In observance of the Independence Day holiday in the U.S., Aviation Daily will not be publishing on Monday, July 6. The next issue will be dated Tuesday, July 7.
Airline information technology specialist Amadeus has agreed to buy Navitaire from its current owner Accenture in a deal that is strengthening the company at a time when its global distribution system (GDS) is coming under increasing pressure.
The aircraft took off from Taipei’s Songshan Airport on Feb. 4, but crashed into a river 5.4 km from the airport after losing altitude and clipping a road bridge. Of the 58 onboard including crew, 43 suffered fatal injuries.
Fed up with the inertia of EU institutions and national authorities to prohibit strikes by air traffic controllers, Ryanair is now turning to consumers and organizing an online petition to “keep Europe’s skies open.”
The DOJ has sent letters to American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines investigating potential antitrust violations and “unlawful coordination.”
Assuming the Jetstar Hong Kong joint venture has to be dissolved, the Australian airline will essentially write off a loss of A$10 million (U.S. $7.6 million).
The airport’s latest deal is with the Board of Airline Representatives (BARA), which negotiated on behalf of most of the international airlines that serve Sydney.
Virgin Australia has acquired an analytics company to strengthen its frequent flyer unit, the latest step by the three major Australasian airlines to ramp up this crucial sector of their businesses.
Ryanair is allowing Greek customers to buy tickets for its flights with cash, as capital controls imposed by the Greek government are causing credit and debit card transactions on the carrier’s website to be declined. “Ryanair has now provided the option for Greeks looking to travel to buy their plane tickets in cash at the Ryanair ticket desk at its airports,” the LCC said. The airline flies to and from 11 airports in Greece and operates a base at Athens International Airports as well as two smaller bases in Thessaloniki and Crete.
In its final report published on July 1, the Airports Commission, led by Sir Howard Davies, said that of three options short-listed by the commission, the northwest runway option for Heathrow proposed by the airport’s owner was unanimously selected because it provided more economic and strategic benefits than the other two options, striking what the commission called “fair balance between national and local priorities.”
Beijing may have to force reluctant carriers to accept allocations from the order, announced June 30, though Hainan Airlines and its affiliates will have stronger reasons than others for taking deliveries of what the Chinese industry generally sees as an outdated type.
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., the LCC’s owner, has filed a draft prospectus with capital-markets regulator Securities Exchange Board of India for its proposed IPO, to raise around 12.72 billion rupees ($200 million) via sale of new shares, while certain shareholders will also offer for sale more than 30 million shares.
The airline stated in the draft prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO) that “although the term sheet has expired we remain in active discussions concerning the potential acquisition of a significant number of aircraft from the A320neo family.
“Similar to the implementation of the company’s ‘Even More’ product, fare options was rolled out in a simplified fashion, with static pricing that will likely increase over time as fees become optimized via technology that varies price by time of day/flight,” Julie Yates, an analyst at Credit Suisse, wrote in a report.
The bank is an important priority for the White House, which says Ex-Im has supported $235 billion in exports over the last six years, through direct loans, loan guarantees, working-capital guarantees and export credit insurance.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is set to introduce a self-service bag-drop system at Haneda Airport that it says will be the world’s largest when fully installed. The carrier will start the service at its domestic terminal on July 1 with five self-service machines. By year-end it will have a total of 39 machines. This will also be the first self-service baggage system in Japan. The cost of the system is not being revealed. ANA says it will decrease the number of staff-served baggage counters, but some will be retained.
Lufthansa agreed to offer an early-retirement plan to newly hired flight attendants that allows them to stop flying at age 55. The proposal will require personal financial contributions by the employees only if a pre-defined level of return—based on interest rates—is not reached. The plan will be reviewed after 10 years.
Ryanair’s request to Airport Coordination Netherlands for slots at Amsterdam Airport was granted, giving the Irish LCC slots for up to nine daily flights at the airport this winter. Ryanair already operates from three regional Dutch airports—Eindhoven, Maastricht and Groningen—but the airline is adding more primary airports to its network as part of its “Always Getting Better” strategy to attract more business passengers and improve the overall customer experience.
But first the sides must solve a slew of challenges. They include reaching an agreement that combines two different approaches on work-rules and benefits, one from United and the other from Continental Airlines, and ensuring that flight attendants receive competitive pay.
