Delta Air Lines expects its Trainer, Pa., oil refinery to be profitable this year, but the carrier already has realized fuel-price benefits from the amount of jet fuel the facility has kept in the market. The Trainer facility lost $46 million in the fourth quarter and $116 million for the full year 2013, Delta Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said last month. But the refinery had a positive effect on Delta’s fuel bill, at about $0.03 per gallon for the full year.
The firm order backlog for the Airbus A350-800 is shrinking further, after Aircraft Purchase Fleet cancelled a commitment for 12 aircraft, according to Airbus’s latest orders and deliveries statistics. Aircraft Purchase Fleet is a vehicle set up for Alitalia aircraft financing and acquisition. But given the shaky financial state of that airline, the order has looked doubtful for some time. Airbus also has been actively encouraging its customers to switch to larger A350 versions.
AirAsia says it will not move from the existing Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) until the terminal and runway/apron at Malaysia’s new flagship Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) facility are all fully certified as operational, no matter how long that takes.
Following the departure of US Airways and TAM, the Star Alliance is looking at ways to restore its presence in Latin America, specifically in Brazil. “We may need a second carrier in Brazil,” Star CEO Mark Schwab told Aviation Week on the sidelines of the recent Phoenix aviation symposium. Talks with Azul, currently a regional carrier based in Campinas, continue, according to industry sources.
Air France-KLM will decide on replacements for KLM Cityhopper’s 19 Fokker 70s in the fourth quarter of this year from among four competing regional airframers—ATR, Bombardier, Embraer and Mitsubishi Aircraft, says KLM Cityhopper Managing Director Boet Kreiken.
Iberia franchise partner Air Nostrum is nearing the completion of reorganization of its shareholding structure, including a capital increase of €25 million ($34.4 milllion), which will see CEO Carlos Bertomeu becoming the main shareholder and two private investors acquiring a stake in the carrier. The search for new investors started last year, and led to speculation that Etihad Airways was also interested in taking a stake in the Valencia-based regional airline.
Lufthansa and its pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) are no closer to resolving a dispute over early retirement provisions as the second day of what has turned into essentially a full grounding of the airline ends. Lufthansa was forced to cancel 3,800 of around 4,300 planned flights over a three-day period. The airline plans to resume operations on Saturday morning April 5 (local time), aiming at operating as normal a schedule as possible. The carrier is estimated to have taken a €50 million ($68.5 million) hit to profits because of the walkout.
The highly competitive Hawaii-Australasia market is heating up further, with Qantas subsidiary Jetstar introducing a new widebody route between Brisbane and Honolulu. The Qantas Group is competing with Hawaiian Airlines and its code-share partner Virgin Australia in the Hawaii market. Hawaiian has also been pushing into the New Zealand market, where it vies with Air New Zealand. Jetstar's new Airbus A330 service is scheduled to begin Dec. 14, subject to government approval. It will operate three times a week in peak season, and twice a week off-peak.
Iberia franchise partner Air Nostrum is nearing the completion of reorganization of its shareholding structure, including a capital increase of €25 million ($34.4 milllion), which will see CEO Carlos Bertomeu becoming the main shareholder and two private investors acquiring a stake in the carrier. The search for new investors started last year, and led to speculation that Etihad Airways was also interested in taking a stake in the Valencia-based regional airline.
Passenger traffic worldwide grew in February, with international demand growing strongly in the Middle East and domestic demand expanding in the BRIC economies, data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show.
The global landscape of hubs is going to shift significantly toward fewer and larger hubs, senior airline executives at the Phoenix Aviation Symposium argue, driven by fuel prices and new competitors.
The spectacle of the controversial legislation including aviation in the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) is nearing its finale, at least for now, with the European Parliament endorsing the compromise proposal to prolong scope of the one-year ‘Stop the Clock’ provision. Only flights operated within the European Economic Area (EAA) will be covered until the end of 2016. The EEA comprises the EU’s 28 members plus Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein.
Irish regional carrier Stobart Air, formerly Aer Arann, has inked a five-year franchise agreement with flybe covering two aircraft and six European routes. Stobart Air, which already performs franchise flights for Aer Lingus under Aer Lingus Regional branding, said the new contract will create 50 new jobs taking its total headcount to 420 staff.
With the opening of its new facility in Shah Alam, Malaysia, Swiss MRO specialist SR Technics has taken its first step into the burgeoning Southeast Asian maintenance market. The company, which offers heavy maintenance for European low-cost carrier Ryanair out of its Malta-based facility, says it is putting its toe in the water in Asia with less sophisticated products and straight component repair initially—but it has not ruled out a possible expansion into more sophisticated aspects of MRO for its operations in the region.
United Airlines says the cost of swapping Boeing 737NG autothrottle computers will be higher than the FAA’s estimate of $85 per operator for an hour of labor, because avionics supplier GE will not provide the software upgrade free of charge “despite this being a safety and reliability issue.”
Kulula, the low-cost subsidiary of South African carrier Comair, is eyeing potential codeshare opportunities as it looks to attract more corporate travelers. “We would like to move our [kulula] product so it has more appeal for the corporate market, using ancillaries. We won’t have a business class – we will steer away from that for a little while,” Comair CEO Erik Venter told Aviation Week affiliate Air Transport World.
