AeroLogic, the joint venture between DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo, officially launched operations Friday. The first of eight 777-200Fs was delivered last month and it plans to operate four of the type by year end. It said it expects 5% annual growth over the medium term on routes between Europe and Asia. Maiden commercial flight is scheduled for June 29 on a Leipzig-Bahrain-New Delhi-Singapore routing, to be followed by a Leipzig-Tashkent-Hong Kong flight.
Air Mauritius Group reported a loss of €85.5 million ($119.2 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, a reversal from the €17 million surplus posted in the prior year. A €50.8 million charge related to the unwinding of 40% of its fuel hedges and an actual €49.7 million hedging loss were key drivers of the result. Revenue rose 0.2% to €448.6 million on a 9% fall in passenger numbers to 1.2 million.
Air India said Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav has "requested" all executives at the GM level and above to "voluntarily forego" their salaries and incentive payments in July. Last week the company said it would defer employee checks by two weeks until July 15 ( ATWOnline, June 17).
The British Airline Pilots Assn. announced a tentative "pay and productivity package" it said would deliver permanent annual savings to British Airways of £26 million ($42.5 million) beginning Oct. 1. The deal, which it said "will help BA get through the current economic downturn whilst, for the first time, giving pilots the mechanism to take a real share in the wealth they will help to create," remains subject to membership ratification. Some 95% of BA's 3,200 pilots are BALPA members.
Thai Airways appointed Piyasvasti Amranand, who served as Thailand's energy minister in 2006-08, as its new president. He will fill the vacancy left by Apinan Sumanaseni's resignation last year. In addition, Chairman Ampon Kittiampon told reporters that Thai will borrow THB23 billion ($670.5 million) from four domestic banks but still needs an additional THB14 billion from foreign lenders for aircraft financing, according to press reports ( ATWOnline, March 2).
Brussels Airlines Co-CEO Bernard Gustin said he expects the European Commission to approve Lufthansa's acquisition of the airline "in the next coming days," according to Reuters. He also said, "I do not believe that we will be profitable [in 2009] but that still remains our target." SN lost €12.2 million ($16.9 million) last year ( ATWOnline, April 9).
Honeywell Aerospace was selected by Gulf Air to provide 15 131-9A APUs for Gulf's A320s scheduled for delivery from this year through 2012. The contract is valued at more than $8 million and covers maintenance through 2022.
Continental Airlines 777 landed safely at Newark yesterday morning after Capt. Craig Lennel, 60, died during the flight from Brussels. CO said the pilot "apparently [died] of natural causes," according to CNN, and the first officer and a reserve officer took the controls. The Associated Press reported that the 247 passengers onboard were not told of the pilot's death, although several passengers, including a doctor, approached the cockpit after the crew asked for the help of any medical professionals onboard.
While consolidation and alliance membership present a viable option for many airlines trying to negotiate the industry downturn, Emirates continues to prefer its independence, President Tim Clark emphasized to ATWOnline. Speaking at the recent IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Clark said that neither entry into an alliance nor a merger with Etihad Airways, about which there has been considerable press speculation, is in the cards.
US Airways named Northwest Airlines Assistant Treasurer Keith Bush as VP-financial planning and analysis and promoted MD-Technology Delivery Todd Christy to VP-business technology.
Aviation Capital Group and Egyptian Civil Aviation Finance Holding formally established Civil Aviation Finance and Operating Leases (CIAF-Leasing) at this week's Paris Air Show. The new lessor will concentrate primarily on new and younger narrowbody aircraft to be operated by customers in North Africa and the Middle East, CIAF Holding Chairman and CEO Medhat Hassanein confirmed to ATWOnline. He said he is targeting a portfolio of about 50 narrowbodies within five years, with some of the aircraft placed with EgyptAir. Operations are expected to begin in the 2009 fourth quarter.
Libyan Airlines CEO Mohamed Ibsem told ATWOnline at the recent IATA Annual General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur that the union of his carrier and Afriqiyah Airways under the Libyan African Aviation Holding Company umbrella likely has paved the way for a merger of the state-owned carriers.
Ryanair yesterday announced winter cuts at both Dublin and Shannon, blaming Ireland's €10 ($13.84) "tourist tax" for an 11% year-over-year fall in passenger traffic at DUB in the first five months of 2009. From the start of the winter schedule it will reduce the number of aircraft based at DUB to 16 from 17 and at SNN to three from four. It will cut 44 weekly flights from its DUB schedule and 36 from SNN, resulting in 350 and 300 job losses respectively. "Further cuts can be expected in the coming months if the €10 tourist tax is not scrapped.
Continental Airlines said that its 737-800 biofuel demonstration flight conducted Jan. 7 resulted in a 1.1% increase in fuel efficiency in the engine fueled by a 50/50 blend of algae-derived biofuel and traditional jet fuel. Greenhouse gas emissions from the CFM56-7Bs were estimated to be reduced 60%-80%. The flight was conducted over Houston in partnership with Boeing, GE Aviation/CFM International and Honeywell subsidiary UOP and was the first such test conducted by a commercial airline in North America.
FedEx Express, the shipping giant's airline segment, finished its fiscal year ended May 31 with a $794 million operating profit, down 58% from the $1.9 billion reported in 2007-08, while the company suffered a 91% plunge in consolidated profit to $98 million.
Cyclone Manufacturing of Ontario won a three-year, $12 million contract from Embraer to supply structural components for the E-190/195 and the Legacy 450-500. E-jet component deliveries (for eight aircraft per month) are scheduled to begin in late July.
Singapore Airlines flew 5.92 billion RPKs in May, down 22.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 13.9% to 8.85 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 7.8 points to 66.9%. Turkish Airlines flew 13.88 billion RPKs from January through May, up 10.8% from the year-ago period. Capacity rose 18.5% to 20.56 billion ASKs and load factor fell 4.7 points to 67.5%.
GKN Aerospace selected Brotje Automation of Germany to provide automated assembly equipment for A350 wing structures. The assembly line will begin operating in 2010.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said consolidated passenger RASM in the second quarter is estimated to fall 17.9%-18.9% year-over-year to 10.05-10.17 cents, with mainline PRASM dropping 20.1%-21.1% to 9.14-9.25 cents. Operating consolidated unit cost excluding profit sharing and noncash net mark-to-market impacts is expected to fall 19.6%-19.9% to 11.44-11.48 cents, the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Consolidated ASMs will be down 9% year-over-year and RPMs will fall 9.5%-10.5% to 29.16-29.49 billion.
Shenzhen Airlines is taking advantage of the upturn in Chinese domestic demand and is ramping up its expansion, announcing an agreement yesterday with the Harbin municipal government to establish a branch company in the northeastern city.
SITA announced a three-year deal with Aeroflot to implement its airport management system at Moscow Sheremetyevo. System already is in use in Terminals 1 and 2 and will be implemented in T3 when it opens later this year. Deal includes the provision of SITA's AirportResource Manager and AirportHandling Manager.
