Air Lib, the former AOM/Air Liberte, has managed to muster EUR61 million in equity, asserts the new management of the company. Furthermore, the cash-strapped former subsidiary of Swissair is in a position to borrow an equivalent amount, said the management. These funds would facilitate the survival of the airline, which has lost EUR114 million in 2001 and could run out of cash very soon, according to union sources. The revival plan entails the launch of a new low-cost service on French domestic routes, according to industry sources.
Embraer said yesterday that only 21 out of 147 of its ERJ 135/145 aircraft in operation over Europe are not fully compliant with new Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) requirements that go into effect Jan. 24. The new rule established minimum vertical separation for flight levels above 29,000 feet at 1,000 feet intervals, down from 2,000 feet previously. Eurocontrol says reducing vertical separation will allow more aircraft in the same airspace and bring relief to overcrowded European airspace.
Washington National airport flights will be allowed to expand to 620 flights -- 77% of its pre-Sept. 11 operations -- at the end of the current restoration plan. But the ability to restart services is constrained as carriers and airports must comply with stringent security measures, and carriers are slot-limited in their operations.
New Zealand last month completed its ratification of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation-based multilateral open-skies agreement, bringing the accord into force. The APEC multilateral, agreed to in November 2000 by Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and the U.S., which jointly signed the agreement in May 2001, became effective once it was formally accepted by four of the five signatories. While Chile has signed the agreement, acceptance is contingent on ratification by its legislature. Peru has publicly announced its intention to join to the multilateral pact.
The introduction of Euro bills and coins seem to have had little consequences on the European airline market, but Spain's Air Europa indicated yesterday in Madrid that it noticed an increase in credit card payments since Jan. 1, to the detriment of cash payments. In the U.S., United said it has seen no major disruptions to any of its systems or business processes when the 12 European countries transitioned to the euro. The conversion affected between 65-70% of all United departments, according to Jeff Wilson, project leader-Applications Development.
Steven Udvar-Hazy has been elected chairman and CEO of ILFC, succeeding Leslie Gonda, who becomes chairman of the executive committee. John Plueger was elected to succeed Udvar-Hazy as president and chief operating officer, and Alan Lund was elected vice chairman and chief financial officer.
Traffic at Charleroi's regional airport - dubbed "Brussels South" -- in Belgium jumped 200% to 773,431 passengers in 2001, boosted by Ireland's low-cost carrier Ryanair, which has chosen to develop operations at secondary airports, including Paris Beauvais and Frankfurt Hahn in addition to Charleroi. Ryanair launched routes to London, Glasgow, Shannon, Pisa, Venice and Carcassonne from Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA) last April. The Belgian airport said its traffic would top 1 million passengers in 2002.
VG Airlines in the last week of 2001 signed a letter of intent with International Lease Finance Corp. for the lease of three Airbus A330-200 aircraft formerly operated by bankrupt Sabena, according to Belgian businessman Freddy Van Gaever, founder of the new carrier. Van Gaever plans to launch daily scheduled service from Brussels to New York, starting March 1, and said he would announce a second U.S. destination -- Los Angeles, San Francisco or Boston -- this month. The first aircraft will be delivered in the second half of January and the other two in February.
Steven Udvar-Hazy has been elected chairman and CEO of ILFC, succeeding Leslie Gonda, who becomes chairman of the executive committee. John Plueger was elected to succeed Udvar-Hazy as president and chief operating officer, and Alan Lund was elected vice chairman and chief financial officer.
NTSB is looking into a Dec. 14 incident in which an Air Transport International DC-8-71 freighter made a hasty return to Anchorage Ted Stevens Airport, apparently because a broken cable caused a spoiler to deploy just after takeoff.
VG Airlines in the last week of 2001 signed a letter of intent with International Lease Finance Corp. for the lease of three Airbus A330-200 aircraft formerly operated by bankrupt Sabena, according to Belgian businessman Freddy Van Gaever, founder of the new carrier. Van Gaever plans to launch daily scheduled service from Brussels to New York, starting March 1, and said he would announce a second U.S. destination -- Los Angeles, San Francisco or Boston -- this month. The first aircraft will be delivered in the second half of January and the other two in February.
United next quarter will pay the state of Indiana and several local cities about $32 million for failing to meet the obligations of a 10-year-old economic development agreement. United and then-CEO Stephen Wolf made a deal with the state in 1991 to spend $800 million on building a maintenance center in Indianapolis and create hundreds of jobs. In return, Indiana, the city of Indianapolis and Hendrick County provided incentives worth $293.7 million and funded training centers at Vincennes and Purdue universities.
Continental has increased the number of security checkpoints at its three domestic hubs. In Houston, it doubled checkpoints from five to 10 and added six at Newark and two at Cleveland.
Fuel Cost and Consumption, U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals November 2000 to October 2001 Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals November 2000 to October 2001 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 2000
United, facing sharply lower call volumes in the new year, plans to close five domestic reservations offices and furlough an additional 900 employees. The closings will take effect Feb. 28, and the offices are located in El Segundo, Burbank, Moreno Valley and Suisun City in California and one in Rockford, Ill. The closings will affect administrative, clerical, reservations sales and service and management employees.
Varig, Brazil's and Latin America's largest airline, will propose to civil aviation authorities (DAC) to re-engineer grounded Transbrasil within Varig's own administrative framework, a process to be partially financed by some of Transbrasil's creditors, among them leasing company GE Capital. Ozires Silva, president of Varig, said only that his company already requested from DAC the expansion of its own routes, and this could be accomplished by using those of Transbrasil.
Ethiopian Airways yesterday launched a twice-weekly service between Addis Ababa and Hong Kong. The flights operate on Wednesday and Friday. According to the airline's area manager for Hong Kong and Macau, Amare Tekie Tsadik, the carrier would make Hong Kong International Airport its Asian hub for leisure and business travelers en-route to Africa. It is the second African carrier after South African Airways to operate to the island.
All-cargo airline Amerijet International has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization as a "strong company with a solid balance sheet" four months after filing for court protection. Its founder, CEO David Bassett, and an affiliate of HIG Capital, a Miami-based venture capital firm, now jointly own the carrier. HIG has a majority interest.
Avianca, Colombia's No. 1 airline, carried out an initial public offering on Dec. 28 to obtain $200 million in additional capital. The IPO had been approved by the carrier's extraordinary stockholders meeting Nov. 28 and places the carrier in a stronger position for its imminent operational alliance with No. 2 Aces.
The yearend crisis at Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB), resolved when Bolivian investors acquired the 51% share package held by Brazil's VASP, will set an example for national legislators as they draft a bill on joint public/private sector corporations or state corporations that have been "capitalized" by private investors.
Korean Air recently added two new destinations to its network and expanded its service to Vietnam. The airline launched two weekly flights to Hanoi, Vietnam with Boeing 737-800s. The new Hanoi service complements the carrier's current twice-weekly Vietnam service between Seoul Incheon and Ho Chi Minh City. On Jan. 11, Korean Air will start daily service between Seoul and Saipan, using Airbus A330-300s.
Virgin Express confirmed that it is holding exclusive merger talks with DAT, the regional unit of bankrupt Sabena. Richard Branson's Brussels-based company is aiming at completing merger talks in the first quarter of 2002. "If successful, the two airlines will be integrated under a new brand name," said Virgin. It would be a "Brussels-based, business-oriented carrier serving the main European destinations with multiple frequencies." Virgin also said it will code share with DAT until the end of March.
