Norwegian Air Shuttle, which is not leaving any doubt about its long-haul ambitions, signed a LOI Thursday with International Lease Finance Corp. for one more new Boeing 787-8 to increase its future fleet of the type to six.
Finnair said it will operate a scheduled flight partially powered by biofuel between Amsterdam and Helsinki next week, and will ultimately operate at least three biofuel flights on the route.
Finnair said it will operate a scheduled flight partially powered by biofuel between Amsterdam and Helsinki next week, and will ultimately operate at least three biofuel flights on the route.
Ukraine International Airlines and oneworld member S7 Airlines signed a partnership agreement under which UIA will launch thrice daily Kiev-Moscow Domodedovo service next week, giving its passengers access to S7's network via DME. "S7 Airlines [has] the largest network of domestic routes in Russia," UIA Corporate Press Secretary Evgeniya Satska said. "Cooperation with such a powerful carrier will provide our passengers with more opportunities." UIA operates a fleet of 19 Boeing 737 aircraft.
Hawaiian Airlines gave an indication that the Japanese market may be on the path to recovery following March's devastating earthquake and tsunami( ATW, May 1). The carrier raised capacity on its daily Honolulu-Tokyo Haneda service last week, switching from a 264-seat Boeing 767-300 to a newly delivered 294-seat Airbus A330-200.
Etihad Airways reported a 28% year-over-year rise in first-half revenue to $1.72 billion and reiterated it is on course to reach its goals of breaking even this year and achieving profitability in 2012.
Ryanair will establish a base at Manchester Airport Oct. 2, initially with two Boeing 737-800s operating on 17 routes, and has plans to grow to four aircraft and 26 routes by summer 2012. MAN will be the LCC’s 45th base.
Former Australia Civil Aviation Safety Authority chairman Dick Smith—also one of the country's most controversial and outspoken entrepreneurs—has infuriated airline unions by predicting that Qantas International will go bankrupt unless it moves its operating base to Asia.
Former Australia Civil Aviation Safety Authority chairman Dick Smith—also one of the country's most controversial and outspoken entrepreneurs—has infuriated airline unions by predicting that Qantas International will go bankrupt unless it moves its operations to Asia.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Senior VP, General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer Adam Kokas was named chairman of the Cargo Airline Assn., succeeding ABX Air VP-Flight Operations Robert Gray, who held the position for five years. Pinnacle Airlines Corp. named former Frontier Airlines CFO Ted Christie VP and CFO. He is expected to join Memphis-based Pinnacle by July 25.
Romania's Tarom incurred a net loss of €80 million ($113 million) in 2010, 41.6% worse than its 2009 deficit, Romanian media outlets reported. According to Bucharest's The Diplomat, the SkyTeam member's full-year revenue totaled €306 million. Passengers carried heightened 23.6% year-over-year to nearly 2.2 million. CEO Gabriela Bordea told the newspaper the airline did not meet its revenue forecast because it was forced to keep fares low, owing to a lack of pricing power with passengers.
Shenzhen Airlines subsidiary Henan Airlines, which has been grounded since a fatal Embraer 190 crash in August 2010, is expected to resume operations soon, ATW has learned.
US Airways recorded an "all-time record" of 87.1% for its average mainline June load factor, up 0.2 point over June 2010. It operated 5.73 billion mainline RPMs for the month, up 2.5% year-over-year, against a 2.3% lift in capacity to 6.58 billion ASMs. US expects 2011 system capacity to be 1% higher than 2010; mainline capacity is projected at 1.5% higher. It is scheduled to take delivery of 12 Airbus A321s in the second half of 2011 and 12 A320 family aircraft in 2012 (to replace Boeing 737-300s/400s).
Shanghai-based LCC Spring Airlines is accelerating the pace of its Japanese market expansion. The carrier operates thrice-weekly Shanghai-Ibaraki service and is scheduled to open a twice-weekly Shanghai-Takamatsu route this week. It also plans to start Shanghai-Kyushu flights this year and a Shanghai-Hokkaido route next year. Spring delayed the opening of new routes in Japan owing to the natural and nuclear crises in March ( ATW Daily News, March 24).
Qantas’ long-haul pilots on Monday voted overwhelmingly for industrial action—expected to take place in early August—to drive home demands for higher wages, re-grading and job security.
As part of a new Air France strategy to give no-frills carriers a run for their money and regain some of the market share lost to lower cost rivals, the carrier on Monday released details of its revised business model that includes deploying Airbus A320s from several regional bases on point-to-point short- and medium-haul routes.
The Australian government’s carbon dioxide tax announced Sunday will cost Qantas up to A$115 million ($124 million) a year and passengers will foot the bill; the airline said Monday it will raise fares by up to A$8.
Lufthansa plans to start its scheduled biofuel flights Friday, launching a six-month trial in which an IAE V2500-powered Airbus A321 will operate on the Frankfurt-Hamburg route.
Qantas’ long-haul pilots on Monday voted overwhelmingly for industrial action—expected to take place in early August—to drive home demands for higher wages, re-grading and job security.
Air Berlin reached a codeshare agreement with future oneworld partner Iberia. The agreement, which went into effect Friday, will soon be expanded to the frequent flyer programs of both airlines.
Virgin Atlantic Airways pilots represented by the British Airline Pilots' Assn. withdrew their threat of a strike after reaching a last-minute pay deal with management. Pilots had voted to strike for the first time in the airline's history as part of their ongoing dispute over pay and conditions with management ( ATW Daily News, May 18).
Following several months of negotiations, financially troubled Cimber Sterling announced Thursday it secured a subscription agreement with Mansvell Enterprises, which agreed to inject DKK165 million ($31.8 million) in the Danish carrier “subject to certain conditions.”
Swiss International Air Lines reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with its pilots, avoiding a strike that had been threatened for this week.
UK air navigation services provider NATS, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a public-private partnership, paid £40 million ($64 million) in dividends to its shareholders after posting a pre-tax profit of £106.1 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, a 37.3% increase over £78.3 million earned in FY2009-10.
