Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) has awarded a joint mandate to BNP Paribas, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau and WestLB AG to finance 10 Airbus A320s supported by an export credit agency (ECA). SALE said the banks would provide major ECA-guaranteed funding and a mismatch loan for each aircraft to optimize debt payments. The lessor has raised US$2.9 billion in commercial funding. SALE said nine of the aircraft have been placed with operators. -LR
Sabre's "Airline Solutions" division -- which sells reservations and departure control systems, revenue management software, scheduling and pricing systems -- expects its overall revenue will grow 12%-15% to roughly $240 million in 2003. President Tom Klein told The DAILY that it also expects to maintain the 10% operating margin it posted in 2002.
Delta redeployed 49 mainline jets between April 1995 and November 2001 after replacing them with RJs, and improved block hours flown by 16% in the process, a Delta Connection report released late last month shows. Delta Connection credits the move with improving mainline profits by $210 million.
Former Sen. Carlos Wilson of the Workers Party, new CEO of Brazil's Infraero, the government agency responsible for airport development and management, has big plans for downtown Rio's Santos Dumont Airport.
Midway Airlines will begin offering three times daily US Airways regional jet service between Washington National and Nashville on March 10. Service will be aboard 50-seat Canadair RJs and replaces two turboprop flights currently operated on the route.
United in March is expected to launch a new ad campaign "to reach the broadest spectrum of customers," using its ad budget "as cost-effectively as possible," Jerry Dow, marketing communications director, recently told employees. Fallon Worldwide has been United's ad agency since 1996.
All 54 2003 aircraft orders at Delta are for regional jets, according to the company's latest financials. Delta has firm orders for 31 Canadair RJ 100/200s and 20 CRJ 700s. All 23 confirmed 2004 orders are also for RJs. Delta has deferred orders on all mainline aircraft for this year and next, a company spokesman said.
To promote tourism to the island resort of Phuket, the Thai government asked national flag carrier Thai Airways International to open direct routes from Britain, Japan, Scandinavia and Sydney. The government also said if Thai could not provide the aircraft for the flights to meet increasing traffic to Thailand, it should open the routes to one of its Star Alliance partners.
To list an event, fax information to Donna Thomas at 202-383-2438. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JAN. 25 -- AIR, Inc.'s Airline Pilot Job Fair, Sheraton Grand Hotel, DFW Airport, Dallas, Texas, 800-538-5627, e-mail [email protected], www.jet-jobs.com/guestframe.html JAN. 27-30 -- Snell Infrared's Thermal Solutions®, Clearwater Beach, Flor., 800-636-9820, fax 802-223-0460, www.thermal-solutions.org
James Taylor, III, 81, who headed marketing and sales programs for major business jet manufacturers for several decades, died Jan. 17 in Bridgeport, Conn. Taylor had been hospitalized for several days and succumbed to complications from liver cancer and heart disease.
Horizon is adding another direct CRJ700 flight from Medford and Eugene, Ore., to Los Angeles Airport, starting April 6. Service from Medford to Los Angeles will rise from one to two nonstops, and service from Eugene will go from two to three flights. The third Eugene-L.A. flight makes an en route stop in Medford each way, Horizon says.
BAX Global named Jeffery Barry VP-global sales and Richard Charles regional director-global sales. Brazilian President Luiz Inazio Lula da Silva appointed Carlos Wilson president of airport management company Infraero. Extex named Dave Daniels VP-sales and marketing. Israel Aircraft Industries appointed Mordechai Boness president and Gadi Cohen corporate VP and general manager of IAI Commercial Aircraft Group. Private Business Jets named Greg Goodwin VP-char- ter operations.
New York jet fuel spot prices ended last week at $0.86 per gallon, which up from the beginning of the week and up 48.0% from a year ago, according to Deutsche Bank Securities.
Swiss International Air Lines carried 11.6 million passengers in 2002, significantly more than the anticipated 9.8 million in the original business plan. The airline's systemwide load factor was 71% -- 80.9% on long-haul services and 56.9% in the European flying program. Swiss was set up early in 2002 as a combination of regional carrier Crossair and parts of bankrupt Swissair.
Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) enjoyed its best year so far with records set for cargo, passengers and flight movements last year. Cargo movement at HKIA saw the highest growth with an increase of 10.6% from the previous year at 2.48 million tons. Passenger traffic increased 3.8% to 34.32 million, while aircraft movements jumped 5% to 206 million.
Boeing on Friday announced 650 layoffs, primarily from its Commercial Airplanes Group in the Puget Sound, Wash., area. Employees received 60-day notices, with an effective layoff date of March 21, 2003.
Jetsgo last week said it was expanding its network to Ottawa and improving service to Vancouver and Timmins, Ont. The airline has added a seventh Boeing MD-83 to its fleet that allows for extended service. Jetsgo on March 2 will add two daily weekday Ottawa-Toronto roundtrips plus one on Sunday, with connections from Toronto to Vancouver, Winnipeg, New York, Timmins, Halifax and Charlottetown. President Michael Leblanc said Ottawa "is the largest market in Eastern Canada where Jetsgo is not yet flying."
BAE Systems is reviewing its Systems Safety Assessment (SSA) of tires on its 146/RJ regional jets after a tire burst in the aircraft's right main landing gear on a flight from London Gatwick to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in May 2002. The burst caused damage to the inboard flap, landing gear fairings, sensor wiring, fuselage and the wheel well, according to an investigation bulletin from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) in the U.K.
Administration officials said extensive conditions imposed Friday on its approval of the Delta/Northwest/Continental code share are designed to ensure the three airlines deliver promised benefits to consumers, and limit the enormous potential for damage to competition. A senior DOT official said the conditions are more strict than those imposed on the United-US Airways code share. "They have to be, because there's more to worry about here," the official said.
A provision of the Canadian Competition Act that gave the competition commissioner power to halt Air Canada's discount fares in five markets is unconstitutional, a Quebec appeals court ruled Friday.
