LONDON — Icelandic authorities have raised aviation alert levels to orange after seismic activity around one of the country’s volcanos was detected. A swarm of earthquakes have been measured by Icelandic experts with the country’s Meteorological Office around the Barðarbunga volcano that could indicate signs of an impending eruption. Experts raised the alert level from yellow green to yellow on August 16, and then to orange on August 18 after the strongest earthquakes detected around the volcano since 1996.
Slovenian carrier Adria Airways has detailed plans to hit two million passengers and a €220 million ($295 million) turnover by 2020, supported by a fleet of 16 aircraft. In 2013, Adria carried roughly one million passengers, generating €150 million in revenue. This marks a drastic turnaround from Adria’s €67 million net loss in 2010.
Etihad’s introduction of Airbus A380s and Boeing 787s will mean major changes for its Australian network, as this will be among the early markets to see the carrier’s new aircraft types. The airline is on track to take delivery of its first A380 in December, and is due to receive four more in 2015. While the first few will be deployed to the Abu Dhabi-London route on Dec. 27 and March 1, one of the other 2015 deliveries will take over the Abu Dhabi-Sydney route in June.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority boosted its oversight of airport vehicles following the near-collision of an Air Canada Embraer E190 regional jet and a Sunwing Airlines maintenance van at the Toronto airport, according to a final report on the March 2013 incident issued by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB).
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact: Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) Sept. 23-24—Brazing Symposium, Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Arizona Oct. 7-9—MRO Europe, Madrid Spain Nov. 4-6—MRO Asia, Singapore EXPO Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 7-10—2014 ACI-NA Annual Conference & Exhibition, Atlanta, Georgia, http://annual.aci-na.org/ Sept. 10-11—TRAM Aerospoace Conference, Chicago, Illinois, www.tram-conference.com
United Arab Emirates (UAE) low-cost carrier Air Arabia managed to significantly improve performance and recorded a 128% increase of its net profit in the second quarter, in spite of the aggressive fleet and network expansion of neighboring rival flydubai.
Chorus Aviation, parent of Canadian regional airline Jazz, posted a second-quarter net profit of C$36.5 million ($34.2 million), more than quadrupling its 2Q 2013 net income of C$7.9 million. Chorus’ operating revenue grew 1.8% year-over-year to C$417.8 million as expenses increased by 1.3% to C$383.6 million, leaving an operating income of C$34.3 million—an 8.1% improvement on the year-ago June quarter.
Finnair is expecting a significant deterioration to its full-year turnover and profitability, after tumbling to a €23.9 million ($ 31.9 million) second-quarter net loss. The €23.9 million loss for the quarter ended June 30 marked a huge swing from the €18.1 million Q2 net profit posted a year ago. Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo blamed the decline on weaker demand in Finland and Asia, stronger long-haul competition and adverse exchange rates. He described the result as disappointing, and added: “We can definitely not be happy about it.”
Finnair is expecting a significant deterioration to its full-year turnover and profitability, after tumbling to a €23.9 million ($ 31.9 million) second-quarter net loss. The €23.9 million loss for the quarter ended June 30 marked a huge swing from the €18.1 million Q2 net profit posted a year ago. Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo blamed the decline on weaker demand in Finland and Asia, stronger long-haul competition and adverse exchange rates. He described the result as disappointing, and added: “We can definitely not be happy about it.”
BEIJING — Leading Chinese low-cost carrier (LCC) Spring Airlines is looking to introduce Airbus A330s to extend its reach beyond the capabilities of its A320s. In contrast to AirAsia in Southeast Asia, Spring is considering services to Europe and not limiting itself to Asia and Oceania.
A new report from a major industry group is calling for reforms to streamline air travel between Australia and New Zealand, although it appears a common border remains off the table.
While Australia’s international airline service has expanded rapidly in recent years, there are worrying signs that supply is outstripping demand, a senior government official says. This trend needs to be considered in government aviation policy, according to Mike Mrdak, secretary of the Australian Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. Rapid growth in international service is not necessarily desirable, and it is important that airlines operate profitably, Mrdak said during the recent CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit.
In a move that could eventually allow crew members to produce more revenue, JetBlue Airways said it will give each of its flight attendants iPad Minis that they can use to sell products while onboard aircraft.
Virgin America will temporarily suspend flights between San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale beginning next spring, when it adds three new frequencies from Dallas Love Field.
In the first major changes since it appointed a new CEO in May, Indian carrier Jet Airways will retire its JetLite and Jet Konnect subsidiary brands and integrate the two low-cost carriers (LCCs) into its full-service operations by year’s end.
Southwest Airlines is revealing where it plans to fly in Mexico through filings with the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) that support—or, with some caveats, do not object to—another airline’s plans in that country. United Airlines has applied for an exemption that would allow SkyWest, operating as United Express, to fly between Houston and Mexico City. United and its code-share partner, ExpressJet, already have the authority to fly the route, but United is asking the DOT to substitute SkyWest for ExpressJet.
Lufthansa’s planned new longhaul low-cost venture could clear a major hurdle within the next two months, as shareholders of leisure carrier Sun Express are getting closer to a decision on how to proceed with the project. The airline’s next board meeting could take place in mid-October; if Lufthansa wants to stick to its plan to launch the new affiliate by next year, it needs to make quick decisions.
