Star Alliance partners Continental Airlines and Aegean Airlines announced plans to start codesharing on CO's flights between its Newark hub and Athens. CO will also place its code on selected flights operated by Aegean in Europe. Effective immediately, Aegean will place its A3 code on CO flights between EWR and ATH. Pending government approval, Aegean also will codeshare on CO flights from EWR to/from Paris Charles de Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino.
Saudi Arabia-based LCC Sama Airlines announced Monday it is “temporarily discontinuing” all flight operations effective Tuesday. CEO Bruce Ashby said in a statement that stopping flights "is the only option remaining to us" following "many months" of unsuccessfully attempting to find financial relief. He said the airline incurred "heavy losses" during the Oct. 2009-March 2010 winter season and has been unable to recover despite a "sharply" improved revenue performance in the summer season.
Philippine Airlines reported net income minus equity changes of $31.6 million for its fiscal first-quarter ended June 30, down 11% from a $35.5 million profit on the same basis in the prior-year period.
Turkish Airlines reported 2010 first-half net income of €134 million ($170.4 million), significantly widened over a €48 million profit in the first six months of 2009, and predicted the air transport industry's recovery "is expected to continue" absent "another unexpected economic stagnation."
Qantas has grounded five of its Q400s, citing problems with the landing gear. The airline inspected its 21 Q400s after Flybe raised concerns about undercarriage fittings on its fleet of Q400s, a Qantas spokesperson said.
A Mexican consortium called Tenedora K announced it has acquired 95% of troubled Mexicana Airlines' holding company and will take over the airline as well as subsidiaries MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told employees in a message Friday that the carrier will begin rehiring furloughed flight attendants in January with the aim of putting them into service by mid-2011, Bloomberg reported. He did not say how many flight attendants are needed but noted that the focus will be on staffing international flights. "We need lots of folks with language skills given the extensive nature of our international network and the need to be able to communicate with passengers in their own language,” he said.
Japan Airlines on Friday formally unveiled a winter schedule that reflects the dramatic route restructuring announced in April through which the bankrupt carrier will drop 45 routes in addition to previous cuts ( ATW Daily News, April 29). Among the destinations it is in the process of eliminating are Amsterdam, Milan, Rome, Sao Paolo, Brisbane, Denpasar and Kona.
Malaysia Airlines last week reported a second-quarter net loss of MYR533.6 million ($170.4 million), reversed from a MYR875.7 million profit in the year-ago quarter, blaming the result on a spike in fuel costs.
Air China plans to launch a new Beijing-based business jet company in conjunction with the Beijing municipal government to compete with Hainan Airlines’ subsidiary Capital Airlines, according to an industry insider.
ANA on Friday announced a significant upgrade to its services and network from Tokyo Haneda, the city's close-in airport that opens to international flights from Oct. 31 following the activation of its fourth runway Oct. 21.
"Mismanagement and a lack of risk awareness" drove Japan Airlines into a bankruptcy filing in January under Japan's Corporate Rehabilitation Law, according to a Kyodo summary of a forthcoming report from a panel investigating the carrier's financial troubles.
Ethiopian Airlines and the US Export-Import Bank signed an agreement worth over $1.6 billion to support the financing of five 777-200LRs, 10 787-8s and GE spare engines. Jazz Air Income Fund said that its August cash distribution of C$0.05 per unit covering the period from Aug. 1-Aug. 31 will be paid on September 15 to unit holders of record at the close of business on Aug. 31.
Southwest Airlines announced "a shuffling of frequencies" for its January/February 2011 flight schedule, including the elimination of Kansas City-Seattle flights from Jan. 9. Writing on SWA's blog, available on its website, Schedule Planning Department Lead Planner Bill Owen said Long Island Islip-Ft. Myers service will be resumed from Feb. 13 while Nashville-Ft. Myers flights will also be launched that day. He said the MCI-SEA service "in all likelihood...will return" by the 2011 summer. No new cities were announced.
Aegean Airlines reported a net loss of €32.6 million ($42 million) for the 2010 first half, citing the deteriorating Greek economy, a €6.6 million extraordinary social contribution charge and “overcapacity prevailing in certain markets.”
AirAsia reported second quarter net income of MYR199 million ($63 million), up 43% over a MYR139.2 million profit in the year-ago period, and announced that it will defer delivery of seven A320s from 2011 to 2015.
SAS Group's SEK502 million ($68.6 million) second quarter net loss, more than halving its SEK1.05 billion loss in the year-ago period, was attributable to the volcanic-ash-related airspace closures in April that cost it SEK790 million in lost revenue, the airline company said yesterday.
