AirAsia launched flights from its base in Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai, reconnecting the two cities after Malaysia Airlines cut flights after 9/11. AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes told ATWOnline that the carrier "sold over 12,000 seats for the route since opening for sale two weeks ago." Chiang Mai is the fourth major Thai city served by AirAsia after Bangkok, Phuket and Hat Yai.
Japan Airlines announced a reduction in frequency on its Japan-Indonesia flights Oct. 30-Dec. 22 due to traffic declines following the Oct. 1 terrorist attacks in Bali. JAL currently provides three daily direct services to Indonesia: Tokyo-Denpasar, Osaka-Denpasar and Tokyo-Jakarta. It will continue to serve Denpasar and Jakarta from Tokyo on a daily basis by consolidating flights and will reduce its Osaka-Denpasar service from seven to three flights per week.
Korean Air Aerospace Div. will provide the raked wingtips for the 787, Boeing said yesterday. Selection was valued at $200 million over the life of the program.
Sabre Airline Solutions said Turkish Airlines signed up for more than $1 million of decision-support technology from Sabre's AirMax Revenue Management product group.
Scientific Monitoring Inc. of Arizona was selected by Boeing Commercial Aviation Services to provide analytical tools and software to enhance its Airplane Health Management team. AHM is designed to reduce delays, cancellations and diversions through the use of existing aircraft data.
AeroMexico announced that it received the IATA Operational Safety Audit certificate last month, becoming the first Mexican airline so certified. The carrier's audit was conducted June 13-17. AeBal (Aerolíneas de Baleares) also fulfilled the requirements of the IOSA program. AeBal is a subsidiary of SAS Group and operates on behalf of Spanair in Spain using 717s.
Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported third-quarter net income of $90.2 million, up 21.9% over $74 million in the year-ago period. Excluding the impact of special items including mark-to-market fuel hedge accounting adjustments, refunds of navigation fees and restructuring items, current-period income totaled $71.5 million compared to net income of $50.7 million in 2004.
IndiGo, the Indian startup partly owned by former US Airways CEO Rakesh Gangwal, selected V2500s to power its 100 A320s on order, giving International Aero Engines not only its biggest order at $1.7 billion but also launching the company's new V2500Select service product. The aircraft order, announced during this year's Paris Air Show, starts delivery from July 2006, IAE said. IndiGo is the creation of InterGlobe Enterprises Ltd., an Indian travel conglomerate.
Delta Air Lines expects to post a loss of $2.16 billion for the full year, excluding special items. The information was contained in a presentation to the carrier's pilots that also was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Through the first half of 2005, Delta lost $988 million excluding special items, or $1.45 billion if such items are included. In the presentation, Delta said it aims to reduce its stage-length-adjusted unit labor cost by 21% from 3.26 cents per ASM in the second quarter of 2005 to 2.59 cents through its Chapter 11 restructuring.
Soaring fuel prices and low-fare competition combined to push AMR Corp. into the red for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 as the parent of American Airlines reported a net loss of $153 million for the period, narrowed from a $214 million deficit last year.
Air New Zealand, citing an inability to attract sufficient third-party work and a lack of internal scale, is proposing to outsource heavy maintenance and engine overhauls for its long-haul fleet of 747s and 767s as well as its new 777s that begin arriving at the end of October. The work currently is done by Air New Zealand Engineering Services. Under the proposal, some 600 jobs would be eliminated out of an ANZES staff of 2,100, with work transferred to "a specialist large scale maintenance center in Asia or Europe." ANZ estimated it will save NZ$100 million over five years.
Royal Jordanian will stop operating to India if it has to continue paying royalties to the Indian government, President and CEO Samer Majali told ATWOnline in Amman. "The board of directors decided recently that if India does not cancel the royalty scheme, we will be shutting down our operation in early 2006," he said. "We feel that we carry the full burden of operating flights between Jordan and India. Not only do we incur losses on our Indian operations as a result of these royalties, but we pay Indian airlines for their privilege of not operating to Jordan.
LAN Argentina intends to begin nonstop service between Buenos Aires and Miami on Dec. 1. Belgium-based VLM will launch weekday service between London City Airport and Isle of Man Nov. 1. VLM now serves four UK destinations from London City.
Malaysia Airlines will consolidate its network and eliminate service to five cities in India and China as part of an effort "to contain its cost growth and improve performance," the carrier said yesterday. The announcement came nearly two months after Chairman Mohamed Munir Abdul Majid said MAS would "focus on significant short-term improvement initiatives and implement a longer-term plan to improve operating performance as well" in the wake of a MYR280.7 million ($74.5 million) second-period loss ( ATWOnline, Aug. 23)
Virgin Blue delivered a more upbeat earnings forecast for the recently completed financial year as it prepares to introduce a fresh strategy aimed at attracting more business-oriented premium traffic. In a brief statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, the budget airline said it is expecting a net profit of A$105 million ($78.5 million) for the year to last Sept. 30. While that is still A$54 million short of the previous year, it is considerably better than the August forecast of a fuel-based decline of A$90-A$100 million.
Horizon Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, will add a dozen more 70-seat Q400s to its fleet. The only Regional airline in the US to operate the Q400, the carrier signed a contract with Bombardier that converts existing firm orders for seven CRJ700s to Q400s and adds five new orders. The revised contract is valued at $294 million. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Talks between Icelandair owner FL Group and Sterling owner Fons Eignarhalsfelag over a possible merger or acquisition ( ATWOnline, Sept. 27) may be close to fruition. According to Danish media, FL Group will acquire Sterling, which itself is being merged with Maersk Air of Denmark. FL Group also owns 13.01% of easyJet.
American Airlines announced Tuesday that it received antitrust immunity from the US Dept. of Transportation for its partnership with LAN Peru, permitting a three-way alliance including LAN Airlines. AA was granted immunity with the latter in 1999. It also has applied to DOT for broad codeshare authority with LAN Peru.
Continental Airlines priced a public offering of 18 million shares of Class B common stock at $11.35 per share, which would raise gross proceeds of $204.3 million if all shares are taken up. The offering includes an overallotment option of 2.7 million shares. UBS Investment Bank is acting as the sole underwriter. On Tuesday, CO reported a third-quarter profit of $61 million, surpassing Wall Street's expectations ( ATWOnline, Oct. 18). Northwest Airlines may return leased aircraft with a five-day notice, a bankruptcy court judge in New York ruled yesterday.
Ryanair lost a key battle in its campaign to remain nonunion after the Irish High Court ruled that the Labor Court should be permitted to hear complaints by pilots about the airline under the Industrial Relations Act.
Fourteen years ago, Delta Air Lines made a bad bet on international expansion during a period of heavy losses. Yesterday it raised the ante. In what it described as "the largest international expansion in its history," the bankrupt carrier said it will launch nonstop widebody service from its hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and base at New York JFK to 11 cities in Europe and the Middle East.
Continental Airlines overcame soaring fuel prices and back-to-back hurricanes, one of which forced a 36-hr. shutdown of its largest hub, to post a profit of $61 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30.
Midwest Airlines announced yesterday that it will launch daily nonstop service between Kansas City and Tampa Dec. 15. It also will add flights to its service between Kansas City and Ft. Lauderdale. It will continue its connecting service to both Florida markets through Milwaukee.
Air India's previously announced plan to order 27 787s, 15 777-300ERs and eight 777-200LRs was approved by an Indian government acquisitions review panel. Now the order must be approved by the cabinet.
