Korean Air will operate its first long-haul Airbus A380 flight Tuesday from Seoul Incheon to New York JFK, and believes the aircraft can help it attract new business passengers.
American Airlines launched the "initial phase" of a Gogo-powered inflight streaming video product, Entertainment On Demand. The option will be available to passengers onboard its fleet of 15 Boeing 767-200s, allowing them to wirelessly stream more than 100 movies and TV shows from an inflight library to "select types" of Wi-Fi-enabled laptops. Movies and TV shows remain accessible for viewing on the passenger's own device after landing—for 24 hr. and 72 hr., respectively.
LOT Polish Airlines appointed Frank Joost regional sales director for the US, Canada and Latin America. Intersky, an Austrian regional airline, announced that owner Renate Moser will step in as CEO following the resignation of Claus Bernatzik. It said Rolf Seewald would manage flight operations. JetStream Ground Services named Richard Cordell COO and Blake Schultz Jr. VP-sales and marketing.
Qantas pulled its airline safety video featuring Ambassador-at-Large John Travolta as part of the ongoing industrial dispute with long-haul pilots, according to Australian and International Pilots Assn.
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark told ATW in Vienna that the performance of the carrier's Airbus A380s continues to improve, noting that its 15-aircraft fleet achieved 99% reliability performance last week.
Thomas Cook Group CEO Manny Fontenla-Novoa resigned Wednesday "with immediate effect," the company announced in a statement. Fontenla-Novoa's departure comes just weeks after the group issued a third profit warning for the current fiscal year and amid concerns about the tour operator's rising debt levels. Deputy CEO Sam Weihagen was appointed interim CEO.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority has completed its investigation of Tiger Airways Australia and issued a list of conditions to be met before allowing the low cost airline to resume operations ( ATW Daily News, July 28).
China Eastern Airlines formally launched China Eastern Yunnan Co., a joint venture airline set up with the Yunnan provincial government based on assets of CEA's previous branch company in Yunnan.
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Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority has completed its investigation of Tiger Airways Australia and issued a list of conditions to be met before allowing the low cost airline to resume operations.
Frontier Airlines and the Assn. of Flight Attendants representing 1,000 of the carrier's cabin crew reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. Frontier said that concessions agreed to by AFA will save it $16 million in labor costs over a four-year period.
The Serbian government launched a tender Monday to find investors to create a new airline to replace loss-making Jat Airways ( ATW Daily News, June 16, 2010). A previous tender for the sale of a 51% stake in Jat, priced at €51 million ($73 million), failed in 2008 ( ATW Daily News, June 30, 2008).
The proposed acquisition of Finnish Commuter Airlines by Flybe Nordic, a new joint venture between Flybe Group and Finnair, received the necessary competition clearances from relevant authorities in Finland, Flybe said in a statement. It expects to complete the transaction "within the next two to three weeks."
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings reported a net profit of $34.4 million for the 2011 first half, down 48.2% from $66.4 million in net income posted in the first six months of 2010.
Alitalia Group reported a net loss of €94 million ($134.9 million) in the 2011 first half, a 43% improvement from the €164 million deficit incurred in the year-ago period.
Tianjin-based Okay Airways signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Heilongjiang provincial government to launch two routes to Mudanjiang and Jiamusi from Harbin, part of the carrier's plan to further explore the regional air transport market in North China.
Korean Air placed a firm order for two additional Boeing 737-900ERs valued at $171.6 million at list prices. KE currently operates two 737-900ERs. Boeing Flight Services said it will partner with KE to provide 737NG training for KE pilots at the airline's Seoul Incheon flight training facility. The 737-900ER is designed to carry up to 180 passengers in a two-class layout.
Star Alliance suspended the induction of Air India into the global airline grouping after India's national airline failed to meet the minimum joining conditions agreed upon in December 2007.
The Kuwaiti government launched the privatization of struggling flag carrier Kuwait Airways, putting up for sale 35% of the carrier's KWD220 million ($806.8 million) share capital.
Star Alliance suspended the induction of Air India into the global airline grouping after India's national airline failed to meet the minimum joining conditions agreed upon in December 2007.
US airlines carried 60.5 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in April, the most recent month for which data is available. Passengers carried for the month rose 1.4% year-over-year but was still 4.3% below pre-recession April 2008 figures, the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics noted. April scheduled domestic and international traffic for US airlines rose 4.2% over April 2010 to 66.7 billion RPMs on a 5.4% rise in capacity to 82.7 billion ASMs. Load factor was 80.7%, up 0.97 point.
