Dubai-based Emirates Airline has been named JetBlue Airways’ first bilateral code-share partner. Pending regulatory approval, JetBlue will place its designator code on all Emirates flights between the U.S. and Dubai International Airport, as well as service between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Milan, Italy. Emirates will place its code on JetBlue services to 28 U.S. destinations, expanding a one-way code-share that started last year and a partnership that dates to a 2010 interline agreement.
India has approved a wide-ranging policy to create international and regional aviation hubs to encourage the development of local airlines and airports. With the policy, an inter-ministerial committee will be established to suggest measures to “remove bottlenecks to the coordination and promotion of the tourism sector, like issuing visas on arrival, currency exchange rules, immigration, and security checks,” says government Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari.
Airbus on May 17 will hand over the first A350-900, MSN001, to it’s flight-test department, industry sources tell Aviation Week. Once transferred to the flight-test department, the aircraft will undergo the last phases of ground testing, including high-speed taxi tests. Airbus will not comment on the exact timing of these tests. Sources familiar with the program say that it will take about 20 days to prepare the aircraft for first flight, although Airbus only will say that the aircraft will make its first flight “this summer.”
Air Lease is talking to manufacturers about accelerating the delivery of aircraft the Los Angeles-based leasing company has ordered from Airbus, Boeing and ATR, says CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy.
U.K. regional airline Flybe is in talks with several airlines about the sale of 25 daily slot pairs at London Gatwick Airport. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange on May 13, the Flybe board says it “is in discussions with a number of parties which may or may not lead to a transaction regarding the exchange for compensation payment of the arrival and departure slots at Gatwick Airport.” The airline stresses that there is no certainty that any transaction will be completed.
SkyWest Inc.’s ExpressJet Airlines subsidiary lost $25.5 million in the first quarter, nearly tripling its losses from the same quarter in 2012, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing by the U.S. regional airline holding company.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Antalya - Istanbul, May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Antalya - Istanbul, May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way
Thai carrier Nok Air next month plans to issue an initial public offering (IPO) to fund a fleet expansion. In a filing with Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission, the airline says 30% of its equity will be offered with the sale of 187.5 million ordinary shares, 125 million of which will be newly issued and 62.5 million from existing stock. Nok declines to confirm a price for the shares, which is still being determined. However, local media, citing industry sources, say the airline intends to raise 4.7-5.6 billion baht ($158-188 million).
Iberia’s new CEO Luis Gallego has overhauled the management structure at the distressed airline. The change eliminates general management units and reduces the number of directors reporting directly to the CEO from 11 to nine. New appointments include five managers from within the company and four from outside.
Signs of a power struggle at Turkish Airlines are emerging, and the carrier appears to have reversed an earlier plan to suspend CEO Temel Kotil. The airline is understood to have temporarily suspended Kotil on May 11, but the board of directors met May 13 and decided to keep Kotil in his position. In a statement the board said there was “no disagreement” among top management.
UPS has started equipping its entire Boeing 767 fleet with winglets and has contracted Aviation Partners Boeing, Delta TechOps and Evergreen Aviation Technologies to perform the retrofits. The cargo company operates 54 767s, and has five on order. UPS plans to have the winglets on all 767s by the end of 2014. Winglets are already installed on UPS’s Boeing 747 and MD-11 fleets, and it’s Airbus A300-600 fleet has been retrofitted with a wingtip fence.
Thailand’s long-haul travel market is set for a shake-up now that Malaysia’s AirAsia X’s is planning to launch a long-haul carrier. In its initial public offering prospectus, AirAsia X says it owns a 33% stake in Bangkok-based Thai AirAsia X, which was incorporated March 12. The airline will provide long-haul, low-cost airline services, says the filing.
May 12-14—International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) Asia 2013, Tokyo, Japan http://www.istat.org/p/cm/ld/fid=60 May 13—25th Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO), Lansdowne Gold Resort near Leesburg, Va., call 202-383-2358 or email: [email protected] May 13-15—31st Annual Texas Aviation Conference, Hilton Austin Hotel, Austin, Texas, www.tti.tamu.edu/conferences/tac13/ May 18-22—Latin American & Caribbean Airline and Suppliers Annual Meeting (ALTA CCMA), Panama City, Panama, www.alta.aero/ccma/2013/home.php
Mainline carrier mergers have led to shrinking or disappearing hubs. Rising fuel costs have sucked the profitability out of the 50-seat regional jet markets. The rapid increase in passenger count of the last 15 years is over. In short: The U.S. regional airline industry has to look outward for new opportunities to grow.
Controllers at the San Francisco, Houston and Memphis international airports will have a new tool to reduce delays starting May 15, May 20 and August 5, respectively, as part of a one-year FAA pilot program. Called wake turbulence mitigation for departures (WTMD), the program, under certain wind conditions, allows aircraft departing from closely spaced parallel runways (those less than 2,500 ft. apart laterally) to avoid the standard 2-3 min. wait time between departures.
International Airlines Group (IAG) has scrapped its profit forecast for the current year while it awaits shareholder approval for Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 787 orders made earlier this quarter. The parent of Iberia, British Airways and soon Vueling Airlines, expects its shareholders to approve the investment no sooner than October.
As other overseas carriers increase their investment in Virgin Australia, attention is shifting to Etihad Airways’ interest in the Australian operator. Etihad currently owns about 9% of Virgin Australia, but that is now dwarfed by the stakes of just under 20% held by both Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines. The latest to boost its share was Singapore Airlines, which recently acquired a 10% stake in Virgin Australia from the U.K.-based Virgin Group. This move increased market speculation that the sale would spur Etihad to boost its holding.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carrier: Istanbul - Izmir May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carrier: Istanbul - Izmir May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs (000) Share Seats/Dept.
A U.K. government committee has discarded plans to build a new hub airport to serve London in the Thames Estuary, and is now backing the expansion of Heathrow Airport. In a report on the U.K.’s aviation strategy, the cross-party group of parliamentarians said that a hub airport east of London would not be commercially viable without significant public investment in new infrastructure, and would only make sense if Heathrow closed. However, the committee also states that such a closure would be “unacceptable.”
