The U.S. airline industry sees consolidation as a way to be able to compete on a global scale, said Brad Difiore, a senior management consultant at Sabre Airline Solutions.
The board of Auckland Airport has reversed itself and unanimously recommended that shareholders should accept a partial takeover offer from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for NZ$3.6555 (US$2.96) per share.
Pinnacle Airlines awarded a 10-year avionics asset management contract to Rockwell Collins. The Dispatch 100 contract supports Pinnacle’s 16 new Bombardier CRJ-900s that it is flying as Delta Connection. Rockwell will provide spares, logistics management, maintenance and technical support on a flight-per-hour basis. Value of the contract was not disclosed. Rockwell Collins said it has supported other Pinnacle avionics through a relationship with Northwest Airlines, for which Pinnacle also flies.
ICAO and the European Commission will study the effect of regional organizations in such issues as ATM reform and liberalization. The meeting, to be held at ICAO’s headquarters in Montreal, will examine the effects, if any, of regional liberalization and safety oversight, among other issues.
Some Mexican low-cost carriers are revamping their strategy and canceling short flights from their schedules to include them as stopovers in longer hauls. Terra Mexico analyzed carrier schedules and found that during 2007 almost all short flights were abolished, and this year there are no plans to introduce segments lower than one hour in time or 500 kilometers in distance. Or, “In 2006 LCCs did not cancel any routes, in 2007 they did, and now less than half are short,” Terra said.
Amadeus is adding a tool to its sales platform that combines GDS and non-GDS fare content with low-fare search capabilities in one display. The new desktop tool for travel agents, called Amadeus All Fares, uses the company’s fare search tool, called Master Pricer. This will let agents view up to 200 fares on one screen that can be integrated into the passenger name record. Owen Wild, director of marketing, said Amadeus has solved the problem of forcing agents to engage in time-consuming searches through various fare schedules and prices.
Lufthansa’s 2007 operating return jumped more than EUR500 million from the prior year, reaching EUR1.4 billion and beating forecasts, the airline says. The group-wide bottom line is EUR1.7 billion. The operating results come on revenue growth to EUR22.5 billion from EUR19.8 billion in the prior year. The company will report detailed financial results March 12, following a March 10 board meeting.
American will shift its last Gatwick long-haul flights to London Heathrow Airport in April, the carrier says. Previously, American planned to move one of its two DFW-Gatwick frequencies and its sole Raleigh/Durham-Gatwick flight to Heathrow in March, leaving one DFW flight at Gatwick. However, the carrier has now bought enough slots to shift the other DFW flight to Heathrow from April 13.
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Three key European transport ministers have agreed to coordinate their agendas for the next 18 months, in the hope of bringing about important changes for the EU’s agenda.
With competition on the rise, Colombia’s air carriers are using a combination of fleet, fares and routes to help win new passengers. Although airlines vary in size, none is ready to yield space to the next. While Avianca now covers all of Colombia through a strategic alliance with state-owned Satena, others, like AeroRepublica, Aires, EasyFly, Aerolineas de Antioquia and Satena, are eager to get a piece of the pie, which last year amounted to nearly 8 million passengers, an increase of 5.5% from 2006.
Airbus analysts believe network carriers will still account for most of the new aircraft orders in the U.S. over the next 10 years, although low-cost carriers will see much more rapid growth. Airbus sees the U.S. LCC sector growing at an average of about 6% a year for the next 10 years, compared to domestic growth of just 0.2% for network carriers. However, 60% of the demand for new aircraft in the U.S. will be from network carriers, which are faced with replacing a significant portion of their fleets.
International passenger traffic growth slowed markedly in January, which the International Air Transport Association believes could be the first sign of an industry slowdown which has IATA seriously considering another downgrade in its profit predictions. Traffic was up 4.3% for the month, down significantly from the 6.7% growth in December and the 7.4% for full-year 2007. However, capacity growth was held to 4.2%, which meant load factors improved slightly to 75.1%.
AAR Corp. yesterday said it has signed an agreement to acquire Miami-based Avborne Heavy Maintenance, Inc., in a deal that will give AAR a fourth major airframe overhaul facility, add new customers to its roster and expand the breadth of its capabilities. Financial details were not released, but AAR expects the deal to close well before the end of its current fiscal year on May 31. AAR plans to retain Avborne’s current management.
AirTran yesterday announced it will begin flying to San Antonio this summer, in the process fulfilling its vow to introduce at least three new destinations to its network this year.
The U.K.’s Office of Fair Trading is asking for input on the proposed takeover of VLM Airlines by CityJet, the Air France-KLM regional adjunct. Air France-KLM agreed to buy the Belgian regional airline from Netherlands-based Panta Holdings in December, in large part to strengthen its presence at London City Airport. Air France-KLM outmaneuvered British Airways, which was also interested in the carrier.
The European Union and Jordan yesterday signed an aviation agreement that allows airlines to fly between the Middle Eastern country and any EU member state. The deal does not, however, replace any existing bilateral aviation agreements between member states and Jordan. Instead, it is what the EU calls a “horizontal agreement,” which removes nationality restrictions from existing bilateral agreements. Doing so brings existing bilaterals in line with European law. Removing nationality restrictions has been a tenet of EU aviation negotiations.
Cargo volume for Gollog, the cargo transport service for Brazil’s GOL and Varig (VRG), shot up 37.1% from 2006 to 2007 to 56,500 tons, the cargo unit reported. Gross revenue for the year stood at BRL172 million (US$101 million), up 36.4% year over year.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said it has joined with the Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights (CAPBOR) to oppose “ill-advised” mergers. Without naming any airlines, IAM General VP Robert Roach said airline employees and their customers have the right to be concerned about the negative impact of consolidation. Kate Hanni, founder of CAPBOR, said, “Combining two major airlines with diverse corporate cultures is a recipe for disaster.”
