British Airways flew 9.16 billion RPKs in December, up 4.7% over December 2004, on a 2.6% passenger capacity hike to 12.34 billion ASKs. Passenger load factor rose 1.5 points to 74.2%. The number of passengers carried dipped 0.2% to 2.73 million, including a 3.1% reduction on the European network to 1.68 million. Cargo, measured in CTKs, rose 0.2% to 436 million. BA's Asia/Pacific routes showed the most growth with a 16.7% increase in RPKs to 1.7 billion and a 13.3% gain in capacity to 2.22 billion ASKs.
Volito Aviation placed a 1995-vintage A320-200 with Aigle Azur for lease through April 2009. Aircraft is financed by DVB Bank. Midwest Airlines sold an MD-81 to AeroTurbine of Miami. Meridian Aerospace acted as an exclusive agent for the seller.
Vueling Airlines signed a five-year agreement with SR Technics under which the latter will provide technical management and component support for the Barcelona-based carrier's fleet of nine A320s.
Japan Airlines will increase one-way domestic fares 3%-11.3% from April 1 to Sept. 30 to help it cope "with the financial impact of sustained high fuel prices." At the same time, JAL will eliminate the domestic fuel surcharge of ¥200-¥300 established in January 2005. The airline said its FY05 fuel bill will be ¥90 billion higher than in the previous year. It expects costs to increase ¥130-¥140 billion in FY06.
Northwest Airlines continues to seek agreement from its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., for permission to launch a new subsidiary carrier that would operate 70/100-seat regional jets at Regional airline industry average pilot labor costs ( ATWOnline, Oct. 14). NWA outlined its plans for the subsidiary in a special edition of its internal newsletter Passages. The airline, which has a working name of NewCo, would have its own AOC and would employ furloughed NWA pilots, who would have the right of recall to NWA when that opportunity arises.
Air France-KLM Group denied reports it is increasing its stake in Alitalia. Earlier this week, Finanza e Mercati indicated AF-KLM might take over the struggling Italian carrier. "We are currently not holding merger talks and we are not increasing our holding in Alitalia," Air France spokesperson Samuel Coulon told ATWOnline. "We start to get used to the reports in the Italian press." He added that the French-Dutch group's position has not changed: "We have always said Alitalia has to be privatized and be profitable before we initiate talks to join our group."
EADS named Michael Hauger head of corporate media relations and communications-Germany. He succeeds Rainer Ohler, who took over as head of government relations, communications and external affaires at Airbus on Jan. 1.
CSA Czech Airlines announced that President and Chairman Jaroslav Tvrdik is resigning, subject to formal approval at extraordinary board meetings scheduled Jan. 18. Tvrdik is leaving to become general campaign manager of the Czech Social Democratic Party.
TAM Brazilian Airlines selected the GEnx to power the 10 A350-900s it ordered last month ( ATWOnline¸ Dec. 22). Delivery of the aircraft will begin in 2012.
Hitit Computer Services' Crane Frequent Flyer software was chosen by Carlson Marketing Group for Virgin Blue's new loyalty program Velocity. Turkish Airlines, Icelandair and Kuwait Airways also use Crane.
United Airlines' budget for 2006 includes capital spending of $400 million that will be invested in new resources including more airport check-in kiosks, refurbishing aircraft interiors, upgrading computer systems and new ground equipment. The information was contained in UAL Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton's weekly telephone message to employees.
US airlines reported an ontime arrival rate of 80% in November, an improvement over the 79.1% achieved in November 2004 but a drop from October's rate of 81.3%, according to the "Air Travel Consumer Report" released yesterday by the US Dept. of Transportation. As usual, Hawaiian Airlines posted the best ontime arrival rate at 95.2%. Frontier Airlines was next at 85.3%. JetBlue Airways ranked last of the 20 reporting carriers at 74.6%, with Northwest Airlines at 74.9%.
Northwest Airlines mechanics voted last week to continue their four-month strike against what their union called a "renegade, union-busting airline" as 56% of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. voting members opted to reject the latest settlement proposal, which would not have brought back any of the more than 4,000 striking mechanics but would have offered severance pay and some unemployment benefits.
Air Canada is taking its simplified fares concept onto the transatlantic this year, beginning with service to London Heathrow and Manchester. The international pricing structure contains just four fare categories: Tourist, Leisure, Latitude Plus and Executive First. Other international destinations will follow "in the near future." AC has been transitioning to a simpler fare structure over the past few years beginning with its domestic network and in 2005 with its transborder services.
Continental Airlines reported a 13.1% rise in December traffic to 7 billion RPMs from 6.19 billion in 2004. Capacity was up 11.4% to 9.01 billion ASMs and load factor grew 1.2 points to 77.7%, a December record. CO said consolidated passenger RASM increased 7%-8% over December 2004 and mainline RASM grew 5.5%-6.5%. Separately, Continental Express posted a record load factor of 75.4%, up 4.6 points. Regional traffic shot up 23.1% to 817.2 million RPMs and capacity rose 15.6% to 1.08 billion ASMs.
AirAsia is adding Ipoh, Tawau, Kota Bharu and Sandakan to its network from its Johor Bahru hub at Senai International Airport. New services start on Feb. 6. The LCC will operate four weekly flights to Ipoh and Tawau and thrice-weekly to Kota Bharu and Sandakan. It also is upping frequencies from Johor Bahru to 10 flights per week to Kuching, 11 flights per week to Kota Kinabalu and 10 flights per week to Penang. AirAsia launched service from Johor Bahru on Malaysia's southern tip in 2003 and is carrying 1 million passengers a year with just one aircraft.
Continental Airlines' announcement that it would take 69 aircraft out of its fleet agreement with ExpressJet ( ATWOnline, Jan. 4) came as no surprise to ExpressJet CEO and President Jim Ream. During months of negotiations, CO followed in the footsteps of other mainline carriers and aggressively sought concessions as it moved to cut costs. ExpressJet is the exclusive provider of Regional flying to CO using a fleet of some 274 ERJ-145s.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Systems Group said it received authorization from Israel's CAA to install its Flight Guard anti-Manpads system on 767 passenger aircraft. According to press reports, El Al will install the system on six 767s.
EADS bought a 10% stake in Russia's Irkut Corp. for $65.3 million last month, the Russian aerospace company announced. The deal coincided with the awarding of a 10-year contract for A320, A330/A340 and A380 component and subassembly production ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22). "It is part of the global strategy of EADS to form partnerships with leading aerospace companies," EADS Russia CEO Vadim Vlasov said. The companies have been working together since 2002.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International has surpassed Chicago O'Hare as the busiest airport in the US, FAA said. ATL logged 980,197 takeoffs and landings in 2005 compared to 972,246 at ORD. Dallas/Ft. Worth International finished a distant third with 718,291. Growth at Atlanta largely reflects Delta Air Lines' increased activity there, while DFW's declining position similarly is a result of Delta's closing its hub last year.
Caribbean Aircraft Leasing will acquire an additional 50-seat Q300 turboprop for $16.3 million, Bombardier announced. The lessor, parent of Caribbean Star Airlines and Caribbean Sun Airlines, ordered three A300s two months ago.
Engine Alliance received FAR 33 certification from US FAA for its GP7200, designed for the A380. The 21-month test program involved eight engines. The GP7200 ran approximately 7,000 cycles, 25 full-scale certification tests and more than 50 component tests. It powered two flight test programs on a flying testbed and initially is certified at 76,500 lb. thrust. It was tested at levels in excess of 94,000 lb. Engine Alliance President Bruce Hughes said the engine was tested and certified to ETOPS standards. The first A380 test flight will take place this year.
Aerospace Industries Assn. named Susan Mertes director-aviation infrastructure, a new position focusing on improvements to the civil air transport system. Rockwell Collins appointed Beverly Carmichael VP-staffing and organizational development. She comes from Southwest Airlines.
EasyJet will add 14 new routes across its European network this spring as it takes delivery of nine A319s. It also will convert its bases in Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow to all-Airbus operations, replacing its current fleet of 737s in a move signifying its "commitment to future investment and expansion." It will operate 116 A319s by this summer.
B/E Aerospace announced that it completed a $45 million deal with Emirates to design and manufacture the international super first class cabins on a portion of its new 777s.
