North Carolina's 74 commercial and general aviation airports provide $11.8 billion a year in economic impact and support 88,400 jobs across the state, says a new study released by the state Dept. of Transportation's Division of Aviation.
Continental plans to launch daily nonstop service between Jackson, Miss. and Newark, the first time the two airports have been linked directly. The flights will begin Sept. 5, using Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets operated by ExpressJet. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) hailed the new direct service as the first between Mississippi and the New York metropolitan area. The airline said Lott and Jackson community and business groups pushed hard for this service.
Sharjah-based low fare airline Air Arabia plans to launch an initial public offering this year. The airline appointed Shuaa Capital, a UAE investment bank, as the financial adviser for the sale and applied for regulatory approval to go public. Air Arabia plans to increase its fleet from the current nine Airbus A320s to 34 within the next few years. The airline is seen as one of the early operators into Dubai's new Djebel Ali Airport that is planned to be opened in early 2008.
Jet Airways' reported a INR400 million (US$9 million) net profit in the quarter ending Dec. 31, which was down about 34% as higher fuel and labor costs couldn't offset increased revenue.
Northwest yesterday reached definitive agreements to acquire Mesaba Airlines and make the regional carrier an operating subsidiary of its network airline partner.
The airline cost index increased by 19.3% in the third quarter, a substantially higher growth rate than the 3.3% rise in the Consumer Price Index for the same period, the Air Transport Association revealed last week. The composite cost index rose to 176.7, with fuel and labor by far the largest components. Fuel represented 27.4% of the total and labor 23.6%. The index is derived from a formula that combines several cost inputs. It also gauges changes in fuel efficiency, labor productivity and breakeven load factors.
GE Commercial Aviation Services yesterday announced it is ordering 39 aircraft from Boeing, a mix of 777s and 737s. Boeing previously attributed the order, booked last year, to an unidentified customer. The deal includes seven 777-300ERs, eight 777 freighters and 24 737-800s. Deliveries are scheduled between 2008 and 2010. Including this purchase, GECAS ordered 69 Boeing aircraft in 2006.
GATX Corporation last week completed the sale of its aircraft joint venture interests to Macquarie Aircraft Leasing Limited (MALL). Proceeds from the sale total about US$230 million.
British Airways will have to decide by Wednesday which flights it will be forced to cancel due to a looming cabin crew strike, unless the airline can reach an 11th-hour agreement with the Transport and General Workers Union. The T&G union announced over the weekend that its cabin crew members will strike for three days, beginning Jan. 29, if no deal is reached. This would be followed by three-day strikes beginning Feb. 5 and Feb. 12. The strike threat grew out of a long-simmering dispute over work and pay rules that came to a head in recent weeks.
Alitalia shares were down about 2% on Jan. 22 after reports that Air France-KLM would not bid for the Italian flag carrier. Air France-KLM declined comment the reports. The French press said Air France-KLM decided during a board meeting last week that the asking price -- EUR1.5 billion -- was excessive and that the conditions set by the Italian government were too stringent. -JF
Airbus yesterday added another customer for its new A330-200 freighter program, with Guggenheim Aviation Partners ordering six of the aircraft. According to Airbus, GAP becomes the first customer to sign a contract for the A330-200F, converting a letter-of-intent completed last October. GAP will be one of the launch customers for the aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2010.
Chile's civil aviation board (JAC) said it would welcome new players into the Santiago-Madrid market in the wake of Air Madrid's suspension last month. The suspension left hundreds of Chilean passengers stranded abroad. Air Plus Comet, affiliated to Spain's Marsans group, will start service in the market in March, and German carrier LTU could also begin operating on the route if it gets the nod to take over some of Air Madrid's old routes (DAILY, Jan. 12).
Two of the biggest industry players in the next-generation air traffic management system planning effort have signed an agreement that will let them bid together on major contracts. Boeing and Lockheed Martin yesterday announced a strategic alliance to work on future ATM concepts. FAA and other government agencies are developing a blueprint for the next-generation air transport system (NGATS) through the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), and this is expected to produce contracting opportunities to demonstrate new procedures and technology.
Hawaiian Airlines, effective immediately, will begin flying "cashless" on all interisland flights, using the same onboard technology it introduced previously on transpacific flights.
Finnair will quadruple its frequencies to India with the launch of five weekly services to Mumbai in June and the operation of daily flights to Delhi, up from three weekly services, from mid-May.
The New Orleans Aviation Board has unveiled an airline incentive program designed to bring flights out of Louis Armstrong International Airport back to their pre-Hurricane Katrina levels. As of November 2006, the airport's passenger volume was at 70%, said spokeswoman Michelle Duffourc. "Continental and American are both at the same level of flight operations as they were pre-Katrina," she said. "AirTran will be at their pre-Katrina level as of Feb. 16."
Airbus and Boeing expect order intake for 2007 to be back to normal after two record setting levels the past two years. Both companies made the same prediction last year but this time believe reality will again set in. John Leahy, Airbus chief operating officer for customers, suggests the order intake for the two big aircraft makers will likely be about 800-1,000. That's down from more than 1,800 last year and more than 2,000 the year before, but still a high level by historical standards.
