International Lease Finance Corp. on Friday announced it has increased the total amount of its cash tender offer for "certain of its existing outstanding notes" to $1.75 billion, up 133% from the $750 million figure it revealed on Thursday. Barclays Capital Inc. and JP Morgan Securities LLC will act as dealer managers for the offer, it said.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines is "about halfway through" the process of merging with ExpressJet, ASA President Brad Holt told reporters at the Regional Airline Assn. Annual Convention in Nashville. He said the SkyWest Inc. subsidiaries expect to receive a single operating certificate "by late November, early December."
AirAsia X selected GE’s CF6-80E1 engines to power three firm and two option Airbus A330-200s ordered in March ( ATW Daily News, March 1). The aircraft, which is scheduled for delivery from 2012, will be operated on the carrier's expanding network, offering low-fare service to destinations in Europe, Asia and the Pacific.
Scandinavian Airlines announced Thursday it signed a letter of intent with Singapore Airlines to further develop and enhance their partnership. “This may cover additional codeshare flights, as well as network cooperation on potential new sectors between Scandinavia and Singapore,” SAS said in a statement.
SkyTeam members Delta Air Lines, Air France, KLM and Alitalia announced they will reduce transatlantic capacity between Europe and the US and Canada offered through their joint venture by 7%-9% this fall in response to significantly higher fuel prices "and fluctuating seasonal demand."
AirBaltic President and CEO Bertolt Flick reiterated that the carrier will need to strengthen its capital base if it proceeds with an order for narrowbodies to renew its medium-haul fleet, which he asserts is becoming urgent owing to the high fuel prices.
Air France KLM Group reported a profit for the fiscal year ended March 31 of €613 million ($873.5 million), reversed from a €1.6 billion deficit in its 2009-10 fiscal year, citing a “more favorable economic environment” and cost-cutting controls for the turnaround.
China Southern Airlines signed a cooperation agreement with the Beijing government paving the way for the Guangzhou-based carrier to enhance its position at the new Beijing Daxing airport, which is projected to open in 2016. Construction is set to begin this year. CZ noted that over the next 10 years, it will allocate about 200 aircraft—Airbus A330s and A380s—from Beijing Capital International, which is facing slot shortages, to the new airport.
EasyJet stepped up its campaign to halt what it calls “destructive” government changes to the air passenger duty tax, citing the results of a report it commissioned by Frontier Economics which forecasts the proposals would be “bad for the environment and the economy.” It also called on the government to switch from a per-passenger duty to a per-plane tax.
Includes: World Airline Traffic World Airport Traffic IATA Fuel Prices 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
Scandinavian Airline Systems appointed Discover the World Marketing to serve as its GSA in Portugal. It already represents the carrier in Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Olympic Air appointed Aviareps to serve as its GSA in the Benelux countries. Gabon Airlines has elected ANA Aviation to serve as its GSA in the UK and Ireland.
Virgin Atlantic pilots, represented by the British Airline Pilots' Assn., will vote on possible strike action over pay, BALPA confirmed Tuesday. BALPA represents over 85% of Virgin Atlantic's 750 pilots.
Cimber Sterling on Tuesday issued a profit warning and said it needs to strengthen its capital base “due to the continued surplus capacity in the airline industry and the resulting low profitability.”
Brazil's TAM Linhas Aereas, which has announced an agreement to merge with Chile's LAN Airlines, reported first-quarter net income of BRL128.8 million ($78.6 million), a major turnaround from a loss of BRL70.9 million in the year-ago period.
EasyJet flights from/to its Berlin Schoenefeld base were disrupted Saturday morning, owing to a wildcat “warning” strike by flight crew—represented by the trade union ver.di—in a pay dispute. U2 employs around 110 pilots and 240 cabin crew at SXF.
Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia Airlines said Monday they will revamp their networks across the Tasman Sea linking Australia and New Zealand as part of their alliance, which was approved in December ( ATW Daily News, Dec. 22, 2010). The alliance connects ANZ’s domestic network of 26 cities to Virgin’s domestic network of 31 domestic destinations, offering the largest Australasian route network for transtasman travelers.
For the second time in two months, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce lashed out at “ridiculous” union demands and warned that the airline’s international operations are losing money.
Chinese carriers posted aggregate net income of CNY3.18 billion ($489 million) in April, up 57.9% from a net profit of CNY2.01 billion in the year-ago period, according to CAAC.
Aer Lingus reported a deepening of its first-quarter operating loss to €55.9 million ($78.9 million), reversed from negative EBIT of €37.9 million in the year-ago period, and warned that its €96 million cost-cutting plan might not be enough to keep the company out of the red. A net result was not supplied.
Chinese carriers posted aggregate net income of CNY3.18 billion ($489 million) in April, up 57.9% from a net profit of CNY2.01 billion in the year-ago period, according to CAAC.
Southwest Airlines announced Friday it reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year contract with the carrier’s approximately 260 appearance techs, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. The contract becomes amendable February 2015. The current agreement became amendable in February 2009 ( ATW Daily News, Feb. 2, 2009).
