AirAsia plans to borrow MYR3 billion ($832 million) in 2010 to buy 24 aircraft, Investor Relations Head Mohshin Aziz told Bloomberg News last week. He added that the financing is in addition to the MYR2 billion it lined up to finance 14 A320 deliveries in 2009 and 2010. Separately, CEO Tony Fernandes said Chengdu and Xi'an will be added to AirAsia's network later this year, bringing the number of routes it operates to China to 10.
Lufthansa increased the number of deactivated aircraft from 20 to 24 last month in response to falling demand, a source close to management told ATWOnline. LH Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber previously had said that parked aircraft will vary in size between the CRJ200 and the A300-600, with those two types being the most common. LH Cargo has removed four MD-11Fs from service ( ATWOnline, March 12). The 24 parked aircraft represent approximately 10% of Lufthansa's capacity.
US House of Representatives Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) yesterday urged the Dept. of Transportation to review whether Virgin America still meets the requirements of US airline ownership and control laws, echoing earlier allegations by Alaska Airlines that VX now is wholly owned by the UK's Virgin Group.
Qantas unveiled a streamlined ownership structure for Singapore-based Jetstar Asia and Valuair designed to provide a growth platform in line with its pan-Asian strategy. Under the structure, Qantas Group and Singapore-based Westbrook Investments acquired all shares in Orangestar Investment Holdings, the previous ownership holding structure, via a new holding company, Newstar Investment Holdings. Financial terms were not disclosed. Westbrook, wholly owned by Choo Teck Wong, will hold 51% of Newstar, Choo is a longtime partner of QF and will be Newstar's chairman.
Air China yesterday revealed in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it has purchased Beijing Capital Airport Holding Co.'s 24% stake in Air China Cargo for CNY718 million ($105 million), completing a process started last year that has seen its share of its cargo unit rise from 51% to 100% ( ATWOnline, Feb. 11).
SkyTeam expects to announce at least one and perhaps several new members this year and is talking with Malaysia Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, with China Eastern Airlines and China Airlines also in the picture, Chairman Leo van Wijk told Luchtvaartnieuws. The alliance currently has 11 full members and three associate members, one of which, Copa Airlines, "informally" has indicated its intention to leave. Former partner Continental Airlines is trading SkyTeam for Star Alliance in October and Copa likely will follow suit.
Air Jamaica expects to complete its privatization by the end of June. The Jamaican government appointed a privatization committee and has asked International Finance Corp., a private-sector arm of World Bank Group, to serve as adviser ( ATWOnline, May 7,2008). A mid-April meeting is scheduled with an "international airline group" that has indicated it plans to bid on the state-owned airline, which has been losing an estimated $150 million annually.
British Airways announced it will sell 11 of its 15 757s for cargo conversion, with the aircraft leaving the mainline fleet between 2010 and 2012. The four 757s operated by BA's transatlantic OpenSkies subsidiary will remain. The departing aircraft will be replaced by A320 family aircraft. "Replacing the Boeing 757s will give us both environmental and cost benefits," BA Director-Strategy and Business Units Robert Boyle said.
Bombardier Aerospace's EBIT soared 62.8% to $896 million for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31 from $563 million in the prior fiscal year on a 3.1% rise in annual revenues to $10 billion. However, the improvement was overshadowed by an announcement yesterday that the company "is revising downward all of its business and regional jet production rates" and will cut approximately 3,000 jobs by year end. Of these, 1,831 will come from the ranks of unionized workers; 725 contract workers and 444 nonunion and management employees also will be laid off.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines expected to return to service by late yesterday all 60 CRJ200s grounded for safety inspections, a spokesperson told ATWOnline. ASA, which operates as a Delta Connection carrier, voluntarily pulled the 50-seat aircraft on Tuesday after an internal audit raised questions about whether engine maintenance was in compliance with manufacturer recommendations ( ATWOnline, April 2).
Continental Airlines provided further evidence of the collapse in US air travel demand, reporting late Wednesday that March consolidated revenue per ASM plunged an estimated 19.5%-20.5% year-over-year while mainline unit revenue fell 18.5%-19.5%. In February, consolidated unit revenue was down 11.5% and mainline dropped 10%. CO flew 7.48 consolidated RPMs in March, down 9.7%, against a 6.4% fall in capacity to 9.43 billion ASMs. Load factor was down 2.9 points to 79.4% and passenger numbers declined 10.2% to 5.5 million.
US airlines may be able to return to profit this year despite the recession owning to fortuitous decisions made in the first half of last year in response to high oil prices, according to AirTran Airways CFO Arne Haak and United Airlines Senior VP-Planning Kevin Knight.
Spring Airlines expects to nearly double its net profit to CNY40 million ($5.8 million) this year and is planning a rapid fleet expansion despite shrinking domestic demand and the global economic downturn. Launched in July 2005, Spring is one of the most profitable privately run carriers in China and reported net earnings of CNY21 million last year. It maintained a load factor of 95% as it established travel agencies to attract passengers.
SkyTeam will introduce a centralized managing entity based in Amsterdam that will handle marketing, sales, airport synergies and transfer product, cargo, advertising and branding, alliance operations, finance, corporate communications and administration. It will be headed by MD Marie-Joseph Male, an Air France executive, and will be in place before year end. "In SkyTeam, we have always prided ourselves on our collaborative nature.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a SkyWest Inc. subsidiary operating as a Delta Connection partner, grounded 60 CRJ200s late Tuesday for engine safety inspections. ASA officials expected to complete the inspections early today. The grounding of the 50-seat aircraft was voluntary after an internal paperwork audit raised questions about whether maintenance was in compliance with manufacturer recommendations. The CRJ200 is powered by the GE CF34. "We are rolling through the inspections and expect them to be completed by mid-morning [Thursday]," an ASA spokesperson told ATWOnline.
Embraer launched steep approach testing at London City for the E-190. Certification is expected by year end. The E-170 received certification to operate into LCY in 2007. Last December British Airways signed an order six 170s and five 190s to be operated by its BA CityFlyer subsidiary ( ATWOnline, Dec. 23, 2008).
UK Secretary of State for Transport Geoff Hoon appointed Deirdre Hutton as CAA chair. The first woman named to the post, Hutton will take up the position in August when Roy McNulty's term comes to an end after eight years. She currently chairs the Food Standards Agency and will sit for five years. Hoon also will appoint a CEO.
CAE said it signed contracts for three full flight simulators in March valued at C$33 million. Customers are Avianca, Sofia Flight Training (both CAE 5000 Series A320 FFSs) and Emirates-CAE Flight Training (CAE 7000 Series A320 FFS). It also announced the termination of a 757 FFS sale to Flight Training Finance and the ensuing sale of the equipment to an unidentified customer. CAE sold 34 simulators in its fiscal year ended March 31.
The scene is quite different compared to last May, when the economy was still relatively strong in the world's largest express delivery market and DHL and UPS announced they were negotiating details of a deal under which UPS would take over DHL's airport-to-airport flying in the US. UPS estimated it would generate as much as $10 billion in additional revenue over 10 years from the proposed agreement.
Qantas Group is moving to expand its RNP use significantly. The airline, which launched RNP operations on its 737-800 fleet in 2007 into Christchurch and Brisbane, has extended those operations to 15 regional airports that have no ILS facilities. QF Chief Technical Pilot-Boeing Fleet Alex Passerini told Eco-Aviation Today that the group has committed to developing RNP for the A330 fleet and Jetstar's A320 fleet and will expand RNP arrivals to other Australian capital cities. During 2009 it will add 15 more airports, with Sydney to follow in 2010.
Qantas's international operation suffered its worst-ever traffic decline in February, with passenger numbers plummeting 16.8% year-over-year to 554,000. Domestic passengers slumped 10.1% to 1.2 million, while low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways' domestic passenger count was off 3.3% to 556,000. The only bright spot was Jetstar International, where passengers jumped 25% to 162,000. Overall the airline group reported an 8.4% decline to 2.7 million passengers, with RPKs dropping 10.1% to 7.31 billion and ASKs falling 7.6% to 9.32 billion. Load factor sank 2.2 points to 78.4%.
SAS Group announced official completion of its sale of 80.1% of Spanair to Initiatives Empresarials Aeronautiques, a Catalonian consortium comprising Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona, Catalana d'Inciatives, Volcat 2009 and Fira de Barcelona, for €1 ($1.32). SAS will continue to hold the remaining 19.9% and to partner with the carrier ( ATWOnline, Feb. 2).
American Airlines announced it will install Aircell's Gogo inflight Internet service in more than 300 domestic aircraft over the next two years. It has been trialing the product on 15 767-200s operating transcontinental routes since August ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21, 2008). Installation on 150 MD-80s will begin next year, followed by 737-800s. The service will cost $7.95-$12.95 depending on the length of flight and whether the passenger is using a laptop computer or a PDA.
Delta Air Lines said new signage will be appearing this week at former Northwest Airlines hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul as part of its $500 million integration effort. It expects to have all domestic airports re-branded by year end, with international facilities finished next year. Former NWA employees began wearing DL uniforms this week as well. The carrier said 33 NWA aircraft already have been repainted, with some 250 left to complete before the end of 2010.
