SAS Group cited the success of its new business model in Europe and continuing cost reductions achieved through its Turnaround 2005 program as it reported net income of SEK529 million ($65 million) for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, dramatically improved from earnings of SEK133 million last year. Excluding capital gains and nonrecurring items, income totaled SEK619 million compared to SEK198 million in the year-ago period.
Boeing plans to set a new world distance record over the next 24 hr. when its 777-200LR Worldliner takes off from Hong Kong flying eastbound to London. The aircraft will take off with a full load of fuel--350,000 lb.--and 35 passengers and crew, flying nonstop on a route it hopes will exceed a distance greater than halfway around the world.
Northwest Airlines named Anna Schaefer VP-finance and chief accounting officer effective Dec. 1. A 14-year veteran of the airline, she most recently served as MD-accounting. NWA also named Todd Anderson GM-Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.
Air France-KLM's October traffic increased 8.9% to 16.12 billion RPKs on 6% higher capacity of 19.73 billion ASKs. Load factor improved by 2.2 points to 81.7%. AF-KLM carried more than 6 million passengers, up 5.3% on October 2004. Norwegian flew 325,981 passengers in October, up 66% compared to the same month last year. RPKs increased 74% to 268 million while ASKs climbed 48% to 336 million with the result that load factor jumped 12 points to 80%. October marked the third consecutive month in which the Scandinavian LCC set a new record for passenger boardings.
Hello, a Swiss charter airline founded by former Crossair CEO Moritz Suter, will add three ex-SAS MD-90s to its fleet from spring 2006. The carrier, which launched in August 2004, currently operates three MD-90s.
Emirates President Tim Clark again floated the concept of operating some of the carrier's A380s in an all-economy configuration seating up to 780 passengers. Emirates has ordered 45 A380s and some of these could be dedicated to the operation, which Clark dubbed Emirates Express. According to press reports, he suggested the concept partly was behind the airline's recent request for 42 additional weekly services between Australia and Dubai. However, it will not proceed with the plan in the near future because its plate already is too full.
Jetstar is in talks with Australia Post about selling its tickets over the counter at post offices in a move designed to expand its market reach in areas with limited Internet penetration such as rural communities. The Qantas low-cost subsidiary currently conducts 90% of its business through the Internet and the remaining 10% through travel agents. Passengers would buy Jetstar tickets at post offices in the same manner they make bill payments to some 400 service providers, including gas and electric companies.
Independence Air parent FLYi, which filed for bankruptcy Monday ( ATWOnline, Nov. 8), has little chance of surviving without new investors, Standard & Poor's said yesterday as it cut its corporate rating on the company from CC to D. Noting that the carrier has just $24 million in cash and entered Chapter 11 without arranging any debtor-in-possession financing, S&P analyst Betsy Snyder said in a report that "absent new investment to support a reorganization, the company likely will be liquidated."
AirTran launched daily nonstop service from Detroit to Atlanta and Orlando Tuesday. As of today, it is operating three daily services to Atlanta and a single flight to Orlando. It adds a fourth Atlanta flight Dec. 9 and begins a single daily Detroit-Sarasota flight Feb. 15. DBA started four daily Dusseldorf- Hamburg flights on Nov 7.
Ryanair posted a net profit for the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 of €172.5 million ($203.7 million), a 16.5% rise from a €148.1 million profit in the year-ago period.
Mexico's Interjet confirmed its A320 order yesterday, agreeing to 10 firm buys and 10 options ( ATWOnline, June 17). Deliveries of the single-class, 150-seat aircraft will begin in second-quarter 2007. No engine has been selected. "The A320 is without a doubt the reference in the low-cost market," Interjet President Miguel Aleman said. The startup LCC, wholly owned by ABC Aerolíneas SA de CV, will commence operations in December from Toluca with seven used A320s.
Northwest Airlines said it reached agreement with its pilots and flight attendants on voluntary pay and benefit reductions that will save it $332 million on an annual basis, but failed to reach a similar deal with workers represented by the International Assn. of Machinists ( ATWOnline, Nov. 7). As a result, it filed a Section 1113 (e) motion with the bankruptcy court to impose $114 million in "temporary wage and benefit reductions" on IAM members.
Gol yesterday began operating four-times-weekly service between Campo Grande, Brazil, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Santa Cruz is the Brazilian LCC's second international destination after Buenos Aires.
GoJet Airlines took delivery of three of six leased CRJ700s last week. The new Regional, flying as United Express, ordered 10 CRJ700s, four from the airframer and six through GECAS ( ATWOnline, June 23). The remaining three GECAS aircraft will be delivered by April.
Japan Airlines Group blamed stagnant traffic in key markets and soaring fuel prices for a ¥12.04 billion ($102.3 million) net loss for the first half ended Sept. 30 compared to income of ¥83 billion last year. JAL warned that it expects to show a full-year loss of ¥47 billion. It previously forecast a small profit of ¥17 million, but high fuel prices and flat traffic in key markets will push it into the red for year to March 31.
Aer Lingus confirmed the appointment of Merrion Capital and Goldman Sachs as its advisers to assist in the privatization process recently initiated by the Irish government. New investment is essential to fund fleet acquisition and other development expenses required to underpin growth in both the medium and long term, the Irish state-owned airline stressed in a statement.
Amsterdam Schiphol's new low-cost carrier pier opened Nov. 1 with easyJet, Thomsonfly.com, bmibaby, Jet2 and SkyEurope as tenants. Wizz Air joins Dec. 1. Initially, 20-30 daily flights will operate from Pier H, which has seven gates but no airbridges. The airport's seventh pier, it can accommodate a maximum of 64 daily inbound and outbound flights and was designed to handle around 8 million passengers annually. It was constructed in just nine months, Schiphol said.
Cape Town Treaty, an international legal framework intended to protect the interests of aircraft financiers and lessors in cross-border aircraft financings, is set to take effect March 1 following accession to the treaty by Malaysia last week, the Export-Import Bank said Friday. Malaysia became the required eighth country to ratify or accede to the treaty. Others are Ethiopia, Ireland, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama and the US.
Sixteen months after FLYi declared its independence and began operations with a fleet of 50-seat RJs, the low-fare carrier Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it will maintain operations as it seeks outside investors, attempts to restructure aircraft leases and establishes an auction process to sell off some of its assets. In a petition filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, it listed assets of approximately $378.5 million and liabilities of approximately $455.4 million with just $24 million in cash.
JetBlue Airways sold 7.5 million shares of stock yesterday priced at $18 per share, raising gross proceeds of $135 million. Net proceeds will be used to fund working capital and capital expenditures, including aircraft purchases. The offering was made under a Nov. 4, 2004, shelf registration statement. Morgan Stanley acted as the sole book-running manager and Raymond James acted as co-manager. JetBlue granted an overallotment option covering 1.125 million shares, which if exercised in full would raise an additional $20.3 million.
GE Commercial Aviation Training installed an Embraer 170/190 simulator at its London Gatwick training center and said that FlyBE will be the first customer under a letter of intent covering initial conversion and recurrent training on the 170/190.
Continental Airlines lost approximately $115 million last month and expects to post a "significant loss" for the fourth quarter and all of 2005, Chairman and CEO Lawrence Kellner said in a recorded message to employees, the Associated Press reported.
British Airways posted "reasonable results" for the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, with a pre-tax profit of £241 million ($421.9 million). The year-ago period's pre-tax profit of £293 million was boosted by £86 million earned from the sale of shares in Qantas.
AirBridge Cargo of Russia, the scheduled cargo airline of Volga-Dnepr Group, ordered two 747-400ER freighters. The aircraft, worth $450 million, will be powered by GE CF6-80C2B5F engines and are scheduled for delivery in October 2007 and February 2008. "The addition of this advanced aircraft to our cargo fleet will allow AirBridge Cargo to take another step in the realization of our ambitious project to develop scheduled cargo flights between Asia and North America via Russia," said Volga-Dnepr VP San Wraight. AirBridge, formed in February 2004, has a fleet of three 747-200s.
