Ryanair yesterday dismissed reports that the oxygen masks onboard one of its 737-800s malfunctioned late Monday night when the aircraft suffered a sudden inflight depressurization on its way from Bristol to Girona and diverted to Limoges. "Ryanair's engineers have inspected the aircraft overnight and have confirmed that the oxygen masks which deployed were working properly," the LCC said, adding it would not comment further while the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Air France KLM, Air China and Turkish Airlines joined Lufthansa and S7 Airlines in expressing interest in purchasing state holding company OIAG's 42.75% share of Austrian Airlines, according to press reports ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it will cut 196 daily flights while adding just six when it launches its winter schedule on Jan. 11, a more than 5% reduction from its current schedule. The carrier cited traditionally lower demand and poor weather during winter months as well as a slow economy and high fuel costs. It said some flights potentially could be added back to the schedule in the spring.
Delta Air Lines said this week it has "borrowed" its $1 billion revolving credit facility, which was made available to the carrier when it emerged from bankruptcy last year. It also extended its Visa/MasterCard processing agreement through the end of 2011. President and CFO Ed Bastian told employees in a memorandum that the moves will "strengthen Delta's financial position" and help smooth its planned merger with Northwest Airlines. He said DL had $3.7 billion in cash on hand at the end of July and "will have more than sufficient [liquidity]. .
Spanish investigators are focusing on whether the Spanair MD-82 that crashed last week had reached adequate speed for takeoff and whether its flaps operated properly.
Etihad Airways yesterday signed a firm contract for the purchase of 25 A350 XWBs, 20 A320s and 10 A380s. Order was announced at the Farnborough Airshow ( ATWOnline, July 15).
Grupo Marsans' planned sale of Aerolineas Argentinas and its Austral subsidiary to the Argentine government ( ATWOnline, July 18) moved forward after the lower house of the national congress, the Chamber of Deputies, approved the renationalization last week. AR was privatized in 1991 and reportedly is carrying debt of around $900 million. The Chamber of Deputies approved the measure by a 167-79 vote, according to press reports.
S7 Airlines flew 8.48 billion RPKs through the first seven months of 2008, up 18.1% from the year-ago period. Passenger numbers rose 20% to 3.5 million and load factor slipped 0.2 point to 79.2%.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told employees Friday that while DL supports the proposed transatlantic joint venture among American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia "in principle," it will advocate that "AA and BA need to give up enough slots and gates so that everybody has unfettered access to Heathrow." The employee hotline message was cited by The Dallas Morning News. BA CEO Willie Walsh has gone on record saying that carrier will refuse to surrender slots at LHR.
Transavia.com flight schedule will operate normally today after a judge prohibited the carrier's pilots from striking and ordered management and Dutch pilots union VNV to continue negotiations to solve their pay dispute. VNV had called for industrial action between 2 a.m. and 5 p.m. today, which would have led to the cancellation of some 70 flights affecting more than 20,000 passengers. Separately, the Amsterdam-based LCC will abandon its twice-daily Rotterdam-Paris Orly service on Sept. 27.
Lufthansa, which has been considered the prohibitive favorite to become Austrian Airlines' strategic investor and savior, was the only carrier to confirm its participation in Austrian's privatization, although other airlines are thought to have registered their interest before Sunday's deadline. Austrian state holding company OIAG had given prospective investors until Sunday to declare their intentions to bid for its 42.75% stake, and possibly more. An LH spokesperson told Bloomberg News yesterday that the German company "have expressed our interest,"
Air Pacific carried more than 100,000 passengers in one month for the first time in July. Load factor was 72%. It flies to 18 destinations in 12 countries and last week launched its second-weekly Nadi-Funafuti flight, via Suva. Separately, it announced the promotion of Manager-Regulatory Affairs Jona Sevura to manager-government and industry affairs.
US FAA said it received a score of 91 out of 100 in a new ICAO audit conducted under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program. It said average score is 56.
TAM Cargo yesterday opened a new 2,160-sq.-m. airfreight terminal in Manaus with 80 tons of storage capacity. The facility has exclusive areas for different types of cargo and cold storage for perishables, TAM said. "The new terminal can handle nearly 35% more freight than its predecessor in addition to allowing for expansion in coming years depending on market demand," according to the airline.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. last week entered into an agreement with Merrill Lynch to sell up to $300 million in common stock "from time to time" through transactions "made by means of ordinary brokers' transaction on the New York Stock Exchange at market prices," it said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. AMR's capitalization was approximately $2.6 billion at Friday's closing.
CSA Czech Airlines may be put up for privatization before year end, Finance Ministry official Tomas Uvira told Reuters. "This may be one of the last chances to sell CSA, as the market situation could be much worse in coming years," he said, adding that an adviser should be secured next month ( ATWOnline, April 7). The Czech government holds 91.5% of the carrier.
Midwest Airlines has fallen behind on payments to General Mitchell Airport, owing some $1.1 million in gate fees, an airport spokesperson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It is the latest in series of downward turns for the financially beleaguered carrier that recently announced it would cut its workforce by 40% and ground its MD-80 fleet by September ( ATWOnline, July 22). Midwest pays an estimated $700,000 each month in gate fees, according to an airport official.
UPS on Friday opened a 27,000-sq.-ft. flight training center at Anchorage International, which it is building into its "gateway to Asia." Currently, 402 UPS Airlines pilots are based in ANC and 30 aircraft, including its entire 747-400F fleet and some MD-11Fs, will be domiciled there by 2010. The new facility houses two flight simulators including the carrier's only 747-400 simulator, classrooms and offices. "Established to support all phases of flight training, the new facility will make it unnecessary for Anchorage-based pilots to fly to Louisville for training," UPS said.
TAM flew 2.16 billion domestic RPKs in July, up 8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 13.8% to 3.07 billion ASKs and load factor fell 3.8 points to 70.4%. International traffic jumped 37.5% to 1.48 billion RPKs against a 27.2% hike in capacity to 1.82 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 6.1 points to 81.5%. Copa Airlines flew 534.8 million RPMs in July, up 14.6% year-over-year, against a 15.2% rise in ASKs to 632.3 million. Load factor dipped 0.5 point to 84.6%.
Austrian Airlines Group announced the flotation of 57.1 million new bearer shares. Subscription period begins today and ends Sept. 8. New shares will be issued with full subscription rights of the existing shareholders, and those shares not allocated to existing shareholders will be allocated to Mohamed bin Iassa Al-Jaber in an amount corresponding to 20% of the company's shares after taking into consideration the subscription rights exercised by existing shareholders, AAG said.
Airlines on both sides of the Taiwan Strait carried 95,765 passengers across the strait with an average load factor of 87% over the seven weeks ended Aug. 18, according to Taiwanese authorities. Taiwan Civil Aviation Chief Li Long Wen told media last week that cross-strait routes are among the few profitable services operated by Taiwanese carriers.
Spanish investigators are backing away from blaming an engine fire for last week's Spanair MD-82 crash following emergence of a video of the failed takeoff that shows no signs of fire until after the aircraft, which elevated only a few meters off the ground, crashed back down on the runway.
SAS Group airlines flew 4.16 billion RPKs in July, up 2.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.9% to 5.27 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.7 points to 78.9%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.62 billion RPKs, up 1%, against a 4.1% increase in ASKs to 3.25 billion. Load factor fell 2.5 points to 80.8%. Austrian Airlines flew 1.93 billion RPKs in July, down 2.9% year-over-year, against a 3.3% decline in capacity to 2.42 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.3 point to 79.6%.
Indian government has pulled back on plans to float 15% of Air India, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said this week in New Delhi. "The ministry is not actively looking at it," he told reporters. Instead, parent National Aviation Co. of India will seek INR10-INR15 billion ($228.3-$342.5 million) in funds from the government, including loans.
Unite said yesterday that a strike by baggage handlers and check-in staff at London Stansted, Gatwick and Manchester planned for Aug. 25 has been "suspended" following a new pay offer from Swissport. It said a ballot of union members will begin "shortly" ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18).
