Flybaboo, which recently took delivery of three E-190s, announced that it will change its name to Baboo, a move that coincides with a new red and white logo designed to position the brand and increase visibility, company officials said. The Geneva-based airline began flying in 2003.
Singapore Airlines parent SIA Group reported a net profit of S$2.05 billion ($1.5 billion) for its fiscal year ended March 31, down 3.8% from S$2.13 billion earned in the prior year, but said the income falloff was attributable to one-time gains in FY07 and boasted that it was able to grow full-year revenue at twice the rate of costs despite high fuel prices.
Vancouver Airport Authority yesterday said it entered into a "partnership" with Citi Infrastructure Investors, a unit of Citigroup, "to jointly pursue the sourcing, funding and maximization of potential airport opportunities through YVR Airport Services." Under the terms of the agreement, CII will acquire 50% of YVRAS, which "will become CII's exclusive platform for investing in airport assets."
Lufthansa Cargo, AiRUnion and Krasnoyarsk's Yemelyanova Airport signed an MOU establishing a strategic cooperation that will result in LHC's shift from Astana, where it currently stops on flights to/from Asia ( ATWOnline, March 24). The airport and service companies operating at Yemelyanova promised to make necessary investments, including an upgrade of the CAT II instrument landing system scheduled be completed and certified by year end.
El Al placed an order valued at $850 million for four 777-200ERs plus two options. Boeing noted that the airline has the right to convert the -200ERs to -300ERs. The Israeli carrier's fleet already includes six 777s.
Virgin America said yesterday that it will seek government approval to serve Chicago O'Hare and hopes to launch flights to ORD from San Francisco and Los Angeles later this year. Chicago would be the eighth city in its network. "With legacy airlines representing 99% of the domestic departures at O'Hare and low-cost airlines only representing 1%, Virgin America intends to add some healthy competition to the market," the carrier said. "We want to be part of O'Hare's future."
FedEx lowered its earnings forecast for its fiscal fourth quarter ending May 31, projecting a per-share profit of $1.45-$1.50, down from $1.60-$1.80 it projected in March. Earnings of $1.50 per share would mark a more than 23% decrease from $1.96 in the year-ago quarter. The delivery giant said that the revised forecast "assumes no additional increases to the current fuel price environment."
Japan Airlines Group announced a significant earnings turnaround to a net profit of ¥16.9 billion ($162.1 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31 from a loss of ¥16.2 billion the prior year on the back of premium strategies on its international operation and route restructuring on its domestic network. The profit was achieved on a 3% drop in sales to ¥2.23 trillion as JAL disposed of a number of consolidated subsidiaries. In terms of air transportation, JAL Group's core business, revenue increased 1.4% to ¥1.82 trillion.
ACE Aviation Holdings, as it reported a first-quarter net loss of C$182 million ($180 million), reiterated plans to close down the business but cited difficulty in disposing of its 75% stake in Air Canada and 20.1% stake in Jazz. This year's loss represented a 152.8% increase over a loss of C$72 million in the year-ago period.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. suffered a plunge in first-quarter profit to $2.7 million from $9.4 million in the year-ago quarter as rising fuel costs produced a $5 million operating loss at its Colgan Air subsidiary and severe weather and an increase in maintenance events resulted in its Pinnacle subsidiary failing to meet incentive levels contained in its Airline Services Agreement with Northwest Airlines.
British Airways will begin shifting long-haul flights to London Heathrow's Terminal 5 next month, it said in a joint statement with airports operator BAA. The move will be phased, in contrast to the short-haul transfer that coincided with an operationally disastrous opening of its £4.3 billion ($8.4 billion) new home in March. "We will move our Terminal 4 long-haul program into Terminal 5 in phases," BA CEO Willie Walsh said, noting that the carrier took this decision "in the interests of customers." He added: "Terminal 5 is now working well."
Unisys won a two-year contract with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to supply, implement and oversee an identification management system using fingerprint and iris biometric technology for employee verification at 29 airports. COTS-based technology will replace applications in the RAIC system and allow CATSA to update the security status of 100,000 airport workers. Contract includes two additional two-year option periods.
EuroManx, based on the Isle of Man, ceased operations and cancelled all services Friday. "Over the last six months a number of factors, including rising fuel prices and reduced passenger numbers, have proved to be insurmountable obstacles to the airline being able to continue to operate," it said on its website. Established in 2002, EuroManx flew turboprops to Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast City and London City. Manx2 and Flybe stepped in to rescue stranded passengers.
Austrian Airlines Group CEO Alfred Oetsch, under significant pressure following a steep first-quarter loss and the potential loss of a critical new investor ( ATWOnline, May 7), told Austria's ORF radio last week that a shift from the airline's "standalone" strategy has become a possibility and that it now will consider partnering with a foreign carrier. "If no signs of improvement in the financial situation are on the horizon, a solution could be to bring in a strategic partner carrier," he said.
Former Qantas VP Freight-Americas Bruce McCaffrey agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges in the US related to fixing air cargo shipment rates and will serve eight months in jail, the US Dept. of Justice announced last week. DOJ and antitrust authorities throughout the world have been conducting a wide-ranging probe into air cargo price fixing since February 2006 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 22), but McCaffrey becomes the first individual to face actual jail time as a result.
Asiana Airlines signed a contract for two 777-200ERs worth $438 million at list prices, Boeing announced. OZ has an option to upgrade to the -300ER and currently operates nine 777s. Delivery date was not announced.
Shanghai-based Spring Airlines plans to order 30 A320s and expand its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2015, according to Chairman Wang Zhenghua. Wang said the company is awaiting regulatory approval for the order. The LCC currently operates eight A320s on a network spanning more than 30 Chinese cities. It expects its fleet to number 30 by 2010 and increase to 100 by 2015, at which point half the fleet will be leased and half owned.
Air France-KLM flew 17.44 billion RPKs in April, up 2.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.4% to 21.79 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 2.3 points to 80%. Northwest Airlines flew 6.59 consolidated RPMs in April, up 1% from the year-ago month, against a 2.1% increase in capacity to 7.96 billion ASMs. Load factor dipped 0.9 point to 82.8%. US Airways Group flew 5.33 billion consolidated RPMs in April, a 2.4% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.8% to 6.45 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 82.6%.
Air Canada reported a first-quarter net loss of C$288 million ($287 million), a substantial increase over a C$34 million loss in the year-ago period, blaming high fuel costs and charges associated with ongoing inquiries into potential antitrust violations in its cargo division.
Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo parent Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings reported a first-quarter net loss of $5.3 million, reversed from a profit of $6.2 million in the year-ago period, but insisted the result reflects high fuel costs from which it largely will be insulated when Polar's blocked-space agreement with DHL begins later this year. "Our business fundamentals are solid and our performance is on track. . .apart from the impact of fuel prices," President and CEO William Flynn said.
United Airlines will launch daily service from Washington Dulles to Moscow Domodedovo (aboard a 767) and Dubai (777) on Oct. 26, pending government approval. UA flew 9.27 billion system RPMs last month, down 6.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.1% to 11.51 billion ASMs and load factor slipped 3.6 points to 80.5%.
United Airlines announced the appointment of COO Pete McDonald to the new role of chief administrative officer and the promotion of Chief Revenue Officer John Tague to COO, effective immediately. McDonald's role "combines a number of corporate functions to enable successful execution of. . .[UA's] five-year plan," including customer experience, human resources, labor relations, safety and security, information systems and "industry, environmental, corporate and governmental affairs," UA said.
TAP Portugal yesterday announced the launch of new fare and product offerings that it claimed will be better tailored to customer needs while strengthening "transparency in communicating with the traveling public." From June, TAP will offer five new products, each of which will come with a specific level of service both in flight and on the ground: Tap/executive and tap/plus are designed for business travelers or customers "looking for a higher quality service," while tap/classic ("convenience and flexibility"), tap/basic ("very good value") and tap/discount ("very low price") round out
