Airlines & Lessors

Source: US Dept. of Transportation

LATAM Airlines Group has posted a second-quarter net loss of $329.8 million, narrowed from a net loss of $448.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Chinese carriers have reported a collective net profit of CNY5.2 billion ($843 million) in July, down 19% over a net income of CNY6.4 billion in the year-ago period.

UK leisure carrier Jet2 has taken another tentative step into long-haul operations by offering limited charter flights to Boston, New York and Toronto from the UK regions next Easter.

Bahrain-based Gulf Air is attempting to clear up increasing misconceptions over its role in plans to liberalize Saudi Arabia’s domestic air services.

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The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has adopted Transport Canada’s airworthiness directive (AD), mandating all airlines with aircraft that carry particular types of Honeywell Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT) to check the units’ wiring.

Ethiopian Cargo is partnering with African regional carrier ASKY Airlines to set up a cargo hub in Lomé, Togo.

Budapest-based Solyom Hungarian Airways has taken delivery of its first aircraft, a leased Boeing 737-500.

1. January-June 2013. 2. January-May 2013. * Includes Regional operations. Source: ATW Research, direct airline reports.

Indonesia’s Sky Aviation has taken delivery of its second Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100).

Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai has begun selling business-class fares, in preparation for the launch of its premium service operations in October.

“Indicators suggest that recent signs of deterioration in air travel [markets] have stabilized,” IATA reports in its June Premium Traffic Monitor.

Thai Airways reports a second-quarter net loss of THB8.4 billion ($270.8 million), a performance that more than quintuples its THB1.5 billion net loss in the year-ago quarter.

All Nippon Airways parent ANA Holdings has rebranded AirAsia Japan as “Vanilla Air,” by which name the Tokyo-based low-cost carrier (LCC) will be known from Nov. 1.

International Airlines Group (IAG)—parent to British Airways, Iberia and Vueling—has called on its shareholders to meet Sept. 26 to formally approve orders for 98 Airbus and Boeing aircraft in an extraordinary general meeting in Madrid.

African low-cost carrier Fastjet shareholders have given the go-ahead for a reorganization aimed at strengthening the company’s weak share price.

Turkish low-cost carrier (LCC) Pegasus Airlines ended the first half with a net profit of TRY44.1 million ($22.6 million), reversed from a TRY70.1 million loss for the same period last year.

AirBaltic has reported a 15% year-over-year improvement in aircraft utilization for the 2013 summer season.

AELIS Group has sold a EuroLOT ATR 72-202 to Singapore-based Phoenix Aircraft Leasing.

US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators have not been able to find any indications of aircraft system malfunctions on the United Parcel Service (UPS) Airbus A300-600 freighter that crashed Aug. 14 in Alabama.

Air India has issued a tender to lease 19 Airbus A320s, in a move that will sharply increase its fleet size and improve its ability to compete with privately run carriers.

China’s Ruili Airlines has ordered 18 Boeing 737 series aircraft.

Russia’s Transaero Airline reported a first-half profit of RUB261.92 million ($7.95 million), according to Russian accounting standards, up 54% from the year-ago period.

Airberlin has suspended bookings for flights to Egypt’s Hurghada, Marsa Alam and Sharm el Sheikh until Sept. 15 owing to unrest and violence sweeping the country.