US Airways Group received a boost yesterday when Tudor Investment Corp. committed to provide $65 million of equity funding for the company's plan of reorganization in exchange for roughly 3.9 million shares of common stock in the successor company following the merger with America West Airlines. US Airways filed its plan of reorganization with the US Bankruptcy Court earlier this month ( ATWOnline, July 4).
Air Jamaica canceled all of its scheduled flights to and from Jamaica yesterday owing to Hurricane Dennis, which is slowly working its way through the Caribbean. The airline said it will resume all Jamaica flights as soon as authorities at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay and Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston give clearance. Service to Eastern Caribbean destinations Grenada and Barbados will operate as scheduled.
Virgin Blue further rationalized the nonperforming routes in its domestic network as it continues its drive to recover earnings growth and improve yields under new owner Patrick Corp. Citing unsatisfactory demand, CCO Stefan Pichler said the carrier will withdraw from the Adelaide-Alice Springs and Sydney-Darwin routes from Sept. 4. This will mean it no longer services the "Red Center" of Alice Springs.
Air France-KLM Group flew 15.8 billion RPKs in June, up 7.8% on the year-ago period. Capacity grew 4.6% to 19.39 billion ASKs and load factor gained 2.4 points to 81.5%. The group carried 6.2 million passengers, a 6.1% increase, of which 4.5 million were on the European network. Cargo activity continued to suffer from the weakness of European exports and posted a 1.1% decrease while capacity rose 4.3%, sending load factor down 3.5 points to 64.7%.
Ryanair will launch new routes from its Shannon base to Bristol and Nantes, bringing the number of destinations it serves from the airport to 16. The daily flight to Bristol will start Oct. 30 and the new route to Nantes will operate three times a week from Nov. 1. In addition, the carrier will increase frequency from one to four flights per week on its Frankfurt route from Oct. 31.
SAS Braathens is guilty of predatory pricing in an attempt to drive low-fare rival Norwegian off the Oslo-Aalesund route, according to Norway's competition authority, which proposed fining the carrier NOK30 million ($4.5 million). According to Reuters, the authority found that SAS Braathens set fares at levels too low to recover costs. The airline already is challenging an NOK20 million fine for abuse of market position on the Oslo-Haugesund route.
Yesterday's terrorist attacks in London are unlikely to have a serious or lasting impact on transatlantic travel to the UK and Europe, according to JP Morgan's Jamie Baker, who said in a report released Thursday that he expects "a temporary slight decline in UK demand, [with] little to no decline for broader Europe." Baker noted that following the terrorist attack in Madrid in March 2004, "US and European carriers serving Spain experienced little to no lasting demand degradation."
Rockwell Collins Aviation Services was selected by AirAsia to provide service and support for the Collins avionics on its new fleet of A320s. Under the 15-year price-per-flight-hour agreement, CAS will furnish maintenance support on 60 A320s with options on a further 40.
North Asia region will attract a significant number of new low-cost carriers, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. "We are at the point of what should be a major increase in low-cost air travel across the north of the region," said CAPA MD Peter Harbison. At least 12 new airlines are expected to begin operations over the next 12 months in Macau, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. Harbison said the big issue is how fast governments are prepared to liberalize. "We think conditions are ripe for [LCC] development in North Asia.
EasyJet carried 2.6 million passengers in June, up 15.4% compared with the year-ago month. Load factor slipped 0.4 point to 85.6%. For the rolling 12 months ended June 30, the airline carried 28.3 million passengers, up 23.7% on the prior year. Load factor rose 1.1 points to 85.1%. Unaudited revenues for the 12-month period increased 22.5% to £1.26 billion ($2.2 billion). "We experienced a more favorable revenue environment during the month, but this has been balanced by an unfavorable movement in the spot price of jet fuel," CEO Ray Webster said.
Alitalia said its unaudited estimated loss before tax and extraordinary items narrowed to about €120 million ($143.3 million) in the first half of the year from €329 million a year earlier as preliminary passenger revenues increased 15% to €1.74 billion. Chairman and CEO Giancarlo Cimoli told unions that the group will launch its planned rights issue at the end of October or beginning of November, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Banks underwriting the issue will include Deutsche Bank, which has provided a letter of guarantee, and Italy's Banca Intesa.
US airline ontime performance improved in May compared to the previous month and May 2004, the US Dept. of Transportation reported yesterday. In addition, the carriers canceled fewer flights. According to DOT statistics, the 20 reporting airlines recorded an overall ontime arrival rate of 83.7% in May, significantly higher than May 2004's 77.6% and slightly above April 2005's 83.4%. Of the flights that were delayed, 3.3% were caused by bad weather, down from May 2004's rate of 7.4% but on par with April when 3.3% of flights also were delayed by weather.
Lufthansa appointed Karsten Benz VP-sales and services-Europe effective July 1. Benz took over from Ulrich Wachter, who has moved to Frankfurt to head Lufthansa's cabin crew division. In his new position, Benz has overall responsibility for sales and airport operations across Europe excluding Germany.
Asiana Airlines was hit by a 24-hr. strike by many of its unionized pilots. According to the Associated Press, around 300 of the 527 union pilots participated in yesterday's walkout but the carrier was able to operate its schedule using its 300 nonunion pilots and union pilots who did not participate in the strike. The pilots are seeking increased job security and reduced flying hours, AP reported. Korean Air pilots are conducting a campaign against their own airline, utilizing work-to-rule tactics to protest for better benefits, the news agency added.
American Airlines flew 12.67 billion RPMs in June, up 7.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 2.8% to 15.29 billion ASMs and load factor gained 3.8 points to 82.8%. For the six months ended June 30, RPMs rose 7.1% to 68.02 billion, ASMs increased 1.5% to 87.75 billion and load factor was up 4.1 points to 77.5%. Delta Air Lines flew 11.12 billion RPMs in June, up 4.7% over the year-ago period. Capacity grew 4.3% to 13.57 billion ASMs and load factor gained 0.3 point to 82%.
The European Commission launched infringement proceedings against six member states, citing their "failure to meet all their obligations" under the EU's new passenger rights legislation covering flight cancellations, denied boarding and long delays that became effective Feb. 17.
DBA announced last week that Germania Express, which is owned by businessman Hinrich Bischoff, has quit its 64% stake in DBA that was taken up in March in a deal that saw DBA assume Gexx's fleet and routes ( ATWOnline, March 18). DBA Supervisory Board Chairman and main investor Hans Rudolf Woehrl said he and Bischoff decided to go their separate ways as shareholders but to continue to work together. A DBA spokesperson told this website that financial terms of the deal have not been released and that Bischoff does not plan to sell his majority interest to another company.
Boeing delivered a total of 85 commercial aircraft in the second quarter, consisting of three 717s, 59 737NGs, four 747s, one 757, four 767s and 14 777s. In the 2004 second quarter, the company delivered 75 commercial aircraft: Three 717s, 50 737NGs, four 747s, four 757s, three 767s and 11 777s. For the six months ended June 30, Boeing reported a total of 155 commercial aircraft deliveries, up slightly over the 151 recorded in the prior-year period.
OpenPages announced that Hawaiian Airlines has selected its Sarbanes-Oxley Express for its Sarbanes-Oxley compliance initiatives. The carrier will deploy SOX to automate its ongoing test and review of its internal controls documentation in order to reduce the time and resource costs associated with Section 404 and 302 compliance.
Aviareps launched a UK-based subsidiary, Airline Centre UK Ltd., with an office in London. First client is Air Namibia, which has been represented by the company since 1999 in the German market.
Irish Aviation Authority and UK National Air Traffic Services said they welcomed what they described as a "ground-breaking" report by independent consultant The Solar Alliance that could lead to the establishment of a Functional Airspace Block in Irish-UK airspace.
SkyTeam partners Delta Air Lines, Air France, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, KLM and Northwest Airlines filed a response to comments on their application for antitrust immunity with the US Dept. of Transportation. "The only comments filed opposing the application were filed by American Airlines, based on its claim that the DOT's decade-long policy approving immunized alliances and seeking to open aviation markets and improve international air services through Open Skies Treaties has been a mistake," Delta Senior VP-Government Affairs Scott Yohe said.
Farelogix Inc., a provider of independent faring and multisource distribution technology to the global travel industry, and Miami-based travel technology vendor PASS Consulting said they plan to market and distribute the PASS Virtual Travel Organizer travel agency point-of-sale application as a preferred POS integrated with the Farelogix FLX Platform.
