two national air navigation service providers have collaborated in such a commercial venture, both parties stressed. The new company, to be called SACTA ATM, will develop the Spanish ATC system SACTA to a point where it also is capable of managing UK airspace. The system will be introduced first in Gran Canaria in 2007.
Jet Airways, fresh off its acquisition of Air Sahara, is considering ordering the A380 or 747-8, CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told ATWOnline. He said delivery positions for either aircraft will not be available before the 2010-11 timeframe, "when we will need more capacity."
Airbus said it is studying two types of wingtip devices for the A320 family to improve aerodynamic performance and reduce fuel burn. The devices will be flight-tested on Airbus's A320 development aircraft in March. In addition, JetBlue Airways will provide an A320 for part of the test program. Winglet Technology LLC, located in Wichita, will supply one of the winglet designs for testing. Airbus said development of the devices is the result of "more sophisticated analysis techniques," in particular arising out of the A380 program.
Swedish LCC FlyMe has committed to acquiring Lithuanian Airlines. FlyMe will be issued a 33% stake in Lithuanian and gain control through the appointment of a new MD and the majority of the board. It will purchase the remaining shares over the next three years. FlyMe, headquartered in Gothenburg, launched two years ago and operates five 737s. Lithuanian, which was privatized last year, flies five 737-500s and two Saab 2000s and runs its own MRO operation.
In an effort to recapture some of the single-aisle market, reestablish its relationship with certain carriers and set the stage for its role in developing a next-generation single-aisle engine, Pratt & Whitney yesterday announced its intention to manufacture, certify and market replacement CFM56-3 parts for the 737-300/-400/-500 series through its new Global Material Solutions business.
Temasek Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Singapore Airlines and a major investor in two Singapore-based LCCs, Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia, will retain a sizeable stake in Thai AirAsia under a new ownership structure announced yesterday to keep the carrier in compliance with Thai laws on foreign ownership. Last week, Temasek acquired Thai telecom giant Shin Corp. ( ATWOnline, Feb. 9), which owns 50% of Thai AirAsia. The other major shareholder is AirAsia with 49%. Thai AirAsia CEO Tasapon Bijleveld holds 1%.
Hawaiian Airlines signed letters of intent to acquire four 767-300s rejected by Delta Air Lines during its bankruptcy reorganization and said yesterday that it will announce the dates of delivery and introduction into service at a later date. The four aircraft will be overhauled and configured with 18 first class and 242 coach seats and will bring Hawaiian's dash 300 fleet to 18.
WestJet announced the following new daily services: Vancouver-Hamilton from May 1, Toronto-St. John's from May 1, Edmonton-Abbotsford from April 23, Calgary-Halifax May 1-Oct. 28 and Toronto-Victoria May 12-Oct. 28. It also announced frequency increases on 10 additional routes. Gol launches daily Buenos Aires-Asuncion service today.
ANA's board of directors decided yesterday to sell 230.5 million shares of common stock, with an overallotment option of 19.5 million additional shares. The shares constitute about 14% of ANA's outstanding stock and are worth approximately ¥109.6 billion ($929.7 million), according to news reports. The subscription period is scheduled for March 6-8.
United Airlines will add 32 departures from its Denver hub by June, an increase of more than 7% from its current schedule, the carrier announced yesterday. UA credited its resource optimization program ( ATWOnline, Jan. 31) focused on, among other things, reducing turnaround times by an average of 8 min. for making the service increase possible.
Airbus said that A380 MSN004 returned from Iqualit, Canada, near the Arctic Circle, where it "successfully completed the cold weather test campaign." The aircraft is preparing for a trip to Singapore where it will highlight Asian Aerospace 2006, participating in the daily flying display while painted in the livery of Singapore Airlines, which will take first delivery in the fourth quarter. MSN004, the second A380 to fly, spent five days in extreme cold--down to minus 30 deg. C.--to demonstrate full functionality of systems.
