Virgin Australia (DJ) will deploy Airbus A330s on the Melbourne (MEL)-Perth (PER) route to tap the resources boom in Western Australia and attempt to capture more of the business market from Qantas (QF). According to the airline, the move will add 20,000 seats a year. In a significant ramp-up in the intensifying competition between the two airlines, DJ will take delivery from Airbus of two new 278-seat A330s in May and put them into service on the MEL-PER route from May 14. The A330s will replace 168-seat Boeing 737s.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines will lay off 300 administrative staff as part of its 4Excellence program aiming to cut annual costs by 3%-5% ( ATW Daily News, Sept. 15, 2011). According to SAS, these cost-cutting measures will reduce expenses by SEK2 billion ($288 million) for 2012. SAS maintains its forecast of a marginally positive financial result for 2011. However, implementing 4Excellence has become even more crucial in 2012 due to increased economic uncertainty, increased pressure on yields in the airline industry and continued high fuel prices.
Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has refuted the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport final report into the ET flight 409 Boeing 737-800 crash, which occurred Jan. 25, 2010.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFB) and Sumitomo Corp. (SC) have reached an agreement to acquire RBS Aviation Capital, the Royal Bank of Scotland's aircraft leasing unit.
Delta Air Lines (DL) and WestJet (WS) said Tuesday they will expand their cooperation agreement with increased codesharing starting with Jan. 23 flights.
Iberia (IB) is facing a new wave of strikes by its pilots represented by the SEPLA union, while ground workers and cabin crew have also voted for industrial action, although for different reasons.
Skytech-AIC has named Jeff Solomon as technical director, responsible for all aircraft and technical record inspections for its owned and managed portfolios and for third-party clients. Solomon has held positions at British Airways and Airclaims (Ascend) and is founder of Aviation Support Group. KLM UK Engineering Limited has appointed Paul Chun MD. Chun will join KLM from AFI KLM E&M subsidiary EPCOR.
Lufthansa Technik AG (LHT) announced a takeover of shares in AirLiance Materials, from United Airlines and Air Canada. LHT now owns 100% of the Rochelle, Ill.-based supplier of traceable aircraft parts for heavy maintenance checks, overhauls and repairs of engines and airframes.
All five Lufthansa Group airlines carried a total of 106.3 million passengers in 2011, a growth of 7.5% compared to the previous year. The group’s ASKs grew by 9.8% overall in 2011, while RPKs rose 7%. Average passenger load factor fell by 2.2% to 77.2%. Passenger boardings were 65.5 million, up 11.1% compared to the previous year. Capacity rose by 11.8% in the full year, while sales were up 8.8%. Load factor was 77.2%, down 2.2% year-over-year.
Biofuel-powered commercial flights could become standard operations within five to seven years, according to Lufthansa’s (LH) head of aviation biofuel.
Chinese carriers earned a collective net profit of CNY 26 billion ($4.12 billion) in 2011, down 26% compared to CNY35.1 billion from 2010, according to an industry insider.
Taiwan-based China Airlines' (CI) cargo division, China Airlines Cargo, is making adjustments in its operations to cope with a challenging global economic environment.
Estonian Air (OV) carried 678,049 passengers last year, up 16.4 % compared to 2010. In December, OV carried 44,541 passengers, up 4%. “The positive results were supported by new network and improved products. Flights have been also made more affordable. The bookings for 2012 indicate similar growth figures to continue,” said OV commercial manager Rauno Parras. In 2011, OV operated 11,691 flights, up 11.5% compared to the previous year. In December, OV operated 883 flights, up 16.1% compared to the year-ago month.
Lufthansa (LH), the largest foreign carrier in Russia, will transfer its Dusseldorf (DUS) and Hamburg (HAM) flights from Moscow Domodedovo (DME) to Moscow Vnukovo (VKO) beginning June 3, according to a VKO statement. In November 2011, LH revealed plans to add VKO to its network ( ATW Daily News, Nov. 23). From March 25, LH will operate two out of six scheduled daily flights from Frankfurt (FRA), and from June 3 it will add 12 flights per week from Berlin.
Brussels Airlines (SN) will invest €30 million ($38.3 million) to revamp the interiors of its widebody fleet, comprising five Airbus A330-300 and two -200s. Business class will be fitted with full-flat beds with built-in LED mood lighting; economy seats will be equipped with the IMS Company’s innovative seat-centric RAVE inflight entertainment system.
Bombardier Aerospace named Mike Arcamone, a longtime executive with General Motors (GM) who most recently headed the company's South Korea unit, as Bombardier Commercial Aircraft's new president effective Feb. 1.
Nine African airlines have come together to purchase aircraft fuel jointly, a move the carriers believe will increase their leverage and raise the value and quality of fuel being procured.
Chile's LAN Airlines and Brazil's TAM said their planned merger under LATAM Airlines Group, expected to be completed by the end of March, will produce even more synergies than previously expected.
Malaysia Airlines (MH) is increasing its weekly frequencies to several ASEAN destinations as well as to Beijing (PEK) and Taipei from March 25. The changes are in line with MH’s business plan rolled out in December to streamline operations, focus on growth and cut losses ( ATW Daily News, Dec. 12, 2011).
Ryanair (FR) will introduce a €0.25 ($0.32) levy per passenger per segment for all bookings made from Jan.17 to cover costs incurred from the inclusion of aviation in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) ( ATW Daily News, Dec. 22, 2011). Europe’s largest LCC said it estimates the EU ETS will cost it between €15 million ($19.1 million) and €20 million this year.
Etihad Airways (EY) has finalized a $367 million sale/leaseback deal with Sanad Aero Solutions and Engine Lease Finance Corp. (ELF) to finance 23 spare engines. The transactions, which are for a 10-year operating lease, cover the financing for 16 in-service spare engines and seven future spare engine deliveries. Sanad will buy and lease back five GE90 and six Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines. ELF will purchase and lease back six Trent 700 and six IAE V2500 engines, EY said. The spare engines are for EY’s fleet of passenger and cargo aircraft.
