NEW DELHI—Austrian Airlines’ planned replacement of the Fokker regional fleet may ultimately be decided by timing issues and could, if that is the case, go against an order for the Bombardier CSeries.
South African Airways (SAA) is remaining tight-lipped on the continued absence of its CEO Monwabisi Kalawe and its financial situation. Kalawe was named as SAA CEO in April 2013, but the board announced his “absence” Nov. 7 and re-appointed Nico Bezuidenhout as SAA acting CEO. Bezuidenhout is CEO of SAA low-cost airline Mango, a position he has held since 2006.
BEIJING—China’s top economic planning authority has approved construction of the long-delayed second major airport for Beijing. Construction should take five years, says the National Development and Reform Commission, governing authority for the project. But when construction will begin is still unclear. The State Council (cabinet) and Central Military Commission approved construction of the airport two years ago; at that point, the project seemed ready to go ahead.
NEW DELHI—Singapore Airlines (SIA) hopes India will further ease the restrictions that are part of its aviation policy, now that the launch of its local subsidiary, Vistara, is imminent.
Low-cost carrier (LCC) Jetstar is boosting its network in the Australia-New Zealand market, as it quickly ramps up service into its latest New Zealand gateway in Wellington. The Australian-based carrier plans to begin four weekly flights between Melbourne and Wellington from March 30. This announcement follows hard on the heels of Jetstar’s Dec. 12 launch of its first international route to Wellington, from Gold Coast, the Australian leisure destination.
Australia’s competition watchdog is appealing a court’s dismissal of cartel allegations leveled at Garuda Indonesia and Air New Zealand. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has lodged a notice of appeal against a Federal Court decision in October, which ruled against ACCC largely on jurisdictional grounds. Several other airlines were involved in the case brought by the ACCC, but they agreed to settlements involving hefty penalties. Garuda and Air New Zealand were the only airlines still contesting the charges at the time of dismissal.
American Airlines is evaluating two types of business class seats for its long-range Boeing 757s, one similar to what American has installed on its Airbus A321 transcontinental aircraft and the other more like what JetBlue has put on its Mint subfleet.
NEW DELHI—Ethiopian Airlines plans to retire its remaining four Boeing 757s by 2016 and will phase out its eight remaining Boeing 767-300ERs once the Airbus A350-900s arrive.
Credit analysts at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services forecast that credit quality for U.S. airlines will continue to improve in 2015 due to cheaper energy costs, led by lower oil prices. “Industries that are likely to face headwinds in 2015 include oil and gas service providers and producers, coal miners, iron ore, traditional advertising and publishing, paper producers, and smaller defense contractors,” S&P said in unveiling its 2015 U.S. corporate credit outlook.
NEW DELHI—Singapore Airlines will “take a look” at the proposed Airbus A380neo, but to expect any kind of decisions would be “premature,” CEO Goh Choon Phong said in an interview at the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting here. The airline is the second-largest A380 operator after Emirates, with a fleet that now stands at 19 aircraft. Singapore Airlines has firm orders for five additional aircraft that are to be delivered from 2017 on. The carrier became the type’s first operator in 2007.
NEW DELHI—Air India has started negotiating significant changes to its fleet plans with Boeing as the airline tries to sort out its future long-haul and short-haul requirements. The airline is “seriously looking at” converting some of its outstanding orders for Boeing 787-8 into the larger -9, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan said in an interview at the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting here. At the same time, Air India does not want to take the three outstanding Boeing 777-300ERs still on firm order.
Delta Air Lines’ domestic operations at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport have been profitable “depending on the month,” and margins have expanded since the carrier invested in the new hub, airline executives told investment analysts earlier this month.
Aerospace and aviation supplier Alcoa is continuing its roll-up of metals providers—and critical link-forming with giant manufacturers Airbus Group, Boeing and their engine makers—with a deal to buy German-based Tital. Announced Dec. 15, the deal will establish Alcoa’s titanium-casting capabilities in Europe, while expanding the company’s overall aluminum-casting capacity. Tital boasts strong connections to European engine and aircraft manufacturers, such as Airbus, Safran’s Snecma, and Rolls-Royce.
