Prague will open its new Terminal North 2 this month. Beginning Jan. 17, the CZK10 billion ($419.9 million) facility will take over handling passengers bound for Schengen countries flying on CSA, Alitalia, KLM and Air France. From Jan. 24 the terminal switches to full operation, replacing Terminal South 2, which will be used for general aviation and special flights.
Pemco Aviation Group said it received its first Southwest Airlines 737 at its MRO facility in Dothan, Ala., under an agreement signed last November ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16).
Northwest Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., threatened a walkout if the company moves forward with proposed plans to launch a separate carrier dubbed NewCo to operate 70/100-seat RJs ( ATWOnline, Jan. 6). The union's MEC called the initiative "absolutely unacceptable" and warned that if Northwest receives bankruptcy court approval to reject the current pilot agreement and impose terms including the establishment of NewCo, it "should expect a strike by the Northwest pilot group."
Spain will spend $3.5 billion over the next 14 years improving the eight airports in the Canary Islands, according to a Development Ministry statement cited by Reuters. The enhancements will include terminal extensions, new runways and more parking.
United Airlines will keep mainline capacity flat at 140.9 billion ASMs in each of the five years 2006-10 inclusive. RPMs also are expected to be flat. The carrier sees scheduled passenger RASM climbing from 9.32 cents per ASM to 10.26 cents over the forecast period. It provided the guidance in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission Monday. It also sees nonfuel operating CASM for the mainline rising from 7.47 cents in 2005 to 8.29 cents in 2010.
Boeing said it delivered 73 commercial aircraft in the final quarter of 2005 comprising four 717s, 52 737NGs, four 747s, three 767s and 10 777s. Deliveries for the full year numbered 290 of which 212 were 737NGs.
As expected, the European Court of Justice followed last September's opinion of the advocate general and upheld the European Commission's regulation concerning common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, long delay or flight cancellation.
Number of passengers killed in accidents involving revenue passenger flights rose substantially to 913 last year from 347 in 2004, according to Airclaims. There were eight fatal accidents involving Western-built jets in 2005, which accounted for 718 passenger deaths. This was up from three fatal accidents in which 211 passengers were killed the previous year. Airclaims noted that "despite these gloomy statistics and the spate of accidents last summer, the number of fatal accidents in 2005 matches the exact number forecast by long-term trends. .
Less than two months after he announced a 35% downsizing of British Airways' top management ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1), CEO Willie Walsh yesterday presented an overhaul of BA's poorly performing regional operations.
Cyprus Airways is closing in on full union approval for its restructuring plan, with four out of five unions having already given their go-ahead for a scheme aimed at trimming C£21 million ($44.3 million) from its cost base. It awaits the pilots' support. It expects the cuts to be finalized in the next few weeks and for everything to be in place by around March 1. It also will begin to implement new working practices among the remaining staff in the hope that the measures will gain EC approval for a state-guaranteed loan.
FL Group of Iceland purchased 6% of Finnair, adding to airline holdings consisting of Sterling and 16% of EasyJet, which has been the subject of recent takeover speculation. The investment in Finnair brings the total holding by Icelandic interests in the Nordic airline to 18%. The Finnish government has control with 57%. Finnair plans to add an eighth long-haul aircraft to support its Far East expansion, which could be an A340-300 rather than another MD-11 "depending what is available on the market," a spokesperson said.
Assn. of Flight Attendants lost a bid to break its concessionary agreement with United Airlines. In April AFA told the carrier it would revoke the contract because management failed to document annual cost savings of $112 million from the salaried and management work group. An arbitrator ruled against the union in the matter. World Airways' 400-plus pilots, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, were released from mediation by the US National Mediation Board Monday.
JAL Group had mixed results during the Japanese New Year vacation period from Dec. 28 to Jan. 9. Total number of passengers traveling on international routes was down 5.1% while domestic passenger numbers rose 1%. Internationally, JAL recorded strong increases on transpacific and Korean routes, up 4.2% and 4.3% respectively. Despite soft traffic to Indonesia, Southeast Asian routes showed signs of recovery with passenger numbers rising 1.6%. Load factor on transpacific routes was particularly high at 91.2%.
Aeroflot is targeting a 6.7% rise in enplaned passengers, a 4.2% growth in RPKs, a 5.4% increase in RTKs and a 12.2% gain in revenue for 2006. It will launch scheduled service to Krasnoyarsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalisnk and increase frequencies domestically to St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Volgograd, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk and internationally to Beijing, Shanghai, Simferopol, Baku, Athens, Belgarde, Dusseldorf and Vienna. It will "consider" adding service to Hanoi. It also said it will continue work on "restructuring and replenishment" of its fleet and improving customer service.
Copa Airlines CEO Pedro Heilbron is the new president of the Latin American Airline Assn.'s executive committee. He replaces Juan Emilio Posada, who left the position after four years.
Spirit Airlines launched service yesterday from Dallas/Ft. Worth to its Ft. Lauderdale hub aboard two-class A319s. Copa Airlines launched a second frequency between Panama City and Santiago yesterday aboard a two-class, 124-seat 737-700. Wizz Air will begin four-times-weekly Zagreb-London Luton service on March 27.
Gulf Air and Thai Airways signed a codeshare agreement covering Thai's services from Bangkok to Muscat, Phuket and Chiang Mai and Gulf Air's services from Bangkok to Bahrain and Muscat. Gulf Air VP-Network Fareed Al Alawi said the carrier will continue to expand into the Asia/Pacific region.
Alitalia won the bidding for Volareweb.com, the LCC subsidiary of Volare Airlines. It reportedly offered €38 million ($46.2 million), some €10 million more than Air One, for the carrier, which has been in extraordinary administration since Nov. 30, 2004, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Air One is considering suing Alitalia, questioning its right to participate in the auction, Corriere della Sera said. Official results of the sale are due to be announced Jan 15.
JAT Airways will become a member of SkyTeam with sponsorship from Air France, according to media reports in Serbia citing JAT Commercial Director Milutin Popovic.
Smiths Detection announced yesterday the deployment of its Sentinel II explosives detection walkthrough trace portals at Washington National and Washington Dulles.
News from Travel Technology Update: The worldwide travel management scene is undergoing seismic changes as several companies split up, re-form and acquire others. TUI AG agreed to sell its business travel operations to BCD Holdings N.V., the Dutch parent company of World Travel BTI. The terms of the deal, which is subject to approval by TUI's advisory board and regulatory authorites, were not disclosed. If approved, the sale is expected to close in March.
Japan Airlines announced it is increasing the number of 747-400BCFs it has on order to eight with four options, up from its October 2004 commitment of three firm orders and four options. Value of the contract was not disclosed. JAL's first 747-400 passenger-to-freighter conversion entered modification at Taikoo Aircraft Engineering in Xiamen last month and will be delivered in May. Boeing said it now has 37 firm orders and 29 options for the aircraft. JAL also ordered four 767-300Fs last year.
