Spirit Airlines launched its IPO on Thursday and began trading on NASDAQ under the "SAVE" symbol, but the public offering price of $12 per share of common stock was at the low end of the range it cited in a Wednesday regulatory filing and well below the $14-$16 planned earlier this month.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. announced late Wednesday it has named former CEO of Frontier Airlines Sean Menke as president and CEO, to replace Philip Trenary. Pinnacle Board Chairman and Interim CEO Donald Breeding called Menke a “visionary executive with great experience in commercial, operational and financial areas of both mainline and regional airlines. I am confident that Sean will take Pinnacle to a much higher level by working with and leading our strong team of Pinnacle employees."
The Houston Airport System and United Continental Holdings said that construction on the first phase of a $1 billion redevelopment project at Houston Intercontinental will start by the end of 2011. Phase one, slated to cost $161 million, involves building a Terminal B south concourse for domestic regional jet operations. In addition, UCH said it extended its lease on IAH's Terminal C to 2027.
Joint venture partners All Nippon Airways and First Eastern Investment, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, named their new LCC Peach Aviation. ANA said the name symbolizes longevity, energy and happiness—as peaches do in Japan. "The name Peach was chosen to reflect our mission of becoming a completely new type of airline that links destinations in Japan and Japan with Asia," said Peach Aviation CEO Shinichi Inoue in a statement reported by AFP.
Spirit Airlines lowered the size and pricing of its planned IPO, saying in a Wednesday regulatory filing that it will offer 15.6 million shares of common stock, 22% fewer than the 20 million shares it said it was offering earlier this month ( ATW Daily News, May 13). It also said the shares will now be priced at $12-$13 each, below $14-$16 previously.
Malaysia Airlines blamed the steep increase in fuel prices and the strengthening of the Malaysian Ringgit for a pre-tax loss of MYR238.25 million ($75.7 million) for the first quarter ended March 31, reversed from a pre-tax profit of MYR320.25 million in the year-ago period.
Sending a major signal to the airline industry that the competitive landscape of long-haul travel is changing, Singapore Airlines announced Wednesday it will set up a new no-frills, low-fare carrier operating twin-aisle aircraft on medium- and long-haul routes.
In a major signal to the airline industry that the competitive landscape of long-haul travel is changing, Singapore Airlines announced Wednesday it will set up a new no-frills, low-fare airline operating twin-aisle aircraft on medium- and long-haul routes.
Air New Zealand will increase international capacity to China by 21.6% and Japan by 16% from November. In China, ANZ will increase service to nine-times-weekly on its Auckland-Hong Kong route, three-times-weekly on its AKL-Beijing route and four-times-weekly on its AKL-Shanghai route. ANZ plans to introduce a Boeing 747-400 on Japan routes between December and February.
Hainan Airlines on Tuesday relaunched Chongqing-based China West Air in conjunction with Chongqing Yufu Capital Management Co., which is controlled by the Chongqing municipal government. HNA didn’t reveal the exact figure but noted the combined investment was CNY3 billion ($460.8 million).
Lufthansa said it will shut down Italian subsidiary Lufthansa Italia and change its focus in Italy to bringing passengers to LH's major European hubs. "Given the slump in prices on European routes and the competition, it was extremely difficult to establish a profitable European network under a separate brand," stated LH Chairman and CEO Christoph Franz. "It therefore makes sense to focus the Lufthansa Group's offering on connecting the Italian market to the group's hubs."
Korean Air on Tuesday took delivery of its first Airbus A380 in a Toulouse ceremony. It will become the first Asian carrier to operate a GP7200-powered A380.
Despite soaring fuel prices, the AirAsia Group posted a 46% year-over-year lift in first-quarter operating profit to MYR241.72 million ($79.4 million) on a 20% increase in revenue to MYR1.05 billion.
Despite soaring fuel prices, the AirAsia Group posted a 46% year-over-year lift in first-quarter operating profit to MYR241.72 million ($79.4 million) on a 20% increase in revenue to MYR1.05 billion.
International Lease Finance Corp. appointed Elias Habayeb CFO. He formerly was senior VP -investments and financial Services for ILFC parent AIG. Estonian Air announced President and CEO Andrus Aljas resigned, to be effective June 1. Aljas joined the company in 2006 as member of the management board and VP-finance. Fokker Technologies named Jeroen Koot president of Fokker Aircraft Services, replacing Edwin Schilling.
Embraer delivered an E-190 to Air Astana on Monday, the first of the type the airline has received and the first of two it had been slated to take this year. The aircraft, which is leased by KC from Florida-based Jetscape, will be used to “right size routes and fill a capacity gap between its Fokker and Airbus fleets,” according to an Embraer statement. It will used to fly a mix of domestic and international city pairs from Almaty and Astana.
Brussels Airlines reaffirmed its intent to launch service to the US but stressed plans are still under analysis. SN said the plans are conditional on obtaining transatlantic antitrust immunity with its Star Alliance partners and inclusion in their Atlantic Plus-Plus joint venture.
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines inked a cooperation agreement with Liaoning province in northeast China, seeking to enhance its position in North China by adding capacity and boosting flight frequencies on routes from the provincial capital, Shenyang, to Shanghai, Xian and Kunming. According to the agreement, SHE-Shanghai service will increase to nine-times-daily in coming days. Flights from SHE to XIY and KMG will increase from three to five-times-daily on each route over the next two years.
Ryanair reported a net profit of €374.6 million ($530 million) for its fiscal year ended March 31, up 23% from €305.3 million earned in the prior fiscal year.
Air Canada's pilots voted to reject a tentative labor contract that included guidelines for AC's establishment of a leisure-destination focused LCC, delivering a blow to airline management.
Delta Air Lines and US Airways unveiled a revamped New York LaGuardia/Washington National slot swap agreement that the carriers believe will mollify US Dept. of Transportation objections to their original proposal put forward in 2009.
Ryanair reported a net profit of €374.6 million ($530 million) for its fiscal year ended March 31, up 23% from €305.3 million earned in the prior fiscal year.
Southwest Airlines Senior VP and CFO Laura Wright said that specific revenue initiatives undertaken by the carrier helped to boost sales by $2.2 billion between 2007 and 2010, exceeding the carrier's target of growing top-line revenue by $1.5 billion. Addressing the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference, available via webcast,Wright noted that the revenue growth was achieved "on capacity that was slightly down" from 2007."
Aeroflot will take delivery of its first Sukhoi Superjet 100 this week and plans to put it into service June 16, according to Superjet International Deputy Senior VP-Commercial Svetlana Issaeva.
