With a month-and-a-half remaining in 2007, Boeing appears more likely than ever to bust the 1,000-order threshold for the third consecutive year. Boeing reported 34 new orders booked in the week ending Nov. 6, for a net total of 956. The remaining 44 shouldn't be too hard to achieve, with the manufacturer announcing 17 further orders just after updating the order total (see following story). Boeing executives were cautious in their predictions for this year, but the order total shows that the current cycle is showing little sign of dipping.
Cathay yesterday announced a major move in its cargo operation, placing an order with Boeing for 10 747-8 freighters, as well as seven 777ERs for its passenger fleet. The airline is the eighth customer for the 747-8, which now has 73 orders. Almost all of these buyers are for the freighter version. The Cathay deal more than doubles this year's net order total for the aircraft, which previously stood at six.
Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet this week inaugurated international services with its first flight from Toluca to Guatemala City. The airline will operate daily frequencies from Toluca and Cancun with Airbus A-320-200s. According to Guatemala's tourist board, Mexican tourists visiting Guatemala increased 8.9% year over year. [email protected]
Brazil's regional carrier BRA requested approval from airline regulator Anac to suspend its operations for an indefinite period while it solves "internal" problems, according to local sources. The airline serves 32 destinations in Brazil with scheduled and charter flights, and also operates to Lisbon, Madrid, Rome, Buenos Aires, Cologne and Oslo, using 11 owned and leased aircraft. BRA announced it was furloughing 1,100 employees for at least 30 days, and is ready to endorse stranded ticketed passengers to other airlines.
Big Sky parent MAIR Holdings plans to use its cash balances to focus on the carrier's growth, rather than making investments in other companies or airlines. At the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2008, MAIR had $58.8 million in cash, which is "in excess of the requirements for Big Sky's operations," MAIR CEO Paul Foley told analysts and investors this week.
Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners signed a $20 million, five-year maintenance deal with Turkish carrier SunExpress covering PW2037 engines on four of the airline's Boeing 757-200 aircraft. SunExpress -- a 50/50 partnership between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa -- has bases in Antalya and Ismir, and offers chartered and scheduled flights from Europe and the Turkish Mediterranean and Aegean coasts.
Northwest, the only airline to participate in the first U.S. trade mission to Vietnam last week with Commerce Dept. officials, says it is ready to launch flights as soon as government restrictions are eased. The airline would fly to Vietnam via Tokyo, but says the Vietnamese government must first loosen restrictions on U.S. carrier flights via Japan. The current air services agreement does not allow U.S. carriers to pick up passengers in Japan.
Europe's new plan for a European passenger name record policy is running into airline opposition. Airlines worry the European Commission's proposal will require them to comply with different demands from EU member states. "We are talking about an operational and technical nightmare -- and the Commission totally ignores the financial implications for the airline industry, which we haven't even started assessing yet," says Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, secretary general of the Association of European Airlines.
Emirates reported a six-month net profit on Sept. 30 of US$643 million, nearly double its net profit of US$323 million for the same period last year because of strong demand and higher yields. The airline carried 1.9 million more passengers during the period, resulting in a 30.5% increase in passenger revenue. The airline reported overall operating revenues of US$4.6 billion, up 25.8% over last year, while operating costs rose 19.3%.
Aerolineas Argentinas on Wednesday, cut weekly domestic frequencies from 354 to 248, or about 30%, and later that day said it also considered cutting frequencies to New York, Barcelona, Rome and Sydney, arguing that it has to comply with an Air Force resolution to grant pilots legally accrued vacations.
Hawaiian will be required to report monthly flight delays and mishandled baggage reports and to submit quarterly oversales data next year to the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. BTS directed the airline to report the data because it "reached the threshold of 1% of scheduled domestic passenger revenue for the 12 months ended March 31." The carrier previously reported such information voluntarily.
All-business class transatlantic carrier Silverjet plans to unveil a new destination in February as two additional 102-seat Boeing 767s come online in March next year. The carrier recently added a second aircraft on its London Luton-Newark route and launches flights from Luton to Dubai Nov. 19.
Workers from Lloyd Aereo Boliviano's nine labor union federation (Fstlab) now in control of the carrier rejected bankruptcy as a viable way to recovery following last week's demand in court by major creditor, national tax agency SIN, which wants back taxes owed by the government (DAILY, Nov. 6).
Two professors at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, have received an $800,000, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to study how behavioral science and computer science can be used in the airport screening process.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) says he will look into slot issues at Philadelphia Airport, among other matters, after holding what he called an unsatisfactory meeting with US Airways CEO Doug Parker in which he nearly accused Parker of extortion.
Malaysia Airlines is committing to buy further ATR 72-500s for one of its subsidiaries, the second deal of the kind this year. The latest memorandum of understanding for 10 of the turboprops would benefit MASwings, to expand operations in eastern Malaysia. The agreement includes five options and is valued at US$285 million. Delivery would come in 2009 and 2010.
Following through on plans revealed to The DAILY earlier this year (DAILY, July 7), AirTran said it would start flights from Atlanta and Orlando to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 5 and April 9. The carrier is offering a single daily roundtrip flight from each airport to San Juan.
Northwest yesterday issued its strategy to minimize air service disruptions during the coming holiday season ahead of a Nov. 15 House aviation subcommittee hearing that will examine the issue.
United put a $5 one-way and $10 roundtrip domestic fuel surcharge into effect yesterday. The airline said every dollar increase in the price of crude oil raises its annual costs by about $65 million. The price of crude hit $98 a barrel during the day, and ended at $96.37.
Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) warned that it expects flooding last week in Villahermosa and the state of Tabasco will hurt traffic at Villahermosa Airport, though it is unsure to what extent traffic will fall. Villahermosa handled 5.4% of ASUR's total passenger traffic in the past 12 months.
