AMR Corp. regional subsidiary American Eagle Airlines faces a $2.5 million fine for "operating flights without adequately ensuring the weight of baggage was properly calculated," FAA announced yesterday. The agency said that Eagle operated at least 154 scheduled flights in January-October 2008 for which the baggage weight listed on cargo load sheets did not match data entered into its Electronic Weight and Balance System.
Lufthansa is scheduled to take delivery of its first A380 on May 10 and plans to operate it on select scheduled flights from Frankfurt to Munich and Hamburg in order to familiarize crew and airport staff with the aircraft, while also generating publicity. It will be used for training in Leipzig as well. LH also reportedly is considering using the plane to transport the German national team to the World Cup in South Africa. The tournament begins June 11. Long-haul scheduled services, starting with FRA-New York JFK, will commence once the second A380 arrives in early summer.
Great success stories in commercial aviation are rare even in good times. ATW's Regional Airline of the Year for 2010, Regional Express, is one of those and much more. Remarkably, the Sydney-based carrier has stayed profitable during the worst economic downturn in at least four decades while both rebuilding and expanding a business that was born out of the collapse of Ansett Australia in 2001.
Riga International home carrier and largest operator airBaltic reiterated its call for the urgent construction of a new passenger terminal and is pressing for private financing as a result of the Latvian government's delay in moving forward. RIX last year bucked the trend of falling passenger traffic and reported solid 10% growth to 4.1 million on a 5% rise in flight movements to 60,087. AirBaltic alone added routes to 12 new destinations. Cargo volume rose 22.9% to 9,429 tonnes.
The most acute problems are on Europe's periphery, where many smaller economies are experiencing crises strongly reminiscent of past crises in Latin America and Asia. Latvia is the new Argentina." Thus wrote Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel Laureate in economics, in The New York Times in December of that year. The Baltic state's GDP contracted 10.5% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the steepest decline in the EU, and plunged an estimated 18% in 2009. Neighboring Estonia and Lithuania were similarly hard hit.
In this most competitive and capricious of industries, and during this most trying of times, staying on top is difficult even for those airlines with entrenched advantages. Simply leveraging a timeless brand, a supportive government, a key hub or sheer size no longer guarantees success, especially when the effort required to innovate increasingly is focused on ensuring survival.
Turkish airports operator TAV Havalimanlari Holding, which operates a combined 10 airports in Turkey, Georgia, Macedonia and Tunisia including Istanbul Ataturk, enjoyed an increase in 2009 EBITDA of some 20% to €160-€170 million ($221.7-$235.6 million) on a 3% lift in revenue to €630-€640 million, CEO Sani Sener told Bloomberg News. "Our profitability. . .has grown bigger than sales because of measures we took to cut our spending, especially in energy. We started producing our own energy," he said. Passenger traffic at the 10 airports rose 2% last year, driven by a 5% increase at IST.
At a time when carriers all over the world are searching urgently for new business models in reaction to the downturn, ATW's Airline of the Year for 2010 has identified and is implementing a multifaceted commercial strategy that is paying dividends today while positioning it for greater success when the recovery arrives. Under CEO Rob Fyfe, it has established itself as a global leader in financial, operational, customer service and environmental performance.
As the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight was being celebrated in late 2003, it was becoming increasingly clear that aviation's ability to grow and prosper in its second century would depend heavily on mitigating its environmental impact. In particular, the air transport industry was coming under intense scrutiny over its reliance on fossil-based jet fuel, which was seen widely as contributing to global warming. Paradoxically, few foresaw the possibility of developing greener alternative fuels in the near term.
ANA suffered a ¥9.8 billion ($108.7 million) loss in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, a 22.2% improvement from the ¥12.6 billion lost in the year-ago period, and maintained its full-fiscal-year forecast of a ¥28 billion deficit.
Japan Airlines could make an announcement regarding a potential partnership with either American Airlines or Delta Air Lines, and its alliance future, as early as Tuesday, ATWOnline understands. New CEO Kazuo Inamori has met with top executives from both AA and DL. Last Friday, Mainichi Shimbun reported that JAL has chosen Delta and SkyTeam. A Nikkei report cited by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan, which is overseeing JAL's restructuring, would make the final decision after Inamori's input.
Flybe on Friday released select financial figures from its fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, during which it posted a £6.1 million ($9.9 million) operating profit that compared to a £30.8 million surplus in 2007-08. Revenue rose 6.8% year-over-year to £572.4 million on a 4.3% increase in passenger numbers to 7.3 million. Pre-tax profit of £100,000 plunged from the £30.4 million reported the prior year. Excluding special charges, the 2008-09 figure rose to £12.8 million. Flybe currently operates 54 Q400s and 14 E-195s.
The Competition Commission of South Africa said it has launched an investigation into collusion on fares and pricing strategies for flights during this summer's World Cup. It named British Airways and its Comair subsidiary, South African Airways, Airlink, SA Express, 1Time and Mango as subjects of the inquiry.
Austrian Airlines is asking provincial governments for financial support to help prop up its loss-making domestic network. It operates up to 23 weekday flights between Vienna and Graz, Linz, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck and Salzburg. Although the flights provide valuable feed, OS said it no longer can absorb the losses. It also is evaluating the possibility of offering the services under Public Service Obligation agreements. "There are currently 255 PSO air routes established in Europe, so this would be nothing unusual," COO and executive board member Peter Malanik told ATWOnline.
Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey watered down speculation raised in Australia that the airline may join SkyTeam. In a US Dept. of Transportation filing related to the proposed transpacific codeshare between Blue subsidiary V Australia and Delta Air Lines ( ATWOnline, Dec. 15, 2009), there is mention that "it is possible that Australian-origin passengers might benefit if V Australia were to join SkyTeam." Through a spokesperson, Godfrey told ATWOnline, "I've never been in favor of joining alliances.
EgyptAir is considering the reorganization of its Cairo International flight schedule into multiple banks from the present two starting with the 2010-11 winter schedule, EgyptAir Airlines Chairman and CEO Alaa Ashour told ATWOnline in Cairo, as it attempts to increase transfer traffic.
Kingfisher Airlines announced the Tuesday launch of Kingfisher Xpress, a door-to-door cargo delivery service that the carrier said will be "India's first and only same-day delivery by air service, with a money-back guarantee." Pickup facilities will be offered in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata with guaranteed same-day delivery to those six destinations plus Bagdogra, Coimbatore, Kochi, Goa, Guwahati, Indore, Raipur, Ranchi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune and Srinagar. Next-day delivery will be available to 20 additional cities.
Farelogix formed a partnership with Ann Arbor-based Mobiata to integrate the Farelogix FMS2 merchandising solution into Mobiata's FlightTrack and TripDeck applications for smart phones. The result is a combined solution that enables airlines to deliver offers to customers tailored to their particular circumstances. FMS2 is a rules-based engine that allows an airline to determine how events trigger those offers. Farelogix CEO Jim Davidson said carriers can suggest add-ons and upsells, such as meals, upgrades or day passes to a lounge.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group cited "positive network changes" as the driver of a return to profitability in 2009, when it posted a $121.6 million surplus that compared to a $135.9 million loss in 2008.
JetBlue Airways reported a $58 million profit in 2009, reversed from an $85 million net loss the prior year and its best performance since 2003, which CEO Dave Barger said was an indication of "solid financial health and continued stability" at the airline.
