Airlines & Lessors

Katie Cantle
China Southern Airlines reported 2010 net income of CNY5.8 billion ($883 million), fifteen times greater than the CNY381 million net profit earned in 2009.

Airports & Networks

Cathy Buyck
Olympic Air and Cyprus Airways signed a wide-ranging cooperation accord aimed at “strengthening of the presence of the two airlines in the wider region of Southeastern Europe,” OS said in a statement. Under terms, the carriers’ codeshare began March 27 on flights from/to Athens, Rhodes, Heraklion and Thessaloniki to/from Larnaca and Paphos. From April 15, it will be expanded to cover most domestic and international destinations of OA and CY.

Cathy Buyck
Cameroon Airlines Corp. announced that its new airline, Camair-Co, began operations Monday with an inaugural flight from its base in Douala via the country’s capital Yaounde to Paris Charles de Gaulle using a Boeing 767-300ER.

Cathy Buyck
British Airways could be heading for more strikes following the vote by cabin crew members, represented by the Unite union, to take industrial action.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Geoffrey Thomas
Japan Airlines on Monday completed its court-monitored bankruptcy restructuring under Japan's Corporate Rehabilitation Law, and also announced more flight reductions as it contends with a steep drop in demand in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crisis that devastated the country.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Katie Cantle
The MA600, the AVIC-produced 60-seat turboprop, began formal flight operations over the weekend when the Civil Aviation Flight University of China put it into operation to replace a phased out Yun-7.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Geoffrey Thomas
Japan Airlines 767. Photo: Courtesy, Boeing. Japan Airlines on Monday completed its court-monitored bankruptcy restructuring under Japan's Corporate
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Hawaiian Holdings will offer $75 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due in 2016, it said, with UBS Investment Bank as sole book-running manager and Imperial Capital as co-manager. It also expects to grant underwriters of the notes an option for an additional $11.25 million aggregate principal amount to cover over-allotments. It intends to use a portion of proceeds to pay outstanding loans, and for general corporate purchases.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Kurt Hofmann
Lufthansa Group has no plans to buy or invest in additional airlines, Chairman and CEO Christoph Franz told LH's in-house employee magazine Lufthanseat. He said the company will focus on "organic" growth and on bringing subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and British Midland into a stable financial position ( ATW Daily News, March 21).

Aaron Karp
Air Berlin incurred a 2010 net loss of €97.2 million ($137.3 million), widened from a pro forma 2009 net loss (including Austrian LCC Niki and TUIfly city-to-city routes now operated by AB) of €21.9 million, marking its third consecutive loss-making year.

Christine Boynton
Lufthansa Systems CIO Jorg Liebe told ATW that Condor Airlines will launch its new wireless inflight entertainment system, BoardConnect, this summer aboard Boeing 767s with business class passengers utilizing "tablet-type" devices provided by the airline to access content and economy passengers given the option to access content via their own personal Wi-Fi equipped devices.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Perry Flint
Embraer reported net income of $345.4 million for 2010 under IFRS accounting standards, down 27.9% compared to income of $478.9 million for 2009.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Malev CEO Martin Gauss resigned from his position Wednesday after failing to reach an agreement on his compensation. His resignation will be effective from May 31. Virgin America announced the appointment of Mark Bianchi as senior VP- technical operations. Bianchi is “an industry veteran with more than 27 years of hands on experience in air carrier operations, line and base maintenance, fleet management, regulatory compliance and quality assurance,” said VS.

Cathy Buyck
The search for the wreckage of Air France Airbus A330-200, which crashed June 1, 2009 en route to Paris CDG from Rio de Janeiro killing all 228 people, resumed Monday ( ATW Daily News, Jan. 25).
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Christine Boynton
The African Development Bank Board of Directors approved a $40 million second lien corporate loan to Ethiopian Airlines for the purchase of five Boeing 777-200LRs. The aircraft are part of ET's investment plan for 2010-2018 to replace older aircraft and expand capacity on long-haul routes to and from Africa.

By Linda Blachly
Air Berlin announced an agreement with GE Capital Aviation Services for the financing of 12 new aircraft, comprising five Airbus A320s, three A321s and four Boeing 737-800s, all equipped with CFM engines. This sale-and-leaseback transaction, worth $1 billion at list prices, is covering deliveries due in the first three quarters of 2012, according to the carrier.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Kurt Hofmann
Lufthansa Cargo, which rebounded from a €171 million ($242.1 million) operating loss in 2009 to post a €310 million operating profit in 2010, is eyeing future growth.

Perry Flint
AirAsia Inc., the Philippines-based affiliate of AirAsia Group announced late last year, will be based at Clark’s Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, the former Clark Field air force base, AirAsia Group said Thursday.

Aaron Karp
Turkish Airlines reported 2010 net income of $191 million, down 48.3% from a $369.5 million net profit in 2009, marking the second consecutive year the carrier's net earnings dropped by around 50% year-over-year.

Perry Flint
AirAsia Inc., the Philippines-based affiliate of AirAsia Group announced late last year, will be based at Clark’s Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, the former Clark Field air force base, AirAsia Group said Thursday.

Kurt Hofmann
Lufthansa Cargo, which rebounded from a €171 million operating loss in 2009 to post a €310 million ($440.8 million) operating profit in 2010, is eyeing future growth.

Christine Boynton
Technology solutions provider Mercator on Wednesday announced plans to develop an ICAO-compliant next-generation safety data management system for the airline industry and said that Emirates Airline will be the pilot customer. The system will be designed to integrate risk management across all areas of a business, and is intended to result in higher performance and reduced cost, said Mercator, which is also a unit of the Emirates Group.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Katie Cantle
Shanghai-based Spring Airlines will postpone the opening of Shanghai-Kagawa service scheduled for March 27, owing to the crisis in Japan. “We are not sure when to open the new route and I think it won’t be opened within 45 days,” Spring Chairman Wang Zhenghua said, noting the carrier also suspended operation of its Shanghai-Ibaraki route. Wang stressed the carrier is still optimistic about the Japan market and won’t change its capacity allocation plan in Japan.
Airports & Networks