SINGAPORE — Troubled Malaysian flag carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has turned in more dismal figures in its latest financial report, signaling a Ringgit443 million ($137 million) loss for the first quarter of 2014.
While some industry observers wonder if demand will sustain the rapid new-airplane build rates and growing backlogs, lessor Air Lease Corp. is having the opposite problem—customers are snapping up on-order aircraft earlier, posing questions about how far in advance lessors should tie up their future assets.
BRUSSELS — Spain’s Air Europa and Aerolineas Argentinas plan to begin codesharing July 1 on flights between Madrid and Buenos Aires as both carriers are unlocking more benefits from their SkyTeam membership. The cooperation will improve the two airlines’ position on the route, which also is served by Oneworld member Iberia with Airbus A340 equipment.
Singapore Airlines is cutting two of its four Middle East destinations, more evidence that competing against the big three Gulf carriers in their backyard is becoming increasingly difficult. Singapore will stop its service to Riyadh/Saudi-Arabia and Cairo/Egypt at the end of September. “The difficult decision to suspend the services was taken as a result of the sustained weak performance of both routes,” Singapore Airlines says.
Capital Airlines is the latest Chinese mainland carrier to move towards conversion to budget mode, following government policy encouraging low-cost operations. The Beijing-based airline is also dropping out of the frequent-flyer program of affiliate Hainan Airlines, in a move evidently intended to cut costs. The conversion has been announced internally but its timing is uncertain, say industry officials.
Southwest Airlines has begun revealing the details of how it will move AirTran Airways’ customers to its loyalty program, which would wrap up one of the major outstanding issues in the airlines’ merger.
The company that runs Sydney’s main airport appears willing to exercise its right to build and operate a second airport for the city, although it will be several months before it makes a decision. The Australian government last month announced the site for the second airport, and it wants construction work to begin as soon as 2016. However, under a previous agreement, Sydney Airport Corporation has first right of refusal for developing and operating any such facility.
Air Canada’s plan to trim costs while boosting its product offerings is getting a lift from the carrier’s decision to keep flying 25 Embraer 190s rather than replace them with new narrowbodies.
A Jan. 16 hard landing of a Virgin Atlantic A320-200 at the London Heathrow airport followed a procedure change to use less than full landing flaps at airports with longer runways, UK accident investigators report. The aircraft was one of four A320s Virgin Atlantic wet-leases from Aer Lingus to operate an intra-UK service called Little Red. Launched in April 2013, Little Red flies between Heathrow and Manchester, Aberdeen and Edinburgh using aircraft in Virgin Atlantic livery but crews from Aer Lingus.
KAZAKHSTAN—Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, will start services to Greek and Spanish destinations following its April removal from the EU’s suspended airlines list. The airline will initially operate summer charter flights from Almaty and Astana to holiday destinations in Southern Europe in June 2014. The first routes, using Airbus 320 and Boeing 757-200 and 767-300ER aircraft, will serve Rhodes and Heraklion in Greece, and Barcelona in Spain in addition to its current flights to London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
