Malaysia Airlines yesterday announced an order for 35 737-800s and 20 options plus an agreement with Airbus regarding the delayed delivery of its six A380s. The narrowbody order is worth $4.2 billion at list prices assuming all options will be exercised. Delivery will begin in September 2010, "when the weakness of the global economy should be less of a concern," MAS MD and CEO Idris Jala said.
TAM's 2007 net income dropped 78.9% to BRL128.8 million ($74 million) from BRL611.8 million in the prior year as it contended with both the aftermath of the July A320 crash that killed 199 people and ongoing ATC problems in Brazil. The carrier called 2007 "a year of many challenges" and said the accident combined with Brazil's aviation "infrastructure" issues ( ATWOnline, July 30, 2007) and "high volatility" in the global economy drove the poor result, but it expressed optimism about future prospects.
Boeing reached agreement with Vought Aircraft Industries to acquire its interest in Global Aeronautica, a fuselage subassembly facility in North Charleston that performs work on the 787.
Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline last week that THY's new "full-service" low-cost carrier will be named Anatolia Jet and will start operations on April 23 with five 737-400s from its Ankara base. "As a first step, we will use Anatolia Jet on domestic routes. Then we will grow internationally," Kotil said. The THY mainline currently operates to 29 destinations from Ankara in addition to Istanbul. That network "could" be taken over by Anatolia Jet in the future, he said.
S7 Airlines will add four A320s to its fleet during its summer schedule, which began yesterday. First already has been delivered and will begin flying from Moscow Domodedovo to Barnaul and Krasnodar this month. Others will fly from DME to Kemerovo, Sochi, Novosibirsk and Frankfurt and from Novosibirsk to Vladivostok and Beijing, where S7 will operate out of the new Terminal 3. A320s will replace Tu-154s. It will use A319s on a thrice-weekly DME-Dublin service beginning April 27.
Alaska Airlines flew 1.42 billion RPMs in February, up 13.5% from the year-ago month, against a 9.4% increase in capacity to 1.94 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 2.6 points to 73.3%. Finnair flew 1.77 billion RPKs in February, a 17.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 20.3% to 2.37 billion ASKs and load factor fell 2 points to 74.8%. Estonian Air carried 51,851 passengers in February, up 18.4% from the year-ago month.
Sri Lankan government named P. B. Jayasundera as the new chairman of SriLankan Airlines, in which the government holds 51.05%. It will seat four on the new board while Emirates, which holds 43.63%, will have three seats. Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India named Raghu Menon as chairman and MD effective today, when he will replace Vasudevan Thulasidas, whose term is concluding. Menon has been serving as special secretary and financial advisor in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft purchased the Pacelab Cabin solution in order to develop customer-specific cabin configurations and "promote sales" of the Superjet 100 regional aircraft.
Northwest Airlines will join several US legacy competitors and begin charging North American economy passengers $25 for a second checked bag on each segment ( ATWOnline, March 19). Policy goes into effect May 5, applies to Northwest Airlink customers and includes an increase to $100 from $80 for three or more checked bags and to $50 from $25 for pieces weighing more than 50 lb.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines resumed normal schedules Friday after completing inspections of wiring on hundreds of temporarily grounded aircraft, while US FAA said it will issue preliminary findings this week of its audit of domestic carriers' compliance with airworthiness directives.
AVIC I announced an MOU with GECAS for the sale of five ARJ21-700s, China Daily reported from Beijing. AVIC I Vice GM Hu Wenming, speaking at the ceremony launching Joy Air (see item above), confirmed that GECAS is the new aircraft's first overseas customer and that the lessor "said it will buy more ARJ21 planes to strengthen its fleet. . .This means ARJ21 planes have been accepted by the market."
Seattle-based cargo company offered to buy the cargo operations of Aloha Airlines, which declared bankruptcy March 20 ( ATWOnline, March 25). The Associated Press reported that Saltchuk Resources placed a bid for Aloha's cargo assets, equipment and service lines. Saltchuk has 6,000 employees and has been active in Hawaii since 2000. It also owns Northern Air Cargo, the largest cargo carrier in Alaska.
China Eastern Airlines and AVIC I launched their Joy Air joint venture in Beijing Friday with an eye on supporting the development of domestically produced aircraft and tapping the regional market in western China.
AirAsia X, as expected, signed for an additional 10 392-seat A330-300s, bringing the airline's commitment to the type to 25. The additional 10 aircraft will be delivered to the long-haul LCC progressively over the next five years.
JetBlue founder and Chairman David Neeleman is trying his hand at starting yet another airline and signed a contract yesterday for 36 E-195s to operate in Brazil. The new carrier will be based in Sao Paulo, where Neeleman was born, and is targeting a 2009 launch. It eventually will serve most major Brazilian markets, flying up to 76 195s by 2013. The agreement with Embraer includes options on 20 aircraft plus 20 purchase rights. The firm order is valued at $1.4 billion and the 118-seaters will feature LiveTV satellite IFE, a first for a Brazilian airline.
Record revenue helped El Al return to profit in 2007 as the Israeli carrier posted $31.7 million in net earnings compared to a $33.9 million loss in 2006, when hostilities with Lebanon exacted a heavy toll on the bottom line. Turnover of approximately $1.93 billion was the highest in El Al's 60-year history, it said, and represented a 16% increase from the prior year. Operating result swung to a $71.4 million profit from an $8.5 million deficit.
Delta Air Lines yesterday grounded 117 MD-88s to inspect wiring, leading to an expected 275 flight cancellations through early today. The move came a day after American Airlines began wiring inspections on all 309 of its MD-80s. AA's inspections continued yesterday, leading to more than 130 flight cancellations in addition to the 325 it cancelled Wednesday ( ATWOnline, March 27). Inspections stem from US FAA's audit of domestic airlines' compliance with agency airworthiness directives.
London Heathrow Terminal 5's long-anticipated opening yesterday was marred by numerous technical problems, including the failure late in the day of the facility's much publicized high-tech baggage handling system. The £4.3 billion ($8.6 billion) terminal, used solely by British Airways, has been touted as the antidote to customer service problems at the busy airport, but its first day of operation was far from smooth.
Delta Air Lines flight attendants will vote between April 23 and June 3 on whether to unionize, the US National Mediation Board told the carrier yesterday. Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, seeking to represent the group, recently gathered signatures from a majority of DL's 12,000 flight attendants, surpassing NMB's 35% threshold for calling a unionization vote. More than half the FAs will have to cast ballots in favor during the voting period for unionization to occur. Past efforts to organize DL cabin staff have been unsuccessful.
Bombardier confirmed that German LCC airberlin is the customer that placed a firm order for 10 Q400s plus 10 options last October. The airline had requested that its identity be kept confidential at that time. The firm order contract is valued at $267 million and would rise to approximately $540 million if all options are exercised. It marks the company's first turboprop order. AB expects to receive four Q400s this year and the remaining six in 2009. The 76-seaters are intended primarily to replace F100s, which Berlin-based Germania operates for AB.
Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulow confirmed SU's interest in investing in either Jat Airways or CSA Czech Airlines as both Eastern European carriers approach privatization ( ATWOnline, March 4). He was speaking to La Tribune. Meanwhile, a source close to Austrian Airlines Group confirmed to ATWOnline that there recently have been talks between SU and AAG but they ended without the Russian carrier deciding to invest. Aeroflot derives 37% of its revenue from its European network.
UK Office of Communications yesterday approved the use of mobile phones on UK-registered aircraft once approved by EASA and UK CAA. "If such approval has been secured, it will be a matter for individual airlines to judge whether there is consumer demand for these services," it said, adding that an onboard communications system may be switched on by cabin crew once the aircraft reaches 3,000 m.
