LAN Airlines said December traffic rose 12.6% over the year-ago month against a capacity increase of 8.5%, sending load factor up 2.7 points to 72.8%. Domestic traffic dropped 5.3% alongside a 2.8% decline in capacity and load factor fell 1.7 points to 66.6%. LAN was stronger internationally as traffic rose 16.4%, capacity increased 11% and load factor climbed 3.4 points to 73.9%. Separately, LAN finalized a 10-year component support agreement with Air France Industries and KLM E&M covering its 24 767-300ERs. It is planning to add 10 more 767-300ERs through 2008.
ATA Holdings and ATA Airlines announced an immediate restructuring of senior management designed "to drive accountability down" to its core scheduled service and military/charter operations in advance of its planned emergence from bankruptcy this quarter. Heading the changes was the elevation of Senior VP and CCO Subodh Karnik to executive VP and COO. Reporting to Karnik will be newly promoted GM-Military/Charter and Senior VP-Operations John Graber, Senior VP-CFO Doug Yakola and a yet-to-be-named senior VP-scheduled service.
Connexion by Boeing will add four channels of live television to its high-speed inflight Internet service beginning Jan. 23. The channels are CNBC/MSNBC, BBC World, EuroNews and EuroSportnews. Scandinavian Airlines said yesterday that beginning on Jan. 23, passengers on SAS flights between the US and Scandinavia will be able to view live programs on their laptop computers through SAS Net Access, the carrier's high-speed wireless Internet service provided by Connexion.
Monarch Airlines said it posted a "record-breaking" 2005, flying more than 2.6 million passengers compared with 1.9 million in 2004. The low-cost/charter carrier opened a new base in Birmingham last year and introduced a host of new routes--London Gatwick to Lisbon and Granada, Manchester to Almeria, Birmingham to Alicante, Faro, Malaga and Tenerife, and to Malaga from Blackpool, Aberdeen and Newquay. It acquired four new aircraft--three A320s and a 767. Traffic for December was up 18.15% to 148,968 passengers.
United Airlines' cabin staff, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants, have filed an objection with the US Bankruptcy Court to the carrier's Management Equity Incentive Program under which 11% of the reorganized company's stock would be set aside for 400 management employees after the airline leaves bankruptcy. A hearing to confirm the reorganization plan will take place Jan. 18. AFA also objected to a provision in the plan that would permit United to reject the flight attendants' labor contract after it exits bankruptcy.
Indian Airlines said it posted a record net profit of INR656.1 million ($14.8 million) in FY05, a 48.5% increase over the previous fiscal year's profit of INR441.7 million. The carrier reported that earnings were driven by an increase in traffic, which lifted total revenue to INR53.63 billion from INR47.26 billion in FY04. Indian said "strict cost control measures" adopted during the year saved it INR765.9 million.
Air Canada will operate thrice-weekly Toronto-Shanghai service from June 16 aboard 286-seat A340-300s. Estonian Air launches four weekly flights to Barcelona from May 14. The carrier operates direct flights from Tallinn to 14 destinations throughout Europe. SN Brussels Airlines will launch twice-daily Brussels-Frankfurt service March 27 using RJ85/100 and A319 aircraft. Vueling will commence three new twice-daily services from its base in Madrid to Amsterdam, Lisbon and Milan Malpensa Feb. 20.
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."
Three weeks after the US Dept. of Transportation tentatively rejected their request for transatlantic antitrust immunity ( ATWOnline, Dec. 23), SkyTeam members Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France, Alitalia and Czech Airlines withdrew their application.
Lufthansa carried 51.3 million passengers last year, up 0.7% compared to 2004. It flew 108.2 billion RPKs, up 4%. ASKs rose 2.5% to 144.2 million, resulting in a 1-point gain in load factor to 75%. Lufthansa Cargo carried 1.7 million tonnes of freight, down 1%, on a 1.3% increase in capacity owing to additional belly space on the group's passenger aircraft, causing cargo load factor to fall 2 points to 65%. Cathay Pacific reported December traffic of 6.05 billion RPKs, a 12.7% increase over the same month in 2004.
LOT Polish Airlines started the sale of Etix e-tickets for flights to New York, Paris and Prague. E-tickets will be introduced for flights to Scandinavia, Budapest and Zurich later this year.
Jet Airways is close to a deal to acquire Air Sahara or to enter into a marketing alliance, according to media reports in India. Previously, Kingfisher Airlines reportedly bid to take over 100% of Air Sahara ( ATWOnline, Nov. 30). The airline earlier said that financial advisers Ernst and Young valued it at between $750 million and $1 billion.
Boeing and Air India finally put pen to paper on the carrier's 68-aircraft order in Mumbai yesterday, bringing to a close more than eight months of bureaucratic wrangling and controversy and ending a sales campaign that dates back more than a decade.
Eurocontrol said 2005 was a record year for European aviation with more than 9.2 million flights and more than 700 million passengers. The number of flights rose by 4.5% from 2004. Growth was notable particularly in Eastern Europe, with Croatia, Slovakia and Poland seeing respective increases of 18%, 17% and 16%. Eurocontrol forecasts an average growth across Europe of 3% this year. Average delay caused by air traffic management was 1.9 min. per flight despite the higher number of flights, and early indications are that rate will be maintained this year, Eurocontrol noted.
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.
