Norwegian Air Shuttle will open a base at Helsinki Vantaa with three aircraft, and launch two domestic and 11 new international routes to Copenhagen, Malaga, Nice, Chania, Rome, Barcelona, London Gatwick, Split and Alicante next summer. Domestic routes will begin March 31, 2011, whereas international routes will start in early-to mid-May. The four-times-daily HEL–Ouluand flights and daily HEL–Rovaniemi flights are the LCC’s first domestic services in Finland. The airline currently has domestic operations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Australia's Jetstar will significantly increase its New Zealand domestic services by adding 39 weekly flights between Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown in February 2011. The airline said it will add two A320s in New Zealand to facilitate the flights, which will expand its weekly services within NZ to 119, giving it a market share of around 20%.
Air Canada said Tuesday it has "settled the terms" with the Toronto Port Authority for operating to/from Toronto City Centre "long term," and announced it will launch 15 daily YTZ-Montreal Trudeau flights in February 2011.
Ryanair, which announced Tuesday it was forced to cancel 1,400 flights and delay more than 12,000 others as a direct result of Belgian, French and Spanish ATC strikes in recent months, formally called on the European Commission to “end this ATC chaos” by removing the “right to strike” provision of essential ATC services in Europe and reforming the controversial EU261 passenger rights legislation (ATW Daily News, Sept. 28).
Delta Air Lines announced Tuesday it “successfully completed $750 million in debt reduction” as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to bring its adjusted net debt to “$10 billion by the end of 2012, a reduction of $7 billion over three years.”
AirTran Airways operated 1.39 billion RPMs in September, up 1.7% year-over-year. Capacity increased 0.6% to 1.79 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.7 points to 77.7%. Monarch Airlines carried 464,697 passengers in September, an 8.26% increase year-over-year. Its load factor jumped 4.7 points to 93.35%. Ryanair transported 6.84 million passengers in September, up 12% year-over-year, while load factor rose 1 point to 86%
Citing the economic downturn, Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines has announced it will reconfigure its four A320s, which have a dedicated business class cabin installed for its Middle Eastern routes.
AirAsia X hopes to add two more Japanese airports to its international service by 2012 after it launches flights to Tokyo Haneda in December. CEO Azran Osman Rani told Kyodo News in Tokyo that the airline "was interested in other airports in Japan…I have always said Japan is a market where we can operate at three different airports, including Haneda." On the airline’s radar are Osaka, Sapporo and Fukuoka.
JetBlue Airways founder and former Chairman and CEO David Neeleman, in conjunction with New York investment group Acadia Woods Partners, purchased Los Angeles-based JetSuite, a private jet operator. Price was not disclosed. Neeleman and JetSuite CEO Alex Wilcox worked together at JetBlue for several years, and Wilcox subsequently was closely involved in the launch of India's Kingfisher Airlines.
Turkish Airlines, which has plans to become one of the 10 biggest carriers worldwide by 2016, is now ready to invest in other carriers, CEO Temel Kotil told ATW in Istanbul.
Kris Urs will succeed John Byerly as the US's top international aviation negotiator. Byerly has announced his intention to retire from government service on Oct. 31. Urs will assume Byerly's position as Assistant Secretary of State for Transportation Affairs on Nov. 1. For the past year Urs has served as Director of Aviation Negotiations for the State Dept. LOT Polish Airlines named Zbigniew Mazur as its temporary CEO, the Polish Press Agency reported.
Cargolux told ATW it "will not suffer any capacity shortages," as the result of the latest delay to the 747-8F program ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 1). The carrier said that Boeing's previous announcement of a possible delay to the program enabled it to make preparations to cope.
Air Mauritius last week appointed Soobhiraj Bungsraz CEO, replacing Manoj R K Ujoodha, who resigned. According to Mauritius's Independent Daily newspaper, Ujoodha was employed on a month-to-month basis as his contract had expired earlier this year. The carrier reported a net loss of €6 million ($7.4 million) for its fiscal year ended March 31, narrowed from an €85.3 million deficit in the prior year ( ATW Daily News,June 18).
Vietnam Airlines confirmed to ATW it has converted its 16 787-8 orders to the 787-9 "due to unexpected performance limitations on the original model," it said, though on its Orders and Deliveries website Boeing still lists the carrier's order as eight 787-8s.
Luxair Luxembourg Airlines ordered a 737-800 for delivery in January 2015 to support the growth of LuxairGroup's tour operator LuxairTours. It previously ordered a 737-800 in June for delivery in December 2012. Both aircraft will be equipped with Blended Winglets.
American Airlines on Friday filed an application with the US Dept. of Transportation for authority to launch Los Angeles-Shanghai Pudong service from April 5, 2011. "These new flights would be the only nonstops between Los Angeles and Shanghai operated by a US airline," AA Senior VP-Government Affairs Will Ris said. "Los Angeles-Shanghai is the largest US-China market for air travel and we believe it is in the public's interest to offer more air service between the two cities."
Turkish Airlines, which last week took delivery of its first A330-300 and A330-200F, expects to be operating 10,000 weekly flights by 2015, nearly double the 5,500 currently being flown, CEO Temel Kotil told ATW in Istanbul.
Kenya Airways, facing a new strike threat by its employees represented by the Aviation & Allied Workers Union, appealed to the country's Central Organization of Trade Unions to "intervene and ensure AAWU does not deviate" from the terms of an agreement reached following a two-day strike in August 2009.
Includes: Top 20 Airlines World Airline Traffic Jet Fuel Prices World Airport Traffic IATA Fuel Prices Exchange Rates 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
United Airlines and Continental Airlines on Friday announced the closing of the legal merger of the two carriers, which for the time being will operate separately under a single holding company, United Continental Holdings.
LOT Polish Airlines CEO Sebastion Mikosz resigned from his position Wednesday, the Polish News Agency reported. Mikosz, who has held this position since May 15, 2009, told ATW recently he has worked toward making the carrier attractive for privatization. The Polish government plans to privatize the carrier next year. New Lufthansa CEO Christoph Franz was quoted by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday saying, “This [LOT ownership] is a change which we cannot ignore.” LH has been named as a possible investor for LOT.
