Alitalia said late Tuesday that its financial situation allows it to continue operations in the "short term" and reiterated the need for "substantial financial support" as forecast in both its budget and the takeover proposal by Air France-KLM. "Only by means of such support will it be possible to regain the required confidence to pursue the company's business plan and hence to confirm continuity of operations," the carrier said following a board meeting. Union representatives are scheduled to meet with AZ management today.
Air France-KLM flew 17.68 billion RPKs in March, up 3.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.8% to 21.83 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.3 points to 81%. Northwest Airlines flew 7.16 billion consolidated RPMs in March, up 2% over the year-ago month, against a 0.6% lift in capacity to 8.24 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.3 points to 87%.
Hit hard by surging oil prices and fierce competition from Cathay Pacific Airways, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, the 17-month-old low-cost, long-haul carrier, ceased operations yesterday. Oasis CEO Stephen Miller said the airline applied for a voluntary liquidator and that two representatives of KPMG were appointed by the Hong Kong Court to oversee the liquidation.
UPS lowered its first-quarter earnings forecast to $0.86-$0.87 per diluted share from $0.94-$0.98. "The US economy has continued to weaken, causing a reduction in domestic package volume and a shift away from premium products. Significantly increased fuel costs in the quarter also contributed to the lower-than-expected results," the company said. It will release first-quarter earnings on April 23.
North American Airlines and World Airways parent Global Aero Logistics named Executive VP and Chief Commercial and Planning Officer Robert Binns as CEO and Executive VP and Chief Airline Officer Charles McDonald as president. Chairman John Denison had been filling both roles on an interim basis. VP-Market Planning for Global Jeff Sanborn was promoted to chief marketing officer.
American Airlines cancelled "several hundred" flights yesterday in order to conduct additional MD-80 inspections and "ensure precise and complete compliance with the FAA's airworthiness directive related to the bundling of wires in the aircraft's wheel wells." AA said the cancellations could number as many as 500 by the end of yesterday and that additional cancellations are likely today.
US Dept. of Transportation named Marie Kennington-Gardiner as its New York Aviation Czar. She will direct the newly formed New York Integration Office and "coordinate regional airspace issues and all projects and initiatives addressing problems of congestion and delays in New York." Creation of the position was part of a December compromise reached between DOT and US airlines ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20, 2007).
AiRUnion COO Gustav Baldauf told ATWOnline that the airline group comprising KrasAir, Domodedovo Airlines, Samara Airlines, Omskavia and Sibaviatrans is making every effort to get its own AOC by June. "We have finalized plans to increase productivity and efficiency. The final agreement and approval just depends now on the owners of AiRUnion, the Russian government and [CEO] Boris and [President] Alexander Abramovich," he said. A decision is expected this month.
Mesa Air Group filed a lawsuit in a US federal court against Delta Air Lines, which last week terminated Mesa subsidiary Freedom Airlines' ERJ-145 regional flying contract ( ATWOnline, April 3), according to press reports.
Avianca will purchase Tampa Cargo and form a strategic alliance with Martinair, which currently holds a 57% share in the Colombian cargo airline. Avianca also will acquire the remaining shares held by private local investors. "In Bogota, Colombia, the parties reached a principle agreement on the sale of 100% of the shares. The transaction is expected to be finalized in June 2008," Martinair said. Value of the transaction was not disclosed.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres reached an exclusive three-year deal worth more than £1.6 million ($3.19 million) with SR Technics to supply tires for F100s and unspecified Boeing aircraft to SRT maintenance bases in Europe and the Middle East.
Adria Airways renewed its IOSA registration, which it received initially in August 2004. The Ljubljana-based airline carried more than 237,000 passengers in the first quarter, a 24% increase on the year-ago period. Number of flights was up 15%.
Jet Airways is evaluating the opening of a second European hub for services to South America. The Indian carrier currently maintains a small hub at Brussels from which it operates flights to India and North America in cooperation with Brussels Airlines, which provides European feed. "Jet is considering a hub similar to Brussels, like in Madrid or another airport in southern Europe," a source close to the airline told ATWOnline. No details about a timeframe for the decision were revealed.
Barfield reached a 10-year deal with SkyWest Airlines to service selected avionic equipment and mechanical devices. Contract covers 118 aircraft and "represents exciting new prospects for Barfield in its company strategy with narrowbody and regional aircraft," Sabena Technics said. It acquired Barfield in 2006.
The troubles at London Heathrow's Terminal 5 persisted over the weekend, this time owing mainly to poor weather conditions. British Airways cancelled 126 flights at LHR Sunday--114 because of heavy snowfall and 12 owing to computer glitches at T5--and another 34 at T5 yesterday as it battled a scheduling backlog. It also cancelled 32 flights at Gatwick Sunday.
Skyway Airlines, a regional subsidiary of Midwest Airlines, shut down last Saturday as expected. In January, Midwest announced that it would "reposition" Skyway as an airport service provider and shift its regional flying to SkyWest Airlines, which now operates 50-seat CRJs on Midwest's behalf ( ATWOnline, Jan. 17). In announcing the transition, Skyway CEO David Reeve said that operating its fleet of 32-seat 328JETs had become more costly and complex because the aircraft no longer are in production.
EasyJet opened its Lyon base last Friday ( ATWOnline, Oct. 5, 2007) with two new A319s and launched service to Bordeaux (twice-daily), Lisbon (five-times-weekly) and Venice (daily). Thrice-weekly to Porto began Saturday and it soon will fly to Toulouse (twice-daily from May 2), Casablanca (five-times-weekly from May 2), Marrakech (thrice-weekly from May 3) and Biarritz (daily from June 7, seasonal).
Etihad Crystal Cargo signed a contract to publish airfreight rates and post operational announcements to freight forwarders on OAG Cargo Solutions' worldwide cargo portal.
Airberlin announced that Sapinda and Vatas Holding subsidiary Harlem One BV sold its 18.6% share in the airline group. It had bought a 15.4% stake in early January, becoming the company's largest shareholder, before raising its share shortly thereafter. AB said "an institutional investor has agreed to acquire shares in the same amount" but did not elaborate. AB and its subsidiaries transported 2.2 million passengers last month up 5.5% from the year-ago period. Load factor rose 3.9 points to 77.8% and unit revenue was up 0.6% to €5.23 cents.
China Eastern Airlines admitted yesterday that last week's "disgraceful" incidents at its Yunnan Branch Co., where 21 flights departing the airport turned around and returned, were the result of a "human factor," most likely disgruntled pilots. The flights, which were scheduled to leave Kunming for Dali, Lijiang, Banla, Mangshi, Simao and Lincang, took off but then returned, causing significant delays at the airport. CEA originally cited weather as an explanation even though other carriers operating from the provincial capital completed their flights successfully.
Air France-KLM said in a statement that its board approved the cessation of takeover talks with Alitalia and that it now is up to the ailing Italian carrier's unions to spell out their vision of AZ's future. Alitalia is scheduled to hold a board meeting today and meet with its unions Wednesday. Trading of its shares was suspended last week.
Bombardier reported consolidated net income of $317 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, an 18.3% increase over the $268 million earned in the prior year, on a 17.4% growth in revenue to $14.9 billion. Rising aircraft sales and orders boosted revenue at Bombardier Aerospace 17% to $9.7 billion as operating profit soared 74.8% to $563 million from $322 million the previous year. The order backlog increased to a record $22.7 billion, up from $13.2 billion in FY06. Orders for regional aircraft surged to 238 from 87.
Volga-Dnepr Group reported a 51% increase in sales last year to $1.05 billion, $300 million of which was contributed by its scheduled airline AirBridge Cargo. The latter figure represented a 32% gain over 2006. V-D said the overall revenue rise was due in large part to a "substantial" 62% increase in the charter market for outsize and heavy cargo. Volga-Dnepr Airlines carried that freight while AirBridge transported 101,900 tons aboard its 747s, an increase of 29%. The company said it is in the process of growing and upgrading its fleet.
Worldwide Flight Services acquired a 60% shareholding in British Airways Regional Cargo late last month from three of the latter's founders, with the remaining 40% continuing to be held by British Airways World Cargo. Terms of the acquisition were undisclosed. BARC operates more 260,000 sq. ft. of handling facilities at 11 airports in the UK and Ireland. Employing 246 staff, it provides cargo handling for BAWC and other major carriers, including American Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Air India and GB Airways.
