Ultra said its Airport Systems business signed a $9 million contract to provide IT integration services to Shanghai Pudong. Ultra will install its UltraIB integration broker product at the airport. It is supplying UltraIB services for the London Heathrow T5 project as well.
Lufthansa and the ver.di public service workers union reached agreement yesterday on a new contract that will secure the jobs of 12,000 ground staff employed by Deutsche Lufthansa AG and seven other group companies. In return for layoff protection through March 31, 2009, the union accepted changes to the pay structure. Although no current employee will see his or her pay reduced, "the future salary progression may change in some cases," LH said.
Globe Air Cargo will become Ethiopian Airlines' cargo general sales agent in the UK. Ethiopian currently operates six weekly 757 flights from London Heathrow to Addis Ababa and plans to increase its capacity later in the year when 767s will be introduced on the route.
Airbus received formal approval from its shareholders, EADS and BAE Systems, yesterday for industrial launch of the A350 on the basis of 140 "firm order commitments" from nine customers, one of which is unidentified. In Washington, Airbus COO Charles Champion said the company is "confident" it will reach 200 commitments by year end, while Executive VP-Procurement Henri Courpron said that all 200 will be firmed within the same timeframe.
Air New Zealand will launch nonstop service between Auckland and Adelaide next March 26, operating three times per week using A320s. ANZ noted it is the first carrier to establish services at the new $180 million Adelaide airport terminal set to open officially today.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, "there is no clear evidence" that US airlines operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection "harm the industry by contributing to overcapacity or underpricing their competitors," according to a new study by the US General Accounting Office, the investigative and research arm of Congress.
United Express is offering new service between San Francisco and Edmonton with daily roundtrip flights using a 70-seat regional jet. United also is adding three daily flights between Los Angeles and Albuquerque. The new service will begin Feb. 8. British Airways franchise partner Sun Air cancelled its services between London City and Copenhagen effective Oct. 30.
Michael Brag was appointed acting CEO of SAS Component following the departure of Per Boll. Brag is CCO at SAS Technical Services and will retain this position.
AirBaltic celebrated its 10th anniversary Oct. 1. Over the decade, the Latvian carrier enplaned more than 3 million passengers, launched direct flights to 46 destinations and opened a second hub in Vilnius. Main shareholders are the Latvian state with 52.6% and SAS AB with 47.2%. The fleet numbers seven 737-500s and seven F50s.
Wideroe, a Norwegian Regional carrier belonging to SAS Group, said negotiations between itself and labor organizations NFO and Parat have broken down. The labor dispute has resulted in a go-slow action among the organized technical and catering/cleaning personnel. Wideroe said it is doing everything possible to maintain a normal operation.
Gol today begins operating six weekly flights from Sao Paulo to Campina Grande via Recife. Separately Gol said it flew 890 million RPKs in September, up 77.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity rose 59.1% to 1.18 billion ASKs and load factor jumped 8 points to 75.5%.
Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.), a member of the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, has sent a letter to Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) expressing support "for a one-year suspension of the 4.3 cents-per-gallon excise tax on aviation fuel as the House [of Representatives] considers ways to facilitate recovery and mitigate the economic impact of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita."
Sichuan Airlines selected Air France Industries to carry out three A320 D checks scheduled for completion by the end of November. The carrier operates 20 A320 family aircraft.
American Eagle flew 676 million RPMs in September, a 26.2% increase over the same period a year ago. ASMs were up 20.4% to 977 million while load factor rose 3.2 points to 69.2%. The number of passengers boarded increased 14.2% to 1.6 million. Year-to-date, RPMs grew 26.7% to 5.9 billion, ASMs were up 22.6% to 8.4 billion and load factor improved 2 points to 69.9%. Mesa Air Group's RPMs increased 12% in September to 509 million as ASMs grew at the same rate to 739 million. Load factor remained flat at 68%. The number of passengers carried rose 14% to 1 million.
Boeing yesterday confirmed that Ryanair exercised options for nine 737-800s valued at upward of $500 million with deliveries beginning in September 2007. Five airplanes will be for replacement of 737-800s delivered in 1989 and four are for growth ( ATWOnline, Oct. 5). Separately, Boeing said it will supply its Enterprise One software to China Airlines, which will use selected modules to standardize management of airplane configurations and maintenance requirements across its entire fleet.
JetBlue Airways launched new service from Newark to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando yesterday, offering five daily roundtrips in each market in a direct challenge to Continental Airlines, which maintains its most important hub at the New York-area airport. The low-fare carrier will continue its growth at Newark on Oct. 19 when it begins double-daily nonstop service to Ft. Myers, Tampa and West Palm Beach with single daily roundtrips. JetBlue adds San Juan Nov. 17 with daily service.
Wizz Air carried its 2 millionth passenger Tuesday. Martyna Lelinska was traveling from Katowice to Milan Bergamo and will receive unlimited tickets for a year on the Wizz Air network. The airline carried its millionth passenger in April, 11 months after it began operations.
AeroData's ACARS Performance and Weight & Balance System was selected by AirTran Airways, which operates more than 500 daily flights across North America, for use by its pilots.
JAL Group announced yesterday that Japan Airlines Domestic will be merged into Japan Airlines International effective Oct. 1, 2006. JAL Sales, which handles group travel sales, will transfer its activities to JAL International six months earlier, on April 1.
British Airways flew 9.85 billion RPKs in September, an increase of 7.8% on the year-ago period, on a 5.5% capacity hike to 12.37 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 1.7 points to 79.6%. The increase in traffic comprised an 11.6% gain in premium and a 7.2% rise in nonpremium traffic. Passenger boardings grew 2.8% to 3.21 million and compared with 3.03 passengers million on Ryanair's network. Cargo measured in CTKs rose 0.5% and overall load factor dipped 0.2 point to 72.2%.
American Airlines reported that system RPMs rose 9.1% in September compared to the same month last year to 10.74 billion. Strongest growth was registered on Pacific routes, where traffic jumped 21%, although this is AA's smallest division with RPMs of just 457 million out of total international RPMs of 3.74 billion. Latin America traffic was up 17.4% while transatlantic traffic climbed 6.7% and domestic traffic rose 7.3%. Total capacity (ASMs) increased 5% to 14.1 billion, with the strongest growth in the Pacific, up 32%.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines claims it is the first carrier to offer customers Internet check-in using their mobile phones. SAS MobilePortal, launched in Sweden Oct. 3- 4, also permits customers to check flight times and their EuroBonus points from their phones. They can book rental cars, read the latest news and even order flowers. SAS expects to roll the service out to the rest of Scandinavia later this fall. It developed the mobile portal in cooperation with Digital Act Stockholm AB. The solution is based on the adimo mobile platform and works with both GSM and 3G subscriptions.
