Indonesia’s minister for state-owned enterprises, Dahlan Iskan, has threatened to shut down Merpati Nusantara, the country’s second national carrier. Merpati’s losses over the years have reached the point where the ministry now has to consider closing the airline down, Dahlan told reporters in Jakarta.
Kenya Airways might launch its long-awaited low-cost carrier (LCC) Jambo Jet in the third quarter, although the venture still needs board approval, Kenya Airways Group CEO Titus Naikuni tells Aviation Week. “We have completed a business case analysis and concluded that a LCC is viable. There is demand for low-cost travel between certain cities in Africa,” he said in an exclusive interview.
Avianca could extend the leases on its fleet of Airbus A330-200s for several more years to grow its long-haul operation. The airline originally intended to replace the A330 fleet with the Boeing 787-8, of which it has 10 on order. But CEO Fabio Villegas tells Aviation Week that the carrier is now looking at ways to secure a stronger widebody presence in its key markets.
The White House is renewing its push for a $100-per-flight air traffic control user charge, but unlike in past years, the Obama administration also proposes the creation of a commission to develop recommendations to implement or supplant the fee with other charges. The reintroduction of the $100 user fee was widely expected even though more than half of the Republican-controlled House last week in a letter urged President Barack Obama to drop the proposal.
The FAA’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget of $15.6 billion cuts $351 million from fiscal 2012’s actual level largely by trimming airport grants, a move that failed in recent years. The budget, released yesterday by the Obama administration, includes $9.7 billion for operations, $2.8 billion for facilities and equipment (F&E), $166 million for research and development, and $2.9 billion for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund-backed Airport Improvement Program (AIP).
The Obama administration’s fiscal 2014 budget plan halves its previously proposed cuts to federal grants for airport improvements by narrowing the reduction’s impact primarily to large hub airports. But the administration also wants to impose a new cost on airports, and it still is counting on an unlikely increase in the airport passenger facility charge (PFC) to help offset the reduction in grant money.
AirAsia X will decide very soon which maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company to select for Airbus A330 heavy checks. CEO Azran Osman-Rani says the carrier has some A330s due for heavy maintenance checks this year. AirAsia X traditionally sends its A330s to Lufthansa Technik Philippines. Azran, however, says he is considering giving the work to Sepang Aircraft Engineering (SAE), provided the company is licensed to perform A330 heavy checks.
Virgin Atlantic is “evaluating the possibility of entering into the SkyTeam Alliance,” the U.K. carrier and Delta Air Lines say in their joint application to the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) for antitrust immunity. The application, however, does not provide any detail regarding a timetable for that decision or include any other elaboration.
Boeing has pledged to double its factory investment at its 787 factory in North Charleston, S.C., and to add another 2,000 jobs in exchange for a transportation infrastructure and tax incentive deal that began working its way through the state legislature earlier this week.
Top Carrier: Melbourne - Sydney, April 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carrier: Melbourne - Sydney, April 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs (000) Share Seats/Dept.
The Essential Air Service (EAS) program would receive a $246 million slice of Obama administration’s fiscal 2014 budget if the figures proposed yesterday by the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) hold up, giving the program a 27% boost from 2012’s $193 million actual budget. DOT proposed allocating $146 million in Airport and Airway Trust Fund-sourced discretionary appropriation and another $100 million in foreign carrier overflight fees to EAS.
A coalition of airline groups believes industry is putting more money into Customs and Border Protection (CBP) than it is receiving in services because other transportation sectors are underpaying, setting the stage for a battle over CBP funding and allocation of services. The coalition is led by Airlines for America, the International Air Transport Association and Airports Council International-North America.
Hawaiian Airlines has finally announced plans to launch its first Chinese route, a move it has often signaled that it wanted to make but was waiting for the right time. Beijing will be the latest international Asia-Pacific destination added by Hawaiian, with three weekly flights beginning on April 16, 2014. The carrier will use Airbus A330-200s, once the service is granted government approvals.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) has picked up 18 co-sponsors so far on a bill, “Protect Our Skies Act,” that would prohibit FAA from pulling funding from both contract and federally run air traffic control towers. The bill, while not yet introduced, is expected to include stronger protections than those contained in Moran’s failed amendment to limit the FAA’s cuts in the contract tower program to 5%, the same as in other sequestration reductions.
International Airlines Group (IAG) is close to acquiring Barcelona-based Vueling Airlines after the low-cost carrier’s board of directors approved a new takeover bid. The board’s approval recommended that shareholders accept IAG’s late March offer of €9.25 ($12.08) a share, which marked a 32% premium on the €7-per-share offer previously dismissed by the same board. IAG’s revised offer also sought a smaller investment in Vueling than the initial bid, although IAG still wants a majority stake in the Spanish airline.
Medium-haul low-cost carrier AirAsia X has applied to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange and plans to almost double its fleet this year; it also is understood to be planning to start an airline in Bangkok.
A growing number of lawmakers are urging the FAA to consider alternatives to pulling funding for 149 contract towers. FAA plans to eliminate funding for the towers as part of its effort to slash $637 million from the remainder of its fiscal 2013 budget, but on April 5 postponed the funding cutoff date until June 15.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Fukuoka - Tokyo Haneda, April 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Fukuoka - Tokyo Haneda, April 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs (000) Share Seats /Dept.
Taiwan carrier EVA Air, which already is buying Boeing 777-300ERs, is considering the Boeing 777X and Boeing 787-10. “Both types are on our shopping list, and we are waiting for Boeing to reveal more information with respect to the 787-10 and 777X when the programs are launched,” EVA’s top management says in a statement in response to a query from Aviation Week.
