Indian airlines carried 10.9 million domestic passengers in the second quarter, up more than 11% compared to the 2008 quarter. Kingfisher Airlines led with 2.8 million (25.3% market share), followed by Air India with 1.9 million (17.5%) and Jet Airways at 1.8 million (16.3%). Through the half year, domestic passenger numbers were down 8% to 21.1 million. In June, Kingfisher led with 901,000 domestic passengers, followed by AI at 645,000 and Jet at 612,000.
Air New Zealand's first 767-300ER fitted with Aviation Partners Boeing blended winglets arrived in Auckland yesterday. ANZ estimated that it will save more than 6 million liters of fuel and 16,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually with installation of winglets on its five 767s. It also is fitting each with CTT Systems' zonal dryers, which will remove about 200 kg. of water trapped in the insulation between the aircraft's outer skin and cabin lining. It estimated the dryers will save an additional 320,000 liters of fuel and 800 tonnes of CO2.
China Eastern Airlines finalized a deal to acquire Shanghai Airlines for CNY9 billion ($1.32 billion) in an effort to gain control of the commercial air travel market in China's largest city.
Virgin Blue denied Australian media reports that it is planning a A$400 million ($311.3 million) capital increase. It has not changed its guidance that it will have "difficulty breaking even" in the 2008-09 fiscal year ended June 30.
Virgin Atlantic Airways CEO Steve Ridgway acknowledged yesterday that he was aware of the collusion between executives at VS and British Airways to fix fuel surcharges on long-haul flights in June 2004-April 2006.
British Airways pilots represented by the British Airline Pilots Assn. ratified the £26 million ($42.1 million) concession package proposed last month, the union announced yesterday.
Republic Airways Holdings moved a step closer to acquiring Frontier Airlines after a bankruptcy court judge approved the regional operator's proposal to purchase the Denver-based carrier for $108.8 million. Frontier reportedly has solicited other bids. If other offers come in before Aug. 10, the court will hold an auction. The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2008.
ANA said the new shares it plans to issue this week through a public and private offering and a follow-on secondary offering will be worth ¥141.67 billion ($1.53 billion) to the company, less than the ¥182.62 billion it estimated two weeks ago ( ATWOnline, July 2). Shares will be priced at ¥259 each.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft suffered a $114.7 million net loss in 2008, reversed from a $3.6 million profit in 2007, the manufacturer announced last week. Revenue rose 9.5-fold to $6 million and operating result swung to a $44.8 million loss from a $2.7 million profit the previous year. It cited a 75% reduction in grants from the Russian government, the weakening of the ruble and rising interest payments for the result.
Boeing announced that Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, TUIfly and Virgin Blue have joined the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, which already comprised Air France, Air New Zealand, ANA, Cargolux, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, KLM, SAS Group and Virgin Atlantic Airways as well as Boeing and Honeywell subsidiary UOP ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26, 2008).
Cabot Aviation, on behalf of TCS Investment Holding, arranged the purchase of two V2500-powered A320-200s from Cyprus Airways; both aircraft were leased back to Cyprus Airways until the end of October.
Qantas last week was fined C$155,000 ($133,000) by Canada's Competition Bureau after it pleaded guilty to participating in an air cargo cartel. The guilty plea in a Canadian court is the latest consequence of the airline's admission of price fixing between 2002 and 2006. It was fined A$20 million ($15.5 million) by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission in 2008 and $61 million by the US Dept. of Justice in 2007 for the same offences. Qantas is the fourth carrier to be convicted in the Canadian investigation.
Air France will review crew training and the quality of its weather information, CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said last week in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, adding that not being able to detect a severe storm on radar may have played a role in the May 31 A330-200 accident that killed all 228 passengers and crew.
Lufthansa Technik and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) will intensify their cooperation on testing of fuel cells, with DLR stationing the Antares DLR-H2 experimental fuel cell aircraft at Lufthansa Technik's base in Hamburg. LHT will support DLR with material supplies, assist in the installation and removal of components and provide a mobile hydrogen filling station for fueling Antares. The aircraft successfully completed its first public flight July 7.
Delta Air Lines flew 17.78 billion system RPMs in June, a 6.3% fall year-over-year. Capacity dropped 5.8% to 20.81 billion ASMs and load factor slipped 0.5 point to 85.5%. Lufthansa Group airlines flew 13.15 billion RPKs in June, down 5.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity was cut 2% to 16.76 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 2.7 points to 78.4%.
US Dept. of Transportation said it fined Delta Air Lines $375,000 for violating the department's denied boarding compensation rules. DOT said a recent inspection of DL's internal passenger complaint records from January to July 2008, as well as a review of complaints directly to DOT, revealed "numerous instances in which the carrier bumped passengers but did not follow one or more of the provisions of Part 250" governing denied boarding compensation.
Air France yesterday rolled out its first A380, which was painted in the airline's updated livery and is scheduled to enter service in November on a daily Paris Charles de Gaulle-New York JFK service. Powered by GP7200 engines, the A380 will be configured for 538 passengers in a three-cabin layout with 80 business and 106 economy seats on the upper deck and nine first class and 343 economy seats on the main deck. That compares with 450 seats on Qantas A380s, 471 on Singapore Airlines and 489 on Emirates.
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Blue announced, subject to regulatory approval, a joint venture that will expand both carriers' reach in the US, Australia and the South Pacific through an alliance involving route and product planning, codesharing and loyalty program linkage.
Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China began construction on its new research and development center near Shanghai Pudong that is scheduled to open in 2012. The facility will be responsible primarily for production of China's 150-seat "trunk liner" narrowbody and regional aircraft such as the ARJ21. It is one of three centers planned for the trunk liner program, including a customer service center launched last year and a final assembly base to be located at Pudong and Dachang in Shanghai.
AirAsia yesterday launched RedBox, a Malaysian courier service that delivers packages in 2-3 days at prices the airline describes as "up to 50%" lower than other domestic delivery options. RedBox says on its website that it "leverages AirAsia's extensive route network" to ferry packages between the country's central region (Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and selected parts of Negeri Sembilan) and the eastern cities of Kuching, Miri, Sibu, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan and Sandakan.
Iberia Chairman and CEO Fernando Conte has resigned and will be replaced by former IB board member and former CEO of Spanish tobacco company Altadis Antonio Vazquez.
Air Dolomiti, the Verona-based regional that is 100% owned by Lufthansa and mainly operates feeder flights from northern Italy to LH's hub in Munich, is planning to introduce larger aircraft with lower seat-mile costs.
Naverus said Air China successfully completed its RNP validation flight into Lhasa from Chengdu on June 26 using an A330-200. "The flight clears the way for Air China's entire fleet of Airbus A330s to fly the Naverus-designed procedures at the Lhasa Gonggar Airport," Naverus said.
Jazeera Airways appointed Stefan Pichler as its new CEO, replacing Andrew Cowen, who left the company after only five months. It also commenced thrice-weekly service from Kuwait City to Isfahan, its fourth destination in Iran, aboard an A320.
Alaska Airlines began testing continuous descent approaches into Seattle/Tacoma with a 737-700 using RNP technology on June 16 during a noncommercial flight. The carrier pioneered RNP in the 1990s for challenging approaches in Alaska. The current effort, dubbed Greener Skies, is being done in cooperation with the Port of Seattle, Boeing and FAA and also will involve regional affiliate Horizon Air. Horizon's Q400 fleet is being equipped for RNP as well. Alaska Air estimates the procedures will cut fuel consumption by 2.1 million gal.
