El Al Israeli Airlines, which is working to improve efficiency, is on the right track toward profitability, president and CEO Elyezer Shkedy told ATW. Even though its daily operations remain challenging, he “sees the light; there is a great potential [for El Al]. In every area, we are investing a lot in the culture of our company.”
IATA’s May global airfreight figures depict a sector where “it is getting harder to find optimistic signs,” IATA DC and CEO Tony Tyler said. Total market FTKs increased a slight 0.8% in May compared to a year ago, while total market AFTK capacity increased by 2.1%, bringing freight load factors to 44.9%, the lowest level since the post-crisis recovery, according to an IATA statement.
The airline industry must find ways to improve returns for our investors to attract the estimated $4 to $5 trillion of capital investment required to finance new aircraft needed to serve Asia-Pacific and other emerging regions over the next two decades, IATA DG and CEO Tony Tyler said in a newly released study.
China’s Hainan Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The delivery is the first of 10 787s for Hainan Airlines. Hainan vice chairman Mu Weigang said the 787 would allow the carrier to open new routes from Beijing to North America. Hainan will first operate the Dreamliner on a domestic route from Beijing to Haikou before deploying it on North American routes, increasing the frequency of its Beijing-Seattle, Beijing-Toronto and Beijing-Chicago services, with several new destinations.
Iberia began summer 3X-weekly Madrid-Dubrovnik Airbus A321 service through Sept. 30. Madrid-Zagreb will be offered Saturday and Sunday through Sept. 15. Madrid-Athens will be 5X-weekly in July, 4X-weekly in August and 3X-weekly in September through the 29th. Kenya Airways began 3X-weekly Nairobi-Harare-Livingstone service.
Air Baltic CEO Martin Gauss has told ATW he will make a final call on whether to exercise the Latvian carrier’s 10 Bombardier CSeries options and take a CSeries simulator next year.
Air Berlin is wet leasing an ATR 72-200 from Latvia-based Danu oro transportas owing to difficulties in obtaining crew and pilots, a source from the Air Berlin management told ATW.
Air Berlin is wet leasing an ATR 72-200 from Latvia-based Danu oro transportas owing to difficulties in obtaining crew and pilots, a source from the Air Berlin management told ATW.
Ryanair deputy CEO and COO Michael Cawley has announced plans to step down from his full-time executive role with the Irish budget carrier at the end of March 2014 to pursue other interests.
FAA is investigating an incident in which a Spirit Airlines Airbus A319 apparently came within 1.6 miles horizontally and 400 feet vertically of a skydiving aircraft.
Russia’s UTair and Transaero Airlines have signed a partnership agreement to increase the number of transfer passengers between UTair’s domestic and Transaero’s international flights.
China Eastern Airlines’ wholly owned subsidiary China United Airlines is accelerating its rapid expansion pace as it plans to increase its fleet by 50 aircraft by 2015.
