Sri Lankan Airlines will launch flights to Goa Airport, its 10th Indian destination, with the winter schedule in October. The carrier is also looking at the possibility of introducing flights to Bodhgaya in India, a destination popular with Buddhist pilgrims. Sri Lankan's chief commercial officer, Barry Brown, said India remains the airline's biggest market. Bangkok is its third-largest hub after Colombo and Dubai.
The eight largest U.S. airlines are expected to report a $1.1 billion pretax first-quarter loss when results start emerging next week, but the industry could swing to a modest second-quarter profit, depending on the state of fuel prices.
International Lease Finance Corp. late last week seized an Airbus A310 at JFK flown by Air Comet, an airline doing business as Air Plus. ILFC received a court order to take the plane into custody after Air Plus failed to make payments on the plane. Air Plus is based in Madrid and offers scheduled flights to Europe, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and China. -LR
Pemco Aviation promoted Randall Shealy to senior VP and CFO to succeed John Lee, who has retired from the company. Shealy joined Pemco in December 2004 as VP-finance and was elevated to chief accounting officer in May 2005. Pemco also named a new director of internal audit, Chris Warden. He comes to Pemco from Lexington, Ky.-based Tempur-Pedic, where he served as the company's internal audit manager.
A new commercial air route this week will be introduced in Chinese airspace, shaving about 30 minutes from Europe-China flights. IATA played a major role in obtaining approval from the Chinese government for the route with negotiations that began in 2000. The route, to be launched on Thursday, will be known as Y-1 or IATA-1, reflecting IATA's participation. IATA said 110 flights a week will benefit from the improved routing, and airlines will collectively save about $30 million a year in fuel costs.
Mesa Air CEO Jonathan Ornstein revealed an interest in forming a joint-venture operation with one or more Chinese airlines that could see a boost of regional jets within the country connecting mid-sized cities.
The Star Alliance is looking to add more regional partners in Africa, after South African Airways last weekend became the largest African carrier to join a global alliance.
Airbus "has a lot of work to do" in improving the Airbus A350 design, says Air Canada parent ACE Holding Chairman Robert Milton. Speaking at a Star Alliance meeting in Johannesburg, Milton believes the manufacturer should go for a completely new jet, rather than a version of the A330, echoing comments made recently by several top leasing executives (DAILY, March 30). Air Canada in November finalized a deal to buy as many as 60 Boeing 787s because the A350 "was too big for us." Singapore Airlines last week also voiced some A350 criticism.
Venezuela's Aeropostal recently launched daily nonstop MD-80 service between Caracas Maiquetia Airport and Medellin Rionegro Airport in Colombia, cutting down flying time to two hours from the four to six hours it used to take through Bogota's busy Eldorado Airport.
Air New Zealand is preparing for the launch of its new Shanghai service by negotiating slots and appointing a general manager for China. The airline, which already has approval to fly into Pudong Airport, is "finalizing slot times with a view to begin selling fares in a few months' time." The flights are expected to begin in November, and fares and schedules will be announced after slots have been secured. ANZ will use Boeing 777-200ERs on the Shanghai route.
Named William Lovett to senior VP and chief underwriting officer-North America, Peter Jarrett as chief financial and reinsurance officer and Michael Barrett as chief claims officer.
Mesa is moving forward on short-term leases for six CRJ-200s from GECAS that will form the fleet of the company's new Hawaiian airline Go!, CEO Jonathan Ornstein tells employees. He notes the leases have "very attractive" rates.
Italian carrier Livingston can begin to offer charter flights to the U.S., thanks to the grant of a foreign carrier permit and exemption from the U.S. Transportation Dept. Livingston will use the authority to continue Lauda Air Italy's U.S.-Italy combination charter service. Livingston acquired and absorbed the carrier in September 2005. It has three Airbus A330-200s dry-leased from ILFC and seating 24 in business class and 248 in economy [OST-2005-23352, -23353].
30 Years Ago April 9, 1976 -- CAB control over entry, exit and pricing should be substantially reduced, but the change must be gradual, said CAB Chairman John Robson. The Administration's deregulation bill, the Aviation Act of 1975, "has proposed too much change in too short a time," Robson said. 20 Years Ago
Congressional sources say there will be no movement on FAA reauthorization legislation this year, and the first legislative proposals will likely be introduced on Capitol Hill next spring. Lawmakers are aiming to end this year's House and Senate sessions in early October, so they can focus on elections. This will likely preclude any reauthorization bills being offered. However, congressional sources told The DAILY that it is typical for FAA reauthorization bills to be introduced in the same year the previous ones expire -- which in this case is 2007.
Trans States got the go-ahead from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to suspend its unsubsidized service to Springfield, Ill., but its exit from the Decatur, Ill., market will have to wait until a suitable replacement carrier is found. The carrier is leaving five markets -- Columbia, Mo; Decatur, Ill; Joplin, Mo; Springfield, Ill., and Springfield, Mo.
Spanish investment group Ferrovial began its long-awaited bid for a hostile takeover of U.K. airport operator BAA on Friday, and BAA urged shareholders to reject the offer because it is still too low. Ferrovial is offering 810 pence per share for BAA stock, which values the company at GBP8.75 billion (US$15.2 billion). This is the same value as the offer presented to the BAA board -- and rejected -- last month, but Ferrovial noted that its offer is still much higher than the value of the shares before the takeover speculation began.
The value of the $38.8 billion worldwide commercial jet transport maintenance, repair and overhaul market is expected to grow at 4.5% annually in the next 10 years as a recent decline in labor rates bottoms out and engine overhaul costs keep climbing.
Germany's Bundestag on Friday passed a law that allows the government to sell a 75% stake in the nation's air traffic control service, DFS. The Air Navigation Services Act includes regulations for the capital privatization of DFS, with the German government retaining only a 25.1% share. Another significant feature of the legislation is the establishment of a separate oversight body, to be called the Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services. This meets the requirements of Europe's Single Sky legislation.
