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.
After reporting a net earnings decline in its second fiscal quarter, British Airways rebounded in the third quarter ended Dec. 31 thanks to increased premium traffic and a reduction in unit costs, posting a profit after tax of £123 million ($218.4 million), a 4.2% gain over the £118 million earned in the year-ago quarter.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes may not surpass the 1,002 jets sold in 2005, but it already is off to a fast start compared to last year. According to the Boeing website, the company received gross orders for 39 aircraft from seven customers in January, all of which were for 737s. By comparison, it booked orders for 20 aircraft--also all 737s--in the first month of 2005.
MTU Aero Engines said MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg received EASA and FAA approval to maintain GE CF34-8 engines powering 70-90 Embraer and Bombardier regional jets and larger business jets. MTU already maintains the CF34-3.
EasyJet introduced "all night check-in" on flights from London Gatwick. Passengers with scheduled departure times prior to 8:30 a.m. can check both themselves and their luggage from 10 p.m. the previous evening using the normal easyJet check-in areas in the South Terminal's zone A.
American Airlines unveiled new first class and business class menus on all transcontinental flights and select flights from Brazil. It is AA's first menu revamp since 1999 and is designed to give it "a competitive advantage" over LCCs and help it "compete effectively" with international carriers. Separately, AA signed a deal with Lenovo to provide Admirals Club members access to Lenovo personal computers. IBM will provide deployment services.
The US Dept. of Transportation said in its "Air Travel Consumer Report" that domestic airline operational performance as measured by delays, mishandled baggage and customer complaints worsened in 2005. The 20 reporting US carriers posted an ontime arrival rate of 77.4% last year, down from 78.1% in 2004. Reports of mishandled baggage rose to 6.04 per 1,000 passengers compared to 4.91 in the previous year. Consumer complaints rose 17.2% to 8,735.
Bulgaria's government again approved a plan to privatize flag carrier Bulgaria Air ahead of opening its skies to EU airlines later this year. According to Reuters, the country will offer up to 99.99% of the carrier. The privatization has had a number of false starts. Reuters reported that SAS, Austrian Airlines and Air One expressed interest. However, Austrian CEO Vagn Soerensen previously told ATWOnline that his interest in Bulgaria Air is sinking because talks have gone on for too long and the valuation is too high.
Styrian Spirit will codeshare with Air Berlin on the Graz-Berlin route. "We also plan a new, much simpler fare structure," CEO Andreas Roesslhuber told ATWOnline. Codeshare flights may follow on the Graz-Stuttgart route. Styrian also plans to introduce daily Graz-Paris services. Additionally, the Austrian Regional is looking at renewing its fleet. It currently operates three CRJ200s and one CRJ700 and is looking for a fleet mix of three Q400s and two CRJ700s. It takes delivery of a new CRJ900 in May.
Japan Air Commuter converted an option for a Q400 turboprop to a firm order, bringing the total to 10 firm orders by JAC, the largest Regional airline in the Japan Airlines Group. Also, JAL signed a deal to acquire a CRJ200 to be operated by its wholly owned subsidiary J-AIR, which flies eight of the 50-seat aircraft.
US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced the nomination of William Voss for the position of secretary general of ICAO. Voss, formerly head of the terminal business service of FAA's Air Traffic Organization, currently serves as director of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau. The current secretary general, Taieb Cherif from Algeria, is expected to seek a second term as well. The election is expected to take place next month, with the winner beginning his three-year term the following August.
Gol unveiled Brazil's first pre-paid cargo transport service Friday. Gollog Prepaid is accessible online and allows customers to transport shipments weighing up to 1 kg. to any domestic destination at a single price.
Sterling, Europe's fourth-largest LCC, transported 2.7 million passengers in 2005 at a load factor of 77.3%. The carrier's September merger with Maersk Air renders year-over-year comparisons less meaningful. "Sterling's goal for 2006 is to consolidate the route network to strengthen its position. Sterling is also expected to show a profit in 2006 and that will be achieved by the turnaround we are undergoing now in connection with our corporate integration," Communications Manager Niels Brix said.
Lufthansa is strengthening its position in Asia. Starting with the summer schedule, it will add three frequencies from Frankfurt to Shanghai, two flights from Munich to Hong Kong and four weekly flights between Munich and Beijing. In total, LH will offer 35 weekly nonstop flights to China. It also will add four weekly services on the Frankfurt-Hyderabad route. Doha will be added to the network with three weekly A340 frequencies from Frankfurt. In total, LH will boost its system capacity this summer by 1.3% compared to the summer 2004 schedule.
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.
Helvetic Airways, a Swiss low-fare airline, named former pilot Bruno Dobler CEO. He succeeds Peter Pfister, who will remain with the company as a member of the board of directors. Helvetic commenced operations in 2003 and operates four F100s.
