Boeing yesterday announced the launch of the 747-8 program, formerly designated the 747 Advanced, on the basis of 18 firm orders from Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines. The aircraft, which represents the first major upgrade to the 747 platform since the 747-400 rolled out in December 1998, and the first-ever fuselage stretch, is being offered in two versions: The 747-8 Intercontinental passenger airplane and the 747-8 Freighter. They will be powered by General Electric's GEnx being developed for the 787 and will "meet Stage 4 and QC2 noise requirements," according to Boeing.
Air Horizons, formerly Euralair, has filed for bankruptcy, La Tribune reported. The French leisure airline operated flights for several French tour operators and posted revenue of approximately €100 million ($116.9 million) in 2004. Its losses amounted to more than €10 million. It has eight aircraft in its fleet, comprising five 737s and three 757s, and employs 267 staff.
The European Commission yesterday adopted "a major proposal" to extend the tasks of the European Aviation Safety Agency "to rulemaking and control in the field of air operations, qualifications and licenses of pilots, and oversight of third country airlines" operating in the EU.
Northwest pilots yesterday ratified the concessions agreement reached earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Nov. 7), approving a 23.9% reduction in pay valued at approximately $214 million annually. The interim contract will give the parties more time to reach a final deal. According to an MEC hotline statement, the measure passed 2,563 (63.6%) to 1,465 (36.4%).
Pelesys Learning Systems, a supplier of Web-based computer training solutions, was selected by United Airlines to produce and deliver the CBT portion of its Eclipse 500 training program.
Cathay Pacific will operate daily service from Hong Kong to Delhi (direct) and Mumbai (through Bangkok) Dec. 1-Jan. 31. It currently operates four flights per week to each destination. India has lifted its capacity limit during the peak travel season. American Eagle will add nonstop service between Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wis., and New York LaGuardia beginning Jan. 9 aboard 37-seat Embraer jets.
SpiceJet intends to go in for an $80 million foreign currency convertible bond issue in the coming days as it aims to raise funds to finance fleet expansion plans, Business Standard reported.
World Airways said the International Brotherhood of Teamsters negotiating team representing the carrier's pilots rejected its final contract proposal. Negotiations have been ongoing since the current contract became amendable in June 2003. The charter airline has asked the National Mediation Board to release the parties so arbitration may be offered.
Timco Aviation Services selected Pittsburgh as the site for its new CFM56 engine maintenance center. The 75,000-sq.-ft. center is scheduled to commence operations in early 2006. It will offer off-wing MRO services on CFM56-3 series engines as well as on-wing support services for all CFM56 series.
Malaysia Airlines is in a difficult financial situation and will be cutting costs further, according to a staff memo sent by Chairman Munior Majid last week. "Our financial performance is precarious and has increasingly become a source for concern," Majid wrote, according to Reuters. "There is now a need to extend the scope of the cost reduction focus and put in place more aggressive measures." Senior managers will take a voluntary pay cut of 15%-30% beginning Dec. 1. In addition, MAS raised its fuel surcharge on long-haul routes by 38.9% to $50 one way effective today.
Embraer recorded net income of $110 million in the third quarter compared to $113 million for the third quarter of 2004 on a 6.8% rise in sales to $1 billion from $936.7 million during the same period last year. It delivered a total of 41 jets, including nine ERJ-145s and 26 170s/190s. It delivered 101 aircraft through the first nine months and expects the total to reach 145 by year end. At the end of the quarter the firm order backlog was valued at $1.4 billion.
DBA, formerly Deutsche BA, announced its intent to order up to 40 737-700s and dash 800s for delivery beginning next year. Value of the order including options, based on list price, would be approximately $2.1 billion. The deal includes a mix of firm aircraft plus purchase rights and is subject to a final contract being signed. "We want to grow further. It is our goal to be number one in point-to-point German domestic traffic," Chairman Hans Rudolf Woerhl said in a statement. He added that growth would focus on destinations within 1.5 hr. flight time from Germany.
Three of JetBlue's four Embraer 190s are in service after a halting start last week, operating eight daily flights between Boston and New York. Initial service was provided by an A320 on Nov. 8 when certain parts were not where they needed to be, according to the carrier. By Nov. 10, service was provided exclusively by the 190s. "It wasn't a mechanical issue but having the right parts in the right places," said spokesperson Jenny Dervin. "It's a brand new aircraft. This is the very first time it was going into revenue service.
"Robust" passenger and revenue growth lifted Emirates' half-year profit to $251 million, a 7% rise over the $236 million earned in the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2004. "Emirates has delivered an excellent half-year result despite the fact that fuel cost rose 84%," Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said in a statement. "This robust half-year performance reflects strong revenue growth and it also demonstrates the company's resilience and adaptability to new challenges in the operating environment."
ATA Holdings filed a motion in bankruptcy court last week seeking approval of an agreement with private equity fund MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners II for debtor-in-possession financing of $30 million and an additional $70 million in equity upon ATA's emergence from Chapter 11. The carrier also is reviewing its codeshare agreements with Southwest Airlines.
Hapagfly will operate a winter-season hub at Stuttgart serving holiday destinations throughout Europe and North Africa, with feeder services from several German airports. TAM launched four-times-weekly service to New York from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo aboard A330-200s. The Brazilian carrier has a codeshare agreement with American Airlines to operate direct Sao Paulo-New York service thrice-weekly. Icelandair will launch thrice-weekly direct service between Keflavik and Orlando Sanford March 27 aboard 757-200s.
ABX Air reported net earnings of $7.4 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, an improvement of 4.1% from $7.1 million in the year-ago period. The Ohio-based cargo airline, whose biggest customer is DHL, saw revenue increase 27.6% to $369.9 million and expenses climb 28.4% to $360.5 million. Year-to-date profit was $21.2 million, up from $18.9 million last year.
Bmi Group may eliminate up to 185 positions at Nottingham East Midlands as part of a plan to restructure its maintenance and engineering functions and create three fleet-specific MRO bases to serve its three operating units. From March, bmi will consolidate its Airbus MRO at its main operating base at London Heathrow. Bmibaby will handle its 16-plane Boeing fleet at NEMA and bmi regional will continue to conduct all maintenance and engineering on its Embraer fleet at its Aberdeen base.
Lufthansa notified EU competition authorities of its agreement to acquire controlling voting interest in Eurowings, the carrier that includes LCC Germanwings. LH holds 49% of Eurowings and Albrecht Knauf, the airline's chairman, owns 51%. Under the agreement, an additional 1% plus one share would vote with Lufthansa.
OzJet, Australia's fourth domestic carrier, has begun selling tickets ahead of its Nov. 29 launch. The startup plans to operate an all-premium product using three 737-200s configured with only 60 seats with 40-in. pitch and fares lower than its rivals' economy rate. The launch price of A$325 ($238) each way undercuts Qantas's fully flexible economy rate by 10%-15% but it is higher than that of Virgin Blue. Flights from other cities, including Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth, will be added as OzJet builds its fleet to 10 aircraft.
Irish and US governments reached agreement on a revised framework for air services between the countries that will see a phase-in of an open skies policy by April 2008, subject to the ongoing negotiations between the US and EU on transatlantic open skies. Irish airlines will be allowed to fly to three additional US gateway cities (the limit currently is five) as well as to increase frequency on Dublin nonstop services from November 2006. Aer Lingus will be the obvious beneficiary.
News from Travel Technology Update: Two issues must be resolved before China can experience explosive growth in online travel, and neither is insurmountable, according to participants at TravelSky Technology Ltd.'s China Travel Distribution Future Forum 2005 in Beijing. The first is widespread implementation of electronic ticketing in what is expected to become the world's largest travel market. The second issue may prove more challenging: facilitating online payment for online purchases in a country in which credit cards are relatively scarce.
