Austrian Airlines Group flew 1.33 billion RPKs in March, up 3% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 2.4% to 1.87 billion ASKs and load factor gained 0.4 point to 71.2%. For the three months ended March 31, RPKs increased 1.5% to 3.75 billion, ASKs rose 5.5% to 5.52 billion and load factor declined 2.7 points to 68%.
US Airways late Thursday night said it now has until the end of April to file a plan of reorganization with the US Bankruptcy Court after reaching agreement with two of its largest creditors, GECAS and GE Engine Services.
Iberia improved its load factor in March by 3.9 points from a year earlier to 78.5%, helped by Easter falling earlier this year. RPKs rose 11.2% to 4.14 billion while capacity grew 5.7% to 5.27 billion ASKs. Passenger numbers increased 5.9% to 2.3 million, of which 1.3 million were on the domestic network. Long-haul traffic went up 12.9% on a 6.7% capacity hike, improving load factor 4.8 points to 86.5%. In Europe, traffic grew 11.6% against a 4.5% increase in capacity and load factor gained 4.3 points to 68.0%.
Verona-based Air Dolomiti, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and a member of Lufthansa Regional, will take delivery of five ex-Aer Lingus 100-seat BAE 146-300s this month and also is looking at other aircraft.
Travelsky Technology Ltd., a unit of China Travelsky Holding Co. and the largest electronic air travel distribution system provider in China, signed an exclusive strategic cooperation agreement with American Express that designates Travelsky as the sole GDS service provider for American Express in mainland China for three years. Travelsky currently is the only GDS provider in China, but it is expected that other GDSs will enter the market. China has committed to opening its markets to new competition to fulfill its membership requirements in the World Trade Organization.
Alitalia raised the level of cost cuts included in its Business Plan 2005-08 because of an expected 30% rise in fuel costs and a "more conservative estimate" for unit revenues in the short- and medium-haul sector owing to increased competition from low-cost carriers.
EU Council of Economics and Finance Ministers has deferred until as least May action on a European Commission recommendation to introduce a series of new taxes on commercial aviation to support humanitarian aid in developing countries ( ATWOnline, April 12). According to a statement from Ecofin, "this topic will appear at the forefront of the agenda for the informal Ecofin meeting in Luxembourg" May 13-14.
TUI is launching its own airline in the Netherlands, TUI Airlines Nederland, which will operate under the brand name Arkefly. The new carrier starts up April 21 and will fly primarily to long-haul destinations. It will carry passengers for all the Dutch TUI tour operator brands as well as those of other travel companies. About 50% of TUI Nederland passengers will fly with Arkefly.
US Transportation Security Administration last week began enforcing a ban on all types of lighters from the secure areas of airports and onboard aircraft. TSA announced the ban in February and set aside 45 days to educate the traveling public about it.
Lufthansa and JAT Airways expanded their codeshare to include both carriers' flights between Belgrade and Frankfurt and between Belgrade and Munich beginning April 18. The airlines began codeshare operations last June when JAT started placing its code on Lufthansa flights on the routes.
Air France-KLM Group currently has no plans to renew its regional fleet, it said in a statement in response to a report in Les Echos, which claimed it was considering an order for 80 new regional jets from either Embraer or Bombardier. According to the newspaper, it would be a combined order for several of the group's carriers including Regional, Brit Air and Cityjet.
In response to speculation that British Airways will be a launch customer for the 747ADV, CEO Rod Eddington told ATWOnline yesterday that "the most pressing aircraft acquisition project for BA is the 767 replacement." According to Eddington, BA currently is looking at both the A350 and 787. It was one of the airlines heavily involved in the evolution of the 7E7/787 from the Sonic Cruiser program, with Eddington arguing that efficiency was far better than speed.
Aided by its fuel hedges, Southwest Airlines reported a $76 million net income for the first quarter ended March 31, nearly tripling the $26 million earned in the year-ago period. However, 2004 first-quarter results included $18 million in pre-tax operating expenses related to the consolidation of reservations operations. "Considering the many challenges our industry continues to face, we are grateful to report first-quarter earnings of $76 million," CEO Gary Kelly said.
Aer Lingus posted a 29% increase in operating profit before employee profit-sharing to €107 million ($137.1 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, up from €83 million in 2003. Net profit, however, tumbled 98% to €1.2 million from €69.2 million owing to exceptional charges of €102.5 million, of which €97.9 million was related to voluntary severance and early retirement benefits as part of implementation of the carrier's three-year business plan.
Olympic Airlines' privatization has attracted bids from four companies. According to Reuters, which cited financial daily Imerisia, Aegean Airlines was the first to confirm its interest, while Germany's DBA, Dutch investment fund Sure Eastate and a consortium that calls itself Olympic Investors also tabled binding bids.
Ryanair said it reached agreement with Infratil to base up to four new 737s and deliver up to 2 million passengers per year to Lubeck Airport. The city of Lubeck lies approximately 41 mi. northeast of Hamburg near the Baltic coast. The agreement is subject to successful completion of a conditional purchase deal between the city, which owns the airfield, and Infratil, an international airport and infrastructure investor that owns Wellington International and Glasgow Prestwick.
Airlines plan to operate more than 8,400 flights between North America and the Asia/Pacific region in April, up 11% over April 2004 and only marginally below the level for April 2001, according to OAG's "Global Airline Capacity Bulletin." Although US domestic schedules are up only 3%, OAG VP-Sales and Service John Laughlin noted that this equates to 27,000 additional flights, "more than the entire monthly schedule for all of the Middle East." US airlines "will operate 883,000 domestic flights--over 200,000 more than the total number of flights operating to, from and within Europe," he
Iberia said yesterday that it expects to book a pre-tax gain of €600 million ($775 million) through the sale of its Class A shares in Amadeus Global Travel Distribution. After the offer, Iberia will maintain an "indirect stake" in Amadeus representing a maximum of 11.44% through its investment in WAM Acquisitions, a newly incorporated company created as the vehicle for the Amadeus offering. Its investment in WAM will be €102 million.
Frontier Airlines announced yesterday that it has completed its four-year transition to an all-Airbus fleet. It estimated cost savings, primarily from efficiencies in maintenance and training activities, at approximately $11 million on an annual basis. It began the transition from a fleet of 737-300s and dash 200s when it signed a letter of intent in October 1999 to purchase 11 new Airbus aircraft with options for an additional nine. Shortly thereafter, it signed an LOI for an additional 15 leased A319s and in August 2003 it placed an order for 29 A319s and A318s.
Air New Zealand Engineering Services signed a three-year maintenance contract with Virgin Blue, effective immediately. Under the deal, ANZES will perform heavy maintenance support for the carrier's fleet of 48 737NGs. It previously supported Virgin Blue's maintenance needs on an annual basis.
Japan Airlines, responding to four safety incidents and a rebuke in March from the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that resulted in a major shakeup in the airline's management, announced a series of measures to improve safety monitoring and reporting within the organization. JAL established a new Safety Measures Committee comprising the president, executive VP, executive directors for safety and executives from the flight operations, maintenance, cabin attendants, airport operations and cargo departments.
IAE and Spirit Airlines signed a 15-year fleet hour agreement covering the V2500s powering the airline's A320s. The deal also covers the 15 aircraft Spirit will purchase and the 20 it will take on lease in the future.
Telair International announced a firm acceptance from China Southern Airlines for 18 sliding carpet loading systems for its fleet of nine 737-800s, which China Southern will take over in mid-2005 from ATA Airlines.
