EasyJet reported net income of £71.2 million ($119.2 million) for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, down 14.4% from £83.2 million for the prior fiscal year, a performance that CEO Andy Harrison called "extremely resilient" given that the year encompassed "12 recessionary months." In a statement, the carrier added, "We have strengthened the fundamentals of the business with improvements in network quality, lower cost deals with key suppliers and enhancements to easyJet.com, giving easyJet a great platform for profitable growth."
LAN Airlines is "looking at all the possibilities around" for potential mergers or acquisitions, COO Ignacio Cueto told Bloomberg News. "We are window shopping," he said. "There is nothing concrete."
Air Berlin posted a €95.2 million ($142.4 million) profit in the third quarter, more than double the €45.1 million reported in the year-ago period, thanks in part to reduced foreign exchange losses and €20 million in proceeds from payments on a convertible bond. Revenue fell 8.2% year-over-year to €974 million "due to planned capacity reductions," AB said yesterday, but operating profit rose 33.5% to €118 million from €88.4 million in the 2008 third quarter.
Indian government has "assured support" and promised a INR4 billion ($86.5 million) equity infusion to Air India by January, parent National Aviation Co. of India said yesterday. "Further installments would be tied up to the milestones of savings effected on account of cost-cutting exercise[s] adopted by the national carrier at various levels," NACIL said, adding that it plans to "aggressively rationalize its fleet size and network. . .in the coming months" ( ATWOnline, Nov. 13).
US Transportation Security Administration issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making that would "establish security requirements for maintenance and repair work conducted on aircraft and aircraft components at domestic and foreign repair stations" and make the repair stations subject to US Dept. of Homeland Security inspections that could lead to decertification.
CSA Czech Airlines named Marek Tybl, head pilot of its ATR fleet, as VP-flight operations and CSOB executive Philippe Moreels as VP-marketing and sales.
TAM flew 2.39 billion domestic RPKs in October, up 22.3% from the year-ago month, against a 9.6% lift in capacity to 3.31 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 7.6 points to 72.3%. International traffic was up 15.7% to 1.64 billion RPKs while capacity increased 15.2% to 2.09 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.3 point to 78.1%. Copa Airlines flew 570.2 million RPMs in October, up 16.6% year-over-year. Capacity increased 7.3% to 696.3 million ASMs, lifting load factor 6.5 points to 81.9%.
United Airlines announced a partnership with ExpressJet Airlines under which the latter will operate 22 ERJ-145s under the United Express brand beginning May 1. ExpressJet will replace contract flying performed by other United Express partners whose contracts expired and were not renewed, including Mesa Air Group. United said ExpressJet offered "the most competitive bid" for the flying.
Airbus parent EADS suffered an €87 million ($130.2 million) third-quarter loss, reversed from a €679 million profit in the year-ago period, as unfavorable foreign exchange rates and slight decline in revenue dragged the aerospace giant back into the red following seven consecutive profitable quarters.
Oneworld is looking to increase further its footprint in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, where Gol is among the potential membership candidates with which it is in discussions, ATWOnline learned last week as the alliance welcomed Mexicana in Mexico City. "Brazil is an important market for us, and Gol is obviously a significant player. They have made great strides in the past two years and, like in India and China, we keep channels open to everyone to review continually our options and their strategy," oneworld Managing Partner John McCulloch said.
Senegal Airlines was launched officially at the Dubai Airshow Sunday, taking the place of defunct Air Senegal International, which suspended operations in April ( ATWOnline, June 3). The new airline will lease aircraft initially and is scheduled to begin flying "in early 2010," according to a statement. Founding capital is valued at $34 million, with private investors holding 64%, the government 16%, employees 5% and the remainder available to the public.
North American Airlines is planning to add an all-business-class, 100-seat 767-200 for charter operations. The carrier signed an LOI with MLW Air, which serves as the charter marketing agent for Pace Airlines. The cabin will feature 2-2-2 seating with lie-flat seats with 60-in. pitch.
Thai Airways reported a THB4.03 billion ($119.5 million) loss in the third quarter, reversed from a THB426.2 million profit in the year-ago period that was the product of a large foreign exchange gain. Revenue dropped 27.7% year-over-year to THB39.15 billion while expenses including finance costs and excluding foreign exchange losses fell 31.2% to THB40.27 billion owing largely to a 50.1% fall in average fuel price and capacity cuts. TG President Piyasvasti Amranand said that as a result of the downturn, the airline "adjusted its capacity to better reflect demand. .
KLM will become the first airline to conduct a biofuel demonstration on a passenger-carrying flight later this month. The flight is set to take place on Nov. 23 and will operate with a 747-400 with one engine running on a mixture of 50% camelina-based fuel and 50% jet fuel. It will carry "a select group of passengers," according to the carrier.
Mexicana is pursuing plans to renew its long-haul fleet and is continuing talks with both Airbus and Boeing for six A350s or 787s, Grupo Mexicana CEO Manuel Bora told ATWOnline last week in Mexico City, although he does not expect the carrier to turn a profit this year.
Jazz Air parent Jazz Air Income Fund reported third-quarter net income of C$25.3 million ($24.1 million), down 20.2% from C$31.7 million in the year-ago period, on a 13.2% drop in revenue to C$379.7 million. The Canadian regional said expenses lowered 12% to C$344.9 million.
Copa Airlines and AeroRepublica parent Copa Holdings reported third-quarter net income of $43.1 million, up 87.4% from a $23 million profit in the year-ago quarter, an increase it attributed to "a solid and resilient business model based on developing the most comprehensive and convenient network for intra-Latin America travel and a very competitive cost structure." It recorded a $5.1 million noncash fuel hedge gain and a $14.6 million charge related to the retirement of four MD-80s as AeroRepublica transitions to an all E-190 fleet.
ILFC reported a third-quarter profit of $245.8 million, up 9.4% year-over-year, on a 3.7% lift in revenue to $1.35 billion. Nine-month profit climbed 16.6% to $685.7 million. As of Sept. 30 the lessor owned 991 aircraft, with 11 more classified as finance and sales-type leases, while providing fleet management services on another 99. It has 125 new aircraft scheduled for delivery through 2019 including five in the 2009 fourth quarter.
BAA announced Friday the injection of £500 million ($828.4 million) into London Heathrow and Stansted. Money will comprise £200 million of new equity from shareholders and £300 million from BAA Airports Ltd. and FGP Topco Ltd., the holding company owned by the airport operator's three controlling shareholders. "Funding will be used to pay down debt, strengthen the group's medium-term financial ratios and facilitate its access to the capital markets," BAA said.
In an announcement that highlighted the reasons it agreed to merge with British Airways, Iberia Friday reported a €16.4 million ($24.5 million) third-quarter loss that represented a reversal from the €304 million profit earned in the year-ago period.
Troubled Japan Airlines Friday reported a net loss of ¥32.1 billion ($357 million) for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, reversed from a ¥40.1 billion profit in the year-ago period, and announced it has applied for "certified alternative dispute resolution," an out-of-court mediation process that enables strapped Japanese companies to negotiate debt settlements with creditors.
Chinese government changed its policy regarding fuel surcharges and from Saturday is allowing individual airlines to choose the timing and amount of those surcharges instead of basing them on directives from authorities in Beijing. The government did stipulate that carriers should link surcharges on domestic routes with the domestic fuel price, meaning they can impose surcharges only when domestic fuel prices rise above CNY4,410 ($645) per ton. They can levy fuel surcharges at will on international routes.
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 15.84 billion RPKs in October, a 17.3% increase from the year-ago month owing to the addition of Austrian Airlines and bmi. Capacity was up 14.9% to 19.68 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.7 points to 80.5%. LH Passenger Airlines flew 11.07 billion RPKs, up 0.7%, against a 1.9% cut in capacity to 13.8 billion ASKs. Load factor climbed 2.1 points to 80.2%. Iberia flew 4.17 billion RPKs in October, down 5.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 6.6% to 5.17 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.3 points to 80.6%.
Vietnam Airlines has signed an MOU for four A380s, VN and EADS officials told reporters in Hanoi. EADS VP Marwan Lahoud said VN is the first new A380 customer since 2006 and that the order was worth $800 million-$1.2 billion, according to Agence France Presse. VN CEO Pham Ngoc Minh told Bloomberg News that the agreement marked the start of negotiations. An Airbus spokesperson contacted by ATWOnline could not confirm the reports. VN has ordered both the 787 and A350.
British Airways and Iberia yesterday agreed to a "binding" MOU to merge under a single holding company that will be 55% controlled by BA shareholders and led by BA CEO Willie Walsh, paving the way for establishment of a third major European airline company by the end of 2010 that would have annual revenue of about €15 billion ($22.5 billion), a fleet of 419 aircraft and a route network comprising 205 destinations.
