Air China expects its first-half profit to jump by more than 50% year-over-year from the CNY1.28 billion ($187.3 million) reported in the first six months of 2008. CA credited "stable growth of the domestic market" and lower fuel prices for the improvement. It transported 13.9 million passengers in the first five months of 2009, up 13.7% year-over-year, which included an 18.2% surge in domestic passenger boardings to 11.2 million. It also cited "favorable policy" from Beijing, cost control and gains on its fuel hedges.
Austrian Airlines Group yesterday said it agreed with all works councils to reduce personnel expenses by 5% from 2010 to 2015, saving the company €150 million ($209.6 million). "The details of the package are rapidly being negotiated by the social partners. It will not include any extra job cuts beyond the 1,000 posts already announced," AAG said ( ATWOnline, July 3).
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 6.67 billion RPKs in June, down 14.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 9.1% to 8.67 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 4.5 points to 76.8%. Iberia flew 4.34 billion RPKs in June, down 5.1% year-over-year. Capacity fell 7.3% to 5.23 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.9 points to 83%. EasyJet transported 4.1 million passengers in June, up 0.8% year-over-year. Load factor dipped 0.6 point to 86.3%.
Pet Airways, a pets-only airline operated by Omaha-based Suburban Air Freight, operated its inaugural flight Tuesday on a New York Republic-Baltimore-Chicago Midway routing with 35-40 pets onboard. The airline's Beech 1900 has had the seats and overhead bins removed, leaving space for pet carriers in the main cabin. It also will serve Denver Rocky Mountain and Los Angeles Hawthorne.
OAG said global airline passenger capacity cuts "are starting to stabilize," evidenced by 315 million seats on offer for this month, down just 1% from July 2008. VP-Market Intelligence David Beckerman said the figures, "show a clear and very welcome upward trend from the dramatic [capacity] declines we have seen in recent months. We can only wait and see if this outlook bears financial fruit in actual passenger numbers and airline load factors."
Singapore Airlines will begin operating the A380 to Melbourne on Sept. 29. The Victoria capital will be the second Australian city, and sixth overall, to which SIA flies the aircraft. Daily service will replace an existing 747-400 frequency, increasing seat capacity by 10% on the 21-times-weekly service. SIA currently has nine A380s in operation.
Nordic Aviation Capital, a lessor of turboprop transports, is opening an office in Singapore. It will be headed by VP-Sales and Acquisitions Mats Ericson, who joined NAC in May from Avion Aviation.
Japan Airlines' loss for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, originally expected to be similar to the ¥63.1 billion ($681.2 million) lost last year ( ATWOnline, June 16), may double if retirees do not approve pension reductions exceeding 50%. According to Bloomberg News, two-thirds of the approximately 9,000 pensioners must agree to the cuts, and a website operated by JAL's retirees said that 2,900 already have registered their disapproval.
US Airways will cut 600 ground positions at nine airports in response to declining revenue and the falloff of business demand, it said yesterday. Work will be outsourced to contractors at airports served primarily by regional partners operating as US Airways Express. US also said it will ask 400 flight attendants to take voluntary furloughs in order to prevent layoffs. "Today's economy demands we continue to look for ways to control costs," COO Robert Isom wrote in a memo to employees provided to ATWOnline.
Austrian Airlines Group will need €1 billion ($1.39 billion) in new capital if its pending acquisition by Lufthansa falls through, Chairman Peter Michaelis told shareholders yesterday at a Vienna meeting. The company has spent two-thirds of the €200 million loan from the Austrian government and is carrying more than €1 billion in debt, Reuters reported.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh continued to maintain yesterday that the carrier is in a "fight for survival" and that "just hoping for old high-roller times to return is the road to oblivion" at the company's annual shareholders meeting in London.
Jetlink Express, a Nairobi-based regional, will take delivery of a BAe 146 this month on wet-lease from Albanian Airlines. Aircraft will be in use for six months to serve Kisumi, replacing a CRJ200 that will be unable to handle that airport's shortened runway during refurbishment. Albanian operates three BAe 146s but can spare one following its recent wet-lease of an MD-82.
Norwegian Air Shuttle reported consolidated net profit of NOK180.2 million ($27.6 million) in the second quarter, an impressive reversal from the NOK62.2 million loss incurred in the year-ago period. "I am very pleased with the company's performance. Despite operating in an industry facing large economic challenges, we deliver the most profitable second quarter in the company's history," CEO Bjorn Kjos said, noting that the carrier's "competitive cost base enables us to be profitable across our whole route network."
Indian airlines carried 10.9 million domestic passengers in the second quarter, up more than 11% compared to the 2008 quarter. Kingfisher Airlines led with 2.8 million (25.3% market share), followed by Air India with 1.9 million (17.5%) and Jet Airways at 1.8 million (16.3%). Through the half year, domestic passenger numbers were down 8% to 21.1 million. In June, Kingfisher led with 901,000 domestic passengers, followed by AI at 645,000 and Jet at 612,000.
Air New Zealand's first 767-300ER fitted with Aviation Partners Boeing blended winglets arrived in Auckland yesterday. ANZ estimated that it will save more than 6 million liters of fuel and 16,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually with installation of winglets on its five 767s. It also is fitting each with CTT Systems' zonal dryers, which will remove about 200 kg. of water trapped in the insulation between the aircraft's outer skin and cabin lining. It estimated the dryers will save an additional 320,000 liters of fuel and 800 tonnes of CO2.
China Eastern Airlines finalized a deal to acquire Shanghai Airlines for CNY9 billion ($1.32 billion) in an effort to gain control of the commercial air travel market in China's largest city.
Virgin Blue denied Australian media reports that it is planning a A$400 million ($311.3 million) capital increase. It has not changed its guidance that it will have "difficulty breaking even" in the 2008-09 fiscal year ended June 30.
Virgin Atlantic Airways CEO Steve Ridgway acknowledged yesterday that he was aware of the collusion between executives at VS and British Airways to fix fuel surcharges on long-haul flights in June 2004-April 2006.
British Airways pilots represented by the British Airline Pilots Assn. ratified the £26 million ($42.1 million) concession package proposed last month, the union announced yesterday.
Republic Airways Holdings moved a step closer to acquiring Frontier Airlines after a bankruptcy court judge approved the regional operator's proposal to purchase the Denver-based carrier for $108.8 million. Frontier reportedly has solicited other bids. If other offers come in before Aug. 10, the court will hold an auction. The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2008.
ANA said the new shares it plans to issue this week through a public and private offering and a follow-on secondary offering will be worth ¥141.67 billion ($1.53 billion) to the company, less than the ¥182.62 billion it estimated two weeks ago ( ATWOnline, July 2). Shares will be priced at ¥259 each.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft suffered a $114.7 million net loss in 2008, reversed from a $3.6 million profit in 2007, the manufacturer announced last week. Revenue rose 9.5-fold to $6 million and operating result swung to a $44.8 million loss from a $2.7 million profit the previous year. It cited a 75% reduction in grants from the Russian government, the weakening of the ruble and rising interest payments for the result.
Boeing announced that Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, TUIfly and Virgin Blue have joined the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, which already comprised Air France, Air New Zealand, ANA, Cargolux, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, KLM, SAS Group and Virgin Atlantic Airways as well as Boeing and Honeywell subsidiary UOP ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26, 2008).
