Traffic for ExpressJet’s contract and branded flying fell from October to November, figures from the airline show. Revenue passenger miles for contract flying totaled 670 million in November, down 3.7% from 696 million RPMs recorded in October. Th e airline logged 869 million available seat miles in November, down 5.1% from October’s 916 million ASMs. Load factor, meanwhile, improved 1.1 percentage points to 77.1%.
Saudi Arabian Airlines signed a firm contract with Airbus this week for 22 A320s that it initially said it would buy by signing a Memorandum of Understanding in November at the Dubai Airshow. The agreement – the first Airbus order for Saudia in more than 20 years – allows Saudia to increase the order by eight more if it chooses. Khalid al Molhem, director general of Saudia, said, “The Airbus A320 is the right aircraft for our ambitious fleet renewal plans.” Saudia was the launch customer in 1984 of the A300-600.
SkyWest, Inc. airlines SkyWest and ASA together carried 2.8 million passengers in November 2007, 10.4% more than November 2006, but planes were less full than they were in the previous year. Combined traffic for the carriers was up 10.7% on 12.3% more capacity, resulting in a 1.1 percentage-point drop in loads to 75.6%. For the year to date, traffic is up 13.6% on 13.9% more capacity. Loads remained flat, down only 0.2 points to 78.3%.
Discord within the Italian government prompted Alitalia to postpone the choice of a preferred bidder (DAILY, Dec. 10) for the acquisition of the state’s 49.9% stake in the carrier.
Harris Corp. recently completed another major step in the creation of a new FAA telecommunications infrastructure, switching weather radar data over to the network. Harris says the transition allows FAA to consolidate weather data from several sources into a single integrated display.
IATA says only a handful of airlines will miss its safety audit deadline – and lose their IATA membership – while the group is taking the first steps toward establishing a similar audit for ground operations. IATA officials believe just seven of its members, or about 3%, will not have carried out an IATA Operational Safety Audit by the end of this year. This was the deadline set by IATA for its members to conduct audits or face eviction from the group.
Delta has relocated to gates in Philadelphia Airport’s Terminal A-East despite a protest by hub carrier US Airways. US Airways was concerned that the Delta move would hurt its efforts to boost international flights out of its Philadelphia hub (DAILY, Oct. 26). But the airport said it has been trying to accommodate the needs of all its carriers (DAILY, Oct. 30).
The European Aviation Safety Agency has received an important endorsement from European government officials with an agreement to expand its mandate. The European parliament and European Council have devised an agreement to expand EASA’s powers after months of deliberations. An EASA official points out it makes the agency more like the FAA in terms of authority.
All Nippon Airlines, using a 36-seat Boeing 737-700 for the nonstop all-business service to Mumbai from Narita it launched last September, will consider upgrading the aircraft to a Boeing 787 when it takes delivery of the aircraft next year. “This is a trial route for us. If it continues to do well, we use the Boeing 787 on it,” ANA CEO Mineo Yamamoto told The DAILY on the sidelines of the Star Alliance Chief Executives Board meeting.
Airport Line Technique has opened a new wheel and brake repair and maintenance service shop at Moscow Domodedovo Airport to serve Russian and CIS airlines. East Line saw there was a need for wheel and brake service for carriers flying into Moscow Domodedovo, said spokeswoman Yulia Pronina. “It’s also one of the first steps to eventually offer airlines C-checks,” she said. “An interior shop will be opened in March 2008 as part of the C-check process. A metal sheet shop will also be opened, and the C-check facility will be opened by September 2008.”
The U.S. Transportation Dept.’s Office of Inspector General this month will begin an inquiry looking to determine training failure rate among newly hired air traffic controllers as well as the root causes of the failure rate. House aviation subcommittee Chair Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) suggested the audit because of concerns about training failures at the country’s busiest ATC facilities, the OIG said in a memo last week.
With only a few weeks left in 2007, it is almost certain that the aircraft hull-loss accident rate will be significantly higher than in 2006, IATA says. The number of hull losses per million sectors flown stood at 0.83 – and 0.62 for IATA members – through the third quarter, compared with 0.65 and 0.48, respectively, in 2006. This translates into a total of 18 hull losses so far this year. These numbers apply only to Western-built jets.
Israir agreed to an $18,000 fine from the U.S. Transportation Dept. for failing to file on-time annual disability-related complain reports for 2004 and 2005. The carrier said it was operating only charter flights to the U.S. at the time of the infractions and lacked the infrastructure to facilitate and staff with knowledge of the relevant reporting requirements [DOT-OST-2007-26781].
Air travelers arriving from Singapore will no longer have to relinquish their duty-free liquid purchases at European Union airport security checkpoints when transferring to another flight. Singapore today became the first country to be approved under European Commission Regulation 915/2007 after the EC decided to recognize that security at Singapore Changi Airport meets ICAO standards. The regulation allows passengers from selected non-EU country airports to travel freely with duty-free liquid purchases when transferring within the EU.
The first Airbus A380 in revenue service is “performing flawlessly,” Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng told The DAILY at the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting in Beijing. According to Chew, the aircraft is “delivering better technical performance than expected.” Singapore Airlines is using its first A380 on a daily roundtrip between Singapore and Sydney.
Finnair is adding to its Airbus widebody fleet with a decision to buy another A330-300, the eighth of the type on order. The aircraft is to be delivered in spring 2009. Finnair this year placed a large Airbus widebody order. Beyond the A330s, the backlog includes four A340-300s and 11 A350XWBs. The carrier operates 32 Airbus aircraft — three A340-300s and the rest narrowbodies.
New and upgraded facilities were inaugurated last week at San Jose Juan Santamaria International Airport, Costa Rica’s largest and most strategic terminal. Ancillary works include eight new boarding gates and four bridges that will increase capacity by 100%, reported Alterra Partners, while passenger areas were enlarged 200% and counters increased from 12 to 15 for 50% more capacity to accommodate immigration services . -
Icelandair is slightly adjusting its route network by adding Toronto and dropping Baltimore in the hope it will generate greater profitability. The Baltimore service will be shut down Jan. 13, while Toronto operations are slated to start May 2. Icelandair management says that after expanding for several years, it’s now time to make necessary adjustments to maximize revenue. “We are fine-tuning the Icelandair network and our capacity in order to increase its profitability,” says airline CEO Jon Karl Olafsson.
