You might think the dream of a small, but growing airline would be to be pitched against a weak national flag carrier. But Marwan Boodai, chairman of Jazeera Airways, would dearly like to see his country’s national airline, Kuwait Airways, become a lot stronger.
It is shaping up as a banner year for Airbus and Boeing with commercial aircraft orders rolling in from airlines and lessors worldwide. Both expected a strong year, but demand in 2013 is far exceeding expectations the manufacturers had at the year’s start. Through the first three quarters, both companies have already breached the 1,000-gross-orders mark, a barrier not achieved in most full years.
Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller has a lot on his plate right now. Like many European airline CEOs, he is driving his carrier to reduce its costs, but on top of this he has low-cost carrier Ryanair as a neighbor, rival, shareholder and would-be owner. Not many airline CEOs would want to trade places.
Competitive flying in turbulent markets prompts airlines to shift costs from fixed to variable. One way to do that is to outsource not just the repair of, but the ownership and management of expensive assets, from rotable components to engines and even aircraft, sometimes.
Fresh from its strategic win over Boeing with an order from Japan Airlines for at least 31 Fresh from its strategic win over Boeing with an order from Japan Airlines for at least 31 A350s, Airbus is preparing the ground to challenge its US rival in the future cargo aircraft market.
[UPDATED] FAA has decided to allow airline passengers to use portable electronic devices (PEDs)—including being online via Wi-Fi—“during all phases of flight,” the agency said Thursday.
Boeing will boost 737 production to 47 aircraft per month in 2017, the latest build-rate increase the manufacturer has announced on its narrowbody line.
Lufthansa Group subsidiary Austrian Airlines reported a nine-month operating profit (before one-time effects) of €19.4 million ($26.23 million), improved by €10.3 million over the year-ago period.
Swiss International Air Lines reported an operating profit of CHF209 million ($233 million) for the first nine months, up 13% from CHF185 million for the same period last year.
Embraer has reported third-quarter net income of $52.9 million, down 19.1% from a net profit of $65.4 million in the prior-year period, as commercial aircraft deliveries lagged last year’s deliveries.
Montreal-based Bombardier reported net profit of $147 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, down 14.5% from $172 million in the year-ago quarter.
Russia’s Aeroflot reported a nine-month net income of RUB19.297 billion ($601 million) for the period ended Sept. 30, up 40% compared to the year-ago period.
Estonian Air posted a loss of €6.1 million ($8.4 million) for the first nine months of the year, narrowed from the €20.2 million loss for the year-ago period.
All Nippon Airways parent ANA Holdings has posted a net profit of ¥20 billion ($204.5 million) for the first half of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, down 45.7% from the prior-year period, as expenses grew at nearly twice the rate of revenue.
Florida-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Spirit Airlines has earned a net profit of $61.1 million for the third quarter, nearly doubling net income of $30.9 million in the 2012 September quarter, on a 33.4% year-over-year jump in revenue to $456.6 million.
Latvian airline airBaltic recorded a third-quarter net profit of €13.2 million ($18.2 million), reversing a €26.72 million loss into a net profit of €0.72 million in the nine months through Sept. 30.
