Latam Airlines Group today is scheduled to float close to three million shares on the Santiago Stock Exchange. These shares are part of a balance that remained after Latam was created earlier this year from the merger of LAN Airlines and Grupo TAM. In a complex financial deal, the shares of both carriers were delisted from Santiago’s and Sao Paulo’s stock exchanges and vested in a holding company, Holdco. Holdco then began trading on both bourses as shares of Latam Airlines Group.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers - Amsterdam: Dec 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers - Amsterdam: Dec 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures
General Electric (GE) is expected to announce a $4 billion purchase of Avio on Dec. 21, adding its long-time supplier and frequent risk-sharing partner in mechanical power transmissions and low-pressure turbines to a growing list of recent acquisitions and joint ventures designed to strengthen GE Aviation’s control over technology development. GE’s purchases of Avio components for civil and military engines makes it the Italian manufacturer’s biggest customer, but Avio has a customer base that extends throughout Europe.
Garuda Indonesia’s low-cost carrier Citilink has decided on a turboprop for its future fleet, but is withholding the announcement until next week. “Yes, we already decided at a shareholders meeting yesterday [Dec. 18], but I want to officially declare it after signing the letter-of-intent next week,” Citilink CEO, Arif Wibowo tells Aviation Week in a statement. Garuda is Citilink’s sole shareholder.
African carrier Fastjet has signed an option to buy insolvent South African low-fare airline 1time. After the deal is confirmed, flight operations are to be resumed with an initial fleet of up to three MD-80s, but Fastjet says the re-launch will not occur until early 2013. Fastjet would pay a nominal price of ZAR1 ($0.12) for the grounded airline.
American Airlines is clarifying CEO Tom Horton’s stance on a possible merger with US Airways, and is dismissing speculation that Horton’s vision for the airline “does not preclude the idea of merging, either now or down the road.” The message to pilots from VP Flight John Hale is among the strongest signals yet that management is considering a merger with US Airways.
The International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO’s) high-level working group on climate change, which met last week in Montreal, will reconvene in January, several months earlier than previously expected, Aviation Week has learned.
Higher-capacity aircraft and increases in connecting traffic have lengthened turn times at Southwest Airlines, which once prided itself on being able to get planes back in the air with another group of passengers in as little as 10 min. after landing.
Singapore Technologies (ST) Engineering, the parent company of ST Aerospace, has entered into an agreement to buy Volant Aerospace, a company headquartered in Burlington, Wash., that specializes in aircraft interiors. The agreement stipulates that ST Engineering will buy 100% of Volant for $13.1 million, “subject to post-closing adjustments,” says ST Engineering, adding that it hopes to complete the transaction by the end of this month.
Qatar and the Dominican Republic (DR) this week signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a new bilateral air services agreement. The DR’s top civil aviation official Luis Paulino Rodriguez Ariza and his Qatari counterpart Ibrahim Abdul Qader signed the MOU after two days of negotiations in Santo Domingo. Talks began in 2010, but did not progress until this week, the Junta de Aviacion Civil de Republica Dominicana (JAC) says in a statement.
Virgin American is targeting Asian carriers for code-share deals as it seeks to expand its international partnerships, a senior executive tells Aviation Week.
A Dec. 17 article on the FAA’s review of the inflight use of portable electronic devices should have stated that the agency regulates this usage during all stages of flight for safety reasons, and that the Federal Communications Commission bans inflight cell phone use due to radio spectrum issues. The FAA also restricts, not bans, the use of electronic devices below 10,000 ft.
Pinnacle Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association on pay, retirement, and other cost concessions as the struggling regional carrier restructures under Chapter 11. The announcement comes shortly after Delta Air Lines, which is financing the restructuring, provided Pinnacle with an extension through mid-January to reach an agreement with the union. A spokesman for Pinnacle would not comment on the terms of the pilot concessions, which are subject to a vote in January.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has ordered 20 additional ATR aircraft for its regional subsidiaries, with options for 16 more. Of the 36 orders and options, MAS turboprop operations Firefly and MASwings will be allocated 20 and 16 aircraft respectively, Firefly CEO Ignatius Ong tells Aviation Week. He says first deliveries will be in the second quarter of 2013. All the new aircraft are understood to be ATR 72-600s, ATR’s newest model.
Air Canada’s new low-cost division will launch in July with a route network that adds two markets in Italy and Scotland to the Canadian operator’s Toronto schedule while also assuming two European services currently provided by the mainline carrier and several Caribbean destinations sold through Air Canada Vacations.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers - Frankfurt. Dec 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers - Frankfurt. Dec 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures AirportShare ASMs(mil) AirportShare Seats /Dept.
The Welsh government has entered negotiations to buy Cardiff Airport from the current owners, TBI. The airport, which serves the Welsh capital, has been struggling with low passenger numbers because of strong competition from airports in nearby English cities, such as Bristol and Birmingham. As a result, airlines have been reluctant to launch new services in Cardiff, although Vueling and Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings are adding routes into the airport in 2013.
Etihad Airways is acquiring a 70% stake in Air Berlin’s frequent flyer program, which will be placed into a separate company, Topbonus Ltd. Under the arrangement, which was first revealed in early December, Air Berlin will own 30% of the company, which will be registered in the U.K. but operated from Germany. The €184.4 million ($243.4 million) generated from the transaction will allow Air Berlin to post an annual profit for 2012, its first in five years.
