Norwegian carried 321,365 passengers in August, up 71% over the year-ago period. Traffic rose 103% to 304 million RPKs, while capacity climbed 48% to 348 million ASKs. As a result, load factor jumped 15 points to 75%. Yield, however, fell 15% owing to an increased share of international traffic with lower average yields. The Oslo-based LCC noted that 75% of bookings came via the Internet during August, up from 60% a year ago.
Star Alliance said it became the first alliance to offer frequent-flier program upgrade redemption options across the group rather than on an individual carrier basis. The enhancement is available to the FFP members of ANA, Austrian Airlines, LOT, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. Other Star carriers including Scandinavian Airlines will begin to participate during 2006.
Northwest Airlines raised the level of concessions it is seeking from striking mechanics and aircraft cleaners while cutting the number of workers it will bring back. According to wire service reports that NWA declined to confirm, which cited officials of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., the company is seeking $203 million in labor cost savings from AMFA, up from the $176 million it sought prior to the strike. Additionally, whereas it previously wanted to eliminate roughly half of the 4,400 positions filled by AMFA members, it now seeks to bring back just 1,000 of the workers.
M7 Aerospace was awarded an STC for passenger-to-freighter conversion of ATR 72s. The company already holds an STC for ATR 42 conversions and has completed 30 to date.
CAE will provide A320 pilots to Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling in what is known as a pilot provisioning program. CAE committed to find A320 type-rated pilots for Vueling as well as to train those who do not have type ratings. Initially the program targets recruitment of 80 candidates over a period of 18 months.
European Commission delegation including head of DG Transport Daniel Calleja Crespa is scheduled to hold so-called "technical talks" with US DOT and the Dept. of State in Washington Sept. 14-15 in an effort to revive negotiations on the EU-US Open Aviation Area. In June, the EC received the official go-ahead from the Council of Transport Ministers to resume negotiations "as early as possible." The US, however, is more reluctant, according to a source close to the negotiations, because Washington is not sure what the EC actually can deliver.
Delta TechOps will provide engine and APU maintenance along with component and inventory support services under a five-year agreement with Eos, the transatlantic startup. Eos plans to begin service this fall operating 757s in an all-business-class configuration between New York and London Stansted.
With jet fuel costs expected to rise by more than $9 billion this year, the Air Transport Assn. is pushing for tax relief from Congress and the Bush Administration. "There simply is no rational business plan we can continue to operate under with fuel at the price it is today," ATA CEO James May said during an interview with CNBC Friday. The trade group has raised its industry loss forecast for 2005 to $9-$10 billion.
Aeroflot Russian International Airlines reported that earnings for the first half to June 30 fell 14.3% to $69.3 million from $83.6 million in the year-ago period, largely owing to higher fuel prices. Revenue rose 18.7% to $1.04 billion but operating costs climbed 23.3% to $957 million, reducing operating income 16.8% to $86.5 million from $103.3 million.
Mechtronix said its Ascent FFS X 737-800 simulator received Level D certification by CAAC. The unit is installed at the Flight Simulator Training Center of Civil Aviation Flight University in Guanghan, Sichuan Province.
CSA Czech Airlines will end its Prague-Newark route by the end of October but continue to operate A310 services to New York JFK. Separately, the airline said it expanded its e-ticket facilities for travel agents in the UK with Amadeus and Galileo. Sabre will come online Sept. 15 and Worldspan Oct. 1.
Members of SkyTeam, facing opposition to their application for antitrust immunity from the US Dept. of Justice ( ATWOnline, Aug. 23), quietly offered to amend the application to address DOJ concerns that the requested immunity would reduce competition in nontransatlantic international markets and on US domestic routes.
Low-cost carrier AirAsia and loss-making Malaysia Airlines are close to a wide-ranging agreement, according to AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes. Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Fernandes said, "we will have an announcement shortly as our relationship with Malaysia Airlines is improving rapidly, which gives us ways of potentially maximizing our revenue."
Indian government finally approved Indian Airlines' order for 43 A320 family aircraft. Indian media quoted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as saying, "Our government has announced today the purchase of 43 Airbus aircraft worth $2.2 billion." The announcement was made after the conclusion of talks between Singh and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Separately, India is moving to stabilize the flow of pilots from airline to airline and will legislate that pilots must give carriers six months' notice of intent to leave.
Cabin staff at North American Airlines voted to be represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Of 229 eligible voters, 118 (52%) voted to join the Teamsters.
KLM appointed Peter T.M. Elbers senior VP-corporate communications effective Nov.1. He replaces Jan Christiaan Hellendoorn, who took up a new position as head of communications at Albert Heijn.
Continental Airlines repeated earlier warnings that it expects to post "a significant loss for 2005 due to record high fuel prices" in spite of improving unit revenue trends and savings from pay and benefit reductions estimated at $300 million this year. The information was contained in a letter to shareholders included in a government filing last week. The company earlier estimated that mainline passenger RASM rose 4%-5% in August compared to the year-ago period following a 4.6% year-over-year increase in July. It has no fuel hedges in place.
United Airlines flew 10.4 billion RPMs in August, down 4.4% compared to the year-ago period, as a 12% decline in domestic traffic offset double-digit gains in Latin America and the Pacific. Capacity dropped 5.6% to 12.3 billion ASMs owing to a 14% decrease in domestic ASMs. The domestic market represented 60% of UA capacity in the month, down from 66% in August 2004. System load factor was a record 84.8%, up 1 point. EasyJet carried 2.9 million passengers in August, up 18% on the year-ago period. Load factor slipped 0.2 point to 88.4%.
Skyways Aviation arranged the sale of three Saab 340As to Nordic Solutions AB of Sweden, which will operate them on a newly established Nordic Solutions Air Services AOC in Lithuania. All three will be converted to freighters.
Bombardier opened a new spare parts distribution center adjacent to Chicago O'Hare that will consolidate facilities in Detroit and Wichita and streamline the delivery of spares to customers in North America. The 238,000-sq.-ft. center is being operated in partnership with Caterpillar Logistics Services. "They have the infrastructure, knowledge and systems we need to run our business," said Bombardier VP-Parts and Logistics Desmond Bell at an opening ceremony this week in Chicago. A similar Caterpillar-run facility is scheduled to open later this year in Frankfurt.
The airline industry's legal challenge to the European Commission's new passenger rights legislation requiring cash compensation for delayed and cancelled flights suffered a major defeat yesterday when the Advocate General to the European Court of Justice rejected in their entirety the arguments that were put forth by IATA and the European Low Fare Airline Assn. The case had been referred to the European Court of Justice by the UK High Court, where the original challenge was heard.
FedEx Express announced a new MD-11F flight offering what it says is the first overnight express service between India and China five times per week. The flight is part of a new eastbound around-the-world route connecting Europe, India, China and Japan with the Memphis hub. SAS Cargo is boosting capacity between Chicago and Copenhagen by 130 tons per week from Sept. 22. Service will offered twice weekly via a blocked-space agreement using a 747-400F operated by Singapore Airlines Cargo.
