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
Iberia Chairman and CEO Antonio Vazquez reiterated the airline's intent to launch a separate carrier operating its short- and medium-haul flights with a "model that is substantially different than the existing one," and stressed that the decision is "irreversible," Agence France Presse reported. He said that continuing to operate short- and medium-haul flights in the same manner as long-haul would "mortgage the future of the company." Vazquez said he is hoping to reach an agreement with unions on the new carrier in the next several weeks.
Ryanair reported net income of €305.5 million ($373.4 million) for its fiscal year ended March 31, reversed from a €169.2 million deficit in its prior fiscal year when results were affected negatively by€274.1 million in exceptional costs including a €222.5 million impairment resulting from its investment in Aer Lingus.
ALTA yesterday announced that TAM will operate Latin America's first biofuel demonstration flight in the second half of 2010 using an A320 partially powered by fuel derived from jatropha. The flight will be conducted in conjunction with Airbus and CFM International. The CFM56-5B-powered aircraft will utilize biofuel derived from jatropha oil refined by Honeywell's UOP. According to ALTA, TAM has acquired jatropha seeds from throughout Brazil via the Brazilian Assn. of Jatropha Producers and will pass along the seeds to UOP.
LuxairGroup yesterday announced it placed an order for one 737-800. The carrier said the aircraft's size and range will enable it to "optimize operations" for its tour operator LuxairTours. The order, valued at $77 million, previously was listed on Boeing's website as an unidentified customer.
Gol yesterday announced that it has joined IATA and that it "already enacted a number of changes in preparation of joining the association," including receiving IOSA certification. "Our membership comes at a very important moment for the industry, which is undergoing profound changes, as well as our company, as we continue to increase our international presence via codeshare agreements with leading carriers," President and CEO Constantino de Oliveira said.
US National Mediation Board denied a request by UPS Airlines mechanics to be released from mediated talks. A release would have allowed the 1,400 mechanics, represented by Teamsters Local 2727, to begin a 30-day countdown toward a possible strike. Instead, NMB effectively ordered the workers to return to talks with company management. The contract between the Louisville-based airline arm of UPS and its aircraft mechanics became amenable on Nov. 1, 2006, but talks since then have not yielded a new contract.
Wataniya Airways, a Kuwait-based premium services airline that commenced operations in January 2009, launched its first route to Europe Wednesday with thrice-weekly Kuwait City-Vienna flights operated with an A320. CCO Lee Shave told ATWOnline in Vienna that despite the foray into Europe, the carrier remains focused on expanding at a moderate pace. "Regarding Europe, we looked to several destinations," he said. "But Vienna was ideal for us and we plan to be here for several years."
Virgin Blue Group CEO John Borghetti launched a radical shakeup of the airline, including plans to cut routes where it faces stiff competition from Jetstar and Tiger Airways while chasing a 15% increase in corporate business on key routes from Perth.
SAS announced June 9 as the record date for a 1:30 reverse stock split of its shares. The last day of trading in SAS shares before the split is June 4. Following the reverse split, the number of shares will be reduced from 9.87 billion to 329 million. Companies typically carry out reverse splits in an effort to increase the value of outstanding shares.
Virgin Blue Group advised the Australian Stock Exchange of sharply lowered earnings expectations for its fiscal year ending June 30, blaming in part fares that have fallen by 10% in the past month.
