US Transportation Security Administration said Miami International Airport will receive a new explosives detection trace portal to screen passengers at the Concourse E security checkpoint, becoming the tenth airport to participate in the pilot program.
JetBlue Airways flew 1.66 billion RPMs in March, up 33.7% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 24.1% to 1.84 billion ASMs and load factor gained 6.6 points to 90%. For the three months ended March 31, RPMs increased 31.5% to 4.34 billion, ASMs rose 22.5% to 5.17 billion and load factor jumped 5.9 points to 85.8%.
Citing higher fuel prices that will cost it an additional A$1 billion ($770 million) in 2005-06 compared to the current fiscal year, Qantas is almost doubling its surcharge for domestic travel in Australia and New Zealand from A$12 to A$20 per sector. For transtasman travel the surcharge will increase from A$29 to A$40 per sector, and for other international travel including on Australian Airlines the surcharge will more than double from A$29 to A$60 per sector. Jetstar will increase its surcharge from A$10 to A$19 including GST per sector.
Today's near-record energy prices will overwhelm a "gradually improving" airline revenue picture and create a liquidity challenge for some struggling US airlines, according to JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker. In a report released Friday, Baker forecast that oil will remain at or above the $50-per-barrel mark for the rest of 2005 and fall only a few dollars to $47 per barrel in 2006. With most airlines lacking hedges, the result will be a significant cash drain and an approaching "liquidity crunch time" for America West, Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
Pan Am International Flight Academy is closing its Career Pilot Development training campus in Ft. Pierce, Fla., and relocating equipment and aircraft to its CPD campus in Phoenix. The move will be completed by midsummer. The decision "was spurred primarily by the devastation caused by last year's hurricane season and the strong likelihood of future hurricanes," the company said.
Emirates launched three weekly flights from Dubai to Sydney via Bangkok last week. The services, which are operated using 777-300ERs, will increase to daily from May 1. The new flights will boost Emirates' service between Dubai and Bangkok from twice-daily to three per day and the current daily service between Dubai and Sydney to twice-daily from May.
Munich Airport formed a new subsidiary, MUC Ground Services Flughafen Munchen GmbH. The entity will begin ground handling operations before the end of summer and initially will employ 40 workers.
Astro-Med said Airbus placed an order for the development of a special airborne digital data recorder for "final pre-delivery testing" of the A380, A400M and other aircraft. The order is a follow-on to a contract awarded to Astro-Med in 2003 for a special airborne version of the Everest Telemetry Recorder-Workstation for use in the development and flight testing of the A380.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace subsidiary ST Aerospace Supplies will provide maintenance-by-the-hour component support to Chinese new entrant Okay Airways. The five-year agreement covers a complete range of components on Okay's fleet of six 737s and is worth approximately $12 million, according to STA.
Cathay Pacific Airways may be further away from a new long-haul aircraft order than has been speculated previously. COO Tony Tyler told ATWOnline that the airline is evaluating both the 747ADV and A380 and the 777-300ER/A340-600, plus "other possible available options for long-haul aircraft," but that it "will not approach the market until we are ready. . .Our needs until the end of 2007 are already provided for, so we are not in a rush to make any decisions on future acquisitions."
Airbus Spares Support and Services and Mexmil signed an MOU that provides the basis for a future agreement under which Mexmil will manufacture, market and distribute specific Airbus proprietary spare parts for the thermoacoustic insulation blanket market.
Lufthansa Technical Training , a Lufthansa Technics subsidiary, opened a new EASA-approved training center in Manila. Courses range from basic maintenance up to advanced type-rated training and can be held either at the fully equipped facility or at any customer-requested location. Separately, LTT signed up SkyLink Airways for its blended training concept.
JAT Airways continues to operate a much-reduced schedule as its mechanics' strike is in its fourth week. JAT has wet-leased a 737-300 from Islandsflug and an A320 from Jetclub. Its mechanics went on strike on March 17. The Serbian flag carrier operates on a day-to-day basis and said flight schedules can be checked on its website.
Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings late Wednesday said it successfully completed concurrent equity and convertible debt offerings ( ATWOnline , April 4), raising C$720 million ($595 million), C$120 million more than originally sought. The equity offering comprised 11.4 million Class A Variable Voting Shares and Class B Voting Shares priced at C$37 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $420 million. ACE raised a further C$300 million through the sale of 4.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2035.
Air Wisconsin will end all flying on behalf of United Airlines over the next year, according to an internal document obtained by ATWOnline . The Regional currently flies 70 aircraft in the United Express feeder network, but last fall United issued an RFP to replace Air Wisconsin and on Monday announced that SkyWest and GoJet, a new subsidiary of Trans States Holdings, had been selected to take over some of those services and will operate a total of 30 70-seat regional jets ( ATWOnline , April 5).
SAS Group flew 2.81 billion RPKs in March, up 4.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity increased 1.8% to 4.39 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.7 points to 64%. For the three months ended March 31, RPKs were ahead 4.4% to 7.34 billion, ASKs jumped 5.2% to 12.47 billion and load factor declined 0.4 point to 58.9%.
Continental Airlines formally submitted an application to the US Dept. of Transportation for approval to operate nonstop flights from Newark to Shanghai. If approved, Continental would introduce flights in March 2007 using a 283-seat 777. Earlier this year, Continental was approved by DOT as a new entrant in the US-China air market and awarded rights to launch daily service from Newark to Beijing ( ATWOnline , March 21). Those flights will begin June 15. The new flights became available under the US-China aviation agreement signed last July.
Air France-KLM Group flew 14.95 billion RPKs in March, up 6.2% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 3.9% to 18.67 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.7 points to 80.1%. AF reported a 2.4-point gain in load factor to 78.7% with traffic increasing 6% on a 2.7% rise in capacity, while KLM traffic grew 6.4% on a 6.1% capacity hike for a 0.3-point increase in load factor to 82.7%. For the fiscal year to date, consolidating AF over 12 months and KLM over 11 months, RPKs increased 8.9% to 169 billion, ASKs climbed 6.9% to 214.61 billion and load factor improved 1.5 points to 78.7%.
A majority of US air travelers believe the FCC should not lift a ban on cellphone use during flights, according to a new study that was sponsored by the Assn. of Flight Attendants/Communications Workers of America and the National Consumers League and released yesterday. Of the 702 air travelers surveyed, 63% wanted to keep cellphone restrictions in place while 21% said it is time to let people talk on their phones during flights. The study, conducted by Lauer Research, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7%.
Alteon Training announced that an A320-300 full flight simulator at its Miami Training Center and a 737-300/-400/-500 full flight simulator with a Flight Dynamics Head-up Display at its Atlanta Training Center have received FAA Level C certification.
The launch of Jade Cargo International, the joint cargo carrier announced by Lufthansa Cargo and Shenzen Airlines last October ( ATWOnline , Oct. 25), has been pushed back to autumn. Operations originally had been expected to begin in the first quarter, "but with a change in Chinese law, it was not possible for us to start services with three A300-600Fs as we planned," Lufthansa Cargo Chairman Jean-Peter Jansen told ATWOnline .
Lufthansa Systems' e-ticketing solution was selected by Austrian Airlines. Separately, Austrian said it reduced the capital of its Lauda Air subsidiary from €24.7 million ($31.9 million) to €100,000 to reflect integration of Lauda's technical division and flight operations into the group. As a result, Lauda acts more or less as a marketing company for leisure flights.
