While Japan Airlines saw its profits slip slightly in the six months through September, falling fuel prices have prompted the carrier to raise its profitability guidance for its full fiscal year. JAL reported net income of ¥80.3 billion ($719.4 million) for its fiscal 2014 first half, down by 2% from the same period in the previous year. This contrasted with rival All Nippon Airways, which a day earlier announced its net profit rose 78% to ¥35.7 billion for the six-month period.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) recorded a healthy improvement in profits for the six months through September, as the airline’s rapid expansion in international markets provided a significant revenue boost. The carrier’s parent, ANA Holdings, reported a net profit of ¥35.7 billion ($327.3 million) for its fiscal 2014 first half, up 78.2% from the profit in the same period a year earlier. Operating revenue increased 9.1% to ¥854.8 billion, largely due to ANA’s international growth strategy.
Major U.S. airline strategies such as strict capacity discipline and growth through upgauging rather than adding aircraft or flights continues to create opportunities for ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCCs). “Airports are generally thirsty for more volume right now,” Spirit Airlines president and CEO Ben Baldanza said. “There are obviously some exceptions of airports that are still facility-constrained, but most airports . . . have a lot of space in them.”
Saying that bookings “did not meet expectations,” Frontier Airlines will not launch two new routes next month to the Bahamas as scheduled, an airline spokesman confirmed.
Hawaiian Airlines has made clear that it will not sit on the sidelines while American Airlines and Delta Air Lines duke it out over access to Tokyo’s close-in Haneda airport.
Australia’s competition watchdog has failed in its attempt to force legal penalties on Air New Zealand and Garuda Indonesia as part of a broader action against airlines over alleged collusion in freight pricing. An Australian federal court ruled in favor of Air New Zealand and Garuda, which were the only two of several carriers still fighting the allegations. Other airlines settled and agreed to pay hefty fines.
Mark Skidmore, a former head of Australia’s Royal Air Force and test pilot for Raytheon, has been tapped to lead the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) as its new director of Aviation Safety. The appointment, which is for a five-year term, comes as CASA is working to respond to the Australian government’s independent review of the country’s civil aviation regulations.
n Etihad Airways plan to take 49% shareholding in Alitalia will dilute Air France’s stake in the Italian carrier to less than 1%, according to Air France-KLM CFO Pierre-François Riolacci. Speaking on the group’s third-quarter results conference call on Wednesday, Riolacci said Air France-KLM will become a “very-definite minority shareholder” in Alitalia after the Etihad transaction. Air France-KLM was Alitalia’s primary shareholder, with a 25% stake.
International Airlines Group (IAG) continues to outperform its legacy peers and has increased its full-year earnings guidance on the back of a 30% hike in third-quarter operating profit. IAG—which comprises British Airways (BA), Iberia and low-cost carrier (LCC) Vueling—said on Friday it now expects to increase this year’s operating profit by between €550 million ($436.2 million) and €600 million from the €770 million it made last year, upping its previous forecast for an increase of at least €500 million.
A string of voice communication blunders caused safety systems on the ground and in the air to activate automatically and successfully resolve a close encounter between an Air Portugal Airbus A319 and Ryanair Boeing 737-800 at 37,000 ft. over Zurich. While the Swiss Accident Investigation Board (SAIB) in its final report on the April 2013 incident does not make any recommendations, both Ryanair and Swiss air navigation services company Skyguide did make voluntary changes to prevent similar events from occurring.
The coming days will see an acceleration to the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), as a third vessel will transition from survey work to scouring the vast section of seafloor already mapped and surveyed, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.
ExpressJet will not erase its multi-year losses and will not turn an overall profit for parent Skywest Airlines for at least two or three years, airline executives told analysts on Wednesday.
