EgyptAir Holding Co. Chairman and CEO Hussein Massoud told ATWOnline in Cairo that the airline has not been affected by the industry downturn as deeply as others and that it expects another profit in fiscal 2009-10.
Singapore Airlines flew 6.98 billion RPKs in September, down 7.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 12.5% to 8.63 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 4 points to 80.9%.
Qatar Airways A340-600 powered by Trent 556 engines flew from London Gatwick to Doha using a 50-50 blend of synthetic GTL kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene Monday, which the carrier said was the world's first commercial passenger flight powered by fuel made from natural gas. The flight was the "latest step" for the consortium comprising QR, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Science & Technology Park, Shell and Qatar Fuel ( ATWOnline, Nov. 15, 2007).
Bmibaby and Germanwings will link their websites and list certain flights of both carriers, sending customers to the corresponding booking page after they select a flight. Bmibaby customers will have access to 37 Germanwings flights from Manchester, London Stansted and Edinburgh while Germanwings customers will be able to book 33 bmibaby services from Cardiff, Nottingham East Midlands, Birmingham and Manchester.
Goodrich Corp. said it signed a research agreement with Rolls-Royce "to develop the next generation of fuel nozzles for 'lean burn' combustion technology systems." According to Goodrich, which also has been selected to supply the combustion system fuel nozzles for the A350's Trent XWB, lean burn technology allows for a more complete combustion cycle, "which reduces emissions and increases efficiency."
Caribbean Airlines promoted Executive VP and COO Ian Brunton to CEO, effective yesterday. He succeeds Philip Saunders, who tendered his resignation six months ago. Brunton formerly was chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority and the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots' Assn. and was a member of the BWIA board. Global Aviation Holdings, parent of North American Airlines and World Airways, named Polar Air Cargo VP-Sales and Marketing for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India Hendrik Falk as VP-cargo sales.
EasyJet will commence operations at Belfast City with a twice-daily service to/from London Luton on Jan. 7 as part of its plan "to assess if easyJet passengers find a benefit in flying to an airport closer to the City of Belfast when travelling on shorter routes." If successful, it will increase LTN-BHD frequencies and consider other destinations, although it stressed that the bulk of its Northern Ireland operation will remain at Belfast International, where it bases five aircraft and flies to 19 destinations.
Southwest Airlines posted its fourth quarterly deficit in the past five reporting periods, a third-quarter net loss of $16 million that was narrowed from a $120 million loss in the year-ago period, and announced that it likely will follow up its "no growth" 2009 with a flat 2010.
Continental Airlines expects to record $20 million in special charges on its third-quarter balance sheet. The charges comprise $9 million in "unused facilities," $6 million in "aircraft-related" charges and $5 million in severance payments. CO will release its third-quarter results on Oct. 21. The facility charge was an adjustment to increase a previously established reserve due to reductions in expected sublease income for unused facilities consisting primarily of a maintenance hangar in Denver, it said.
Chinese airlines posted collective net income of CNY6.13 billion ($896.7 million) for the first nine months of this year, a big turnaround from a CNY5.55 billion deficit in the year-ago period. CAAC credited "economic recovery" and "lower fuel prices" for the positive result. Total operating revenue dipped 2.2% to CNY153 billion while operating expenses fell 3.8% to CNY153.9 billion.
Republic Airways Holdings said it will acquire 10 E-190ARs from US Airways, applying the full balance of its October 2008 $35 million loan to US Airways toward the purchase of the aircraft and assuming the remaining debt on the jets. The loan originally was scheduled to be repaid between this month and October 2011. Four of the 99-seat aircraft are expected to enter service in November and December and will replace 717s being removed from Republic's Midwest Airlines subsidiary. The remaining six are expected to enter service with Republic-owned carriers during the first half of 2010.
Air France KLM declined to comment to ATWOnline on a report in La Tribune that it is considering whether it should negotiate further aircraft delivery deferrals with Airbus and Boeing. The deferrals would affect mainly its 777/ 777F and A380 orders. CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon previously said the group had adjusted its aircraft delivery plan and fleet investment to weather the economic crisis.
Ireland's three main carriers again called on the government to remove the €10 ($14.80) tourist tax added to airline tickets on April 1. In a joint statement, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller and CityJet CEO Geoffrey O'Byrne-White said the tax has had a "devastating impact on traffic and visitor numbers at Ireland's airports" since it was introduced, including a 15% decline in monthly throughput at Dublin. They predict passenger numbers at DUB may fall from 24 million to approximately 21 million this year owing to the tax.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said merger talks with Iberia have progressed significantly since Altadis Antonio Vazquez replaced Fernando Conte as IB chairman and CEO in July and predicted an announcement regarding a possible joining of the two oneworld carriers will come "in the weeks ahead."
Transaero announced that it has become the first full-service Russian airline to adopt fully the use of e-ticketing for all flights. In 2009, 95% of all its tickets have been electronic.
Mesa Air Group's Hawaiian subsidiary go! and Mokulele Airlines entered into a "joint venture" to collaboratively operate inter-island air service under both brand names.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said Airbus should offer new engines on its A320s to ward off challenges from Bombardier and stay ahead of Boeing. Speaking to Bloomberg, al-Baker claimed that Pratt & Whitney's PW1000G geared turbofan fitted to the A320 would be "fatal" for Bombardier's CSeries jet, which is slated to enter service in 2013 powered by the same engine ( ATWOnline, June 17). Qatar is considering an order for the CSeries and his claims may well be part of the negotiations for a better deal.
Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler is "not getting too excited" about the carrier's September traffic figures despite positive trends in both the passenger and cargo sectors. Speaking with ATWOnline, Tyler did say that the airline, while remaining cautious, "expects an upswing in the last quarter of the year." CX and subsidiary Dragonair reported a 0.1% September traffic increase to 6.87 billion RPKs on a 9.7% capacity cut to 8.57 billion ASKs, driving load factor up 7.9 points to 80.2%.
Qantas deferred plans for additional flights between Australia and South Africa and decided against summer services to South Korea owing to "current market conditions," according to a regulatory filing citied by the Sydney Morning Herald. Iceland Express will operate seasonal four-times-weekly service from Reykjavik Keflavik to Newark aboard a 757 starting in June. Eastern Airways launched service to Bergen from Newcastle (five-times-weekly) and Aberdeen (six-times-weekly).
Japan Airlines is not commenting on reports in the Japanese media that it will seek ¥250 billion ($2.78 billion) in debt forgiveness from its creditors and increase its planned job cuts to 9,000.
AirBaltic named Vigo Legzdins its new chairman. Legzdins is also chairman of Latvian Roadworks and was previously state secretary of the Ministry of Transportation and head of its Investment and Transit Policy Dept. Nordic Aviation Capital, the turboprop lessor, named Jim Murphy chief commercial officer.
Assn. of European Airlines blasted Polish air navigation service provider PANSA's decision to raise its fees next year by 32% for flights across Polish airspace and by 62% for operations into and out of Polish airports. PANSA said it needs to increase fees to compensate for the loss in traffic due to the economic downturn. Polish airspace covers an area of more than 300 sq. km. and occupies a key position, straddling both north-south and east-west traffic flows.
Continental Airlines Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner said yesterday that while the airline industry has seen slight economic improvement this year as fuel costs have lowered and credit markets have loosened, "we're still bouncing along the bottom."
ExpressJet Holdings reported that September traffic in its Continental Express scheduled service operation rose 19% to 617 million RPMs on an 11% lift in capacity to 808 million ASMs. Load factor was up 5.5 points to 76.3%.
