Japan Airlines officially unveiled the reintroduction its iconic crane livery on a Boeing 767-300ER at its maintenance center at Tokyo Haneda on Monday. The change in logo was announced Jan. 19 to emphasize JAL's “new philosophy and corporate policy underscoring a re-commitment to provide the highest levels of service to customers.”
Edelweiss Air COO Peter Spring told ATW in Zurich that the airline took delivery of a 332-seat Airbus A330-300 last week and is endeavoring to grow international flying.
Air France KLM flew 16.63 billion RPKs in January, up 4.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.3% to 21.00 billion ASKs and load factor jumped 1.1 points to 79.2%. Lufthansa Passenger Airlines operated 10.24 billion RPKs in January, a 10.8% increase year-over-year. Capacity jumped 12% to 13.99 billion ASKs as load factor fell 0.7 points to 73.2%.
Cyprus Airways and employees' trade unions called on parliamentarians to approve payment of €20 million ($27.3 million) to the company to help to stay in air, Famagusta Gazette reported this week.
Virgin Blue will drop the “Blue” from its brand name, opting instead for a streamlined brand more in line with its push to lure business customers. But the airline's boss, former Qantas Executive GM John Borghetti, has stopped short of dumping the Virgin brand completely as the airline tries to redefine its place in the local market.
American Airlines on Tuesday lowered its full-year 2011 consolidated capacity growth projection to 3.3% from 4.3% previously, and also revealed that it ordered a third Boeing 777-300ER in February in addition to two it announced in January for delivery in late 2012.
EgyptAir Group Chairman and CEO Hussein Massoud said the late January/early February civil unrest in Cairo and other parts of Egypt that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak "reduced our income by as much as 80%," but he downplayed suggestions that the carrier is in serious trouble.
Continental Airlines parent United Continental Holdings announced Friday that CO's 9,300 flight attendants, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, ratified a new labor contract ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 1, 2010). UCH VP-Inflight Service Sam Risoli said, "Our Continental flight attendants took a big step to keep us moving forward as we integrate Continental and United."
Thai Airways International Public Co. and Tiger Airways Holdings formally signed a shareholders' agreement to launch Thai Tiger Airways, the low-fare joint venture carrier the companies announced last summer ( ATW Daily News, Aug. 3).
Lebanon's Middle East Airlines on Monday formalized its previously announced decision to join SkyTeam in 2012. MEA joins Saudi Arabian Airlines as future Middle East members of the alliance ( ATW Daily News, Jan. 20). "The addition of MEA to the alliance network will enable SkyTeam to compete more efficiently, not only within the Middle East, but also to and from Western Africa," SkyTeam said in a statement.
Includes: World Airline Traffic World Airport Traffic IATA Fuel Prices Aircraft Data Aircraft Values Aircraft Deliveries US Major and National Airline Traffic US Ontime Performance U.S. Fuel Cost and Consumption US Mishandled Baggage US Consumer Complaints
GOL operated 3.15 billion RPKs in January, up 5.9% year-over-year, on a 5.6% increase in capacity to 4.16 billion ASKs. Load factor grew 0.2 points to 75.6%. Swiss International Air Lines flew 2.46 billion RPKs in January, an 11.5% leap from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 12.5% to 3.24 billion ASKs as load factor fell 0.7 points to 75.8%.
SAS announced Friday that CFO Mats Lonnqvist, who joined the carrier in December 2008, is leaving. He will be succeeded March by Goran Jansson, who also will take on the position of deputy president of SAS. Lonnqvist will continue until April 1 "to ensure efficient handover of assignments and responsibilities,” the carrier said.
