Southwest is rapidly expanding at Denver, adding new markets that continue to target United and Frontier as well as Delta in Salt Lake City. The carrier launched 13 daily flights on Tuesday from Denver to Chicago Midway, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Northwest this week asked for a six-month extension of the exclusivity period to file its reorganization with the bankruptcy court, warning that because of the complexity of the case, it can't guarantee a final plan by yearend.
Panama's COPA Holdingsí shares rose from $20 on Dec. 15, the day of its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, to $25.60 on Dec. 19. The president of the airline, Pedro Helibron said the move shows "how even small countries are able to trade their securities publicly and succeed in the world's major markets."
Continental lost $10 million-$15 million in December, based on unit revenue growth reported yesterday, a leading analyst estimates. The airline reported that consolidated unit revenue increased 7%-8% in December, with mainline unit revenue rising 5.5%-6.5%. The increase was less than in November, when consolidated unit revenue rose 10.3% and mainline unit revenue grew 9.1%. December's unit revenue growth reflects "recent strength in pricing," with average industry leisure fares up 3% from a year ago, said Fulcrum analyst Susan Donofrio.
FAA recently issued an emergency airworthiness directive to operators of the Pacific Aerospace Corporation PAC 750XL, warning that the aircraft's wings might not meet load requirements for a maximum takeoff weight of 7,500 pounds. The company discovered the problem during an ultimate load test of a production wing. The airframer, based in New Zealand, is dropping MTOW to 7,125 pounds until it develops a modification to raise MTOW to its original level. -LR
The Brazilian court overseeing Varig's restructuring split the carrier's creditors into three groups, each with its own "funds of shared investment" (FIP) that will give them the opportunity to swap their debt for equity in the restructured carrier.
IATA said yesterday that global air freight growth in November remained slow at 2.8%, although passenger growth for the month was much healthier at 6.1%, with passenger capacity growing 4.6%.
The New York City airports again fell to the bottom of the on-time rankings for the top U.S. airports in November, while JetBlue posted the worst on-time arrivals rate of the 20 reporting carriers due to the launch of its new Embraer 190, as well as airport congestion.
The deadline for nominating someone for the Overhaul & Maintenance magazine Outstanding Achievement Awards in Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul is Feb. 1. Sponsored by O&M and Aviation Week, the award honors managers or executives who have improved the efficiency, profitability, reliability and/or safety of their company's MRO operation, or of aviation MRO generally. For more information, contact Lee Ann Tegtmeier at 202-383- 2422 or at o&[email protected].
Uruguay is looking for a buyer to take over Varig's 49% equity stake in Pluna, Uruguay's minister of transportation, Victor Rossi, told reporters this week. Uruguay holds the other 51%. Rossi also said reports that Varig is ready to sell its equity stake for an alleged $40 million have jeopardized negotiations with other possible buyers. Among these is Venezuela's state-owned Conviasa and others he declined to identify. "The important thing," he said, "is not how many suitors Pluna has but who is ready for marriage."
The airport at Ontario, Calif., will get two new services to Mexico thanks to recent route awards to Aeromexico and Mexicana, while Azteca won a designation to serve the Toluca-Las Vegas city-pair. Aeromexico received approval from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation for its proposed service from Aguascalientes to Ontario.
The Argentinean Ministry of Transportation (MDT) has put on hold the launching of Lan Argentina's nonstop service from Buenos Aires to Miami for reasons stemming from Argentina's recent upgrading from Category 2 to Cat 1 in the U.S. FAA's IASA program. In October, Lan announced it would to serve this route with aircraft licensed in one of the countries where it operates (Chile, Peru or Ecuador), but things changed with the renewal of Argentina's Cat 1 status, which complicated Lan Argentina's capacity to operate with aircraft licensed in third countries.
Airport Council International-North America recently hired Eileen Denne as VP-communications and marketing, based in Washington. Denne will lead ACI-NA's communication, marketing and publications. Most recently, she was VP-communications at the American Society of Travel Agents.
Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines recently signed a code-share deal that will link two of the region's largest networks. The partnership will start Feb. 1 and allow Qatar Airways to carry Saudia passengers on the Dammam-Doha route. "This new code share marks a historic milestone for Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines and is the start of a long-term relationship that will help strengthen ties between our two countries," said Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker.
COPA's authority to hold out Panama-El Salvador service is no longer valid thanks to legal maneuvers by TACA that resulted in a high court ruling that stripped COPA of the ability to launch the flights on Dec. 15. DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America & Caribbean reported COPA canceled the flights only a few hours before departure once it learned the supreme court of El Salvador suspended the route authority it won in December 2004.
Emirates SkyCargo next week plans to start freighter services from Dubai to Lilongwe, Malawi, operated jointly with Air Malawi subsidiary Air Cargo, Ltd.
Air Canada plans to replace its current RES III reservations system this year "to better meet the requirements of our new business model." Code-named "Athena," the project involves a large team to develop a reservations system that will be "simple, easy to use, and that will allow us to serve our customers consistently well," the airline told employees. Air Canada made clear it would not integrate existing systems from other legacy carriers.
AirAsia is strengthening its Johor Bahru hub by adding four new routes and more frequencies to additional destinations, starting Feb. 6. The carrier plans to offer four weekly flights to Ipoh and Tawau, and three weekly flights to Kota Bharu and Sandakan. AirAsia also is adding flights to Kuching, Kota Kinbalu and Penang.
Japan Airlines recently announced plans to hike domestic Japan fares in the summer to help offset high fuel prices. JAL last week filed a fare increase application with the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation to raise prices from April 1 to Sept. 30. During the period, JAL's domestic "normal" fares will increase between 3% and 11.3% per one-way sector. The amount of the increase will depend on the length of the sectors flown. "JAL expects high fuel prices to continue into the future," the carrier said.
EasyJet plans to add 14 new routes to its network from March through May, going head-to-head with some flag carriers, most notably Alitalia. The low-fare airline is competing directly with Alitalia in three of its new markets -- Milan-Palermo, Milan-Naples and Lisbon-Milan. Portugalia and TAP Air Portugal also are set to fly the Lisbon-Milan route when easyJet starts daily flights April 21. EasyJet will compete directly with Air France between Lisbon and Paris with daily flights beginning March 1.
Argentina's supreme court this week overturned a lower court ruling that prevented private airport concessionaires Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA200) from collecting the entire amount of the $18-per-person airport departure tax levied on international passengers.
