Jet Airways received approval to lease out three 777-300ERs to Royal Brunei Airlines. Jet also announced the launch of a daily Delhi-Doha flight on Jan. 21 aboard a 737-800.
Tiger Airways filed preliminary paperwork seeking a listing on the Singapore Exchange, although investors Singapore Airlines (49%) and Temasek Holdings subsidiary Dahlia Investments (11%) will not sell their shares as part of the planned IPO, according to the filing. Reuters reported that Indigo Partners (24%) will divest some of its stake and RyanAsia will reduce its share if an overallotment option is triggered.
UTair Aviation of Russia launched a Ukrainian subsidiary, UTair-Ukraine, which is operating from Moscow Vnukovo to Luhansk, Kharkov and Nikolaev with ATR 42s. UTair transported 3.2 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2009, up 6.1% year-over-year. Load factor was up 0.8 point to 71.3%.
Moscow Domodedovo announced that "in accordance to ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices" it now is capable of operating simultaneous departures from its parallel runways spaced 2 km. apart. The airport said this will "ensure future increased capacity" up to 90 movements per hr. DME is Russia's largest airport in terms of passenger traffic, with a 45% share of passenger volume. It is served by 80 airlines.
Air Arabia reported a AED144 million ($39.2 million) third-quarter profit excluding exceptional items, down 8.9% from the AED158 million earned in the year-ago period. Its nine-month profit excluding exceptional items rose 6% year-over-year to AED337 million from AED318 million last year. Revenue was down 1.7% to AED1.47 billion. Nine-month passenger traffic increased 13.8% to 3 million and load factor was 79%.
Turkish Airlines Chairman Candan Karlitekin submitted his resignation last week and will leave the company on Jan. 1. A source close to THY told ATWOnline that Karlitekin left of his own free will and offered no reason for the decision. He had held the post since 2002. Reuters reported that Deputy Chairman Hamdi Topcu will succeed Karlitekin next month.
Transaero Airlines is discussing increasing its cooperation with Star Alliance (it currently codeshares with Austrian Airlines and bmi) and would consider full membership, although DG Olga Pleshakova said this currently is "not the top priority," Vienna's Der Standard reported. Transaero is the most obvious Russian target for Star since Aeroflot is a member of SkyTeam and S7 Airlines is set to join oneworld ( ATWOnline, May 27).
Qantas subsidiary Jetstar Airways and AirAsia "have entered discussions regarding a potential cost-saving joint venture," QF said in a statement last week. A Jetstar spokesperson told Dow Jones that the companies are "looking at ways we can further cut costs through economies of scale" via cooperation on airport operations and procurement. "We both compete for passengers from a growing pool, and that clearly will remain." A source told Dow Jones that no cross-ownership is involved.
SAS Group airlines flew 1.86 billion RPKs in November, down 11.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 13.5% to 2.77 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.7 points to 67.2%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 1.72 billion RPKs, down 12%, against a 14% fall in ASKs to 2.53 billion. Load factor rose 1.5 points to 67.9%. Air Berlin said November unit revenue rose 1.7% year-over-year to €5.24 cents (7.55 cents). Passenger numbers fell 0.1% to 2.2 million and load factor was down 0.8 point to 71.9% on a 1.1% rise in capacity.
Ryanair will outline plans to reduce growth and capital expenditures "significantly" in the first quarter of the new year after negotiations with Boeing for an order of up to 200 new 737-800s formally broke down, although it still plans to take 112 previously ordered -800s (including 48 next year) to sustain growth over the medium term.
China's airlines earned a collective profit of CNY7.35 billion ($1.07 billion) through the first 11 months of 2009, almost triple the CNY2.53 billion reported in the year-ago period, according to CAAC.
Unite, the union that represents London Heathrow and Aberdeen baggage handlers and check-in staff employed by SAS Ground Services UK, said the workers "will strike next week unless there is movement on resolving a pay dispute." It said a series of strikes would take place Dec. 22-24 (48 hr.), Dec. 26-27 (24 hr.) and Jan. 3-4 (24 hr.). "The stoppages will hit travelers on Turkish [Airlines], Emirates and Thai [Airways] at London Heathrow and KLM, Air France, Wideroe and [Virgin Atlantic Airways] at Aberdeen," the union said.
Pemco World Air Services agreed to acquire the 757 cargo conversion operations and assets of Alcoa--SIE Conversions, a California-based Alcoa company joined with Structural Integrity Engineering. Pemco will acquire ASCC's 757-200 STC, allowing it to add the conversion program to its product line early next year. It currently offers freighter, combi, and quick-change configurations of the 737-300 and 737-400. Financial details were not disclosed.
Trans States Airlines will cut 50 baggage handlers and customer service representatives handling its United Express flights at St. Louis, according to an announcement cited by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Layoffs will take effect Feb. 11.
Business travelers are returning slowly to the front of the cabin and typical business fares are rising slightly against 2009 lows but still remain well down from year-ago levels, according to the third-quarter American Express Business Travel Monitor. The BTM shows that the average one-way international fare paid from North America including taxes and fees booked through AEBT increased 2.2% compared to the second quarter, from $1,603 to $1,638, but was down 18.5% compared to an average of $2,010 in the third quarter of 2008.
Southwest Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said there has been a "very dramatic shift" in domestic US market share over the last year, with "1% moving from the rest of the industry to Southwest."
British Airways yesterday obtained an injunction from the UK High Court blocking a 12-day flight attendant strike because of irregularities in the balloting conducted by the Unite union, which countered with a promise that its dispute with the airline "is not settled."
Austrian Airlines passed a resolution to squeeze out remaining minority shareholders, who will be paid €0.50 ($0.73) per share. Transactions "probably" will take place in the first half of 2010, it said. Lufthansa subsidiary Osterreichische Luftverkehrs Holding currently holds 95.4% of the company.
United Airlines said it expects fourth-quarter consolidated passenger RASM to fall 6.25%-7.25% year-over-year to 11.09-11.21 cents, while mainline PRASM should be down 7.5%-8.5% to 10.12-10.23 cents.
Aircastle announced the placement of six new A330-200s with South African Airways on long-term lease. Aircraft are powered by Trent 772Bs and will deliver during 2011. The lessor said it now has secured customers for 11 of the 12 A330s it has on order. Two were delivered to Avianca this year, three freighters are headed to an unidentified Asian customer in 2010-11, and the last aircraft is scheduled for delivery in May 2012. Aircastle said it is "actively marketing" that plane.
Ryanair transported 5 million passengers in November, up 15% year-over-year, while load factor rose 1 point to 82%. EasyJet transported 3.4 million passengers in November, up 12.2% from the year-ago month. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 84.8%. AirTran Airways flew 1.47 billion RPMs in November, a 10.5% lift year-over-year. Capacity rose 9.2% to 1.92 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.9 point to 76.7%.
Air India plans to operate 105 aircraft by March 2011 compared to the 146 currently in the fleet, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Parliament, according to The Wall Street Journal. He added that 133 of AI's 192 routes were loss-making during the April-October period and that the loss on unprofitable routes was INR15.23 billion ($325.1 million).
