Etihad Airways is continuing to raise its ownership stake in Virgin Australia, which is now more than 56% owned by its overseas airline partners. In a notice to the Australian stockmarket, Etihad says it bought A$11.8 million ($10.9 million) worth of Virgin Australia shares from Sept. 4-12, lifting its stake by a little more than one percentage point to 13.4%. Etihad intends to boost its share of the Australian carrier to almost 20%, and has approval from local regulators to do so.
Willem Alexander Hondius, who was executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Air France-KLM low-cost subsidiary Transavia from 2005 to 2012, has been named CEO of Kenya Airways’ new low-cost carrier (LCC) Jambo Jet. Hondius joins the new airline from KLM, where he served as KLM’s general manager for Eastern Africa and project manager for Jambo Jet. Kenya Airways, which counts Air France-KLM as a shareholder, late last year received Jambo Jet’s air operator’s certificate and commercial license from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.
Thai Airways has removed its Airbus A330-300 from runway 19L at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. The aircraft on Sept. 8 slid off the runway after one of its landing gear bogies reportedly collapsed on landing. Of the 288 passengers and 14 crew, 13 sustained minor injuries during the evacuation. The aircraft’s proximity obstructed the runway, restricting its usable length.
Aer Lingus plans to cut short-haul capacity 3% in the fourth quarter, after the airline recorded lower than expected bookings and yields. The airline in a trading update says it will not be able to recover the volumes lost in July and August, when many potential passengers stayed at home because the weather was exceptionally good across large parts of Europe. Because of the weaker-than-expected demand, Aer Lingus cut its operating profit target for the full year from €69 million ($92 million) to €60 million.
The FAA says it recorded 41 “high-risk” airborne loss-of-separation incidents in fiscal year 2012, amounting to approximately one event for every 30,000 flights. The incidents, which did not lead to accidents, were selected using a new risk assessment process the FAA has in place to determine where best to put its safety resources in terms of mitigations.
Mesa Air Group, once the largest regional operator in North America, has signed a new deal with United Airlines to operate 30 Embraer 175. The agreement also includes an extension on the current contract for 20 Bombardier CRJ700 regional jets to 2019. Mesa will place the E-175 into service over the next two years. Mesa says it will hire about 350 pilots, 300 flight attendants and 200 maintenance and support personnel.
Click here to view the pdf Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: New York Newark - Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: New York Newark - Tel Aviv Ben Gurion United El Al Other
The still-being-finalized partnership between AJ Walter Aviation and Aviation Technical Services (ATS) could have its first customers by the time the joint venture is formally launched later this month, ATS executives tell Aviation Week. The companies on Aug. 16 announced a memorandum of understanding that would combine complimentary services and offer them under a common umbrella. Even though the venture’s details are set in stone, customers are showing interest in the potential offering.
A government and industry group operating under the auspices of the RTCA’s NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) on Sept. 19 will give the FAA a prioritized list of NextGen capabilities to help the agency navigate likely budget cuts caused by sequestration.
The three big European airline groups have been in restructuring mode for years. While International Airlines Group (IAG) has seen some improvement in the turnaround of Iberia, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are discovering that they need to do more to reach sustainable cost levels.
American Airlines’ proposed merger with US Airways yesterday received a boost after the Fort Worth-based carrier’s bankruptcy judge approved the consolidation plan. Judge Sean Lane’s approval, which was not a surprise, allows the airlines to proceed with their merger should they successfully defend against an anti-trust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ).
A radical conversion of an Avro RJ85 regional jet by firefighting company Conair Aviation has made its first flight. Canada-based Conair Aviation is one of four North American firefighting operators that have selected the British Aerospace BAe 146 and Avro RJ series of aircraft for the mission, but unlike the other three, the company has gone for a highly complex configuration attaching the water tank outside the pressure hull.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of September 11, 2013, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Airlines for America (A4A) Vice President of Environmental Affairs Nancy Young is confident that significant progress on a single, global market-based measures agreement for airlines will be made at the upcoming International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly.
The Croatian government in the coming weeks plans to formally launch the privatization process of loss-making national carrier Croatian Airlines The case is one of many in Southeastern Europe and reflects the difficult economic state of the region’s airlines. Etihad Airways only weeks ago agreed to buy 49% of JAT Airways in a deal that also renamed the operator Air Serbia, and Aria Airways is in the process of being sold by the Slovenian government, although unlike in the Croatia and Serbia cases, no obvious buyer has emerged.
In-flight broadband provider Gogo has launched a hybrid network solution for the North American market capable of delivering more than 60 Mbps to an aircraft, 20 times the speed of Gogo’s initial air-to-ground (ATG) product, which was launched five years ago. Launch customer Virgin America expects to begin flying with the new technology in the second half of 2014. The new service, Gogo Ground to Orbit (GTO), is expected to increase speeds by more than six times the company’s current enhanced ATG product, says Gogo.
When Alex de Gunten took over as executive director of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association 10 years ago, Latin America “was seen as an appendix of the world from an aviation perspective,” he says. Now the market is booming, ranking as one of the world’s fastest growing regions for air travel demand. But Latin American commercial aviation faces serious challenges to realizing its strong growth potential, de Gunten warned this week in a farewell address to the International Aviation Club in Washington. De Gunten will step down this week.
American Airlines and US Airways have slammed the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) arguments in their replies to the department’s efforts to block their proposed merger. In responses filed to the U.S. District Court in Washington late Sept. 10, the two carriers systematically refute the allegations made by the DOJ in its lawsuit. They also went a step further by heavily criticizing—at times almost ridiculing—the DOJ’s rationale for opposing the merger.
