United Continental Holdings’ passenger unit revenue continued to grow in July albeit at a rates lower than in most of the year’s preceding months. The 7.5-8.5% growth in both consolidated and mainline passenger revenue per available seat mile in July, however, is judged against a banner 2010, when Continental Airlines and United Airlines both posted PRASM growth above 20%.
Overall freight traffic moving through European airports in June fell 4.6% year-over-year, raising questions about the future, as cargo movements typically reflect the state of the economy. “The sudden dip in freight traffic is a worrying development,” says Olivier Jankovec, director general of Airports Council International-Europe. He attributes the decline to higher fuel costs and company destocking in many sectors. Compounding the effect of these developments is weakening business activity in Europe and the U.S.
German ATC provider DFS is asking a local court to block a strike by controllers scheduled for Aug. 9. DFS says the walkout is illegal because some union demands touch on agreements that are not up for negotiation. DFS was successful with a similar move last week, but the GdF union has since dropped two demands that were the basis for the court’s decision. GdF called for a six-hr. walkout that would start at 6 a.m. local time. DFS could still avoid the strike by calling for arbitration.
The Boeing 717 aircraft now in the Southwest Airlines fleet because of its AirTran Airways acquisition will begin to come off lease in 2018, Southwest says. The timing is significant because Southwest Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly revealed last week that the low-cost carrier does not plan to keep the 717s in its fleet after the leases expire (Aviation Daily, Aug. 5). Southwest has 88 of the 717s in its 694-aircraft fleet, which otherwise consists solely of Boeing 737s, and 80 of those 717s are on lease. The last of the 717 leases expires in 2024.
A global tender for operating helicopter services in the hilly terrain of an Indian state will soon be floated. The landlocked northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which has seen a spate of recent helicopter crashes, has decided to invite proposals from airline companies in India and abroad to reintroduce helicopter services, which were suspended in May. The state government will take appropriate measures to ensure that only helicopters with advanced technology and good flying records operate in the state, Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin says.
Lion Air, Indonesia’s largest airline, plans to transform little-known carrier Berjaya Air into a low-cost carrier for Malaysia. The Berjaya Group tells the Malaysia stock exchange that Lion Air will own 49% and it will retain 51%, with the deal expected to be concluded in the second half of the year. It says the Berjaya Group and Lion will participate in a rights issue to raise 60 million ringgit ($20 million) to recapitalize the airline.
Korean Air is the first airline to operate a scheduled Airbus A380 flight from New York John F. Kennedy Airport to Seoul Aug. 9 on an aircraft that will debut in-cabin innovations and revenue-making opportunities.
AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) have suspended their shares pending an announcement, anticipated to be a share swap involving some of the carriers’ shareholders. Yesterday, the companies asked that their shares be suspended temporarily pending an announcement without elaborating on what the announcement would be.
All Nippon Airways will initiate scheduled services with the airline industry’s first Boeing 787-8 in October on a couple of domestic routes, but by the end of next March it could shift its emphasis to long-haul international routes, either to the U.S. or Europe. “We’re discussing moving to international early,” Senior Executive VP Mitsuo Morimoto said Aug. 6, as the airline celebrated the “livery rollout” of the first airplane it will receive, ZA101, the eighth unit built.
Lao Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airbus to buy two A320s “white tails” originally destined for Libya. These white tails were built for Libyan national carrier Afriqiyah Airways which suspended operations when NATO forces on March 19 started imposing a no fly-zone over the country.
Airbus has added 145 aircraft to its order book in July, bringing the gross order intake for the year to 922 units with cancellations remaining at 137 aircraft. Half of the 260 Airbus narrowbodies American Airlines said last month it would order have now hit the aircraft maker’s order book (Boeing also booked parts of its deal with American). The aircraft now booked are all A321NEOs (new engine options).
Now that the U.S. Senate has agreed to put thousands of FAA and construction workers back on the job, the Internal Revenue Service is scrambling to deal with the issue of excise taxes. Airline passengers who paid excise taxes before the FAA shutdown on July 23 and traveled after that date will not get a refund, and taxes will start being charged again on Aug. 8.
U.S. President Harry S. Truman campaigned in 1948 against a “Do Nothing Congress.” One wonders what he would think of today’s lawmakers. A dispute on Capitol Hill about funding for the FAA idled 4,000 civil servants and 70,000 workers in airport-related construction jobs on July 23. Other FAA employees worked without pay, planning to collect when their agency’s budget is approved. With 74,000 voters out of work, one would have expected lawmakers to work overtime to reach a compromise and restore funding. Not this Congress.
Senators may have reached an agreement to reopen the FAA, but when Congress returns the first week of September lawmakers will have just 10 days to pass a new extension. Already, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is taking a hard line on negotiations on the underlying FAA reauthorization bill, where the House and Senate remain at odds over a controversial labor provision, airport funding and the number of flights at Reagan Washington National Airport.
Germany’s air traffic controllers plan to go on strike some time this week after suddenly deciding not to walk off their jobs Aug. 4, as originally planned. Air traffic control provider Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) legally challenged the planned industrial action, and its request was approved by a local court. The GdF union challenged the decision, but decided late on Aug. 3 to cancel the strike because airlines would not have had time to prepare themselves.
The Airbus/Boeing duopoly in the narrowbody market is being challenged by Comac, Irkut and Bombardier, but it is too soon to tell if these potential rivals will be successful, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service.
Fokker Services will be providing aircraft component support for Australia’s Alliance Airlines, one of the largest Fokker operators in the world. The Dutch maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company says it has secured a contract from Alliance that resulted from “a comprehensive tender Alliance issued to identify a core group of component support suppliers to provide repair services, on the basis of fixed price and turnaround time, ensuring predictability of cost and parts availability.”
Lufthansa Technik Group , Hamburg, shuffled several top executive positions: Burkhard Andrich, senior VP-engine services, will become senior VP-aircraft component services; he will be succeeded by Johannes Bussmann, currently senior VP-aircraft component services; Stephan Drewes, VP-engine overhaul at Hamburg, will become CEO of LT Malta, replacing Aloysius Giordimaina, who will retire but continue in Malta as a member of the Supervisory Board; Drewes' former role will be assumed by Bernhard Krueger-Sprengel, currently CEO of LT Philippines, where he will be succeeded by
Click here to view the pdf Top Nonstop Airport Pairs: Canada-U.S., 12 Months Ending November 2010, Ranked By ASMs Onboard ASMs % Chg. Seats Per Load Market (Metr
