ASKY Airlines, a Togolese startup affiliated with Ethiopian Airlines ( ATWOnline, July 8, 2008), plans to launch service to regional destinations on Jan. 15 with two 737-700s on lease from ET and said it intends to serve Europe, the Americas and Asia in the future. Shareholders include ET (20%), Ecobank Group, Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development, West African Development Bank and the Sakhumnotho Group of South Africa.
Aeroflot and Alitalia signed an MOU "to further develop new routes and frequencies between Italy and Russia as well as implement a wide ranging reciprocal codeshare to domestic and beyond destinations," AZ announced. Carriers also will cooperate more closely on network planning, reservations, sales and marketing, passenger service, charter and cargo operations and technology. AZ and SU already codeshare on flights to/from Moscow Sheremetyevo and four Italian destinations.
RwandAir signed a financing deal with the Eastern and Southern African Trade & Development Bank for $13.5 million in loans to cover the acquisition of two CRJ200s. In addition, the carrier said that talks with "large aircraft suppliers are at advanced stages for the acquisition of mid- to long-range aircraft beginning 2010. The airline intends to expand its fleet considerably over the next five years."
Baltic Aviation Academy, a unit of Vilnius-based Avia Solutions Group, said it received its Flight Training Organization License from the Lithuanian CAA and is offering ab initio pilot training from private pilot license and instrument rating courses to commercial pilot license, multiengine pilot license and airline transport pilot license courses. Ab initio classes start in January.
Continental Airlines plans to raise $200 million through a public offering of its convertible senior notes due 2015, with an option for underwriters to purchase up to an additional $30 million to cover overallotments. CO said it will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.
Jat Airways expects to lose €15 million ($22.3 million) this year, lower than the €20- €25 million anticipated previously, but will need €20-€32 million in loans to maintain operations, CEO Srdjan Radovanovic told the Associated Press. He also said that Turkish Airlines has shown "the most serious" interest in investing in the carrier.
The Japanese government reportedly is preparing to provide ¥700 billion ($7.74 billion) in credit guarantees to Japan Airlines as part of an "extra budget" that could be finalized this week for the country's fiscal year ending March 31.
Delta Air Lines flew 13.57 billion system RPMs in November, a 7.1% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 8.4% to 17.06 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.1 points to 79.6%. American Airlines flew 9.49 billion system RPMs in November, down 0.5% year-over-year. Capacity fell 4.2% to 11.92 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 3 points to 79.6%. American Eagle flew 634.6 million RPMs, up 11.7%, against a 6.8% increase in capacity to 901.2 million ASMs. Load factor was up 3.1 points to 70.4%.
Korean Air became the second airline to order Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental passenger jet, placing an order for five of the aircraft last week. The new planes are worth some $1.5 billion at list prices, Boeing said, while the airline indicated it expects delivery between April 2013 and May 2015, according to press reports from Korea.
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras, the year-old Campinas-based LCC, plans to increase passenger traffic 50% next year and "will continue to grow significantly faster than the overall market," CEO David Neeleman told Dow Jones last week. Azul currently operates 14 aircraft to 16 domestic destinations and plans to add seven planes and three new airports in 2010, he said, "but we could still expand much faster than that."
Air China Senior VP Fan Cheng was named Communist Party Secretary at Shenzhen Airlines last week, increasing speculation in China that CA will seek control of Shenzhen following the arrest of controlling shareholder Li Zeyuan ( ATWOnline, Dec. 2). Fan reportedly will oversee day-to-day operations at Shenzhen, in which CA currently holds 25%.
Dublin Airport Authority said Ireland's Commission for Aviation Regulation has determined that the average maximum passenger charge will increase to €9.97 ($15.04) in 2010-15, more than 33% higher than the current period, although the commission's report "contains many variables." DAA said charges "in real terms" have fallen 30% over the past 20 years and that the increase still compares favorably to European "peers" that charge an average of €12.50 per passenger.
ANA last week told ATWOnline that it is "definitely very interested in deepening our relationships with partner airlines" but would not comment on press reports that it plans to seek transpacific antitrust immunity with both United Airlines and Continental Airlines once an expanded air service agreement is signed by the US and Japan, which could happen as early as this week. "At this point, it's premature for us to talk publicly about plans, timetables, etc.," an ANA spokesperson said.
As the domestic cargo market recovers, China Southern Airlines is boosting capacity on routes from Shanghai Pudong and moving toward making the airport its cargo hub. The Guangzhou-based carrier introduced two new 777 freighters last week, adding to the pair of 747-400Fs it already operated from PVG. A new 747 service to Frankfurt launched last week and the 777s are expected to fly to Chicago O'Hare starting this month. CZ also operates a 747F to Amsterdam.
Niki plans to increase capacity by more than 30% next year as it endeavors to fill the void left by SkyEurope Airlines and a restructuring Austrian Airlines. "This is my chance and I'm going to take this opportunity," President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline. On Feb. 1 the LCC will begin daily flights from Vienna to Belgrade, Sofia and Bucharest Otopeni and on March 26 it will launch daily services to Barcelona and Nice and a six-times-weekly flight to Copenhagen. Its fleet will grow from the current 11 aircraft to 17 A320 family jets and E-190s next year.
Southern Air Holdings, parent of Connecticut-based ACMI freight carrier Southern Air, announced the appointment of DHL Express Asia/Pacific CEO Daniel McHugh as CEO effective Jan. 1. He succeeds Southern founder James Neff, who is retiring but will remain a board member. Southern operates 16 747 freighters and plans to introduce its first two 777-200LRFs in the 2010 first quarter. It will operate the aircraft for Thai Airways.
Wizz Air will begin serving Latvia next spring with flights from Riga to London Luton (thrice-weekly), Oslo Torp (thrice-weekly) and Turku (twice-weekly) launching on March 28. Twice-weekly Prague-Bari and Budapest-Turku flights will begin at the same time.
Finnair is expected to cancel more flights today as ground staff represented by the Finnish Aviation Union continue to walk off the job at Helsinki Vantaa in protest of the outsourcing moves announced Monday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1). Around 20 flights were cancelled yesterday. Talks between the carrier and the IAU were scheduled for today.
American Airlines is partnering with TPG Capital to offer to invest $1.1 billion in Japan Airlines to assist with the ailing carrier's restructuring and ensure it remains in the oneworld fold.
Republic Airways Holdings promoted Director-Flight Operations Don Osmundson to VP-flight operations and Director-Human Resources Kathy Woolridge to VP-human resources and named Frontier Airlines VP-Planning and Strategy Daniel Shurz as VP-planning and strategy and Midwest Airlines VP-Planning and Revenue Management Greg Aretakis as VP-revenue production for Republic's branded airline operations.
Aer Lingus will "resort to other measures" in its pursuit of its required cost savings, with capacity reductions and immediate and "compulsory" redundancies in the pipeline, CEO Christoph Mueller said after negotiations with several unions broke down late Tuesday.
ExpressJet named board member T. Patrick Kelly as interim CEO following the resignation of Jim Ream, who left the regional carrier to join American Airlines as senior VP-maintenance & engineering ( ATWOnline, Dec. 2). Kelly has been on the board for two years and previously was an executive at both AA and Sabre. ExpressJet said it would be "considering candidates to fill the CEO role on a long-term basis."
Nigerian Eagle Airlines, formerly Virgin Nigeria, signed an MOU with Delta Air Lines "to explore areas of commercial cooperation that will expand travel options," the carriers announced yesterday. The agreement opens the door for loyalty program linkage and a codeshare on DL's New York JFK-Dakar-Abuja service. Nigerian Eagle also announced a "network-wide" codeshare and interline deal with Ethiopian Airlines.
