El Al announced the appointment of Amikan Cohen as chairman. He most recently was president of telecommunications firm Partner Communications. He replaces interim Chairman Amnon Lipkin-Shachak.
Continental Airlines said the percentage of available seats sold across its consolidated domestic network is 4-5 points higher over the next six weeks than in the year-ago period but that the fall in yield and RASM since Jan. 1 has "accelerated sequentially" and "has become significant."
The UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee asked the government to "urgently seek reform of the Chicago Convention so as to allow governments to impose a tax on international aviation fuel," arguing that declining oil prices make such a policy "especially timely and desirable."
Turkish Airlines flew 4.8 billion RPKs in January and February, up 8% over the year-ago period, against an 11.6% increase in capacity to 7.2 billion ASKs. Load factor fell 1.7 points to 66.2%.
Ryanair and the European Commission are trying to mend their fractured relationship and said they have agreed to a series of discussions on "air traffic in Europe, the development of the aviation sector in the internal market and the role of regional airports." Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary and EC VP-Transport Antonio Tajani met recently in Brussels and agreed to conduct more detailed meetings starting next month ( ATWOnline, Feb.
Chengdu-based United Eagle Airlines, a privately held carrier, agreed to merge with Sichuan Airlines through the sale of a 56% stake for CNY200 million ($29.2 million).
Republic Airways Holdings said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week that Hawaii's Mokulele Airlines "is currently in default of its loan and codeshare agreement" and revealed that it is "contemplating" taking a 50% stake in the struggling airline.
Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it recently operated a 737 demonstration roundtrip between Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby using Required Navigation Performance procedures, yielding 904 lb. of carbon dioxide savings, part of its $175 million program to implement RNP fleetwide that was announced last June at the Eco-Aviation conference presented by ATW and Leeham Co. ( ATWOnline, June 20, 2008).
Ryanair pilots voted "overwhelmingly" to accept a 12-month pay freeze and productivity increases in lieu of the 10% pay cut originally sought by the airline. "We are still lowering air fares, which means we will suffer losses in both our third and fourth quarters of the current year," Director-Flight Operations and Ground Operations David O'Brien said ( ATWOnline, Feb. 3). "Our pilots have recognized the difficulties we face and are making their contribution."
Nav Canada and Sensis Corp. were selected by Airservices Australia to participate in Airservices' National Tower Program Technology Project, intended to "provide controllers with immediate access to flight data and voice communications and to monitor the airfield and surrounding airspace." Under the agreement, Nav Canada and Sensis technology will be used to upgrade ATC towers at Melbourne, Adelaide and Rockhampton, "with the potential for additional towers." The solution also will be installed at the Airservices Melbourne Air Traffic Centre and Learning Academy.
Delta TechOps announced an eight-year, $55 million power-by-the-hour contract extension with Star Air covering MRO on the 22 CF6-80A2/C2 engines powering the Copenhagen-based cargo carrier's 11 767-200SFs. Deal also includes APU and component support.
US Airways President Scott Kirby said in a Monday conference call with investors that March ticket revenue has improved over the first two months of 2009 and that the carrier has "been cautiously optimistic the last couple of weeks" even though leisure fares are falling. Demand is stable and ancillary revenue initiatives are mitigating the impact of falling yields, he said. CFO Derek Kerr said US has arranged financing for 20 of the 25 deliveries scheduled for this year, excluding five A330s.
Air New Zealand will incorporate fuel surcharges into all fares from March 30 as a lure for travel agents to book clients on the carrier. The practice of excluding surcharges, which have been substantial, has caused significant rifts between travel agents and airlines around the globe. ANZ GM-Australia John Harrison said he expects the decision to have a "positive effect" on sales.
Shanghai Airlines is expecting a "difficult" 2009, although a turnaround is possible if it can maintain its passenger load factor of 72% and the airline industry shows signs of recovery in April or May, Chairman Zhou Chi said. SAL announced in January that it expects to report loss for 2008. In response, it announced a 20% cut in senior management salaries and said it would not lay off any employees.
Air Berlin and TUIfly confirmed that they are in discussions regarding a long-awaited alliance. AB said yesterday that negotiations regarding a cross-shareholding with the TUI Travel subsidiary are well under way ( ATWOnline, Oct. 14, 2008), while a TUI spokesperson in Hanover told ATWOnline that talks are in an advanced stage.
Lufthansa Group's summer capacity will be up 0.6% year-over-year owing to Lufthansa Italia, which will compensate for a 0.5% reduction on the rest of the network ( ATWOnline, March 5). The March 29-Oct. 24 summer schedule will feature 14,038 weekly flights to 206 destinations. European capacity will rise 1.5% and intercontinental ASKs will climb 0.2% owing to the addition of 22 additional economy seats on LH's 747-400s.
Honeywell said Qantas received approval from Australia's CASA to use the Honeywell SmartPath Ground-Based Augmentation System at Sydney for satellite-based landings on QF's A380s. The airline previously had been approved to fly GBAS approaches with its 737s, recording more than 1,600 GBAS landings at Sydney to date.
Singapore Airlines reported a record decline in passengers for February, a 20.2% year-over-year plunge to 1.2 million. RPKs fell 17% to 5.86 billion against just an 8.5% cut in capacity to 8.41 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 7.1 points to 69.7%. Cargo declined 15.2% to 473.7 million FTKs on a 7% fall in capacity to 835.1 million ATKs, dropping load factor 5.5 points to 56.7%.
East Star Airlines was forced to suspend operations Sunday by CAAC owing to its heavy debt burden and the collapse of a stake sale deal with Air China parent CNAC. It is the second privately held Chinese carrier to suspend service in recent months. Okay Airways stopped flying in December ( ATWOnline, Jan. 19) but resumed operations the following month ( ATWOnline, Jan. 26).
SAS Group shareholders last Friday approved a rights issue expected to raise up to SEK6.06 billion ($704.9 million) before costs, in which each share held on March 18 will entitle the holder to subscribe to 14 new shares at SEK2.63 each. The company's share capital was reduced by SEK1.23 billion without redemption of shares "in order to enable and facilitate the rights issue," it said ( ATWOnline, Feb. 4).
Ryanair will reduce its operation at Dublin further from July in "response to the decision of the government-owned Irish Aviation Authority to increase ATC charges by 12% this summer, at more than 12 times the rate of inflation," the LCC said. It announced an initial cut at DUB last month and said Ireland's €10 ($12.92) passenger tax "and other government price hikes" contributed to a 12% fall in passengers at the airport in February ( ATWOnline, March 6).
Lufthansa said yesterday that it plans to implement short-time work for approximately 1,000 ground employees as an additional measure to counter falling passenger numbers. The reductions will not take place at its Frankfurt or Munich hubs and will affect those "mostly employed in service and support functions." The group transported 4.7 million passengers in February, down 9.3% year-over-year.
Emirates dismissed reports that the A380 has a laundry list of problems that have kept the jet grounded numerous times for repairs. Germany's Der Spiegel claimed over the weekend that the airline, the A380's largest customer, delivered a 46-page list of problems to Airbus that required rectification.
Indian airlines carried 3.3 million passengers on scheduled flights last month, about level with January. Kingfisher Airlines led with 904,000 (27.1% market share, 74.3% load factor), followed by Jet Airways at 597,000 (17.9%, 68.7%) and Air India at 574,000 (17.2%, 66.3%). Iberia flew 3.66 billion RPKs in February, down 10.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 7.6% to 4.79 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 2.7 points to 76.4%.
