AirAsia’s medium- and long-haul carrier AirAsia X in April plans to launch daily, nonstop service from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, a route it has tried to obtain for years.
Airlines are becoming seriously concerned about their profitability, according to the latest airline business confidence index compiled by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In the survey, 63% of respondents reported a decline in profitability in the past three months, and 52% of them expect profits to be down next year as well. IATA says that report is “concurrent with the expected weak economic backdrop.”
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. is continuing to try to negotiate a 5% pay cut for all of its union employees and might need an answer this month to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection.
WestJet is confirming plans to launch a subsidiary operating 40 or so turboprops and may start service as soon as next year. Few details are being disclosed, although WestJet Chairman Clive Beddoe says the new airline will be a separate entity, rather than an extension of the Boeing 737 operator’s current fleet. Like WestJet, the new airline will operate only one aircraft type, although WestJet is not saying which airframe it intends to use.
Virgin Australia plans to introduce widebody service on more key domestic routes when it receives additional Airbus A330-200s in May. The carrier already operates two leased A330s, formerly owned by Emirates, on domestic routes. Its first two new A330s are expected to arrive in April, a Virgin Australia spokeswoman says.
The European Union reiterated that it will consider exempting inbound flights from its emissions trading system (ETS) if the U.S. implements equivalent market-based measures. Until then, the EU will continue to include international flights in the ETS, Siim Kallas, vice president of the European Commission, and Connie Hedegaard, commissioner for climate action, wrote in a Jan. 16 letter obtained by Aviation Week.
Although premium traffic grew by 0.6% worldwide in November from October, the market contracted by 2.6% from the high of May 2011, and the overall seat mix is worse for the airlines, pushing yields down, new data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show. Economy-class travel fell in November, down 1.1% from October; however, it is up 3% from October 2010, continuing a trend toward stronger economy-class traffic than premium-class traffic, IATA says.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will choose from a series of market-based measures to mitigate global aviation’s carbon dioxide emissions by the end of this year, Secretary General Raymond Benjamin said yesterday in Washington.
With its first major Chapter 11 deadline looming, AMR Corp. surprisingly has retained most of its leased fleet, although it signals there are more changes to come. The Fort Worth-based carrier has 60 days from its Nov. 29 filing to issue notices to creditors that it is rejecting its leases. While the company can still address its fleet size at any time through the court-protected reorganization, this is a period usually used to offload aircraft an airline deems superfluous.
After a review of the latest round of tests of the GPS interference potential of LightSquared’s proposed wireless network, the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee has found “both LightSquared’s original and modified [plans] would cause harmful interference to many GPS receivers.”
The arrival of two more Airbus A380s last month is enabling Qantas to introduce the aircraft on its Sydney-Hong Kong route, as well as boosting A380 service in other markets. The aircraft are the 11th and 12th A380s for Qantas. The carrier is not receiving any A380s this year, and the next two are not due until early 2013, an airline spokesman says.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: New York City - San FranciscoYear Ended Second Quarter 2011, Ranked By Passengers Top Carriers: New York City - San Francisco Year Ended Second Quarter 2011, Ranked By Passengers Pax Daily Pax Rev
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is getting ready to sell parts of its aging fleet in an effort to raise cash and make way for new aircraft on order. The national airline’s parent, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (PMB), has advertised on the PMB website that it has an Airbus A330-300 available for sale. The Pratt & Whitney-powered aircraft, manufacturer’s serial number 073, is currently flying with MAS and was built in March 1995, PMB says. The aircraft is due for a C check on Jan. 20 and a D check on Jan. 17, 2015, it adds.
U.S. and international airlines are pushing back against a proposed U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) rule they say would force them to spend about $350 million to provide kiosks and websites that are easier for disabled customers to use, especially travelers with sight or hearing impairments. For foreign carrier websites, the proposed rules would apply only to web pages advertising or selling flights in the U.S. The kiosk requirements would apply to all U.S. airports with 10,000 or more enplanements per year.
India’s federal cabinet is likely to meet this week to decide whether to allow foreign airlines to buy stakes in Indian carriers, a senior civil aviation ministry official said. “The committee of secretaries has already recommended raising the FDI [foreign direct investment] limits in the sector,” said Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh. The panel of ministers also is expected to consider allowing India’s carriers to import jet fuel directly.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact: Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) Feb. 1-2—MRO Middle East 2012, Dubai, United Arab Emirates March 7—54th Annual Laureate Awards, Washington March 13-14—Innovation Supply Chain Showcase, Orlando, Fla. April 3-5—MRO Americas 2012, Dallas April 3-5—MRO Military Conference & Exhibition, Dallas Nov. 29-Dec. 1—Certification Together-AeroConseil, Toulouse
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Boston - Washington/Baltimore, Year Ended Second Quarter 2011, Ranked By Passengers Top Carriers: Boston - Washington/Baltimore, Year Ended Second Quarter 2011, Ranked By Passengers Pax Daily Each Way Pax Share
U.S. officials Friday sought more detail on how the EU has complied with last summer’s World Trade Organziation (WTO) ruling that an array of illegal state subsidies to Airbus must be withdrawn. The EU, in a document submitted Dec. 1, said it had complied with the WTO’s filings, a claim the U.S. dismissed as “not substantiated in any way.” The next step could be arbitration if the U.S. is not satisfied with the EU’s explanation, which the two sides met to discuss Friday in Geneva.
