Indian start-up Star Aviation plans to launch services next year with a fleet of Embraer E-jets just ordered by parent company ETA Star Group. ETA Star, which is part of a larger Dubai-based conglomerate, placed a firm order for seven E-170 jets, Embraer revealed yesterday, adding that deliveries will start next year. The firm order is valued at $220.5 million at list price. If ETA’s three E-170 options and purchase rights for five aircraft from the E-Jet family are confirmed, this list value rises to $472.5 million, Embraer says.
Other major U.S. airlines are likely to make additional capacity cuts, following word yesterday from American announcing the largest capacity cut of any of the U.S. carriers for what is shaping up as a savage fourth quarter.
The Airbus A350XWB is heavier than targeted, says a German press report. Financial daily Handelsblatt reported that the current A350XWB weight exceeds targets by eight tons. Airbus confirmed the A350 is currently overweight but said steps are being taken to cut the weight and fulfill performance guarantees to customers.
Slovak low-fare airline Sky Europe is opening a fourth base in Kosice, Slovakia. The airline will base one of its 15 Boeing 737s there and add a route to Manchester to five routes already operated from the airport. Bratislava-based Sky Europe has been struggling financially for some time and recently cut capacity at Vienna airport, one of its other three bases. In Vienna, Austrian Airlines is aggressively fighting the carrier on prices, much like local low-fare rival FlyNiki
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to promote mutual cooperation of civil aviation between the two organizations. With demand for air travel rising, the Indian government is pushing airport development for 35 non-metro airports. A recent move has also liberalized its policy on greenfield airports by allowing building of airports within a distance of 150 kilometers from an existing airport.
Oil prices have risen so high they threaten to choke off demand for new aircraft as financially battered airlines hunker down in survival mode. Conventional wisdom has held that more expensive oil bolsters demand for new aircraft by encouraging carriers to replace their older gas guzzlers with new jets that are less costly to operate. But with crude hitting a record $133 a barrel on Wednesday, a London-based team of Credit Suisse analysts concludes that prices have passed the tipping point from being a stimulant of aircraft demand to being a drag.
Pilots at three Lufthansa affiliates went on a surprise strike yesterday, forcing the group to cancel 66 flights. The two hour walk-out affected services at Lufthansa’s fully owned regional CityLine, 49% owned Eurowings and its low-fare affiliate Germanwings. CityLine pilots demanded a “double digit” wage hike while Eurowings and Germanwings crews won’t disclose figures. However, they want to be integrated into the collective bargaining agreement hoping for better career chances and the option to switch to mainline aircraft.
The countdown has started for the strike called for May 31 by the flight attendants union (ASSA) at Aeromexico. Negotiations last week between labor and management were deadlocked again when management added soaring fuel prices to its reasons for rejecting the union’s demands. ASSA secretary general Lizette Clavel told Excelsior all management has tabled is a counterproposal that ignores the union’s demands and instead helps the airline overcome its ongoing crisis.
Malaysian long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X, in announcing flights to Perth in Western Australia, also says it expects to fly to Japan next year. The service between Kuala Lumpur and Perth will begin on Nov. 2, about a week after the arrival of the airline’s second A330. The first aircraft is flying two routes from Kuala Lumpur, one to Hangzhou in eastern China and one to the Gold Coast in eastern Australia.
JetBlue hopes to touting its environmental credentials with a "Jetting to Green" program rolled out this week. The centerpiece of the program is a partnership with Airbus, International Aero Engines and Honeywell subsidiary UOP to study creating a 100% drop-in jet fuel developed from such renewable resources as algae and cellulose waste (DAILY, May 15).
The next round of U.S.-European Union open skies talks is set for the week of September 22 in Washington. The two sides have “some homework to do” on “arguments that can be advanced” to get Congress to revisit U.S. laws on foreign ownership, says a senior government official. The first round wrapped up last week in Slovenia.
Air Canada’s regional partner Air Georgian on July 14 will begin nonstop services to Dayton, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Mich., from the mainline carrier’s Toronto hub. Ontario-based Air Georgian will operate a three times daily service to Grand Rapids, and a twice daily to Dayton. Both city pairs will be served with 18-seat Beech 1900Ds.
Boeing says provisional plans have been drawn up for a freighter version of the 787. “We’ve scoped it out in a rough order of magnitude, and we have provisions that when the market requires it, we can be ready,” says Tom Crabtree, Boeing air cargo industry analysis regional marketing director.
Herb Kelleher steps down today as Chairman of Southwest Airlines, relinquishing the top job after 37 years at the airline but pledging to remain an employee -- duties so far undefined -- through 2013. One of Southwest’s founders, Kelleher has been on the board, served as executive chairman, president and CEO.
The Vancouver Airport Authority has sold a 50% stake in its YVR Airport Services Ltd. (YVRAS) business development subsidiary to Citi Infrastructure Investors. YVRAS handles an airport investment, management and development network at 18 airports in seven countries, including the Bahamas’ Lynden Pindling International Airport, Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile, and Larnaka and Pafos International Airports in Cyprus.
Turkish Airlines (THY) is looking for more leased aircraft capacity short-term, and hopes to make major fleet acquisition decisions before the end of the year. The airline is looking at placing a follow-on order for narrowbodies to continue its expansion strategy on short- and medium-haul routes. The airline is also studying how to grow and renew its widebody fleet.
In what has become a bi-weekly ritual, Southwest yesterday announced yet more service in Denver — and an ever-increasing challenge to Frontier and United.
Argentine airline regulators signaled they are finally ready to call it quits at state-owned Lafsa, and they intend to demand the airline’s liquidation at a June 16 shareholders meeting.
Premium traffic fell worldwide in March for the first time since 2003, and this, coupled with high fuel prices, does not bode well for airline profits for the balance of the year, IATA data show. Premium traffic fell by an adjusted rate of 1% to 2%, the data show. Premium traffic actually fell by 3.9% in March, but the early Easter this year depressed March traffic growth, IATA said. On the other hand, premium traffic grew by 5.1% in February, but much of this is attributed to the leap year adding 3%-4% to February growth, IATA said.
A major U.S. airline might be edging closer to signing a deal for a new scheduling tool that would let carriers fine-tune profits and revenues by starting with a smaller schedule on some routes, and then adding flights or substituting larger aircraft on the route for days when demand is high enough to justify it.
The European Parliament’s transport committee in early June is expected to consider Antonio Tajani’s selection as the new European Union transport commissioner, in a procedure leading to his formal appointment in the role.
British Airways could add two more destinations to its U.S. network, increasing the carrier’s gateways to 20 airports, says CEO Willie Walsh. He won’t say which airports, but in a recent review of the company’s fiscal 2007/08 results he noted the success of premium long-haul services. The only constraint is obtaining appropriately timed slots at London Heathrow, Walsh adds.
Delta and Northwest submitted applications to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for the transfer of route authority held by Northwest, Compass and Mesaba to Delta. The 141-page document, which includes the carrier’s agreement and merger plan, can be viewed at http://www.regulations. gov, keyword DOT-OST-2008-0162.
