Malaysia Airlines yesterday said it posted a MYR120 million ($37 million) profit in the first quarter, down 9.8% from the MYR133 million earned in the year-ago period, Reuters reported. It cited fuel costs for the decline.
TAM last week reported first-quarter net income of BRL2.6 million ($1.6 million), down 95.7% from BRL59.2 million earned in the year-ago quarter, as escalating expenses offset revenue increases. Total revenue rose 22.7% to BRL2.35 billion but costs lifted 28.5% to BRL2.24 billion including a 48.1% leap in fuel expense to BRL844.8 million. Fuel costs were more than double any other expense category. Operating income was BRL8.5 million, down 89.8% from BRL83.4 million last year.
Ethiopian Airlines said "preliminary reports" suggest it earned a record ETB484 million ($50 million) profit in the fiscal nine months ended March 31, a result it said was "appreciably higher" than the year-ago period. Revenue rose 29% year-over-year to ETB6.6 billion on a 19% lift in passengers to 1.9 million, the carrier announced. It credited increased frequencies, new international services and its freight business for driving revenue growth. Operating expenses climbed 21%. ET will launch flights to Kuwait City, its 51st destination, on June 2.
Jazeera Airways reported a KWD745,815 ($2.8 million) first-quarter profit, a 42% increase from the year-ago period's result. "Our strong Q1 results follow the major expansion strategy we pursued in 2007. We will continue to expand in the rest of '08, bringing new routes on the back of more aircraft deliveries throughout the year," Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said. Revenue climbed 46% year-over-year to KWD10.8 million. Jazeera flies six A320s and has 34 aircraft on order with deliveries scheduled through 2014.
Delta Air Lines flew 10.07 billion system RPMs in April, up 2.5% from the year-ago month, against a 2.7% increase in ASMs to 12.38 billion. Load factor slipped 0.1 point to 81.4%. Ryanair transported 4.7 million passengers in April, 15% higher than the year-ago month. Load factor dropped 4 points to 79%. EasyJet transported 3.6 million passengers in April, up13.4% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 3 points to 80.1%.
Taipei-based Far Eastern Air Transport ceased operations last week owing to a shortfall in operating funds, according to widespread press reports. FEAT was launched in 1957 and recently has been suffering from scattered stock rights and frequent changes in senior leadership. In February it launched a search for a strategic investor to alleviate its debt burden but failed to attract one ( ATWOnline, Feb. 21).
ABX Air said yesterday that it reached agreement with DHL to extend its hub and line-haul services agreement to carry the express delivery giant's cargo in the US market for another year, capping a busy week of activity in which it also reported a slight drop in first-quarter earnings and its parent company was renamed.
Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems will design and produce the composite center fuselage frame section for the A350 XWB under an agreement with Airbus announced last week. The structure, which will be approximately 64.7 ft. (19.7 m.) long and weigh around 8,990 lb. (4,078 kg.), will be manufactured in a new assembly plant to be built in North Carolina, Spirit said.
Despite rising fuel prices, an economic slowdown and the troubled opening of London Heathrow's Terminal 5 in the last days of its fiscal year, British Airways reported a record profit performance for the year ended March 31 with net income of £694 million ($1.35 billion), more than double the £304 million it earned in the prior year.
AirAsia X announced that Perth will be its next Australian destination. The low-cost, long-haul airline started operations last year to Australia's Gold Coast. The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier will launch service to Perth with six weekly flights from Nov. 2, which coincides with the delivery of its first new-build A330-200, before moving to daily services in March. Chief Executive Azran Osman-Rani said, "AirAsia X will feed passengers from its extensive network into Perth, effectively creating a low-cost link from Southeast Asia and China to Western Australia."
Safran Group last week celebrated the opening of its new CFM56 maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Queretaro, Mexico. Snecma America Engine Services is dedicated to CFM56-5A, -5B and -7B engines powering the A320 and 737NG families. It is owned jointly by Snecma Services (51%) and Turborreactores SA (ITR) with a 49% stake.
Thai Airways blamed higher fuel costs and foreign exchange losses for a 48% decrease in first-quarter net profit to $68.2 million despite an 11.2% rise in revenue to $1.69 billion. Fuel costs leapt 39.6% $432 million while exchange losses cost the airline $20 million compared to a $45.5 million gain in the prior period. Almost 50% of Thai's debt is in euros, which appreciated 14% against the baht in the quarter, Bloomberg reported.
Singapore Airlines launched its new all-business-class service to Newark this week. Its five A340-500s are in the process of being reconfigured with the previous executive economy section removed. Total fit-out is for 100 of SIA's new business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. It is the only carrier offering an all-business-class configuration across the Pacific. The upgrade will be completed by September for all nonstops from Singapore to Newark and Los Angeles.
British Airways said speculation that it will defer the launch of OpenSkies, its new transatlantic subsidiary, to later this year or cancel the project "is not true."
Vueling Airlines posted a pre-tax loss of €32.4 million ($50.1 million) for the first quarter, a 47.1% increase over a €22 million pre-tax loss in the year-ago period. Total revenues grew 48.2% to €88.6 million on a 32.1% rise in passengers carried to 1.4 million. Total operating costs climbed 44% to €120.8 million. Operating loss jumped 32.6% to €32.2 million from a €24.3 million year-ago loss.
Teledyne Controls received an order from Philippine Airlines for AirFASE, a flight data monitoring solution jointly developed by Teledyne Controls and Airbus. PAL is the 100th customer for the solution.
Austrian Airlines Group's talks with potential investor Mohamed bin Iassa Al Jaber have collapsed, with Al Jaber saying he no longer has any interest in investing in AAG. CEO Alfred Oetsch told Austrian Radio this week that he doesn't expect further negotiations with Al Jaber but insisted the carrier will go ahead with a Middle East expansion. In a deal announced in March, Al Jaber said he would take a 20% stake in AAG at €7.10 ($10.97) per share, substantially higher than current market value.
The A380 delivery delays announced this week by Airbus belie the more fundamental turnaround at the aircraft manufacturer and parent EADS, which yesterday credited its "remarkable order intake" for its return to the black.
Dragonair will add two A320-200s to its fleet via leases with CIT Aerospace. The aircraft, to be powered by IAE V2527-A5s, will be delivered in 2009 and 2010.
Lufthansa would support a merger between Star Alliance partners United Airlines and US Airways, LH Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said in Washington yesterday on the 11th anniversary of the founding of the alliance. "[United Chairman and CEO] Glenn Tilton is absolutely right. Consolidation is the way forward," he said, adding that "anything that helps [a member of Star] helps us."
Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng said yesterday that the company is "open to all reasonable offers" for its 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways. Reiterating comments he has made before, he told reporters, "It's not a secret that we regard it as an underperforming investment" ( ATWOnline, Dec. 13, 2007). But yesterday's remarks were the clearest indication yet that SIA is ready to move forward with a divestment of the stake it has held since 1999.
Mesa Air Group will do a phased shutdown of its Air Midwest subsidiary from May 23 to June 30. The Wichita-based regional, which has been in business for 43 years, operates a fleet of 20 B1900s serving 27 cities. Mesa said record high fuel prices, insufficient demand and a difficult operating environment factored into the decision to end service. Even with Essential Air Service subsidies provided by the US Dept. of Transportation, AM has been unable to achieve "sustained profitability" for several years, MAG said in a statement.
Continental Airlines Executive VP and CFO Jeff Misner will retire effective Aug. 31 to be replaced by Senior VP-Network Strategy Zane Rowe. Misner has served as CO's CFO since 2001. He joined the company in 1995 as VP-treasury operations. Rowe, 37, has been with CO since 1993 and has held his current post since September 2006. Sabena Technics appointed Willy Buysse MD of its Brussels site.
Iberia Group said it its first-quarter results were "dulled" by sharp hikes in the price of fuel, resulting in a net loss of €441,000 ($684,000), reversed from a profit of €12.3 million in the year-ago period.
Northwest Airlines announced that Executive VP-Strategy, International and CEO-Regional Airlines Neal Cohen will leave the company effective June 16. Cohen spent nine years with Northwest from 1991 to 2000 in a number of senior positions including senior VP and treasurer. He was executive VP of finance and CFO for US Airways from April 2002 to April 2004, a period that overlapped that carrier's first bankruptcy reorganization. He returned to NWA in May 2005 as executive VP and CFO, positions he held during the company's Chapter 11 reorganization.
