Qantas reported a A$116 million ($104.4 million) net profit for its fiscal year ended June 30, down 5.7% in the prior year, crediting improving international yields, a robust frequent flyer program and its two brand–Qantas and Jetstar–strategy.
International Lease Finance Corp.said it plans to offer $500 million of senior unsecured notes due in 2017. Proceeds will be used to repay a portion of outstanding secured loans from AIG Funding, as well as for general corporate purposes, it said. Barclays Capital Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are co-managers of the offering.
Airbus said Thai Airways signed a firm order for seven A330-300s, confirming a commitment announced at last month's Farnborough Airshow ( ATW Daily News, July 22). Deliveries will begin at the end of 2011. Engine selection was not announced but Thai's 20 in service A330-300s are powered by a mix of Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney engines.
In response to robust domestic demand growth, Okay Airways plans to expand its fleet from eight to 12 aircraft by year’s end and to 20 aircraft by the end of 2011. The current fleet consists of three 737-800s, two MA60s and three 737 freighters operating on more than 20 domestic routes. The Tianjin-based carrier placed an order with AVIC for 10 MA60s in 2007. But owing to the carrier’s suspension of operation at the end of 2008, it introduced only one MA60 earlier this month. It operates on the carrier's Shenyang-Dalian route.
United Airlines and Continental Airlines yesterday unveiled their post-merger livery, which features the "United" name in block capital letters on the fuselage but utilizes CO's logo and colors including its blue-gold-white globe image on the tail.
Vueling Airlines CEO Alex Cruz confirmed to ATW that the carrier plans to add six aircraft next year and said the company is in talks “with all the major aircraft manufacturers as well as current and some potential [new] lessors.”
ExpressJet Holdings posted a second quarter net loss of $18.5 million, widened from a $13.1 million deficit in the year-ago period, and said it will continue to make an effort to reduce operating costs as it prepares to be acquired by SkyWest, Inc.
Shenzhen Airlines yesterday said it signed a purchase agreement with Airbus for 10 A320s and announced that it had an operating profit of CNY520 million ($79 million) in the first half, crediting strong domestic market demand growth and its merger with Air China for the result.
Japan Airlines continues to pare down its portfolio of subsidiaries as it refocuses on its core activities in advance of submitting its official reorganization plan in court by the end of this month. Yesterday it announced it will sell 90% of its stakes in JAL Sky Kansai Co., JAL Ground Service Kansai Co. and JAL Ground Support Kansai Co. to Konoike Transport Co. by way of a stock transfer agreement.
Finnair reported a second-quarter net loss of €27.8 million ($37 million), widened slightly from a €23.3 million deficit in the year-ago-period. “Strengthening demand, recovering load factors and clearly improved unit revenues have restored profitability to a positive course," President and CEO Mika Vehvilainen said. "It is clear that we cannot be satisfied with a loss-making result, but the trend in profitability is heartening."
Air Arabia Group reported a consolidated second quarter net profit of AED49.5 million ($13.5 million), down 44.8% from the AED89.7 million it earned in the year-ago period.
Gol reported a second quarter net loss of BRL51.9 million ($29.6 million), reversed from a BRL353.7 million net profit in the year-ago period, as interest expenses, foreign exchange losses and non-recurring maintenance costs weighed on the bottom line.
SAS President and CEO Matts Jansson, who faced a string of escalating labor, operational and financial crises since taking the helm of SAS in January 2007, announced he will step down this fall.
Lufthansa Cargo will increase its worldwide cargo rates by 20% from Oct 1. Ethiopian Airlines said it signed a purchase agreement with Diamond Aircraft Industries of Austria for 10 DA40NG pilot training aircraft and one D-SIM-40 simulator valued €3.7 million ($4.9 billion).
Delta Air Linesflew 19.6 billion system RPMs in July, a .5% rise year-over-year. Capacity decreased .3% to 22 billion ASMs and load factor increased .7 point to 88.3%. Great Lakes Aviationoperated 13.92 million RPMs in July, up 10.1% year-over-year, against a 6.1% cut in capacity to 33.43 million ASMs. Load factor rose 6.1 points to 41.6%.
Bombardier said Porter Airlines signed a firm order for four Q400 NextGens plus six options. The Toronto-based airline’s firm order is valued at C$123 million ($120 million) at list prices. The four aircraft will increase Porter’s fleet of Q400s to 24 ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 20, 2009). Porter took delivery of its 20th aircraft, and the 300th Q400 aircraft to be delivered, in April.
Mexicana Airlines said in a statement Sunday that its "financial situation has deteriorated substantially in the last week" and announced it is suspending 15 international routes effective yesterday and today.
Iridium Communications announced that it received "in excess of $1.8 billion of commitments from a syndicate of preeminent international banks" in connection with the credit facility that will be used to finance the construction of the company’s next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium Next. Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for the project, which consists of 81 low-earth orbiting communications satellites with first launch in early 2015. Iridium expects to sign the credit facility in September and close shortly thereafter.
Flybe concluded an agreement with Finnair to “cooperate on the delivery of regional services in the Scandinavian and Baltic Sea area.” Initially, the UK carrier will wet-lease three Q400s to Finnair, which will operate services from Helsinki to Tampere, Turku and Tallinn as of Oct. 31. The service provision is expected to grow “beyond” three aircraft in the summer of 2011, Flybe said, but the carrier declined to tell ATW how many aircraft or routes it could cover and if the cooperation could evolve into a codeshare or franchise agreement.
Following Air Berlin’s announcement last week that it intends to join oneworld, Austrian LCC Fly Niki President Niki Lauda told ATW the airline has started talks with AA and AY to pursue codeshare agreements. Lauda said Niki is eyeing "big passenger potential in the worldwide market" as it carries passengers to eastern and southeastern Europe via its hub in Vienna ( ATW Daily News, July 27).
Malev Hungarian Airlines CCO and Deputy CEO Karim Makhlouf resigned from the carrier last week. Makhlouf, who joined Hungary's state-owned national carrier in January 2009, said it had been a “great experience to restructure this airline until this stage.”Before joining Malev, he was CCO of SkyEurope and director of Network Management at Hapag-Lloyd Express. He also was member of the founding
Japan Airlines, in the midst of a bankruptcy restructuring, announced it will sell its 79.6% stake in JAL Hotels and additionally will merge four sales subsidiaries into one unit.
Tiger Airways Holdings reported net income of S$1.9 million ($1.4 million) for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, much improved over a loss of S$6 million for the year-ago period.
