Taipei-based China Airlines confirmed Friday it has agreed to join SkyTeam, with a formal announcement expected Tuesday. CI would become the first Taiwanese carrier to join a global airline alliance.
Singapore Airlines is committing $3 million toward the Harapan Rainforest Initiative aimed at restoring ecosystems threatened by deforestation in Indonesia. The initiative supports a new government policy introduced in 2004 to avoid further deforestation and maintain lowland forests. The project straddles Indonesia's Jambi and South Sumatra provinces and the forest is 1.5 times the size of Singapore and also home to some endangered wildlife such as the Sumatran tiger and Malayan tapir.
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American Airlines will in spring 2011 relocate its San Francisco International operations to Terminal 2 from its current location in Terminal 3. American will have 14 ticket counter positions and 20 self-service machines in the newly constructed 575,000 sq. ft. terminal, as well as a 9,000 sq. ft. AA Admirals Club lounge.
Canadian regional Jazz Air announced Thursday it has reached a tentative labor contract with approximately 43 crew schedulers represented by CAW. Terms of the agreement were not released. "I commend the CAW leadership and Jazz management teams involved in the process for their hard work and professionalism," said Jazz President and CEO Joseph Randell.
Finnair yesterday reached a preliminary agreement with Finncomm to acquire a 20% stake in long-time regional partner Finnish Commuter Airlines and to acquire 100% of the companies that own Finncomm Group's 12 ATR 42/72 aircraft.
Delta Air Lines said Thursday it will begin codesharing with Hawaiian Airlines on Sept. 15, placing the DL code on HA flights between Honolulu and Kahului, Lihue, Kona and Hila, as well as between Kona and Kahului.
All Nippon Airways and Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group have signed an MOA to establish what the two are calling “Japan’s first low-cost airline” to operate both international and domestic routes from Osaka Kansai International.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.39 billion RPKs in August, a 7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.2% to 3.07 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2 points to 78.2%. Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.19 billion RPKs, a 6.5% increase, against a 3.4% rise in capacity to 2.76 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2.3 points to 79.3%.
The US Airline Pilots Assn. representing 5,200 US Airways pilots staged a protest yesterday at Philadelphia International to highlight the fact that their negotiations with airline management over a new, unified labor accord remain unresolved. In particular, the seniority lists of US and the former America West Airlines still aren't integrated five years after the carriers merged. USAPA President Mike Cleary said, "From the pilots' perspective, the carrier is operating as two separate airlines."
Virgin Atlantic Airways and the British Air Line Pilots' Assn. representing the carrier's cockpit crewmembers reached an agreement resolving their dispute concerning time off for pilots, averting the possibility of strike action.
Air France KLM operated 19.09 billion RPKs in August, a 1.2% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity was down 0.9% to 22.61 billion ASKs and load factor fell 0.3 points to 84.5%. British Airways flew 10.55 billion RPKs in August, down 2.9% year-over-year. Capacity was cut 2.6% to 12.51 billion ASKs as load factor fell 0.3 points to 84.4%.
SAS Group announced it sold its remaining 19.9% stake in regional Skyways Holding to Largus Holding, which already owns the remaining 80.1% and is fully owned by the Salen family. The company noted that the transaction created a capital loss for SAS Group of approximately SEK40 million ($5.5 million) and is part of a number of divestments performed in line with its Core SAS strategy. SAS and Skyways said they intend to continue "close commercial cooperation." Skyways operates a fleet of 17 aircraft including 13 Fokker 50s.
Air France said it presently has "no concrete plans" to set up a new low-cost domestic carrier in a bid to win back market share in France, as reported in Les Echos last week. Dubbed "Air France Express," the newspaper reported the LCC could start service as early as next year from a series of bases across southern France, including Marseilles, Nice and Toulouse. According to the report, pilots would be based in the regions and operate up to 25% more hours.
International Airlines Group, which will become the holding company of the combined British Airways/Iberia if shareholders agree to the merger in coming months, has defined a list of 12 potential airlines to merge with or buy, BA CEO Willie Walsh said Sunday at a press conference in Mumbai.
Delta Air Lines operated 18.94 billion system RPMs in August, up 1% year-over-year, on a 1.2% rise in capacity to 21.91 billion ASMs. Load factor was flat at 86.5%. Alaska Airlines flew 1.96 billion mainline RPMs in August, up 10% year-over-year, on a 7.1% increase in capacity to 2.26 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 86.5%, up 2.2 points.
Lufthansa Technik Philippines, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, said it intends to expand its activities to attract more business, particularly from LCCs. "We will be offering new products such as overhaul layovers and cabin refurbishments designed specifically for low-cost airlines," President and CEO Bernhard Krueger-Sprengel said.
The Air Lines Pilots Assn. representing Continental Airlines pilots said Friday that it has been informed that CO will be “recalling all of its pilots from furlough.”
