Air Paradise International of Indonesia announced yesterday it was suspending service due to the "devastating effects" of the recent Bali terrorist attacks. Chairman and owner Kadek Wiranatha expressed his "sincere regret to the airline's employees, creditors and the traveling public for having to suspend the airline's operations" on the company's website. The number of tourists visiting Bali in October compared to the year-ago month fell 37% to 81,109, according to The Australian.
SAS Group in keeping with its "ongoing program of capital release" agreed yesterday to sell European Aeronautical Group, its wholly owned navigation and flight planning subsidiary, to Canada's Navtech for SEK162 million ($20 million). The sale "fits with our strategy to focus mainly on our core business," SAS President and CEO Joergen Lindegaard said. "Today's acquisition is a significant step toward Navtech's strategic goal of becoming the premier supplier of integrated flight operations solutions to airlines around the world," Navtech President and CEO David Strucke said.
US Dept. of Transportation approved $337 million in new federal funding Monday for Chicago O'Hare's planned expansion. "O'Hare must expand to keep pace with the growing demand for air travel," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said. "If it doesn't, our entire national aviation system will suffer." Most of the money will be paid out in $20 million annual installments for the next 15 years. A separate $37.2 million payment will be made to the City of Chicago over the next five years.
Gol announced yesterday that it signed a contract with Boeing to exercise options for five additional 737-800s, increasing the number of firm orders to 65. Aircraft are scheduled for delivery between 2006 and 2012. Gol reached a deal in July to extend its May 2004 737-800 order to 60 firm and 41 options ( ATWOnline, July 26).
B/E Aerospace announced that President and CEO Robert Khoury will retire at year end. Senior VP and GM-Commercial Aircraft Segment Michael Baughan will be promoted to president and COO. Founder and executive chairman Amin Khoury will assume the role of CEO.
Royal Jordanian Airlines will take delivery of its second Q400 for operation by its new Regional carrier Royal Jordanian xpress. The first Q400 entered revenue service in early November. Air Madagascar took delivery of its second new ATR 72-500 in Dubai.
Plans for Dubai's new Jebel Ali Airport were unveiled at the Dubai Air Show, and if the world's carriers are shaken by the current infrastructure, the new airport will be major earthquake in airline boardrooms.
Air Line Pilots Assn. officials representing pilots at Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a Delta Connection carrier, voted unanimously to express no confidence in the airline's management team. "Following more than three years of collective bargaining talks, with little to show for our effort, management has continued to stall this process to avoid reaching an agreement with our pilots," said Bob Arnold, chairman of the ASA Master Executive Council. The unresolved contract issues center around wages, benefits and "financially related matters," according to ALPA.
LAN Argentina will launch its first international service Dec. 1 with a daily flight between Miami and Buenos Aires. Comair applied to begin direct service between Reagan Washington National and Savannah aboard 50-seat CRJ200s. Continental Airlines will discontinue its daily service between Houston and Kahului Feb. 16, replacing it with Los Angeles-Kahului service.
European Court of Justice Advocate-General Philippe Leger said yesterday that the EU should not have the authority to share passenger lists and data with US counterterrorism authorities, as it has done under a 3.5-year agreement between the US and EU signed in May 2004. Leger reportedly said sharing the data is a national issue and not within the EU's powers. Others have raised a privacy issue. The court will make a ruling next year but follows the advice of the advocate general about 80% of the time, according to the Associated Press.
International Lease Finance Corp. signed a deal with Airbus for 12 A350s one day after confirming an order for 20 787s. ILFC is the airframer's largest customer worldwide, having ordered more than 600 new Airbus aircraft since 1989, and was a launch customer for several models including the A380. The order will include dash 800s and dash 900s and took the combined Airbus and Boeing haul in Dubai to more than $20 billion. "The A350's innovative features combined with operational commonality with existing Airbus fleets. . .[make] it an attractive asset to invest in for the future.
ATA Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement yesterday that will extend concessions implemented last year. The agreement will be effective from Jan. 1 and will be amendable Oct. 31, 2008. Horizon Air's approximately 400 mechanics and fleet service agents, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., ratified a three-year labor contract yesterday.
Malev formally accepted an invitation to join oneworld at a ceremony yesterday in Budapest, having satisfied most of the conditions established by an MOU signed six months ago ( ATWOnline, May 25).
Passengers boarding international flights in France could pay a tax of up to €40 ($46.90) per ticket under a plan by President Jacques Chirac to be discussed today by the government, AFX News reported. The money reportedly would go toward alleviating health problems in the developing world. The tax would slide depending upon distance and cabin class (business and first class travelers would pay 10 times the levy) and would not apply to inbound flights.
Air Zimbabwe grounded its fleet Monday because of a lack of fuel but was able to resume some flights yesterday. The airline's senior management was suspended, according to the state-run Herald.
Cintra SA, Mexico's state-owned airline company that has managed AeroMexico and Mexicana since the mid-1990s and is attempting to privatize them ( ATWOnline, Feb. 14), said late Monday that only two bidders remain in the running for the government's shares in the airlines, according to media reports. Hotel operator Grupo Posadas and Grupo Xtra, a holding company run by a Mexican businessman, are the only remaining bidders from 10, including Iberia and Icelandair, that were approved in August.
SunExpress, a Turkish leisure carrier owned by Condor and Turkish Airlines, opened a new base in Izmir, where it will keep two aircraft and offer flights to Antalya, Andana, Diyarbakir and Trabzon. Next summer it will begin service to Amsterdam, Paris Orly, Athens and London Stansted. From its Antalya base it will launch service to Vienna, Stansted and possibly Scandinavia. The airline will add three 757-200s in 2006, bringing the fleet to nine 737-800s and four 757s. It also will add 200 employees.
EasyJet, Europe's second-largest LCC, reported a second-half profit of £64.9 million ($111.5 million), a 6.7% rise from the £60.8 million recorded in the year-ago semester and an increase over forecasted numbers ( ATWOnline, Aug. 8). End of fiscal year numbers released by the carrier yesterday showed a 12-month retained profit of £42.6 million, about level with the £41.1 million in net earnings recorded for the year ended Sept. 30, 2004. Pre-tax profit rose 9.1% to £67.9 million.
Sukhoi received a $1 billion order for 20 RRJ-95s plus 20 options from Dubai-based leasing firm Concord Aviation, according to media reports. Known for its military platforms, state-owned Sukhoi is developing civil aviation products at the behest of the Russian government and with the help of foreign firms like Boeing and Snecma. "We are delighted to welcome our first customer outside Russia," Civil Aircraft GD Viktor Subbotin said in a statement. "This is a real breakthrough." Deliveries of the 98-seat regional jets will begin in 2009. Sukhoi also plans a 78-seat RRJ-75.
Airbus bounced back after Boeing's domination of the Dubai Air Show's first day as "air show showman" Vijay Mallya, chairman of UB Group and its Kingfisher Airlines, confirmed the carrier's order for 30 more A320 family aircraft ( ATWOnline, Nov. 21).
Kuwait Airways recorded an operating profit of KWD3 million ($10.2 million) for the half-year ended Sept 30, according to Reuters. Chairman Sheikh Talal Mubarak al Sabah said the figure would have risen to KWD12.2 million if not for the jump in fuel costs.
