US airlines were bullish on the industry's recovery in comments to investors yesterday, predicting robust second-quarter unit revenue increases. Speaking at the Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference in New York, available via webcast, United Airlines CFO Kathryn Mikells said the recovery is "greater than we were able to predict six months ago." She said UA's consolidated unit revenue will rise 26% or more year-over-year in the current quarter.
AirBaltic transported 295,809 passengers in May, a 29% increase year-over-year. Load factor grew 3 points to 69%. Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 7.82 billion RPKs in May, a 10.3% rise year-over-year. Capacity grew 2.8% to 9.62 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 5.5 points to 81.3%.
Continental Airlines yesterday said it plans to start daily 787 flights between Houston Intercontinental and Lagos on Nov. 10, 2011, launching what would be its first-ever service to Africa. The flights, which also would be the first daily scheduled service between Texas and Africa by any carrier, are subject to government approval. CO currently serves 63 international destinations from IAH and recently announced plans to begin service between IAH and Auckland on Nov. 16, 2011.
Spirit Airlines said it has cancelled all flights through Wednesday as its Air Line Pilots Assn.-represented cockpit crew remained on strike. A few days prior to the walkout, which began in the early morning of June 12, the airline said it had "developed plans to continue operating" in the event of a strike, but it appears that these plans fell through or that management badly miscalculated the solidarity of the pilot workforce ( ATW Daily News, June 14).
China Southern Airlines said it remains on track to join the SkyTeam Cargo alliance formally in November, and sources indicate that it is contemplating a possible merger of its cargo business with that of China Eastern Airlines.
Spirit Airlines suspended operations through Tuesday as its pilots walked off the job at the expiration of the federally mandated 30-day cooling-off period at midnight June 11-12. The airline previously had said it "developed plans to continue operations" should its Air Line Pilots Assn.-represented pilots go on strike ( ATWOnline, June 9).
Delta Air Lines will add first class service to all domestic flights longer than 750 mi. beginning this fall. When the upgrade is complete, 50 routes that currently feature only one class of service will be upgraded to two-cabin aircraft. The upgrade is part of the airline's ongoing three-year, $1 billion investment program, which includes the retrofit of CRJ700s ( ATWOnline, Jan. 26).
Following four years of negotiations and one month of federal mediation, Horizon Air and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Friday reached an "agreement in principle" on a new contract for the carrier's 686 pilots.
Lufthansa operated its first scheduled A380 flight Friday from Frankfurt to Tokyo Narita with 520 passengers and 22 crew onboard. Thrice-weekly service on the route will become daily on Aug. 4 following delivery of LH's second A380 by the end of July ( ATWOnline, April 30). Its third will operate between FRA and Beijing thrice-weekly beginning Aug. 25 and its fourth will fly between FRA and Johannesburg thrice-weekly from Oct. 25.
Air China, buoyed by a gradual rebound in international traffic owing to the economic recovery in Asia, is eyeing expansion. MD-International Affairs and Cooperation Lou Yongfeng told ATW Daily News last week on the sidelines of IATA's AGM in Berlin that the carrier is encouraged by the success of recently started routes. "This year we have opened two international routes. One is Shanghai-Chengdu-Bangalore and the other one is Beijing-Manila. So far both routes are operating quite well with an average load factor of more than 75%," he said.
Sichuan Airlines plans to launch Hebei Airlines on June 29 using the assets of subsidiary Dongbei Air. Sichuan this month took over troubled Dongbei by investing CNY400 million ($58.7 million) to increase its ownership stake to 97% from 33.5% ( ATWOnline, June 7). The launch of Hebei will be done in conjunction with the Hebei provincial government represented by Hebei Jizhong Energy Group.
JetBlue Airways said May RASM rose 13% from the year-ago month. It flew 2.3 billion RPMs, up 9.8%, while ASMs climbed 4.5% to 2.83 billion. Load factor increased 3.9 points to 81.3%. Gol flew 2.19 billion RPKs in May, up 14.5% year-over-year. Capacity rose 13.6% to 3.74 billion ASKs and load factor increased 0.5 point to 58.4%. Ryanair transported 6.44 million passengers in May, a 17% increase year-over-year. Load factor stayed flat at 81%.
AirBaltic and TAV Airports Holding signed an MOU to become joint venture partners for the possible development, construction and operation of a new passenger terminal at Riga International. The JV would be on a 50:50 shareholding basis. AirBaltic has lobbied for a new terminal able to handle 7 million passengers by 2014, which reportedly would require an investment of more than €92 million ($127.5 million) from the private sector ( ATW, Feb. 1).
Air Canada said yesterday that that it has "received a commitment" from GE Japan Corp. for a senior secured term loan facility of "up to $170.5 million" that will allow it to finance "a portion of the purchase price" for 16 aircraft that it currently leases and operates. The leased aircraft comprise 12 A319s and four 767-300ERs. It said it plans to buy eight of the A319s and the 767s next year and four of the A319s in 2012.
Aer Lingus, which left oneworld in 2007, wants to re-join an alliance and is considering all three global airline groupings. EI has received "some very strong interest" from members of each of the three alliances, CEO Christoph Mueller told ATWOnline on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Berlin this week. An announcement, however, is not imminent, he said, adding that the process is still "in a very early stage."
El Al reported a first- quarter net loss of $16.5 million, narrowed 59% from a $39.8 million loss in the year-ago period, on a 21% rise in revenue to $420.5 million. President and CEO Elyezer Shkedy said the financial improvement is owing to "increased passenger traffic, strategic commercial planning, aggressively facing increased competition, reducing expenses, as well as significantly improving and expanding cargo activities." He added, "We will do everything possible to change the trend and turn losses into profits."
Airbus completed a busy ILA Berlin Air Show with commitments from Finnair and Germania for five A321s and five A319s respectively, completing a three-day period that featured $15.3 billion in new business including Emirates' mega 32-unit A380 buy.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.38 billion RPKs in May, up 4% year-over-year, while capacity fell 1.6% to 3.15 billion ASKs. Load factor was up 4.1 points to 75.6%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.17 billion RPKs, up 3%, against a 3.1% cut in capacity to 2.84 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 4.5 points to 76.5%. United Airlines flew 10.26 billion consolidated RPMs in May, a 7.5% increase year-over-year. Capacity grew 3.3% to 12.31 billion ASMs and load factor increased 3.3 points to 83.3%.
Air France confirmed it will take delivery of its fourth A380 by the end of August and will operate it on a thrice-weekly Paris Charles de Gaulle-Tokyo Narita route starting Sept. 1. The flight moves to daily from Oct. 5. Tokyo will be the first destination in Asia to be served by Air France using an A380.
