Virgin America and V Australia reached an interline agreement effective June 8. It is VX's first interline relationship. The airlines both serve Los Angeles.
Engine Alliance and Emirates signed a fleet management agreement for GP7200 MRO valued at more than $3 billion over the life of the contract. EK has more than 250 of the A380 powerplants on order.
Air Berlin raised €23 million ($32.7 million) from the issuance of approximately 6.6 million new shares (representing 10% of its share capital), which it said were placed with "institutional and professional investors" at €3.50 per share.
JetBlue Airways said it is raising its stock offering announced earlier this week to 23 million shares from 20 million and pricing them at $4.25 each. Lufthansa is expected to purchase 3.6 million of those shares. The offering of convertible debentures due 2039 also will be raised to $175 million from $150 million.
French officials leading the investigation into the Air France A330-200 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean Sunday night about 400 mi. northeast of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago cautioned against "hasty interpretations or speculation" regarding the accident's cause, particularly since no wreckage from the aircraft has been recovered.
Iberia CEO Fernando Conte told shareholders yesterday that the airline expects to report a full-year loss for the first time in 13 years as premium passenger numbers have fallen 20% so far, The Financial Times reported. When unveiling its €92.6 million ($131.5 million) first-quarter loss three weeks ago, IB said a full-year profit was "unlikely" ( ATWOnline, May 13).
Air Macau is expected to get a MOP507.3 million ($62.4 million) capital injection from Air China and other stakeholders designed to help it avoid liquidation. CA said in a statement that shareholders approved the plan last month. Hit hard by the increasing number of direct flights across the Taiwan Strait and the harsh economic environment, Air Macau's 2008 loss exceeded the MOP109 million posted in 2007, Chairman Zhao Xiaohang told the Macau Daily News. Its net asset value was approximately MOP-107.3 million as of Dec. 31.
Asiana Airlines suffered a KRW227.17 billion ($183.5 million) loss in 2008, reversed from a KRW106.26 billion profit the prior year as the value of the won collapsed against the dollar and the Korean economy faltered, and followed that with an even deeper first-quarter loss. The 2008 loss occurred despite a 16.6% increase in revenue to KRW4.22 trillion. Expenses soared 26.3% to KRW3.7 trillion and Asiana's operating result swung to a KRW52.68 billion loss from a KRW171.61 billion profit in 2007.
GECAS delivered one new A320-200 to Wizz Air through a sale/leaseback transaction with the airline. Cabot Aviation was appointed by KLM to remarket six F50s and announced the sale of a 737-300 (ex-United Airlines) on behalf of an unnamed energy services company.
Bombardier Aerospace reported a first-quarter operating profit of $110 million, a 46% plunge from $206 million in the year-ago period, on an 8% drop in revenue to $2.2 billion. The Canadian manufacturer reported consolidated EBIT of $235 million, down 27.5% year-over-year. It delivered 31 regional jets and turboprops during the first quarter, a small improvement from the 28 delivered in the first three months of 2008. It delivered 43 business jets compared to 58 last year. Lufthansa and Lease Corp.
US Airways said consolidated May passenger RASM declined 18%-20% year-over-year while total RASM was down 14%-16%. It estimated a $20 million loss in revenue owing to the swine flu scare. Group airlines flew 5.29 billion consolidated RPMs, down 5.2%, while capacity fell 5.8% to 6.43 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 0.4 point to 82.2%. Southwest Airlines said May passenger RASM fell an estimated 9% year-over-year. It flew 6.43 billion RPMs last month, down 3.6%, against a 3.2% decline in capacity to 8.62 billion ASMs. Load factor slipped 0.3 point to 74.6%.
IER was awarded a contract by Swedish airports operator LFV Group to supply 45 self-service kiosks at Stockholm Arlanda over the next three years. First rollout of 10 CUSS IER 918 kiosks is planned by mid-August.
Southwest Airlines pilots represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. narrowly rejected the five-year tentative labor deal reached in late March ( ATWOnline, April 10), with "nearly" 51% of those voting casting their ballots against ratification. "The group has stated there is more work to be done," SWAPA President Carl Kuwitzky said. "This contract, despite some financial gains, contained too many other negative aspects to ratify it."
Hainan Airlines subsidiary Lucky Air received a CNY290 million ($42.4 million) capital injection from the Yunnan provincial government. Lucky now has registered capital of CNY906 million, with HNA subsidiary Grand China Airlines the controlling stakeholder at 68%. Yunnan will hold the remainder. The parties reached an agreement last June to launch a new carrier (Yunnan Airlines) based on Lucky's assets ( ATWOnline, June 10, 2008).
Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey revealed that the airline will make further cuts to its domestic flying schedule in the fiscal year starting July 1. He said it plans to cut capacity 2.4% but warned that further cuts of up to 5.5% may be needed later. Blue cut 8% of its capacity and up to 400 jobs in March by grounding five 737s ( ATWOnline, March 27).
Shannon Aerospace Ltd. signed a contract with British Airways for the supply of line maintenance services at Shannon for BA's planned transatlantic business class-only A318 service from London City to New York scheduled to begin this fall. Westbound flights will make a fuel stop at SNN. SAL will provide ETOPS checks on 11 A318 services per week ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17, 2008).
AirTran Airways flew 1.54 billion RPMs in May, down 11.1% year-over-year. Capacity fell 9.6% to 1.98 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 1.3 points to 78%.
Air France CEO Pierre-Henry Gourgeon said the A330-200 carrying 228 passengers and crew that crashed late Sunday into the Atlantic Ocean experienced "multiple technical failures," and the Brazilian air force yesterday spotted debris where a TAM flight crew had seen spots of fire on the ocean surface shortly after the A330 was suspected to have gone down.
JetBlue Airways will offer 20 million shares of common stock and $150 million of convertible debentures maturing in 2039. Underwriters will be granted an overallotment option to purchase up to 3 million additional shares and $22.5 million of the debentures. JetBlue said that in order to maintain Lufthansa's ownership position, up to 15.6% of the shares will be offered to LH. Proceeds will be used "for general corporate purposes," it said.
Continental Airlines estimated that May consolidated unit revenue declined 19.5%-20.5% year-over-year, with mainline RASM falling an estimated 19%-20%. It attributed part of the decrease to the swine flu scare, which it said reduced consolidated passenger revenue by $30 million last month. Consolidated April RASM was down 13.1% while mainline unit revenue fell 11.3%. Last month CO flew 7.53 billion consolidated RPMS, a 9% drop from May 2008. Capacity was down 8.8% to 9.31 billion ASMs, lowering load factor 0.3 point to 80.9%.
Ryanair reported a full-year net loss for the first time since its IPO 20 years ago, a €169.2 million ($239.8 million) deficit in the year ended March 31 that represented a sharp reversal from the €391 million profit posted in 2007-08 as it wrote down the value of its 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus by €222.5 million.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh, writing in the company's in-house BA News, told employees that the carrier "is in a fight for survival" and cautioned that temporary solutions "just aren't enough."
SR Technics signed a technical training agreement with Etihad Airways running until February 2010 covering 1,000 instructor days of theoretical and practical training on A320s and A330s/A340s as well as difference training, run-up in simulators, health and safety and aviation/technical English.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters that an Air India IPO will be "considered" once the "stock markets do better," but that the government will "keep control." He said the airline "is not going to lose its public sector character. It is not going to be privatized or disinvested completely. It would bring in much needed equity infusion." The government reversed course on plans to offer 15% of AI last summer ( ATWOnline, Aug. 22, 2008).
