Lufthansa , which is in talks to acquire Swiss International Air Lines, plans to reduce the latter's European network just a little bit to avoid overlaps between the carriers, a source close to the situation said. In addition, according to the source, more long-haul routes from Zurich can be expected.
Continental Airlines yesterday warned that if its unions do not ratify the new tentative agreements reached last month ( ATWOnline , March 1) by March 30, it will be forced to take a number of actions, including increasing the size of the pay and benefit reductions it is seeking, subleasing or selling some aircraft, furloughing a number of employees and canceling future aircraft orders.
Bombardier, the company that launched the first regional jet, announced yesterday a $2 billion program to build a new family of mid-size aircraft. The board of directors has given a green light to offer customers the new CSeries line of 110/130-seat aircraft that will provide a 15% operating cost advantage over types currently available.
AAR said it has received orders for more than 25 of its cargo systems in 2005 totaling more than $8 million. The orders include systems for the A300-600 and A310-300 as well as 767s and MD-11s.
Boullioun Aviation Services reached a medium-term lease with TAM for two new V2500-powered A320s. The first aircraft was delivered March 4 and the second is scheduled for delivery later this month. With the new aircraft, TAM's fleet will comprise 55 Airbus and 29 Fokker aircraft.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines , which owns 47.2% of AirBaltic and 49% of Estonian Air, is continuing its plan to take over 100% of the two airlines. "The main reason for us not to establish Riga or Tallinn as a hub is we want to take advantage of the very low operational costs of these carriers," SAS CEO Jorgen Lindegaard told ATWOnline . SAS's strategy is to employ the two on secondary routes out of its hubs in Stockholm or Copenhagen to European destinations where operations with SAS mainline would be too expensive. But in order to do so, SAS needs 100% ownership.
Air Berlin announced that it is expecting 13.7 million passengers for 2005, up 14% over last year. Turnover should be eur1.27 billion ($1.69 billion), which would be a 20% increase versus 2004. The carrier this year will start taking delivery of the first two of 50 A320s it has on order, 10 of which are for its Austrian partner Niki.
Hawaiian Airlines moved one step closer to emerging from Chapter 11 this week after its flight attendants ratified a new three-year contract. The carrier now needs its pilots to ratify their new deal before it can submit a formal order to the court to emerge from bankruptcy, which it expects to do in early April. The pilots are expected to conduct their ratification process next week.
Cathay Pacific Airways will expand service to several cities in the upcoming summer schedule. It plans to add seven more weekly flights from Hong Kong to Beijing and a third daily nonstop to Los Angeles. Also, service from Hong Kong to Amsterdam and Johannesburg, now at five and six flights a week respectively, will become daily, and flights to Ho Chi Minh City will rise from daily to double-daily. In addition, the carrier will boost flights to Nagoya from double-daily to thrice-daily while service to Perth will jump from three to four weekly flights.
Air Canada , in light of the recent shutdown of Jetsgo ( ATWOnline , March 14), will add new daily flights between Toronto and Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Halifax for the peak summer travel season. The carrier said the flights will be implemented in stages as plans are finalized. Additionally, beginning this month AC will boost Rapidair shuttle service between Toronto and Ottawa with an additional 10 one-way flights per week for a total of up to 38 one-way flights per day.
Navitaire's Open Skies host reservation system and revenue management system were selected by new Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet. Terms of the deal were not released.
EzRez Software announced that JetBlue Airways has signed a five-year contract to use its packaging technology. The agreement will enable JetBlue to provide its customers with one-stop shopping at its website for all travel needs including airfare, hotel, car rental and destination-specific activities.
Lufthansa will expand service to Washington with a daily A340-300 flight from Munich scheduled to begin May 2. The new service will feature LH's new business class product, which includes its FlyNet inflight wireless Internet service. The flight will complement its twice-daily flights to Washington from Frankfurt and daily service to Munich provided by Star Alliance partner United Airlines.
European Commission , stating that "a return flight for two persons from London to New York produces about as much carbon dioxide as an average passenger car in the EU does in a whole year," has launched an "Internet consultation" on how to reduce "the climate change impact of aviation" in the EU. Interested parties may respond to an online questionnaire regarding airlines and climate change at http://Europa.eu.int/yourvoice.
SriLankan Airlines, which was impacted heavily by the Indian Ocean tsunami in late December, believes it is on the road to recovery. "The tsunami disaster will cost us around $30 million in revenue. I hope that we can finish the current business year, which will end March 31, with a breakeven result. Last year we made a profit of $50 million," CEO Peter Hill told ATWOnline .
The European Commission on Monday recommended that the Council of Transport Ministers authorize it to negotiate "ambitious" air agreements with China and Russia "without further ado."
SAS Group sold a 25% shareholding in its Rezidor SAS hotels company to Carlson Hotels Worldwide in exchange for which Rezidor SAS Hospitality Group achieves improved commercial terms and extension options until 2052 of its Master Franchise Agreements. The MFA is the agreement between Rezidor SAS and Carlson by which Rezidor manages the Carlson Hotel brands operated by Rezidor SAS under the brand names Radisson SAS, Park Inn and Regent throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Shenzhen Airlines signed a 10-year maintenance cost per hour agreement with GE Engine Services under which GEES will maintain the airline's fleet of 24 CFM56-7Bs powering its fleet of 737-700s/-900s. The contract is valued at $68 million.
Israel Aircraft Industries' commercial aircraft group received a multiyear contract valued at approximately $500 million from Vought Aircraft Industries to manufacture assemblies for the door surrounds and passenger and cargo floors for the 787.
LAN Airlines (formerly LanChile) said it began negotiations to acquire an unidentified Argentine airline in partnership with Argentine investors. The airline will use the name LAN Argentina and will be part of the LAN airline group. LAN's efforts to establish a foothold in Argentina have been eased by an evolving drug trafficking investigation involving employees of Southern Winds, who are alleged to have used the airline to smuggle cocaine from Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires. Reportedly, one of the employees is the son of the former air force security chief at Ezeiza.
Swiss International Air Lines would be acquired by Lufthansa but retain its independence "to the extent possible" under a plan being discussed by the companies. In a joint statement issued Sunday confirming media reports in Germany last week ( ATWOnline , March 14), the two carriers said they are developing a business model that "aims at providing a concentration of the strengths of both airlines." The "cornerstones" of the acquisition include "maintaining the air traffic infrastructure within Switzerland" and "the Swiss brand."
TAP Air Portugal yesterday officially joined the Star Alliance as its 16th member. TAP, which was approved for membership last June ( ATWOnline , June 8), currently operates an average of 160-180 daily flights to 42 destinations using a fleet of 40 aircraft. "We at TAP are extremely happy that we have joined Star Alliance today, which coincides with our 60th anniversary," CEO Fernando Pinto said.
