Scandinavian Airlines reached agreement with Amadeus on a new distribution contract that will ensure its product is available to Scandinavian travel agents while also addressing its concerns over the high cost of using the GDS channel. The airline did not provide terms of the deal but said it is "a step in the right direction," adding that it is in negotiations with all its GDS providers "to obtain lower distribution costs." It intends to "alter its current full content strategy" as of Oct.
Malev Hungarian Airlines' privatization process failed for the fifth time. State Privatization and Holding (APV) cancelled the sale Friday. According to Budapest Business Journal, the board of APV decided that none of the bids met its expectations and closed the tender. The sale had been criticized by some, with both opposition party Fidesz and the airline's trade union calling for a halt citing various reasons.
Lufthansa Systems and Ryanair signed a 10-year deal for the LHS NetLine network planning solution. Ryanair also selected LHS as its long-term IT strategic partner.
US Airways Group earned $2.3 million in July net of $7.2 million in Chapter 11 reorganization-related expenses. Comparisons with the year-ago period were not supplied. In its monthly operating report to the bankruptcy court, the carrier also said it achieved an operating profit of $33.6 million on revenue of $678.3 million. Operating expense totaled $644.7 million. Fuel was the largest expense category at $161 million, followed by labor costs at $139 million.
Air Baltic will start a four-times-weekly F50 service from Riga to Liepaja on Sept. 5. This will be its first domestic route and the first in Latvia in 20 years.
In a move opposed by IATA ( ATWOnline, Aug. 25), the French DGAC on Monday will publish a blacklist of airlines deemed unsafe, Transport Minister Dominique Perben announced yesterday. The website lists will include carriers banned from landing in France, scheduled and charter airlines whose aircraft have permission to fly from France and the names of carriers likely to be chartered by authorized airlines.
Northwest Airlines "is prepared to operate the airline with our new maintenance organization indefinitely," the carrier said in a statement. NWA's mechanics and aircraft cleaners have been on strike since Saturday. The airline has experienced a small increase in the number of cancellations, part of which has been attributed to an alleged work slowdown by the mechanics prior to the walkout.
Goodrich Corp. was selected by China Cargo Airlines to supply the main deck and lower lobe cargo handling systems for its two new 747-400ERFs. The Goodrich cargo system includes the mechanical system, power drive units, electrical control system and floor panels. The aircraft will be delivered to China Cargo in July 2006 and August 2007.
Malaysian government ministers are talking openly of the need to restructure Malaysia Airlines' unprofitable domestic services. Yesterday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy told a press conference, "We are mindful of the urgency." Earlier this week, Malaysia Airlines MD Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan announced his retirement after a 32-year career with the carrier as it reported a loss of MYR280.7 million ($74.5 million) for the three months ended June 30. He was named MD in April 2004 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 23).
Shandong Airlines' application to operate flights to Hong Kong and Macau was approved by CAAC. Shandong operates a fleet of 737-300s and CRJ200s/700s and has 737-700/-800s on order. It serves 43 domestic destinations and Singapore.
As part of the integration of Swiss International Air Lines into the Lufthansa system, the carriers announced they will operate all services between Switzerland and Germany, a total of 563 weekly flights, as codeshare flights with introduction of the 2005-06 winter schedules from Oct. 30.
Rockwell Collins said its Airshow 4200 moving map system received a "technical offerability recommendation" from Boeing and can be offered on all models of the 737, 747, 767 and 777. Deliveries of Airshow 4200-equipped aircraft will begin in October.
TAP Portugal and Swiss International Airlines concluded a commercial cooperation agreement including joint marketing and codesharing on all flights between Portugal and Switzerland beginning Sept. 1. In the first stage, the Star Alliance partners will codeshare on all flights from Lisbon to Zurich and from Lisbon and Oporto to Geneva. In the next phase, they intend to extend their codeshare operations to destinations beyond Zurich and Lisbon.
Swiss Technical Services concluded a comprehensive long-term maintenance agreement with Blue1 covering five Saab 2000s. Swiss Technical Services also will perform heavy maintenance checks on Lufthansa CityLine's RJ85s. In view of the anticipated work volumes, the Basel-based unit will add up to 50 employees.
AirTran Airways will retrofit Aviation Partners Boeing blended winglets on 15 737-700s leased from GE Commercial Aviation Services, with options to add winglets to future deliveries of new 737s. Installation will begin in September and continue into early 2006. In a recent interview with ATWOnline, AirTran Senior VP-Operations Stephen Kolski explained the decision to add the devices beginning with a small number of aircraft.
Mesa Air Group and AAR Corp. said they finalized an agreement under which AAR will purchase, manage and repair some $50 million in existing and future regional jet rotable spare parts to support the airline's fleet of more than 145 RJs. AAR will be responsible for handling all aspects of the parts supply chain under the 10-year deal. The companies valued the repair portion of the agreement at around $200 million.
American Eagle said it reached a tentative agreement with the Assn. of Flight Attendants, representing its 1,751 cabin attendants. It has been in contract mediation with AFA for nearly two years.
Tiger Airways CEO Tony Davis told Channel NewsAsia that it will take up to three years for the low-cost carrier to post a profit. It previously forecast a profit in its first year. Davis, the airline's second CEO, told Channel NewsAsia that he hopes Tiger will be able to launch flights to China and India shortly. The LCC is owned by a consortium of Singapore Airlines (49%), Irelandia Investments (16%), Indigo Partners (24%) and Temasek Holdings (11%).
Sabre said Japan Airlines Group selected its AirMax Revenue Manager solution for managing revenues from international operations. Sabre said AirMax "is expected to generate additional revenue from a sophisticated and proven solution set of revenue management functions and business process services."
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said it achieved an operating profit of $113 million in July, more than double the $51 million earned in July 2004, in spite of a 46% rise in fuel price between the periods that added $127 million to operating expenses. Mainline unit cost rose 5% on a 5% decline in ASMs, but actually fell 5% if fuel expense is excluded. Passenger unit revenue jumped 9%.
US FAA, after years of study and debate, announced yesterday that it will not mandate the use of child safety seats on airplanes and instead will continue to permit children under the age of two to travel on the laps of adult passengers "because of the increased safety risk to families." Analyses by FAA showed that if forced to purchase an extra airline ticket to accommodate a child and a safety seat, families might choose to drive, "a statistically more dangerous way to travel." The decision was supported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which cited FAA and NHTSA
Domodedovo International said it maintained the lead among Moscow's airports in terms of passenger traffic, with 7.5 million passengers handled in the first seven months of 2005, a 12.3% increase over the same period of 2004. July's passenger turnover amounted to 1.6 million, up 15.5% over July 2004. The highest growth was recorded on routes to Antalya, Tel Aviv, Tashkent, Sharm el Sheikh, Barcelona, Sochi and Frankfurt, with Domodedovo serving 1.6 million passengers on these routes in January-July, up 150% compared to last year.
Loganair, a franchise partner of British Airways, signed for an additional three years of the Saab Aircraft Parts Exchange Program. The new contract, valued at approximately $6 million, covers the airline's fleet of 11 Saab 340Bs and two SF340As.
