Virgin Group chief Richard Branson has floated plans to establish a second Australian flag carrier in partnership with local investors that will focus on routes to China, Japan and the US by the end of 2005. In a move that is sure to antagonize Singapore Airlines, Branson said the Australian government should give precedence to the proposed new venture in allocating rights to service the US West Coast. SIA, a 49% shareholder in Virgin Atlantic, is seeking to gain rights to begin Sydney-Los Angeles flights in the middle of next year.
Austrian Airlines Group is deemphasizing previously discussed plans to invest in airlines in the Balkans and Eastern Europe as part of its broader strategy to build its network in the region, CEO Vagn Soerensen told ATWOnline. As these states join or move closer to membership in the EU, "it make less sense for us to invest in [them], because one of the advantages--to get better traffic rights--is gone," he said.
Lufthansa Flight Training and Austrian Airlines will establish a simulator training center in Vienna. The companies will hold a joint press conference April 14 to discuss the program.
Lufthansa marked the 50th anniversary of its 1955 rebirth with a festive ceremony March 31 in a hangar at its Hamburg base and a commemorative flight the next day in an A310 painted in nostalgic old-time LH livery that was prepared by Lufthansa Technik for the occasion. The flight was from Hamburg to Munich via Duesseldorf and Frankfurt along a route taken by an LH Convair 340 on April 1, 1955, in a 4-hr. flight that marked the beginning of a new era in German aviation. Lufthansa's history actually dates to the founding in 1926 of what was called Deutsche Luft Hansa.
US Dept. of Transportation gave final clearance to several passenger and cargo airlines that tentatively were granted rights in February to launch services to China ( ATWOnline, Feb. 23). As a result, American Airlines officially can start marketing its new Chicago-Shanghai flights that will begin next year. In addition, Federal Express, Northwest Airlines, Polar Air Cargo and UPS will be able to boost their cargo service to China in 2006 by adding three weekly flights each.
In what it described as a further step in its "commitment to intra-European travel," easyJet announced that it will establish a new base at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg this summer and launch five new routes from the airport.
ATA Holdings Corp., which has been operating under Chapter 11 since October 2004, reported a massive $816.9 million net loss available to shareholders for 2004 in its annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The figure included $638.5 million in reorganization expenses and a noncash charge of $27.3 million related to the company's bond exchange in the first quarter. This compares to a net income of $15.8 million in 2003, which was bolstered by $37.2 million in security rebates from the US government.
Swissport International will expand its presence in Africa through two new collaborations. In Algeria, the company is establishing a joint venture with Arcofina Group with a goal of obtaining an airport ground handling license this summer. In Sudan, the company has completed a franchise agreement with MASS Aviation Support that should allow it to begin ground handling activities there in May.
Avianca reported a net income of $116 million for 2004, a complete turnaround compared to the $108 million net loss the carrier posted in 2003. The airline said the improvement was primarily the result of benefits generated by its financial and operating restructuring carried out under bankruptcy and also reflected a $119 million equity enhancement. Operating revenues increased 20% to $652 million while direct operating costs rose 12.1% to $387.4 million on an 18.4% jump in fuel costs.
UT Air signed a contract to purchase two ATR 42-300s to develop its regional market. The first is expected to be delivered by Continental Airlines in June. UT Air also is negotiating with ATR for a training and global maintenance agreement for comprehensive airframe maintenance, equipment repair and standard exchange services
Gulf Air and Lufthansa Technik tomorrow are scheduled to reveal at the Aircraft Interiors 2005 conference in Hamburg the details of what LHT terms a "far-reaching" MRO contract to be signed by Gulf Air President and CEO James Hogan and Lufthansa Technik Executive Board Chairman August Henningsen.
PACE Aerospace Engineering and Information Technology announced that Seattle-based International Aero has purchased its standard cabin interior configuration software Pacelab.
Hit hard by $129.5 million in reorganization expenses as well as rising fuel prices and increased competition, bankrupt Hawaiian Airlines posted a $75.4 million net loss for 2004 compared to a net loss of $49.5 million in 2003. The airline said the reorganization expenses primarily consisted of $110.6 million in one-time noncash claims to settle leases with Boeing Capital Corp. for three 767-300s and 11 717-200s, and with Ansett for a 767-300 rejected by Hawaiian in 2003. Results also included an income tax provision of $16.8 million.
ACE Aviation Holdings, parent of Air Canada, entered into agreements with a group of underwriters to sell an aggregate of roughly 11.4 million Class A and B shares at a price of C$37 ($30) per share for proceeds of C$420 million. ACE also will sell C$300 million of 4.25% convertible senior notes due 2035. The notes will be convertible into shares at an initial conversion price of C$48 per share. ACE said both offerings were increased following strong investor demand.
AirNav Systems released AirNav Live Flight Tracker Gold, a new multiwindow airline flight tracking application that enables the user to track several areas with several different filters simultaneously.
Aiming to reduce the risk of fire spreading aboard an aircraft, FAA Friday proposed a new rule that will require airlines to replace or modify certain insulation blankets on more than 800 US-registered Boeing aircraft over the next six years.
If the European Commission has its way, the airport slot allocation process in Europe is set for a major overhaul to include much wider use of commercial mechanisms. Although a consultation outlining a range of proposals elicited a storm of protest from a broad cross-section of aviation interests, the EC remains determined to shake loose what some see as an ossified structure that protects incumbents at the expense of new entry and hurts competition.
AAR hired Fred Kocher as GM-AAR Aircraft Services. Airbus North America tapped Guy McLeod as president-sales. Airport Consultants Council named Dawn E. Lucini of ARINC chair of its DHS Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Committee. AirRep appointed Caroline Daniell and Nadya Gooders operations & commercial assistants in the freighter department and Craig Gould to handle reservations at AirRep Cargo Europe. ASIG selected D. Bradley Keith as national fuel quality & compliance mgr. Emirates introduced Hiran Perera as VP cargo-freighters.
Measured, prudent expansion is also key, with the accent on "close to home" training. In addition to its main Stockholm Arlanda base with 14 simulators and a smaller unit without full flight simulators at Copenhagen, the Flight Academy opened a spacious 5,000-sq.-m. purpose-built training center with 25 staff last August in Norway near Oslo Gardermoen's passenger terminal.
At US Airways, the problems largely were manmade, as is clear in the detailed report commissioned by US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta following both events. Keenly aware of personnel shortages among the flight attendant and ramp agent work groups, US Airways officials knew they were rolling the dice well before piles of unchecked luggage started reaching the ceiling in Philadelphia.
Bypassing the global distribution systems whenever possible has been a goal of the Major airlines for several years. Segment fees rose by an average of more than 6% a year from 1990 to 2000, but the airlines say the increases were not accompanied by a proportionate improvement in value to them. The rate of increase slowed following 9/11, but carriers now pay more than $4 per segment or an average of $12.50 per ticket-a hefty chunk of today's low fares.
It is almost one year since the implementation of the AF-KLM merger and you have stated several times that the first results are "extremely positive." How positive is this?
By summer, the fruits of nearly four years of seemingly disparate government biometric technology tests could weave together quickly into a cohesive strategy for US airports as key mandates come due and various trials conclude. Because of the sheer size of the US market, with more than 200 airports receiving scheduled service, decisions here will play a large role in influencing technology development and choices around the globe.
Original equipment manufacturers intend to grow their share of the commercial aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul business aggressively in response to both the needs of their customer base and their own internal corporate goals. Although this trend dates back more than a decade, it has accelerated owing to the tremendous upheavals of the past four years.
