Helios Airways said Tuesday that its two 737-800s successfully completed safety checks in Sweden and reentered operations. "In-depth safety checks covered the major aircraft systems, ensuring the full airworthiness of the aircraft," the charter airline stated. Meanwhile, the investigation continues into the circumstances surrounding the Aug. 14 accident involving a Helios 737-300 in Greece. All 121 people onboard were killed when the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed near Athens.
Republic Airlines, a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, received a Part 121 Airworthiness Certificate from FAA that will allow it to begin scheduled passenger operations of Embraer 170s for US Airways Express in September. Republic Airlines expects to operate up to 28 of the aircraft on behalf of that carrier, which is merging with America West. "Obviously we are pleased that we have completed the process," spokesperson Warren Wilkinson told ATWOnline.
France intends to begin taxing airline tickets next year to raise development funds for Africa. "I have asked the government to start the necessary procedures so that such a levy is in place from next year," French President Jacques Chirac said. Despite major lobbying efforts by France and Germany to introduce a Europewide tax of €1 or €2 on each ticket, finance ministers in May only agreed to a voluntary tax with the decision on whether to make it mandatory left to individual EU members.
Lufthansa and Fraport, which operates its Frankfurt hub, reached an agreement on cutting the cost of ground handling at the airport. According to Reuters, which cited management board member Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa will not achieve its target of reducing its €160 million ($195.9 million) bill by €50 million when a contract expires at year end, "but we will significantly reduce our costs."
US airlines cancelled dozens of flights across the Gulf Coast region as Hurricane Katrina came ashore yesterday. As of midday Monday, Continental said it had cancelled 111 flights at airports in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana. A spokesperson for American Airlines said AA had cancelled 36 flights and American Eagle 65 flights. US Airways cancelled 40 flights over Sunday and Monday, a spokesperson said, while United Airlines dropped 63.
Frontier Airlines filed an application with the US Dept. of Transportation for authorization to offer service between Indianapolis and Cancun with three flights per week. It already serves six destinations in Mexico and is awaiting DOT approval for service to Acapulco.
AirAsia reported a profit attributable to shareholders of MYR111.6 million ($29.6 million) for the fiscal year ended June 30, more than double the previous year's income of MYR49 million but 30% below the profit of MYR160 million in its float forecast. The lower results were attributed to a number of factors, among them a shortage of aircraft, higher fuel prices, "irrational competition" and the impact on air travel demand of the December tsunami disaster.
Belgian and French aviation regulatory authorities, as promised, are providing via the Internet the names of airlines that have been banned from operating to their respective countries ( ATWOnline, Aug. 29). The Belgian Ministry of Transport listed nine carriers on its website, all of them cargo airlines and most of them from Africa. The website of the French DGAC identified five airlines on its blacklist: Air Koryo, Air St. Thomas, International Air Service, LAM and Phuket Airlines.
Cambridge Auto ID Labs announced the formation of a global partnership with companies including Boeing, Airbus and Aviall as well as SITA SC and the Air Transport Assn. "to address barriers to wide-scale adoption of Radio Frequency Identification and other ID technologies in the aerospace sector." The Aerospace ID Technologies Program is being led by the Cambridge lab as part of the global consortium of Auto ID Labs, it said.
Japan Airlines and Mexicana Airlines reached a codeshare agreement based on connections in Los Angeles that will expand JAL's network in Mexico to four cities and provide Mexicana with access to Tokyo and Osaka. Subject to government approval, the accord will come into effect Oct. 30. Implementation of a frequent-flier program partnership also is being discussed and will be put into effect once its scope and terms are finalized.
Air New Zealand earned NZ$180 million ($125.6 million) in its fiscal year ended June 30, up 8% over income of NZ$166.2 million in FY04, and Chairman John Palmer flagged that the airline is carrying on "a comprehensive review" of its engineering business, some parts of which are "financially underperforming." Profit before unusuals and tax was NZ$235 million, down 3% from NZ$243 million last year. Group operating revenue rose 3% to NZ$3.62 billion. EBIT declined 9.8% to NZ$212 million from NZ$235 million.
China Southern Airlines Group reported a hefty first-half net loss under IFRS of RMB907 million ($112 million), reversing income of RMB266 million in the January-June 2004 period. Turnover for the group totaled RMB17.84 billion, up 60% compared to the previous period. Passenger revenue of RMB16 billion represented 91.5% of the total. Domestic passenger revenue was RMB13 billion, up 64%, while revenue on services to Hong Kong rose 12% to RMB599 million and international route revenues climbed 77.5% to RMB2.4 billion.
Volga-Dnepr Group, Antonov Design Bureau and Aviastar-SP Aircraft Factory signed an agreement at the Moscow Air Show to establish a branch of Antonov Design Bureau at the Aviastar-SP factory in Ulyanovsk. Earlier this week, Volga-Dnepr said it would acquire five An-124s ( ATWOnline, Aug. 25). It called the new agreement "another significant step towards relaunching serial production of the 150-tonne capacity An-124 cargo aircraft."
Singapore and India inked an agreement that allows airlines of both countries to expand services between Singapore and Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Fifth freedom rights also were granted.
Asiana's pilot dispute has been referred to the National Labor Relations Commission, which has full power to solve industrial disputes. The South Korean government stepped in to resolve the dispute early in August and worked between the parties without success to reach agreement. The pilots have a range of issues including less stick time, more days off and a lift in retirement age from 55 to 60.
Northwest Airlines has largely recovered to pre-strike levels of reliability, the carrier claimed on Friday. In the first public disclosure of operating metrics since the carrier's mechanics and aircraft cleaners went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 20, Executive VP-Operations Andy Roberts said system completion factor was running at 98.2% as of mid-afternoon Friday.
Austrian Airlines will launch weekly seasonal 737-600 service from Innsbruck to Moscow Dec 16 and to Warsaw Dec 18. AAG also will operate three weekly services to London from Innsbruck in the winter season. It will transfer its remaining Vienna-Ljubljana services to codeshare partner Adria Airways with the beginning of the winter schedule. Midwest Airlines will launch single daily nonstop service in three markets from Kansas City: San Diego, Orlando and Pittsburgh.
CAE received an order for a 737-800 full flight simulator from Zhuhai Flight Training Center, its joint venture with China Southern Airlines. At list prices, the contract's value is C$16 million. The order brings the number of CAE-built simulators that the facility operates to 10, making it the largest independent training facility in China, according to CAE.
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Shenzhen Airlines chose CFM56-5Bs to power three A320s and two A319s on order. CFMI valued the engine deal at $60 million at list prices. GE will provide total maintenance support for the engines under a 15-year OnPoint Solution services agreement potentially worth up to $240 million.
Cash-strapped Delta Air Lines reached a revised agreement with its existing Visa/MasterCard processor to extend the terms of its contract to Oct. 31 and reduce the amount of cash "holdback" required by the processor. The contract had been set to expire Aug. 31. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission late last week, Delta said that under the amended agreement, it estimates that the holdback will reach $625 million by the new expiration date, down from $750 million it previously expected to have tied up as collateral by the end of October ( ATWOnline, Aug.
Following France's example, Belgian and Swiss authorities announced plans to publish a list of airlines and aircraft that are banned from serving their airports ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26). The Belgian blacklist is expected to be on the website of the Ministry of Transport. The ministry also is considering the publication of other data, including a list of aircraft that have had technical problems.
Infratil agreed to purchase the assets and business of Kent International Airport for £17 million from the administrators of Planestation Plc. Completion of the purchase was expected Friday. Planestation, which also owns Irish low-cost carrier EUjet, went into voluntary administration earlier this month. EUjet ceased all operations on July 26 with the loss of 200 jobs after bankers to Planestation decided not to support the company with additional funding. The Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation officially revoked the airline's air carrier license Aug. 9.
Gate Gourmet and the Transport and General Workers Union, assisted by the Trades Union Congress, reached a nonbinding agreement on the terms of a voluntary redundancy program at its London Heathrow kitchens and the implementation of work rule changes. Gate Gourmet aims to cut some 670 jobs, downsizing the workforce at Heathrow to about 1,400. According to the terms of the framework agreement, all staff including the dismissed workers will be given the chance to take voluntary redundancy. However, the deal does not include the union's demand that all dismissed workers be reinstated.
Korea's Ministry of Construction and Transport gave the green light to low-cost operator Jeju Air, which is expected to start domestic operations in June.
