Austrian Airlines is expected to announce Wednesday that Lufthansa Board Member and Executive VP-Marketing and Sales Thierry Antinori will become CEO of Austrian Airlines, a source close to the Lufthansa management confirmed to ATW. OS Executive Board Members Andreas Bierwirth and Peter Malanik, who currently lead OS, will remain with the company.
Flybe confirmed Tuesday it will proceed with its long-awaited IPO and said its base offer is about £60 million ($93.5 million) in new shares. Flybe said it intends to use the new shares to fund its planned fleet expansion and to further strengthen its cash position “providing strategic flexibility to pursue additional growth opportunities (such as the expansion of codeshare arrangements, strategic arrangements with other European airlines and targeted acquisitions) should such opportunities present themselves.”
Boeing and Copa Airlines announced an order for 22 737-800NGs plus 10 options at a signing ceremony Tuesday at the US Dept. of Commerce in Washington. The order, valued at approximately $1.7 billion at list prices, was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing's orders and deliveries website.
Aerolineas Argentinas signed a formal agreement Tuesday to join SkyTeam, setting the stage for it to become the alliance's first South American member in 2012.
Lufthansa relaunched its FlyNet inflight Internet service after a four-year suspension Tuesday, becoming the first airline to offer passengers broadband Internet access on intercontinental routes.
The Tokyo court handling Japan Airlines' bankruptcy on Tuesday approved the company's restructuring plan calling for the retirement or layoff of more than 16,000 staff by March 31, 2011, the disposal of 103 aircraft and the scrapping of 49 loss-making routes.
Lufthansa relaunched its FlyNet inflight Internet service after a four-year suspension Tuesday, becoming the first airline to offer passengers broadband Internet access on intercontinental routes. Initially, it will be available on select North Atlantic routes, with LH planning to deploy it throughout its intercontinental network by the end of 2011.
United Continental Holdings announced Monday that Continental Airlines has reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 7,000 CO fleet service employees. The IBT is expected to hold a ratification vote in the coming weeks.
The Supervisory Board of Lufthansa Cargo AG announced Friday that Karl Ulrich Garnadt will succeed Carsten Spohr as Lufthansa Cargo Chairman and CEO, effective Jan.1, 2011. Garnadt, who is currently in charge of Hub Management and Passenger Services on the LH German Airlines Board, will serve for three years. He has been a member of the Board of LH German Airlines since Jan. 15, 2007. The board also announced that Karl-Rudolf Rupprecht will succeed Karl-Heinz Kopfle as board member-operations at LH Cargo.
Lufthansa is launching the world’s first scheduled commercial passenger flights using biofuel in the first half of 2011, with an IAE-V2500-powered Airbus A321. In April 2011, LH will begin a six-month trial with an A321 on scheduled commercial flights on the Hamburg-Frankfurt-Hamburg route. Pending certification, one of the aircraft’s engines will use a 50-50 mix of biofuel and traditional kerosene. The primary purpose of the project is to conduct a long-term trial to study the effect of biofuel on engine maintenance and engine life.
Qantas returned two of its six Airbus A380sto service on the Sydney to London route after some engine changes. The airline is limiting take-off thrust to 70,000 lb. instead of the 72,000 lb. for which the engine is certified.
Malaysia Airlines has returned to the black after recording a MYR233 million ($74.2 million) net profit for third quarter ended Sept 30 on the back of a 15% lift in revenue to MYR3.39 billion from both passengers and cargo.
The AirAsia Group has posted what it terms an "outstanding" result of a net profit of MYR447 million ($141 million) for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 on revenue of MYR1.54 billion.
LAN Airlines said it signed a definitive agreement to purchase 98.94% of Colombia's Aires for $12 million in cash and the assumption of $100 million in net liabilities including $18 million of bank debt.
China Eastern Airlines is considering canceling its order for 15 Boeing 787s owing to the aircraft program's continuous delays, according to a CEA insider.
British Airways and Iberia shareholders on Monday voted in favor of the merger of the airlines at special meetings in London and Madrid, respectively, ending years of speculation and on-and-off discussions that took off following IB's announcement in spring 2007 that it was open to a full or partial sale.
China Eastern Airlines is considering canceling its order for 15 Boeing 787s owing to the aircraft program's continuous delays, according to a CEA insider. "Most probably we [will] cancel," the source told ATW. "We are negotiating with Boeing about choosing [a] replacement aircraft type…now."
British Airways named Nick Swift CFO, effective March 7, 2011. He will replace Keith Williams, who will become CEO of the BA operating unit upon completion of BA's merger with Iberia early next year. Austral Lineas Aereas took delivery of the fourth and fifth Embraer 190s out of 20 it has on order. The aircraft are configured in a two-class, 96-seat layout. They will join the fleet immediately, serving domestic routes in the Argentine regional's network.
Aviation research firm OAG reported that US airlines have been adding domestic seat capacity at "an accelerated rate over the last four months, increasing 3% in November 2010" compared to the same month a year ago. Despite worldwide expansion, OAG said US domestic capacity "had been declining year-over-year and hadn't seen growth until recently when it grew 0.8% in August, and has remained steady since."
TAP Portugal said its privatization process could start next year. CEO Fernando Pinto stated at the ALTA meeting in Panama City that privatizing the carrier "is part of a [government] plan and this process could start in 2011." TAP enjoys high load factors on its long-haul routes, especially to South America and Africa, "but the high fuel price spoils everything," Pinto stated. Nevertheless, TAP operates up to 80 weekly flights to Brazil.
TAM President Libano Miranda Barroso told ATW in Panama City that the planned TAM/LAN Airlines merger will "have some similarity to the [British Airways] and Iberia merger" with both carriers' brands continuing to exist.
