Spain's tourism and air transport holding Grupo Marsans placed an order for 12 Airbus A330-200s. The aircraft will be operated by two of the group's airlines -- Aerolineas Argentinas and Air Comet (formerly Air Plus Comet). "This purchase confirms the important steps Grupo Marsans is taking to develop our group's market position and our long-haul network," CEO Gonzalo Pascual said.
The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security unveiled a fact sheet outlining 75 items it accomplished in 2006 covering agencies that include the Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Patrol, U.S. Border Management & Immigration Systems' US-VISIT program and science and technologies.
The Supreme Court has declined to review a case that would have forced the Transportation Security Administration to divulge a secret directive that requires passengers to show government identification or undergo extra security screening before boarding a flight. The lawsuit, brought by John Gilmore, was originally rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court in January 2006 (DAILY, Nov. 16). He called the TSA policy an infringement of his fifth amendment right to due process. The U.S. Justice Dept. in its brief argued that the ID policy protects passengers. -BW
United is largely blaming its expected "modest" fourth-quarter operating loss on the recent snowstorms in Denver and Chicago, but one analyst yesterday said the carrier may still have trouble lowering its expenses.
American Samoa carrier Inter Island Air is upgrading its charter operations and plans to offer service in Tutuila Island, American Samoa, Ofu Island and Tau Island in the Manu'a Group in American Samoa and Maota and Faleolo in Independent Samoa. The Pago Pago-based airline plans to use nine-seat Dornier 228s for the services, which will be a slight boost in frequencies over Inter Island's current on-demand flights. Additional frequencies will be operated during holidays and other regional events.
Buchanan Capital Partners bought a 51% stake in Lufthansa Cargo subsidiary time:matters. The private equity firm's investment will be used for further growth of the unit. The companies did not disclose the volume of the transaction. Lufthansa Cargo has been looking for a partner to grow time:matters without having to heavily invest itself. There will be no layoffs as a result of the deal.
A group representing British Airways' unions may have reached a deal on the carrier's pension dispute, but there are still crucial steps remaining before employees sign off on the agreement.
FAA estimates the cost of its new Extended Operations (ETOPs) rule should reach $20.9 million ($12 million at present value) over 16 years, with operators of three- and four-engine planes paying about $7.7 million ($3.8 million present value) to comply with the regulation.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority went within to find a replacement for retiring President and CEO John Kaldeway; the board has named Lloyd McCoomb for the top spot, effective Feb. 1.
Etihad Airways yesterday confirmed that it will begin flights to Australia within the next few months from its base in Abu Dhabi thanks to a new bilateral agreement between the two countries.
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) yesterday placed orders for 40 narrowbody aircraft, splitting the order evenly between Boeing and Airbus. SALE exercised options and purchase rights for 20 Boeing 737s, for delivery between 2009 and 2011. The orders are for 737-800s, but SALE can change these to other 737 family aircraft. The deal was finalized in December, and was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on the 2006 total. SALE previously ordered 30 737s, in 2005 and 2006.
MAIR shareholder Riley Investment Management opposes Northwest's proposed purchase of MAIR subsidiary Mesaba Airlines, and is threatening legal action to ensure the deal is not finalized.
Alaska Airlines on Friday unveiled plans to launch new transcontinental service from Portland, Ore., hoping to tap into a growing leisure and business market. The carrier for about five years has been building a transcon network, but all the flights to this point have been based at its Seattle hub. The first long-haul route started in 2001 with a flight from Seattle to Washington, but the carrier now has flights to Boston, Miami, Newark and Orlando and between Los Angeles and Washington.
Cargo carrier Kitty Hawk yesterday said its fourth-quarter revenue was the highest in recent years, mainly due to U.S. Postal Service contracts. Fourth-quarter revenue was about $80 million, boosting full-year revenue to $220 million -- an increase of 41% from 2005 revenues. The company said it achieved "solid profitability" for the fourth quarter. Kitty Hawk is not due to file fourth-quarter and full-year results until mid-March, but the company released broad details early.
BAA has appointed Macquarie Bank to help it consider a possible sale of the company's Australian assets, including Perth and Melbourne airports. The airports operator, acquired by Spain's Ferrovial in June, has been reviewing its assets worldwide and finalizing the sale of Budapest Airport.
Delta will operate the Salt Lake City-Mazatlan route with its own 150-seat Boeing 737s until SkyWest gets the go-ahead from Mexican officials to operate in the market.
Shifted Ron Howard from president-Americas to non-executive vice chairman and named Andrew Gibson president-U.S. region, Edwin Garcia as president-Latin America region, Eric Born as senior VP for Western and Southern Europe and Philippe Op de Beeck as senior VP of Central Europe. The company also expanded the responsibilities of Asia/Pacific President Mark Wall to include the Middle East and promoted Marcel Beraud to senior VP and chief operating officer.
ExpressJet hopes to give more insight regarding 69 planes exiting its Continental network during its Jan. 24 earnings call, a spokeswoman says. Ten of the planes are set to fly under ExpressJet Corporate Aviation by March. Two of the planes came offline Dec. 28, and the first charter flight took off Dec. 31. One option ExpressJet is considering for the 69 aircraft is point-to-point flying.
