Allegiant Air recently took delivery of two MD-80s aircraft for 18-month terms; one plane was scheduled to enter service in December, with the second following this month. Previously, the airline said it would use proceeds from its initial public offering to add more aircraft to its fleet (DAILY, Nov. 21, 2006). At the end of September, the carrier was flying 21 MD-80s. Net proceeds from Allegiant's IPO reached $94.8 million.
Delta wants bankruptcy court approval to firm up a tentative deal it struck with Bombardier for 30 CRJ-900s. If the deal is finalized, deliveries would start in September and continue through February 2010. Currently, SkyWest is the only Delta Connection carrier that flies the -900. The regional has 11 planes in its fleet configured for 76 seats. The letter of intent between Delta and Bombardier also includes options for 30 additional planes. -LR
Boeing yesterday confirmed that it set a new record for aircraft orders last year, beating its previous record set in 2005 by finalizing some large orders in the last few weeks of 2006. The flurry of late orders was expected to get Boeing either very close to or past its 2005 total (DAILY, Jan. 3). The final tally was 1,044 net orders, compared with 1,002 in 2005. These orders represent a "strong, well-balanced backlog," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson.
Pemco won new business with Bluebird Cargo to convert two Boeing 737-400s into freighters. Pemco plans to complete the conversions with its Chinese partners Taeco and Taikoo at Staeco in Jinan. Bluebird is headquartered in Iceland and has previously tapped Pemco for work on 737-300s.
The Association of European Airlines yesterday named Iberia Chairman Fernando Conte as the new chairman of the association. Conte's appointment was confirmed at the AEA Presidents' Assembly Nov. 17, 2006 in Berlin, where Conte took over from Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber. "During 2007, AEA will be more and more vocal about the industry's achievements and commitments in contributing to emissions abatement," Conte said. "We owe it to our customers to reassure them that they can take to the sky with a perfectly clear conscience." -SL
British Airways saw its capacity and traffic drop slightly in December, due in large part to the pre-Christmas flight cancellations at fog-bound London Heathrow Airport. December traffic was down 0.5% on a 0.1% capacity drop, and load factor declined 0.3 points to 73.9%. Premium traffic was 2.8% lower than last year, and non-premium was down by 1%. Cargo volume was affected even more, dropping a hefty 11.6% for the month.
Lydia Kennard resigned as executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which owns and operates Los Angeles Airport and three other airports, after only 15 months on the job.
Kota Kinabalu International Airport's new low-cost carrier terminal opened for operations this week. The $17.1 million facility has a handling capacity of 2.5 million passengers. It replaces Terminal 2, which was previously used by low-fare airline Air Asia. The new terminal has 26 check-in counters, compared with four at the old building, and six aircraft parking bays. It is the second facility dedicated to low-cost carrier operations in Malaysia -- the other is at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. -WD
Thai Airways International denied that it plans to buy back all shares held by foreigners and delist the carrier from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Thai Airways President Apinan Sumanesani said the airline has not proposed nor has any plan to carry out the exercise, and added that "delisting Thai Airways is easier said than done. It would be a costly affair as the carrier would have to fork out THB20 billion (US$559 million) to buy back shares from foreign investors."
FAA on Monday plans to unveil its final rule governing extended twin-engine operations (ETOPs). The agency in November 2003 released its proposed rule, which included requirements for three- and four-engine operators that previously didn't apply to those carriers (DAILY, Nov. 14, 2003).
After making capacity adjustments, deferring aircraft deliveries, and reaching a tentative deal to sell two planes, AirTran warned this week that it would post a small loss for the fourth quarter. AirTran attributed the loss to capacity spikes on the East Coast that peaked in November. The carrier's fourth-quarter load factors dropped 2.5 percentage points to 69%. Capacity levels during the first quarter should moderate, AirTran said.
Airline facility fees could triple under an increase of the facility rental rate approved by the Los Angeles World Airports' board of directors; the fee increases will cover Terminals 1 and 3, where low-cost carriers, including Southwest, AirTran, ATA, Frontier and WestJet, operate.
The National Air Transportation Association is urging TSA this year to significantly expand the list of approved gateways for general aviation flights into Washington National Airport. TSA last week added two new airports -- Washington Dulles and Windsor Locks' Bradley -- as DCA gateways. There are now 18 airports on this list. "Each new gateway airport brings DCA one step closer to being the prosperous, active airport it once was," said NATA President James Coyne.
Saudi low-fare startup carrier Sama expects to issue its schedule and route plans soon, now that the carrier has taken delivery of its first aircraft and received a license from the Saudi government for domestic service.
British Airways today plans to hire a 747 freighter aircraft to help move passenger baggage from London Heathrow Airport to New York Kennedy, after a combination of baggage system breakdowns and grounded flights separated thousands of passengers from their checked bags over the holiday period.
Continental is warning it will see a "modest" fourth-quarter loss, although the airline achieved better December revenue performance than expected. Guidance released last month already indicated a fourth-quarter loss, but Continental wanted to reinforce this message "in an attempt to rein in a stubborn" Wall St. consensus of a slight profit for the quarter, JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said yesterday. The fourth-quarter loss will not derail Continental's full-year 2006 profit.
Qatar Airways recently unveiled a significant expansion of its India network with the planned launch of two new routes and the introduction of additional capacity on existing services.
Australia's Brisbane Airport Corp. (BAC) is calling on Transport Minister Mark Vaile to allow more international flights from major gateway airports other than Sydney as the country faces a major reduction in seating capacity on international flights in the next five years.
