China Southern Airlines reported a CNY222 million ($32.5 million) first-quarter profit, down 71.3% from the CNY796 million earned in the year-ago period, on a 9.4% decrease in operating revenue to CNY12.93 billion. Operating expenses climbed 3.3% to CNY13.71 billion, and analysts credited "the return of a CNY1.07 billion aviation construction fund" for the profit. Foreign exchange losses played a role in the year-over-year decrease. The Guangzhou-based carrier did not release further figures.
LOT Polish Airlines is nearing insolvency, Management Board President Sebastian Mikosz was quoted as saying by the Warsaw Business Journal and Rzeczpospolita, which reported that the auditor is unwilling to sign off on the airline's accounts and that its survival is uncertain. It lost €155 million ($203.8 million) last year and reportedly does not have the cash to pay its bills. Mikosz said layoffs will be necessary and that new investment or acquisition by a competitor are the most likely solutions to the crisis.
Ukraine International Airlines posted a $6.2 million profit in 2008, its ninth consecutive year in the black. It reported a $12.9 million profit in 2007. Revenue last year was $371 million, up 36%, and operating profit rose nearly 20% to $22 million. It said the bottom line was impacted by a $7.6 million foreign exchange loss. UIA currently operates 17 737s.
Airlines scheduled 6% fewer flights this month compared with April 2008, with a 3% drop in seat capacity, according to the latest statistics from OAG. It marks the ninth successive month of declines and represents a reduction of more than 136,000 flights and 9 million seats year-over-year. Flight schedules within Europe are down by 8% while capacity is off 7% with 4.7 million fewer seats on offer. Figures for North America show downturns of 9% in domestic frequencies and 8% in capacity, with a 6% drop for flights and capacity to/from the region.
Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India announced that Ministry of Civil Aviation Joint Secretary and Financial Adviser Bharat Bhushan will serve as interim chairman and MD replacing Raghu Menon. Bhushan, 54, has held a variety of government positions for the past 30 years. No reason was given for the government's decision to replace Menon, according to press reports from India. A search for a permanent replacement is underway.
Undisclosed asset sales prompted ANA Group to issue a revised guidance yesterday anticipating a smaller loss for the fiscal year ended March 31 than previously forecast.
Qantas announced a comprehensive review of its seating configurations, with many premium seats expected to get the ax as business travel plummets. The reassessment comes as QF is suffering the worst decline in business travel in decades with a fall of up to 30% in premium travelers, who are paying up to 50% less than the normal premium fare. CEO Alan Joyce conceded to ATWOnline yesterday that "we have too few seats on some of our aircraft," with premium seats making up 40% of the total on some.
Delta Air Lines will begin serving Dallas Love Field on July 6 with thrice-daily service to/from Memphis aboard CRJ200s operated by Pinnacle Airlines. DL currently flies to Dallas/Fort Worth from seven US cities. American Airlines recently announced the suspension of its DAL service from June 11 ( ATWOnline, March 13).
Iberia last week warned that a full-year profit is "unlikely" if "current difficult economic conditions persist." It posted a €32 million ($41.7 million) profit in 2008, down 90.2% from the prior year. It said in an investor update that it faces an "important decrease in revenues" owing to a "weakness" in traffic, a declining number business passengers and falling yields.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings said last week in government filings that a change in the way they report convertible debt owing to a new accounting rule has altered their net results slightly for the past five years.
Low-cost carriers represented 35% of all intra-European capacity last year, virtually unchanged from 2007, according to the 2009 edition of RDC Aviation's Low Cost Monitor. Growth across all sectors "slowed sharply toward the end of 2008," with aggregate annual capacity growing just 2.2%, the smallest increase this decade. Within this overall figure, however, the low-fare sector increased available seat capacity by 11% year-over-year while capacity in the non-low-cost sector dropped 2%. Significantly, the report noted that Ryanair assumed the No.
British Air Transport Assn. named former Virgin Atlantic Airways Director-External Affairs and Route Development Barry Humphries as chairman effective May 1, succeeding Monarch Airlines Chairman Danny Bernstein. BATA has 10 member airlines. Rockwell Collins named former US FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell as senior VP-Washington operations.
EVA Air reported a TWD199.6 million ($5.9 million) first-quarter profit, reversed from a TWD2.29 billion loss in the year-ago period. The result represented its first quarterly profit since the 2007 third quarter. Revenue slid 29.8% year-over-year to TWD16.72 billion but falling fuel prices and full flights to mainland China made the difference, the carrier said. EVA suffered a TWD16.9 billion loss in 2008. The company last week also approved a recapitalization plan, according to the Taiwan Times.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber predicted Friday that LH's 2009 operating profit will be "distinctively positive" despite the economic downturn. Speaking at the company's annual general meeting in Cologne, he conceded that 2009 earnings likely will be "substantially below" 2008, for which LH posted net income of €599 million ($760 million) ( ATWOnline, March 12). But he insisted its business model is strong and predicted it will perform better than many of its competitors.
Chromalloy will invest $16.5 million to expand turbine engine component casting capabilities in Tampa. It said it would work with OEMs and operators to design and manufacture parts while "manag[ing] the entire supply chain process to deliver complete, engine-ready components." Facility enhancements will be ready by year end, with production ramp-up to start early next year.
Vueling Airlines is predicting another full-year profit after reporting a 72.2% year-over-year improvement in its first-quarter net loss to €6.3 million ($8.2 million) from the €22.6 million reported in the year-ago period.
Blue Wings signed a deal with Abu Dhabi's Elite Aviation to operate two A320s, which the carrier hopes will help it reacquire its operating license that was suspended by Germany's LBA on April 1 ( ATWOnline, April 17). Blue Wings owner Alexander Lebedev told reporters that he has offered a 49% stake in the airline to Aeroflot (in which he holds 30%) for €1 ($1.30). SU said it would consider the offer, according to Reuters.
Norwegian narrowed its first-quarter net loss to NOK109.6 million ($16.4 million) from the NOK210.8 million reported in the year-ago period as revenue rose 27.4% year-over-year to NOK1.39 billion. "The demand for travelling with Norwegian and advanced bookings has been satisfactory entering the second quarter of 2009," CEO Bjorn Kjos said, warning, however, that a slowdown in the business environment is expected. "Norwegian will closely monitor the traffic development and will make adjustments to the route portfolio if necessary."
UPS posted first-quarter net income of $401 million, down 55.7% from a $906 million net profit in the year-ago period, and revealed yesterday that it retired its entire fleet of 44 DC-8 freighters during the three months ended March 31. It said the fleet grounding was "earlier than expected" but reflects the current weak demand environment and its desire to become a "leaner, more efficient enterprise." It took a $181 million charge in the quarter to retire the aircraft. Despite the steep profit decline, the delivery giant sees hopeful signs down the road.
SR Technics said Vietnam Airlines extended an existing MRO agreement covering 23 CFM56-5Bs powering the airline's A320s for a further three years to 2012.
Frontier Airlines reported a 16% year-over-year fall in March unit revenue to 8.37 cents on an 11.32% decline in yield to 10.49 cents. It flew 716.1 million RPMs during the month, down 24%, against a 19.7% fall in capacity to 897.6 million ASMs. Load factor dropped 4.6 points to 79.8%.
US Airways reported a first-quarter net loss of $103 million, narrowed from a net deficit of $237 million in the year-ago period, and said it made "significant improvements" absent special items.
Virgin Blue delayed the delivery of two 361-seat 777-300ERs for its V Australia operation because of the slowdown in air travel. The fifth and sixth -300ERs have been rescheduled from 2010 to 2011 and 2012. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Blue said it still planned to take the "seventh" 777 in the second half of 2010. V Australia has three 777-300ERs in service operating from Brisbane and Sydney to Los Angeles and it expects to start Sydney-Perth-Johannesburg service this year.
