Lufthansa said that a new low-fare concept introduced in Hamburg last October is off to a successful start. The carrier discussed Program Hamburg with journalists Monday. The project is designed to achieve 20% higher productivity--resulting in lower production costs--and a capacity increase in Hamburg of 40%. Similar to low-cost airlines, LH offers 20% of its seats at fares starting from €99 ($118.8) including taxes and serves 23 direct destinations from the city.
Latin American Airline Assn. announced that the 2005 Federico Bloch Award was given to Constantino de Oliveira Junior, CEO of Gol. The award honors Federico Bloch, the visionary CEO of Grupo Taca who was murdered in an apparent holdup attempt in 2004. The first Rolim Amaro Award was given to SCL Terminal Aereo Santiago (Santiago International Airport). Named in memory of the late founder and chairman of TAM, the award is given to the Latin American airport with the best overall service to AITAL member airlines.
Pratt & Whitney and MTU will collaborate on a "technology readiness program" to develop high-pressure compressors for the next generation of mid-thrust engines powering eventual successor aircraft to the A320 and 737. Ground rig testing of the new compressor is scheduled for this fall in Munich. "Development of a whole new generation of single-aisle, medium-range aircraft will depend to a large degree on the availability of extremely efficient new engines," Pratt Senior VP-Engineering Paul Adams said.
Aeroxchange announced that Malaysia Airlines signed a marketplace subscription for products including AeroAOG, AeroBuy, AeroRepair, AeroSell and AeroSourcing.
Vueling reported revenues of €136 million ($163.2 million) in 2005 and said it was profitable in the second half of the year, without providing details. The Barcelona-based LCC carried more than 2 million passengers. "With these results we have easily exceeded the company's initial business plan forecasts," CEO Carlos Munoz said.
Connexion by Boeing and Air China reached a "preliminary agreement" to provide Connexion's high-speed connectivity solution to Air China passengers traveling to and from China. The agreement covers up to 15 firm and optional retrofit installations of the product on 747-400s and other long-haul models. Financial terms were not disclosed. Installations are planned to begin in October.
PSA Airlines, a US Airways Express partner, chose AeroData's ACARS Performance and Weight & Balance System for use by its pilots aboard its 49 CRJ200s and CRJ700s.
Former AMR Corp. Chairman and CEO Donald Carty was named chairman of startup Virgin America, which plans to launch US service this year. Carty served as chairman and CEO of AMR Corp. from 1998 to April 2003 before being forced to resign following disclosure of the existence of special compensation packages for top AMR executives at a time when other employees were being asked to take pay and benefit reductions. "I've known Don for many years, and he knows the airline business," said Virgin America CEO Fred Reid. "We feel fortunate to have someone with his expertise as our chairman."
CFM International completed a 63-hr. flight test program on its CFM56-5B/CFM56-7B Tech Insertion package, paving the way for certification in June and EIS in 2007 on the A320/737NG. The program incorporates technologies developed and validated as part of Project TECH56 and includes improvements to the high-pressure compressor, combustor and high- and low-pressure turbines. According to CFMI, the package will provide operators with longer time on wing, about 5% lower maintenance costs, 15%-20% lower NOx emissions and better fuel burn.
Qantas is considering acquiring a share of Indonesian budget carrier Adam Air to strengthen its position in the high-growth Southeast Asia market. Adam Air CEO Gunawan Suherman confirmed that Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon and CFO Peter Gregg were in Jakarta last Friday to discuss the acquisition of 20%-30% of the operation. According to Gunawan, Qantas is planning to establish Jakarta as a second Asian hub after Singapore. Adam Air began flying in December 2002 with 737s and currently operates 20 aircraft to 39 destinations, including Malaysia and Singapore.
The Assn. of European Airlines reported that its 30 member carriers will post an operating profit of $800 million for 2005 based on preliminary figures, double a 2004 total that was the group's first combined profit in six years, in spite of last year's record nominal fuel prices.
Gulf Air secured a $75 million syndicated loan that it will use to continue funding near-term development following its restructuring in the wake of the withdrawal of Abu Dhabi as a shareholder.
Mesaba Airlines, the bankrupt Regional partner of Northwest Airlines, filed documents Friday with the US Bankruptcy Court seeking approval to cancel labor contracts with its pilots, flight attendants and mechanics and eliminate approximately 1,600 jobs, according to media reports. "Mesaba will shut down if these proposals are pushed through, either by virtue of a work stoppage or by virtue of everyone quitting," said Tom Wychor, chairman of the carrier's Air Line Pilots Assn. unit. "These are not viable solutions for the airline and we believe management would be foolish to test them."
World Airways pilots, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, announced Sunday they had reached a tentative agreement with the carrier, ending a nine-day strike ( ATWOnline, Jan. 31). Details of the accord were not released.
Ryanair posted an adjusted net profit of €36.8 million ($44.2 million) for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, an increase of 6% over the €34.8 million earned in the year-ago period, as passenger boardings grew 26% from 6.9 million to 8.6 million.
Soaring fuel costs, "adverse publicity" over recent safety-related operational events and declining demand on services to China resulting from lingering feelings about anti-Japanese protests in April all factored into another rough quarter for Japan Airlines, which reported an ¥11 billion ($92.5 million) loss for the three-month period ended Dec. 31, up from a loss of ¥3.7 billion in the previous year's third fiscal quarter.
News from Travel Technology Update: When 18-year-old Shawn "Napster" Fanning invented the software that turned the music industry on its head, he also engendered a vast community of young file-swappers. There are 250 million registered users of "peer-to-peer computing" networks worldwide. According to Big Champagne, a market research company that measures consumption of digital media, more music is now acquired online than on CD. The phenomenon is spreading to other forms of entertainment as well.
American Airlines reported a 4.4% rise in January RPMs to 11.03 billion and a 1.9% increase in year-over-year capacity to 14.69 billion ASMs. Load factor climbed 1.8 points to 75.1%. Domestic traffic grew 3.5% to 7.19 billion RPMs as capacity dipped 0.1% to 9.48 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.6 points to 75.8%.
Ethiopian Airlines signed a $10.5 million deal with Sabre Airline Solutions for its passenger management system. It will migrate from a SITA system by year end.
Name and initial plans for a new Saudi Arabian low-fare airline announced last December and backed by Prince Bandar bin Khalid al Faisal as chairman were unveiled Sunday. The carrier, named Sama, will begin flying this summer with 737-300s. It will operate domestically initially and eventually expand to other destinations in the Middle East. CEO is Andrew Cowen, who was finance director of Go Fly prior to its takeover by easyJet and spent 10 years at British Airways before being seconded to Go. He also participated in the management buyout of Go from BA.
Northern Air Cargo of Alaska has been sold to Saltchuk Resources, a private US holding company. The purchase includes NAC's subsidiaries and its Fairbanks airport facility, among other items.
Delta Air Lines will start Atlanta-Kingston service from June 1. Delta and Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines will operate the service aboard 737-800s and CRJ700s. JetBlue Airways is planning to launch twice-daily New York JFK-Bermuda service from May 4. OzJet will offer its all-business-class 737 service six-times-weekly between Melbourne and Perth beginning next month.
Northwest Airlines and its unions sparred in court for an eighth day Friday over the bankrupt carrier's request for permission to terminate labor contracts covering its pilot and flight attendant workforces and impose new terms and conditions. A spokesperson for the Professional Flight Attendants Assn. told the Associated Press that the union offered to reduce its pay by 22.5% and accept the elimination of 1,553 jobs through voluntary severance agreements. NWA wants to hire 800 non-US flight attendants, replacing 30% of cabin staff, to be domiciled in Asia.
