Germanwings confirmed its June commitment for 18 A319s plus 12 options, signing a contract yesterday that will more than double the size of its fleet. The Cologne-based LCC already operates 19 A319s and three A320s. The new single-class, 156-seat aircraft will be powered by IAE V2500s in an engine deal worth more than $500 million, according to Pratt & Whitney. "The new A319s will ensure that we can continue our success that we enjoyed in the LCC market since October 2002," Germanwings Management Board Chairman Joachim Klein said.
Qantas will launch a long-haul low-cost airline under the Jetstar brand to start services by January 2007, and according to CEO Geoff Dixon the new carrier "will have a fleet of 60 narrow and widebody aircraft within five years." But what the widebody part of that fleet will be and which aircraft Qantas will order for its mainline operations remains a mystery until at least Dec. 14, when the company holds a special board meeting to consider its long-term fleet plan.
JetBlue Airways officials joined New York and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey dignitaries yesterday to mark the start of construction on the new 635,000-sq.-ft., 26-gate Terminal 5 at New York JFK. A rehabilitation of the well-known TWA terminal will be part of the $875 million project, scheduled for completion in three years ( ATWOnline, Nov. 30).
A man reportedly claiming to have a bomb in his carry-on luggage was shot and killed by US federal air marshals on the airbridge connecting Miami International Airport and an American Airlines 757 just arrived from Medellin. A passenger told WTVJ in Miami that the 44-year-old US citizen ran through the plane chased by his wife, who claimed he suffered from bipolar disorder and had not taken his medication. That report was not confirmed.
Volga-Dnepr Group said revenues for the first nine months of 2005 totaled $308 million. Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridge Cargo had combined revenues of $254 million. Volga-Dnepr Airlines claims a 54% share in the movement of super-heavy and outsize cargo. Its fleet of 10 An-124-100s and Il-76s generated revenues of $189 million over the nine months, up 10% over last year. AirBridge Cargo, the scheduled cargo airline, had revenues of $65 million from the operation of two 747-200Fs. A 747-300F joined the fleet in October.
Oneworld named Filip Lemmens to the new position of commercial director, the No. 2 post in the alliance's sales and marketing division. Kellstrom Industries of Florida promoted Commercial Aerospace President Dennis Zalupski to president. GKN named Marcus Bryson CEO of GKN Aerospace. He will take responsibility for all GKN Aerospace operations on a global basis from Jan. 1.
India will build a second international airport in Bombay capable of handling 40 million passengers per year, a Civil Aviation Ministry official said, according to the Associated Press. Separately, Indian Airlines will change its name to Indian and paint its aircraft with a new livery featuring a flaming sun logo, according to media reports.
Aeroflot signed to buy 30 95-seat RRJs in a deal worth $820 million, according to media reports. Deliveries of the SaM146-powered aircraft will begin in November 2008. The jet will be usable on international routes, as Sukhoi Civil Aviation and partners Finmeccanica and Boeing intend for it to conform to Western safety and environmental standards.
Embraer was granted type certification for its 100-seat 190 from Transport Canada Civil Aviation. The certification will allow deliveries to begin to Air Canada, which has ordered 45. Launch customer JetBlue Airways took delivery in late October of the first of its 100 aircraft on order.
Hawaiian Airlines will add daily Maui-San Diego service from June 9 aboard 767-300ERs. Ryanair will commence service from Liverpool to Porto and Seville from Feb. 22 and from Glasgow to Barcelona and Marseille from Feb. 23 and Feb. 24 respectively. A Dublin-Kaunas service will begin April 6.
In what it called "the biggest fleet modernization in its history," Finnair yesterday said it will acquire nine A350-900s and three CFM56-5-powered A340-300Es (Enhanced). Value of the deal and engine choice for the A350s were not announced. The A350-900s will begin arriving in 2011. The dash 900 is the larger of the two versions. Finnair will take them in a 314-seat, two-class layout. Range of the type is 7,500 nm. (13,890 km.).
Air Macau intends to launch a low-cost carrier next year with partners China National Aviation Corp. and Shun Tak Holdings, the Daily Apple reported. Air Macau will control 51% of the new airline and Shun Tak approximately 33%. Plans calling for an investment of $30 million will be concluded Friday, according to Reuters.
Boeing and Royal Air Maroc firmed up the carrier's July order for four 787s plus an option yesterday. RAM intends to use the aircraft on services to North America and on new routes in the Middle East and Africa. The first Dreamliner is scheduled for delivery in 2008. "The advantages the 787 brings to our long-haul fleet operations will allow RAM to expand profitably," Chairman and CEO Mohamed Berrada said.
US Airways reached a transition agreement with 7,150 US Airways and former America West Airlines customer service representatives. The US Airways employees are members of the Communications Workers of America, while the former AWA workgroup has been represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters since late 2004 but has yet to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with AWA, which merged with US Airways in September. Under the agreement, the two groups will be represented by the Airline Customer Service Employee Assn., an umbrella for CWA and IBT.
ARINC said that Korean Air chose its Graphic/Text Weather Service. Korean began receiving G/TWS service last month. In addition, ARINC announced a contract renewal with Frontier Airlines for its OpCenter Messenger Service, an Internet-based system allowing dispatchers to send, receive and manage data link message exchanges with aircraft and host pre-departure clearances. It also signed a two-year radio service contract with WestJet providing support for VHF, UHF and networked digital voice systems at 23 Canadian airports.
Korean Air cancelled more than 200 flights today--more than half its flight schedule--in advance of a pilot strike called by the Flight Crew Union that began at midnight Thursday (Seoul time). The walkout took place despite a government warning that it may use emergency powers to order the pilots back to work, as was done in the case of Asiana Airlines, whose pilots struck that carrier for nearly a month last summer. The FCU represents around 70% of KAL's nearly 2,000 pilots.
German LCC Hapag-Lloyd Express expects its first profit this year, CEO Roland Keppler told ATWOnline. The TUI Group company will transport 3.8 million passengers in 2005 and expects turnover of €240 million ($281.4 million). It is increasing its fleet to 18 aircraft from 15 for the coming summer season. They will include 10 737s wet-leased from Hapag-Fly, three of which are dash 800s. A further six 737s and two F100s will be leased from Germania. HLX will fly to 36 destinations in 10 countries next year, operating within Germany and to leisure destinations.
Qatar Airways will increase its four-times-weekly service to Manchester by one from Feb. 11 and to daily from March 26. QR operates the route with A330-200s. Separately, the airline signed an IT partnership agreement with Lufthansa Systems covering passenger and ticketing processes.
ATA Airlines will suspend service between Chicago Midway and Orlando, San Francisco and Ft. Myers in April. LOT Polish Airlines launched 12-times-weekly service from Warsaw to Bydgoszcz and 19-times-weekly flights to Zielona Gora. LOT uses Jetstream 32s wet-leased from Jet Air. Air Canada Jazz will launch daily service between Los Angeles and Edmonton May 1 aboard CRJ705s. Germanwings will increase its Stuttgart-Prague frequencies to four per week from next summer. It also will offer more flights from Cologne to Heraklion and Palma.
Philippine Airlines finalized a commitment for nine A320s announced last month ( ATWOnline, Nov. 9) and took five options as well. Engine choice was not released. The carrier also said it will lease two new A320s and two new A319s from GE Commercial Aviation Services. The firm and leased aircraft are valued at approximately $840 million, according to media reports. Firm deliveries will begin in the second half of next year and continue until 2008. The optional aircraft will be available between 2009 and 2012.
Cathay Pacific signed an agreement with ATC provider Airservices Australia "aimed at delivering greater operational efficiencies and possible future cost savings," according to the carrier. The arrangement includes development of a communications protocol and implementation of an operational awareness program featuring crew visits to each other's facilities.
Delta Air Lines received some welcome financial relief yesterday as cargo carrier ABX Air and CIT Group agreed to purchase a combined 21 aircraft from the beleaguered company. CIT announced it will buy 10 737-800 delivery positions from Delta in a deal worth approximately $600 million. The aircraft, part of the carrier's order backlog with Boeing, will be delivered in 2007 (nine) and 2008 (one). CIT Aerospace manages a fleet of more than 300 commercial and regional aircraft operated by more than 100 airlines.
Intersky, an Austrian Regional operating as a low-cost airline, will add Dresden, Zadar, Rijeka and Naples to its network effective March 26. It also will increase frequencies from its German base at Friedrichshafen to Vienna and Hamburg. Prague will see five-times-weekly service and Cologne receives two extra weekly frequencies from March 26. Intersky will add two former Augsburg Airways Dash 8-Q300s to its fleet and return one Dash 8 to its lessor.
AirBridge Cargo of Russia announced that Regional Director and Area Manager-Asia Pacific Peter Yap will retire at the end of January. He will be succeeded by Robert Song, formerly of Air New Zealand Cargo.
