Korean Air is on target to begin scheduled operations of its new low-cost subsidiary Air Korea by July, VP-International Affairs and Alliances Bang Sun Oh told ATWOnline in Seoul.
Continental Airlines reported an estimated 3%-4% year-over-year increase in consolidated April RASM. It flew 7.84 billion consolidated RPMs during the month, down 0.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.4% to 9.86 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 2.9 points to 79.4%.
Alitalia Group said its net debt at the close of the first quarter was €1.35 billion ($2.1 billion), a 1.1% reduction from the figure on Feb. 29. It had €180 million in cash-in-hand and short-term financial credits.
Korean Air is eyeing opportunities to expand its market share in North America using Incheon as a gateway hub to China, GM-North America Song Bo Young told ATWOnline in Seoul. KE currently serves 23 Chinese destinations and also will promote Incheon as a gateway from the US to Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. The proposed merger between Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which already are codeshare partners with KE through SkyTeam, will strengthen its North American market position, Song said. Last year, North American service added some $800 million to KE's bottom line.
Taiwanese carriers China Airlines and EVA Air reported first-quarter losses of TWD2.97 billion ($97.4 million) and TWD2.29 billion respectively. The airlines, which reported the results in filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange cited by Bloomberg News, each blamed high fuel costs for the poor results.
American Airlines and US FAA turned in reports to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters Friday regarding last month's disruptive grounding of AA MD-80s, and the carrier reportedly detailed an inconsistent oversight response by FAA including discord between the agency's Washington headquarters and a Dallas area field office.
JAL Group last week issued a revised full-year forecast for the year ended March 31, 2008, saying that "trends in recent performance" led it to raise expected net earnings to ¥16 billion ($153.9 million) from the ¥7 billion projected in its most recent forecast last November. It reported a ¥16.2 billion loss in the year ended March 31, 2007.
Opposition from some quarters to potential moves by US airlines in response to the recent Delta Air Lines/Northwest Airlines merger announcement is fierce, with Virgin Atlantic Airways vowing to fight a British Airways/American Airlines/Continental Airlines transatlantic alliance and United Airlines' pilots expressing strong disapproval of management's reported merger negotiations with US Airways.
Clickair and Germanwings announced an Internet marketing partnership under which they will make select flights between Spain and Germany available on each other's websites. Effective immediately, Clickair customers will be redirected to Germanwings' site if they wish to fly to Stuttgart or Cologne Bonn from Barcelona, while Germanwings customers will have access to Clickair flights to Barcelona from Frankfurt, Berlin Tegel and Munich.
AirTran Airways parent AirTran holdings yesterday announced the initial closing of concurrent offerings of 5.5% convertible senior notes due 2015 and common stock and said the initiatives netted proceeds of approximately $140.3 million. Sale of an additional 2.3 million shares of common as part of an overallotment option is set to close today.
Alteon Training won CASA approval as MTRO under new Civil Aviation Order 100.66 aligning Australian maintenance training regulations with European regulations. Approval affects the 737NG family. The 777 and 787 are slated for approval later this year.
Gol reported a first-quarter net loss of BRL3.5 million ($2.1 million), reversed from a profit of BRL116.6 million in the year-ago period, as last year's acquisition of Varig and its subsequent integration with Gol weighed heavily and led to sinking load factors.
Pakistan International Airlines concluded an "exceptionally difficult" 2007, during which it was blacklisted by the European Union, with a PKR13.4 billion ($207.5 million) loss, widened slightly from the PKR12.76 billion loss suffered in 2006.
MAXjet Airways, the all-business-class carrier that shut down in December ( ATWOnline, Jan. 3), is operating as a "luxury" charter service and is in the process of being acquired by NCA Sports Group, it announced on its website. It will continue charter operations under the new ownership.
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings reported a $19.9 million loss in the first quarter, widened from an $11.9 million deficit in the year-ago period, but its prospects have brightened somewhat owing to events that have transpired since the quarter's conclusion.
AerCap Holdings subsidiary AeroTurbine will purchase British Airways' entire stock of wheels and brakes for 737, 757, 767, 777 and 747-400 aircraft under a 10-year component lease deal announced in April. Contract specifies that AeroTurbine lease back the stock to BA for a 6- to 10-year period in accordance with BA's fleet renewal plans.
MOST, IF NOT ALL, GLOBAL NETWORK AIRLINES' stated aim is to increase their share of premium traffic. Few have been as creative as has Lufthansa at developing an array of services aimed at achieving this goal. To do so it has looked beyond the conventional aircraft tube to the entire travel experience. Examples include its dedicated First Class Terminal at Frankfurt and the transatlantic all-business-class service from Frankfurt to Newark operated on its behalf by PrivatAir of Switzerland using ACJs and BBJs.
BARACK OBAMA AND HILLARY Clinton may be debating the merits of NAFTA, the continually controversial North American Free Trade Agreement, but such is not the case at Continental Airlines and American Airlines.
Iberia and Consorci Zona Franca of Barcelona last month launched construction of a 12,100-sq.-m. widebody hangar at El Prat. The €24 million ($38.2 million) facility will be designed to accommodate simultaneously two A340s or four A320s and is expected to increase airport capacity for dispatching and receiving long-haul flights.
Lufthansa Technik won a significant contract from Qantas for technical support of GE and CFM56-7 engines powering the carrier's 737, 767, 747 and A330 aircraft. The 10-year deal gives LHT a 50% stake in Qantas's engine overhaul business Jet Turbine Services, a Melbourne-based company with a current workforce of 140.
ARINC announced a partnership with Gate Gourmet to market onboard sales programs for airlines and passenger rail systems worldwide. Agreement calls for GG to include ARINC's SkyBuy sales technology in its buy-on-board programs while ARINC works with GG on outsourced catering and buy-on-board projects. The two will introduce the wireless point-of-sale system to ongoing retail programs at easyJet, Norwegian and Jetstar Airways. Technology uses ARINC's Mobile Communications Gateway to upload sales data automatically into back-office systems.
Of all the actions taken by the airlines to defend against high fuel costs, none has brought the gravity of the fuel crisis home to consumers quite like American Airlines' plan to charge most coach passengers $15 each way for the first checked bag.
Korean Air said yesterday that its first first-quarter operating income dropped 87.1% to KRW19.6 billion ($19.5 million) "owing to the huge pressure from surging fuel costs."
