US Airways and American Airlines parent company AMR Corp. are now in formal negotiations on a possible merger. The U.S. carriers on Friday jointly announced that they have entered a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) “under which both companies have agreed to exchange certain confidential information and, in close collaboration with AMR’s Unsecured Creditors Committee, to work in good faith to evaluate a potential combination.” Deal Brokered
Startup Korongo Airlines, based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is looking to add routes in the Central African country after four months of operations. Korongo flies six weekly roundtrips between Lubumbashi and Kinshasa and four from Lubumbashi to Johannesburg. Once a week, the aircraft stays in Johannesburg overnight for maintenance. Most of the services are operated with a Boeing 737-300, while a BAe-146 is used in the Kinshasa-Lubumbashi market.
Grupo Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines have reached a tentative agreement to build a new, jointly operated aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center in Queretaro—instead of expanding the existing one at Guadalajara as previously planned—and expect it be fully operational by 2014. Under the memorandum of understanding signed by the carriers, they will move work currently being performed at Guadalajara International Airport to the new facility at Intercontinental Airport in Queretaro, next to that state’s Aerospace Park.
Jet Aviation, Zurich, appointed Kim Chan VP and head of Jet Aviation Asia and Stefan Benz VP-maintenance, repair and overhaul and fixed-base operations of its operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) plans for its 130-seat commercial narrowbody jet to enter the market in 2016-20, said its head, Mikhail Pogosyan, last week at the International Air Transport Forum in Ulyanovsk. The aircraft is intended as a link between the future stretched variant of Sukhoi’s Superjet 100 with 110-115 seats, and the smallest, 150-passenger version of the MS-21.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Dubai - Kuwait - August 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Dubai - Kuwait - August 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way
Airbus and the Chinese government appear close to announcing an extension of the narrowbody final assembly line at the Tianjin facility beyond the 2016 end of the original manufacturing agreement. According to industry sources, an official confirmation of the deal and its details is imminent and is expected as soon as today, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are scheduled to visit the Tianjin plant.
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) medium-haul, low-cost carrier Scoot is launching services to two cities in northeastern China, a sign that SIA group has placed a priority on further expansion into mainland China. Scoot CEO, Campbell Wilson, says the Boeing 777-200 operator on Nov. 27 will launch a three-times-weekly service linking Singapore, Shenyang and Qingdao. This will be the only service on the routing. Besides Qingdao and Shenyang, Scoot already serves Beijing’s port city of Tianjin with a nonstop flight from Singapore.
The FAA has reversed its position on mandating sign and graphics guidelines on projects funded by Airport Improvement Program (AIP) or passenger facility charges (PFCs), days after the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) argued that the provisions should be voluntary.
LAN has spent the last 2.5 years preparing for the delivery of its first Boeing 787s, but as of late July, all Justin Siegel, director of fleet projects, knew was that “we will be service-ready by August.” That is good, because the delivery date is today, Aug. 31. For the past couple of years, LAN has worked two major 787 projects in parallel. The first involved preparing for service and initiating training and the second is a 30-month effort to configure the cabin and establish specifications, says Siegel.
Bangkok-based Thai Airways International on Oct. 6 will operate its first Airbus A380 on nonstop routes to Hong Kong and Singapore, two months before placing the aircraft into long-haul service. The carrier will launch the long-haul service between Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Frankfurt Airport when it takes delivery of its second A380 in December, a spokeswoman tells Aviation Week. The airline has six A380s on order. Thai Airways currently operates Boeing 747-400s and 777s to Frankfurt, home of Star Alliance partner Lufthansa.
The first 12 domestic routes for United Airlines’ Boeing 787-8 fleet will all originate from Houston. United will place six routes into service this November and continue the rollout into early next year, with the last route scheduled for service in March 2013. The carrier last week announced its first international routes for its 787, which start in January.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of August 29, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
A government-industry committee drafting recommendations to improve the consistency of the FAA’s certification and approval processes is asking for input from aviation groups to help meet its year-end deadline. The Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) will offer an online survey to stakeholders until Sept. 25.
Air New Zealand is targeting new partnerships with other carriers as a cost-effective way to expand its network, although it is still looking to grow its own services in the key North American market. There are “discussions [occurring] with a number of other airlines,” said Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe during a review of the airline’s fiscal 2012 results. While he would not reveal which carriers these are, he says, “You can expect to see more–and potentially some quite significant–alliances and relationships established in the next 12 months.”
As many as 10 hedge funds are in talks with American Airlines about possibly funding the airline’s effort to emerge from Chapter 11 protection. The hedge funds are “substantial creditors” of American’s parent AMR Corp. that in April formed the Ad Hoc Group of AMR Corp. Creditors, the airline says in a court filing. “The Group has expressed an interest in participating in the formulation of a plan of reorganization and, in connection therewith, potentially providing for equity and other financings,” the airline says.
U.S. airlines face an additional $500 million in costs if proposed regulations are enacted into law, Airlines for America (A4A) says in its latest industry review. These new costs include $330 million from proposed training regulations, $150 million from airport hydrant fueling systems rules and $143 million from fuel-tank inerting regulations. Even more costs could be added from proposed rules governing the transport of lithium batteries, but A4A does not quantify the potential expense of such legislation.
The FAA has awarded Harris Corp. a 15-year, $291 million contract to provide a secure voice communication network for U.S. air traffic control facilities as part of the NextGen air transportation system. Company officials expect the program will proceed despite budget uncertainty on Capitol Hill. The system will replace the FAA’s aging system of voice switches with one based on Internet Protocols that will support communication among air traffic controllers, as well as air-to-ground communication between pilots and controllers.
