/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2014/07/avd_07_30_2014_cht2.pdf Top 20 City Pairs Latin America Domestic only 2013 Rank City Pair Total Seats Seats Added Seats Change CAGR 2004 - 2013 1 Rio de Janeiro - Sao Paulo 14,166,947 877,350 3.3% 1.8% 2 Brasilia - Sao Paulo 5,472,726 129,905 1.2% 3.5% 3 Belo Horizonte - Sao Paulo 5,195,402 809,872 9.2% 3.9% 4 Porto Alegre - Sao Paulo 4,986,258 83,518 0.9% 5.3%
Following a landmark decision by the Australian Senate Chamber to allow changes to government restrictions on the ownership of the national flag carrier, Qantas is said to be looking at a potential split of its operations into international and domestic.
Singapore-based MRO ST Aerospace (STA) has extended its TRUEngine authorized maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider license for CFM56 turbofan engines. The agreement should help bolster Singapore’s position in the increasingly competitive regional MRO market. The deal is further indication of Singapore’s commitment to developing itself into a major aviation MRO hub, as indicated by Singapore Economic Development Board Managing Director Yeoh Keat Chuan.
Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris eased its 2014 losses in the second quarter, reporting a net loss of MXP75 million ($6 million), narrowed from the company’s first-quarter net loss of MXP370 million. The second-quarter net loss, however, is a reversal from the MXP173 million net profit Volaris posted in the year-ago June quarter.
Royal Jordanian (RJ) will further slim down its network as part of its restructuring plan aimed at bringing the airline back to profitability and making operations sustainable in the wake of continuing unrest in the region and cutthroat competition with the larger, better-funded Gulf carriers. The Amman-based airline will pull out of India and stop services to Delhi and Mumbai on Sept. 10 and Oct. 31, respectively. It is also shutting down its route to Lagos, Nigeria, starting Oct. 10. The new cuts will narrow RJ’s global network to 51 destinations.
EasyJet remains confident that building a market-leading position at London’s Gatwick airport provides a platform to deliver growth and sustainable return, but the low-cost carrier’s strong capacity hike at the airport has weighed on its performance for the fiscal quarter that ended June 30.
Air France-KLM will begin negotiating with pilot unions in France about changing the scope clause at Transavia to allow more growth and to head off competition from low-cost carriers.
Privately held Virgin America signaled its intent to go public by filing a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 28 for an initial public offering (IPO) of its stock. The registration statement does not indicate when an IPO would occur nor the price and quantity of shares to be offered, but names Barclays and Deutsche Bank as underwriters for the IPO.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has sent its fourth letter to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro petitioning airlines to repatriate funds, now estimated to be $4.1 billion, at the original exchange rate. To date, Venezuela has allowed the repatriation of $425 million to airlines, but the country also is offering to allow airlines — and other companies — to repatriate funds at a much lower exchange rate than the 6.3 bolivars to the dollar at which the revenues were accrued.
More passengers, higher average fares, an improved seat-load factor, higher revenues and a surge in profits marked Ryanair’s performance in the quarter ending June 30 as Europe’s largest low-cost carrier is reaping the benefits of its strategy to improve service levels and focus a large part of its growth on primary airports.
As its integration with Air Tran Airways nears completion, Southwest Airlines says it is evaluating 50 new destinations in Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and Northern South America, all of which it says are within the range of its Boeing 737 fleet.
The congressional mandate that FAA impose drug and alcohol testing standards on some workers at foreign repair stations has the agency between a rock and a hard place: opponents say the requirements would be unnecessary or illegal, while many U.S.-based entities believe the playing field can’t be leveled soon enough.
