Cebu Pacific noted this week that it is now the Philippines' largest airline based on number of passengers flown on domestic and international routes. According to Civil Aeronautics Board data, CEB flew 2.45 million total passengers in the first quarter, nearly 110,000 more than Philippine Airlines, which carried 2.34 million systemwide during the period. CEB became the No. 1 domestic carrier last year when it captured just over 50% of the market and it held a 51% domestic share in the first quarter.
While claiming he did not want to make yet another controversial comment, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker did just that at the IATA AGM this week when he said there is no need for consolidation among Persian Gulf airlines because the majority will "just disappear."
New Air India COO Gustav Baldauf told ATWOnline on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Berlin that the carrier should return to profitability in 2-3 years. The merger between AI and Indian Airlines will be completed this year, he said, adding that the carrier will become a full member of the Star Alliance in 2011. AI units such as maintenance, catering and ground operations will be spun off as separate entities but will remain under the "Air India Group" umbrella, he said, explaining that "the system [will be] similar to Lufthansa."
AirAsia X will be spun off into a standalone, publicly traded company with an IPO targeted for the second half of 2011, subject to market conditions, AirAsia Group said yesterday. The long-haul arm was launched in November 2007 "and is now reaching sufficient scale economies to stand on its own instead of relying on services provided by AirAsia," the company stated. AirAsia also will seek separate listings for its Thailand- and Indonesia-based affiliates.
TAM yesterday signed an MOU with Airbus at the Berlin Air Show for 20 new A320 family aircraft and five additional A350-900s. If finalized, the deal would bring TAM's total number of A320 family aircraft on order for future delivery to 64 and its A350 orders to 27. It also has three A330-200s on order. The five A350-900s will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. TAM did not select an engine for the 20 A320s.
Emirates' ambitions to build Dubai into "a central gateway to worldwide air travel" took another major step forward yesterday as it ordered 32 additional A380svalued at $11.5 billion at list prices, the single biggest order for the aircraft to date and bringing EK's total orders for the type to 90. The order agreement was signed in a ceremony yesterday at the Berlin Air Show witnessed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EK Chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoumand Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders.
Southwest Airlines flew 6.66 billion RPMs in May, up 3.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 0.05% to 8.63 billion ASMs while load factor rose 2.6 points to 77.2%. Delta Air Lines operated 16.28 billion system RPMs in May, up 2.7% year-over-year. Capacity rose 0.6% to 19.39 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 1.6 points to 83.9%.
Turkish Airlines, one of Europe's fastest-growing carriers, does not intend to slow its pace of expansion anytime soon, CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline. Speaking on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Berlin, he said, "The demand is very strong and that's why we are searching the market for additional wet-leased aircraft." The carrier recently took delivery of a wet-leased A330 and as many as four additional A330s could join the fleet during the summer season, he said.
Kingfisher Airlines became a member-elect of oneworld after gaining approval from India's Ministry of Civil Aviation and completing a formal membership agreement, the alliance announced yesterday ahead of the IATA AGM in Berlin.
unveiled June 1 a new self-service kiosk for passengers flying between New Zealand and Australia that aims to cut check-in times by 50%. Passengers scan their machine-readable passports at the kiosk and are issued a boarding pass and bag tags if necessary. Customers checking bags then take them to the bag drop area, where ANZ staff scan the piece of luggage and check the passengers' IDs. The airline said it will introduce the new kiosks progressively at its Wellington, Queenstown and Christchurch international check-in areas over the next nine months.
Northwest Florida Beaches International, located near Panama City on Florida's Gulf Coast, opened May 23, the first publicly owned commercial service airport to be built in the US in the last 15 years ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1).
Brussels Airlines posted a net loss of €39.8 million in 2009, dramatically widened from a €6.8 million deficit in 2008, according to Belgium's Central Balance Sheet Office. Total revenue fell 16.1% to €849.2 million while operating costs decreased just 8.3% to €922.4 million. Operating loss came in at €73.1 million, reversed from a positive EBIT of €4.7 million the prior year. ASKs decreased 6.5% to 10.96 billion and passengers carried dropped 9.8% to 4.6 million, of which 0.5 million traveled on its African network.
The Transport Workers Union on Thursday suspended its tentative agreement with American Airlines covering the carrier's 10,600 fleet service workers. AA reached the accord with TWU on May 28, but even then union leaders indicated they accepted the deal only because it was a necessary step toward an eventual release from the National Mediation Board ( ATWOnline, May 31). TWU cast doubt on whether rank-and-file workers would vote for the agreement in July voting.
EasyJet will start trialing a new technology called AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector) that it hopes will minimize future disruptions from volcanic activity. The system is "essentially a weather radar for ash" and uses infrared devices fitted on the aircraft's tail fin to provide images of ash clouds up to 100 km. ahead at altitudes of 5,000-50,000 ft. The images are sent to both the pilot and the airline's flight control center and will allow for adjustments to the aircraft's flight path to avoid any volcanic ash.
Sichuan Airlines is expected to increase its stake in troubled Dongbei Air to 97% from its current 33.5% holding, another example of the growing trend of China's few privately run airlines being taken over by state-owned carriers. Sichuan Chairman Lan Xinguo noted that the stake purchase still must receive government approval and "hopefully will be approved by relevant government organs soon." He didn't reveal how much Sichuan would spend to effectively take over Dongbei, but insiders estimated it would invest about CNY101.6 million ($14.9 million).
United Airlines planned to operate two "green corridor" transatlantic demonstration flights Saturday "using state-of-the-art flight planning to reduce environmental impact and save fuel."
In the latest step in its Core SAS program to "focus on the Nordic home markets," SAS Group announced it reached an "agreement in principle" to sell nearly all of its 49% holding in Tallinn-based Estonian Air to the Estonian government. Under a deal announced Friday, the government will provide approximately SEK205 million ($26.3 million) of new capital to its struggling national carrier via a rights issue and SAS will convert approximately SEK20 million in loans into new equity.
Includes: Top 20 Airlines World Airline Traffic Jet Fuel Prices World Airport Traffic IATA Fuel Prices Exchange Rates 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
