US Airways and Air China plan to code share on each others’ flights out of Beijing, Shanghai, and four U.S. markets, pending regulatory approval. The carriers intended to launch the code share on April 30 but have yet to hear back from the U.S. Transportation Dept. US Airways will carry Air China’s code on flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orlando to Charlotte, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Pittburgh. The Air China code would also appear on flights out of New York Kennedy to Charlotte, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Emirates expects Concourse 2 at Dubai’s international airport to open in the fourth quarter of 2008, said President Tim Clark. The opening is already several years late and was most recently scheduled in May. But now, construction work is planned to be completed by the end of next month with an extensive phase of testing to be started after that. Concourse 2 is adjacent to the current overcrowded terminal and will be used by Emirates exclusively.
The Icelandair Group will increasingly focus on building its business in the tourism and travel sector, management announced this week. “We see lots of synergy in the organization of both outgoing and incoming traffic, for instance in the utilization of the group’s aircraft fleet,” Icelandair Group CEO Bjorgolfur Johannsson says.
Emirates still does not know when it will get its first Airbus A380. The airline has been trying to nail Airbus down for a fix date, but “it’s like trying to catch a slippery eel,” Emirates Airline President Tim Clark says. The official timeframe for first delivery is late summer, and Emirates is expected to deploy the aircraft on its first routes to New York, London and Sydney in the fall. Clark says Emirates is not informed by Airbus about possible further production delays in the A380 program.
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Mesa and Hawaiian’s court battle over Mesa subsidiary Go ended quietly when the two carriers agreed to settle the case. Both Hawaiian and Mesa shares traded higher April 30 on the news. The Arizona-based company will drop its appeal of the bankruptcy court judgment that awarded Hawaiian $80 million in damages last November (DAILY, Nov. 1). Hawaiian will net $52.5 million of the $90 million bond Mesa posted as security for the judgment, interest and attorney’s fees while the appeal was considered. The balance, $37.5 million, will return to Mesa.
Finnair has sold two of the Embraer 190s it has on order to Japanese Tokyo Leasing Company and then turned around to ink a 10-year lease for the aircraft. The agreement also includes a buy-back option. It’s the third deal of its type the Finnish carrier has signed for its regional jets.
Korean Air is betting that its BRICK — Brazil, India, China and Korea — strategy will help fuel the carrier’s future growth prospects, said Arnold Song, team leader with the U.S. route management team. Trade volume between the countries is growing, said Song. “We have companies like Samsung that have factories in these countries, plus there are many opportunities for growth,” he said.
GOL and Varig parent GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes yesterday reported a loss of about US$2 million in the first quarter as Varig’s losses dragged the parent company into the red: GOL alone actually recorded a US$115 million profit. The company’s leaders, however, said they are confident they have the right strategy and are taking the necessary steps to turn Varig’s contribution into a positive one by the second half of this year.
China has finally given in to the temptation to contrast the success of Beijing Capital Airport’s vast new Terminal 3 with the debacle that is Heathrow’s Terminal 5. The 1 million-square-meter (10.8 million sq. ft.) terminal at Beijing is larger than London’s new facility, cost less than half as much to build and was built more quickly, notes the China Daily.
Avianca is working on initial provisioning and support for its new Airbus aircraft. It received its first A320 three weeks ago, and it plans to issue a request for proposal next week for spares to support its new A320s and A330s on order, according to Fernando Moreno Arevalo, Avianca’s materials director. Avianca typically has purchased its own spares, but he said the Colombia-based carrier is evaluating whether to buy the provisions itself or sign an agreement with a vendor for parts and repairs.
Allegiant Travel Company, the parent company of Allegiant Air and Allegiant Vacations, this week reported a $9.7 million profit for the first quarter. That’s almost identical to its profit in the first quarter of 2007, even though its fuel expense per available seat mile rose nearly 50% and its total fuel cost more than doubled. The fuel expense increase did cut into Allegiant’s operating margin, which fell from 17.8% in first quarter 2007 to 10.8% this year, but that’s still a margin most of the airline industry will envy.
The European Commission judged that the existing European Union legislation on airport slot allocation does not prohibit secondary slot trading, in a communication released on April 30, which puts an end to more than a decade of discussion.
Bangkok Airways announced plans to add two 70-seat ATR72-500s to its fleet courtesy of a new leasing deal with Ireland’s AIR Ltd., while Copa continued to grow its fleet with the addition of a 12th Embraer 190 last week. Deliveries for the ATR aircraft are slated in late 2008 and 2009 and will bring Bangkok Airways’ ATR fleet to 10 aircraft.
Sacramento International Airport is one step closer to building a new $1.3 billion terminal modernization program after the County Airport System got the green light on the environmental impact statement. The airport has already issued $586 million in airport revenue bonds to finance the first phase of construction, said spokeswoman Cheryl Marcell. It will begin construction of a remote parking lot in June, as well as new “remain overnight space.” Terminal construction is expected to begin in August, she said.
Aloha Airlines shut down its cargo operation last night after losing both bidders for that unit, and informed the U.S. Bankruptcy Court that it is now moving to Chapter 7 liquidation.
The SAS Group hopes to decide the future of its Spanair subsidiary by the end of the second quarter, but talks are complicated by a challenging business environment. Talks with potential buyers are ongoing to decide the future of Spanair, says SAS CEO Mats Jansson, but he concedes it’s not easy going. Strong competition in Spain, overcapacity in the market, and yield pressure are combining to make it difficult.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently launched advanced screening pilot programs at Los Angeles International and New York Kennedy airports. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley announced plans to purchase 30 millimeter wave passenger imaging technology units as he testified before the House transportation security and infrastructure protection subcommittee (DAILY, April 17). The units will be deployed at airports across the U.S. this year.
The White House budget office yesterday signaled that the president could veto the FAA reauthorization bill, which is currently being debated by the Senate, if the bill limits the U.S. Transportation Dept.’s attempts to manage congestion. These provisions are thought to be a pre-emptive strike against the Senate version of the bill, which reportedly would limit FAA’s ability to impose congestion pricing or slot auctions at New York-area airports.
