Ethiopian Airlines yesterday said it placed an order for 12 A350-900s from Airbus and five 777-200LRs from Boeing, a move it called "unprecedented," while Turkish Airlines added eight more 777-300ERs to its order book.
TNT reported second-quarter net income of €81 million ($115.3 million), down 60.5% from a €205 million profit in the year-ago period, but noted that the decline in volume at its Express segment that relies heavily on air operations "seems to be bottoming out." Operating income lowered 45.1% to €178 million on a 10% dip in revenue to €2.53 billion. TNT Express posted an 81% decrease in operating income to €29 million on a 15.5% fall in revenue to €1.45 billion.
Cargoitalia operated its first commercial flight with an 87% load factor, the reorganized airline said. The MD-11SF departed Milan Malpensa on July 25 for Hong Kong and returned via Almaty on Monday ( ATWOnline, July 21).
News from Travel Technology Update: United Airlines told a group of congressmen and senators that it would delay by up to 60 days the implementation of a policy that denies certain agencies the right to use the carrier's credit card merchant accounts to process credit card sales for United tickets. In response to a request from the group to reconsider or at least delay the move, United said it would "individually notify and assist the impacted agents that request more time to adjust to this change, providing up to sixty additional days to transition."
Ryanair launched a booking service on its website allowing passengers to purchase their seats up to 6 hr. before departure and check in online up to 4 hr. before the flight. Separately, it confirmed that it has lodged proceedings in the High Court in Dublin against German ticket tout Travelviva. Ryanair said it is the first of a number of High Court cases it intends to bring over the coming weeks against European "screenscrapers."
US National Transportation Safety Board swore in Deborah Hersman, a member for five years, as chairman. She succeeds Mark Rosenker, who announced his resignation last week ( ATWOnline, July 22). Before joining NTSB she was a senior professional staff member of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Air Mauritius appointed Kamal Taposeea chairman.
Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents Northwest Airlines flight attendants, asked the US National Mediation Board to declare that NWA's merger with Delta Air Lines requires a representation election for all the new airline's cabin staff. DL flight attendants are not unionized.
European Commission yesterday described the number of mislaid, damaged or lost bags at EU airports as "excessive and unacceptable" and said it is considering ways to improve current legislation if the situation does not improve. "In order to protect passengers' rights adequately, we should provide citizens with the appropriate instruments. For the time being these instruments are not available," EC VP-Transport Antonio Tajani said.
AAR Corp. signed a letter of intent with SuperJet International to become a service center for the Superjet 100. AAR will provide heavy airframe maintenance, modifications, interior and exterior refurbishment, unscheduled maintenance service and will have field teams available for off-site support.
Singapore Airlines flew 6.46 billion RPKs in June, an 18.2% plunge from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 14.4% to 8.54 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 3.5 points to 75.7%. Air New Zealand flew 2.32 billion RPKs in June, down 10.1% year-over-year, against a 12.3% cut in capacity to 2.92 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2 points to 79.5%.
SAS Group said June yield dropped an estimated 5.3% year-over-year. Group airlines flew 2.52 billion RPKs during the month, down 17%, against a 13.2% cut in capacity to 3.29 billion ASKs. Load factor dropped 3.1 points to 76.7%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.32 billion RPKs, down 14.9%, against a 15% fall in ASKs to 3.01 billion. Load factor rose 0.1 point to 77.2%. Aer Lingus flew 1.6 billion RPKs in June, a 0.7% decline year-over-year. Capacity dipped 0.5% to 1.97 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 0.2 points to 81.3%.
Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson will sink another A$80 million ($65.3 million) into Brisbane-based Virgin Blue as part of a deeply discounted (31%) A$231 million capital raising designed to bolster a balance sheet buffeted by one-off costs and souring hedges.
Ryanair reported a €123 million ($174.6 million) net profit in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, reversed from a €90.5 million loss in the year-ago period, but it issued a warning that full-year net income will be at the lower end of its previous guidance of €200-€300 million because its full-year decline in yield will be "at or slightly more" than 20%.
Airports Council International-World said the number of arriving and departing passengers worldwide was 4.87 billion in 2008, up just 0.1% from 2007. A record 1,357 airports, which account for 98% of global traffic, were included in the report released yesterday. "We are a long way from the dynamic 6.8% growth witnessed in 2007," ACI-World DG Angela Gittens said. Domestic freight dropped more than 5.4% while international freight was reduced by 2.5%. Aircraft movements fell 2.1% to 77 million. The impact of crude oil prices and the global recession were cited as reasons for the decline.
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings remained in the black in the second quarter, posting a $27.5 million profit that compared to a $54.3 million surplus in the year-ago period.
Aircell Chairman Ron LeMay and President and CEO Jack Blumenstein have swapped titles, the inflight Internet and communications service company announced.
Jet Airways suffered a INR2.25 billion ($46.1 million) loss in its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, a reversal from the year-ago period's INR1.43 billion profit, but said that "operationally the performance has stabilized" and that efforts to reduce capacity and costs "have started to show results."
Volga-Dnepr Group, the outsize air cargo specialist that also operates scheduled 747 freighter carrier AirBridgeCargo Airlines, said its overall traffic for the first six months of 2009 fell 5% to 835,000 FTKs. ABC actually saw an uptick as it transported 65,100 tons of freight during the half year, a 4.6% year-over-year increase.
Aria Air Il-62 originating in Tehran crashed on landing at Mashhad Friday, killing at least 16 including the carrier's managing director, in the second fatal crash in Iran in fewer than 10 days. Mehdi Dadpey, who was one of Aria's founders in 1999, headed the Iranian airline and also served as a flight captain including on Friday's doomed Flight 1525. The carrier was grounded by Iranian authorities following the crash.
UK passengers have been making claims against British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways in increasing numbers relating to the carriers' price-fixing practices on long-haul flights between Aug. 11, 2004, and March 23, 2006, Dow Jones reported ( ATWOnline, July 14). More than 211,000 refunds have been processed so far, of which 170,000 are from UK passengers, claimant law firm Hausfeld & Co. LLP said. Payment has been authorized in 133,000 of these cases.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker ratcheted up his rhetoric about Boeing Friday, telling reporters ahead of a meeting with the manufacturer regarding the airline's delayed 787 program that "a lot of heads would roll" if he were running the company, according to USA Today.
Hainan Airlines opened a branch office in Shenzhen and said the move is part of an effort to expand its presence in the Pearl River region. "We plan to interconnect Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhuhai with Hong Kong," HNA VP-Marketing Chen Ming said. The company already has set up a branch office in Guangzhou and a sales center in Zhuha and holds 45% stakes in Hong Kong Express Airways and Hong Kong Airlines.
Air France KLM Group said revenue in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 plunged 20.5% year-over-year to €5.19 billion ($7.37 billion), reflecting continuation of the January-March trend and "in line with our expectations." Revenue in the passenger business fell 18.7% to €4.01 billion on the back of a 4.7% reduction in capacity, a 5.8% drop in traffic and a 14.5% decline in yield. Cargo revenue plummeted 41.5% to €544 million on a 22.7% decrease in traffic and 17.2% cut in capacity. Unit revenue was down 25.1%.
A $192 million fuel hedging gain pushed US Airways to a second-quarter net profit of $58 million, reversed from a $568 million loss in the year-ago period when goodwill impairment charges weighed on the bottom line.
Vueling Airlines posted a second-quarter net profit of €2.9 million ($4.1 million), reversed from an €8.7 million deficit in the year-ago period, as it completed a restructuring plan based on network rationalization, access to new market segments, increased ancillary revenue and cost reductions. Revenue decreased 5.3% to €105.4 million and operating cost fell 25% to €92 million. Operating profit excluding restructuring costs was €13.4 million, reversed from an €11.4 million loss in the 2008 second quarter.
