Airbus yesterday said it has installed the first of four Engine Alliance GP7200 engines on one of its A380 test aircraft and will install the remainder next month, in time for the aircraft to join the certification program by the middle of the year.
AirBaltic plans to open 10 new routes this year and add a Boeing 737-500 to its fleet. From Riga, airBaltic is introducing flights to Baku, Bergen, Duesseldorf, Tbilisi, Simferopol and Warsaw. Four new flights will debut from Vilnius to Budapest, Duesseldorf, Stockholm and Warsaw. Flights to Due- sseldorf from Riga start March 1, follwed by the Riga-Warsaw flight March 26.
Atlanta Airport says its fifth runway is 93% complete and is "moving forward on time and on budget." The runway is scheduled to open in May, and the airport estimates airlines will save about $5 million a week in reduced delay costs when the runway is operational.
Canadian startup Regco Holdings yesterday firmed up a letter of intent that it signed with Bombardier in 2003 for 10 Q400 turboprops. Originally, Regco signed on for 10 planes with options for 15 additional aircraft. In the order announced yesterday, Bombardier said the carrier was taking options on 10 planes. Bombardier said the value of the 10 firm-order planes is US$250 million and could rise to $500 million if all options are exercised.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, the parent of cargo carriers Atlas and Polar, reported a significant decline in operations during December, although total flying increased slightly for the full year.
JetBlue yesterday posted a rare $42 million fourth-quarter loss, and executives believe a fare increase is needed to offset sharp hikes in fuel costs and larger-than-expected losses that could persist into 2006. Special items totaling about $13 million led JetBlue to post a higher-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter. Those charges included $6 million for a maintenance and inventory tracking system that won't be used and $6.9 million in non-cash stock compensation related to accelerated vesting of certain employee stock options.
Pinnacle named Republic Financial Corp. Executive VP Ian Massey to its board. Massey has held numerous positions at aerospace firms, including finance director at BAe's regional aircraft division and CFO of Airbus.
United parent UAL Corp. yesterday officially exited bankruptcy protection, earning a place in the U.S. airline record books for having the costliest and longest single run in Chapter 11, but executives believe it was all necessary to survive the future.
Delta won approval from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to put El Al's code on Delta's new nonstop service from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, which will launch March 27 (DAILY, Dec. 12, 2005). ASA, meanwhile, won exemptions from DOT for its planned Delta Connection flights from Atlanta to Kingston, Jamaica (DAILY, Jan. 26). The daily service will launch on June 8. -ARS
Spirit AeroSystems is buying BAE Systems' Aerostructures business unit in a deal worth GBP80 million (US$142 million). The Aerostructures unit, which garnered revenues of $367 million in 2005, builds structural components, mainly for wings on Airbus A320s/A330s/A340s, Boeing 767s/777s and Raytheon Hawker 800XPs. Airbus and Raytheon will become new Spirit customers through the acquisition.
Oneworld alliance carriers plan to move into the new Terminal 4 facilities overnight on Feb. 4, with the first flights leaving the new terminal on Feb. 5. Oneworld said the move represents its "biggest and most significant" co-location project. Madrid is the main hub for Iberia and, together with its alliance partners, will account for 90% of passengers flying from Terminal 4. Currently, the Oneworld carriers are located in two separate terminals.
Lufthansa and US Airways will code share on US Airways flights from Charlotte to Huntsville/Decatur and Birmingham, Ala., and Memphis, Tenn., starting Feb. 24. US Airways or its affiliate and express carriers (Piedmont, PSA, Mesa Airlines, Air Midwest and Air Wisconsin) will operate the flights.
German leisure carrier Condor is launching 10 new routes from Munich in an effort to establish itself in the European low-fare airline market. Condor will start flying from Munich to six Italian destinations, Brussels, Istanbul, Prague and Marseille in April, the airline said yesterday. The move is unusual as the carrier is 50% owned by Lufthansa and Munich is Lufthansa's second-largest hub behind Frankfurt. Also, the Lufthansa Group also includes Germanwings, a fast-growing low-cost carrier specialized on markets linking large European cities.
AirTran Airways last signed a partnership deal with Kayak.com to distribute the airline's fares and ticket availability through the search engine. Kayak.com searches more than 100 travel sites for price and itinerary combinations and displays options "in an efficient, easy-to-read format that allows travelers to sort and filter results to find their ideal flight," said Keith Melnick, Kayak VP-business development.
The U.S. Transportation Dept., overruling the preferences of the mayor and the community of Cedar City, selected Mesa Air subsidiary Air Midwest to operate essential air service to the Utah city.
Global passenger and freight traffic is expected to grow 5%-6% this year, according to the latest IATA predictions, which would mark a slowdown from the 7.6% passenger increase posted in 2005.
Italian Industry Minister Claudio Scajola yesterday suspended the sale of the bankrupt Italian low-cost airline Volare to Alitalia. Ministry sources said Scajola intends to examine the transaction in the light of an administrative court ruling earlier this week, barring Alitalia from making the planned acquisition. The court ruled in favor of Alitalia's rival Air One, which argued that Alitalia should not be allowed to participate in the bid for Volare because it was in the process of restructuring with government support. -MT
