Singapore Airlines Group reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of S$235 million ($141.8 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, down 7.9% compared to a net profit of S$255 million in the prior-year period. Total revenue rose 11.7% to S$3.04 billion but total expenses climbed 15.3% to S$2.79 billion as higher fuel prices added S$363 million (before hedging) to expenditure. As a result, operating profit dropped 16.5% to S$253.1 million from S$303.1 million. SIA carried 4 million passengers in the quarter, up 5.7% over last year.
CSA Czech Airlines Supervisory Board approved the decision of the board of directors regarding the winner of the tender for financing the purchase of 12 A320s/A319s. The banks are Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka a.s., BNP Paribas and Natexis Banques Populaires. CSA will finance its new airplanes valued at CZK10-CZK12 billion ($402.4-$482.9 million) through a 12-year financial leasing guaranteed by European export credit agencies. The aircraft will be delivered in 2006-08.
Cargo Connection Logistics Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargo Connection Logistics Holding, was chosen by Continental Airlines to provide over-the-road service between Newark and 10 points located in the US Northeast and South.
Delta Air Lines yesterday introduced its redesigned and upgraded website. According to the carrier, the new website provides customers with more control of online ticket changes, seat assignments and check-in; the ability to cancel certain tickets within 24 hr.; the ability to calculate award mileage; more international award travel booking capability, and the ability to check in when connecting from Delta to certain other airlines.
Dnata and PWC Logistics formed a new 50/50 joint venture company, Dnata-PWC Airport Logistics LLC, to provide inter-airport logistics services. Dubai-based Dnata, a member of Emirates Group, is an air cargo and airport services provider, while PWC Logistics is a global provider of end-to-end supply chain solutions. Operating from Dubai Cargo Village, the new company will offer air cargo operators road feeder service between airports in the Gulf region.
Connexion by Boeing and Intel Corp. reached agreement to "enhance and promote high-speed inflight wireless Internet service." As part of the accord, the companies have completed compatibility testing with common Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptop configurations, making Connexion the first inflight Internet service to be verified through Intel's Wireless Verification Program.
Wizz Air signed an agreement to lease a new IAE V2500-powered A320 from ILFC. The aircraft will seat 180 in a single-class configuration. It will be delivered in April 2006 on a seven-year lease term. Volito Aviation added two A320s to its portfolio via a sale/leaseback with TACA. The aircraft are on lease with the Central American carrier through October. Financing was provided by DVB Bank AG. Volito placed a 1998 A320 with Sichuan Airlines on lease through July 2011. It is financed by PK Airfinance Luxembourg.
Primarily owing to an extraordinary loss on the sale of group-owned real property, ANA Group reported a 10.9% drop in net income to ¥2.16 billion ($19.3 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 from net income of ¥2.43 billion in the year-ago period.
Embraer delivered the third of 15 Embraer 175s to Air Canada, launch customer for the model. The first two were received earlier this month and the remainder are slated for delivery by year end.
KLM last week signed a five-year, €540 million ($658.9 million) credit facility that is supported by an international group of 11 relationship banks. Citibank, ING Bank, Rabobank and Societe Generale acted as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners, while Calyon and Natexis-Banques Populaires were co-mandated lead arrangers. BNP Paribas, Credit Mutuel-CIC, Deutsche Bank, Fortis and WestLB were arrangers.
First of two newly acquired Evergreen International Airlines 747-200Fs made its inaugural flight last week. The carrier plans to place the other aircraft into service soon, bringing its total 747 fleet to 12.
LOT Polish Airlines minority shareholders agreed to an IPO of the state-controlled carrier, which should lead to a market debut by the second quarter of 2006. The airline announced last week that it wants a listing in the middle of next year. CEO Marek Grabarek confirmed that the shares owned by an investor syndicate will be sold along with newly issued shares. "The Polish government will retain control of the company with 51%," he told this website earlier.
Rockwell Collins said it received the first US FAA TSO-C166 approval for ADS-B functionality on Mode-S transponders. The approval enables enhanced traffic situational awareness on the airport surface and during flight; visual acquisition for see and avoid, sequencing and merging, crossing and passing operations, and oceanic in-trail procedures.
Lufthansa's Terminal 2 in Munich will handle more than 20 million passengers this year, a record. Karl-Ulrich Garnadt, head of Hub Management Munich for LH, told ATWOnline that the carrier and its partner airlines are growing at the hub at a faster rate than had been expected; "In June we saw a passenger increase of 13%.
EVA Air took delivery of the first of 15 777-300ERs on order. The remaining aircraft will be delivered through 2009. Virgin Blue took delivery of its 50th 737NG, which is painted in a special "true blue" livery.
Former International Aero Engines head Barry Eccleston was appointed president and CEO of Airbus North America Holdings succeeding Henri Courpron, who earlier this month was named executive VP-procurement in Toulouse ( ATWOnline, July 20). Eccleston, 58, comes to Airbus from Honeywell, where he spent nearly two years as VP and GM of the Propulsion Systems Enterprise. Prior to that he served as Honeywell's VP-commercial aerospace for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Boeing and Chorus Motors said that based on "successful tests" conducted with an Air Canada 767, electric motors "may be a viable way of powering airplanes" for ground movement in and around gate areas. This technology largely would eliminate "the use of airport tow tugs and jet engines, as well as reducing emissions," Boeing said. Next steps involve working to resolve successfully the technical issues that surfaced during the tests in order to define a path for commercial system installation.
United Airlines will launch new service to Mexico and the Caribbean and expand its service on existing routes to destinations in both areas from Dec. 15. From Washington Dulles it will launch four new weekly flights to Nassau, five weekly flights to Montego Bay, four weekly flights to Punta Cana and two weekly flights to St. Maarten. It will boost service from Dulles to Aruba and St. Thomas. From Chicago it will begin four new weekly flights to Cabo San Lucas and increase frequencies to Montego Bay and St. Thomas.
Lockheed Martin and Covenant Aviation Security each was awarded a Basic Ordering Agreement and now are eligible to receive task orders from airports that are approved to participate in the US Transportation Security Administration's Screening Partnership Program. Under the program, airport operators may submit an application to have security screening carried out by a qualified private company.
American Airlines Cargo added a new feature to its website that allows customers with blocked-space allocations or pre-booked arrangements to load up to 60 days of advance airbills in a simple online operation.
Although parts manufacturing authority parts are a miniscule portion of today's total spares buy, many airlines are pursuing this avenue aggressively as an alternative to acquiring parts sourced directly from original equipment manufacturers or their licensed suppliers.
There is no shortage of warnings about the perils of the airline industry and the folly of not learning from its turbulent history. But the harsh lessons of the past are being ignored by many new low-cost carriers, say some analysts, who predict that the boom soon will turn into a bust.
Sabre Holdings Corp. said US Airways signed a renewal of its Direct Connect Availability Three-Year Option agreement, extending the pact one year beyond October. US Airways was the first carrier to sign a DCA-3 agreement and to join Galileo Internationals version of the program, Preferred Fares. In Sabres second-quarter earnings briefing with investment analysts, chairman Sam Gilliland said the extension of the agreement incorporates roughly similar terms and conditions as the original.
