TUIfly's brand will not disappear should the carrier complete its merger with Germanwings, TUI Germany CEO Volker Bottcher said in Berlin yesterday. TUI signed an MOU with Lufthansa in January to combine their LCC subsidiaries into one "joint and independent holding company" ( ATWOnline, Feb. 27). Travel conglomerate TUI owns TUIfly, the combination of Hapag-Lloyd Flug and Hapag-Lloyd Express, while LH partners with Germanwings and Eurowings along with Albrecht Knauf Industriebeteiligung.
B/E Aerospace said it won a $200 million contract with an unnamed international airline to retrofit existing widebodies and outfit new aircraft with its Super First Class private suites. Features include personal beds, interactive IFE and dining amenities.
Italian conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi toned down his opposition to Air France KLM's acquisition of Alitalia ( ATWOnline, March 6), telling Rai Uno television, "I think it's possible to envision a public company with Alitalia, Air France and KLM, so long as Alitalia remained a national company with the Italian flag on the planes and offices across the world," Agence France Presse reported. Exclusive negotiations between AZ and AF KLM must conclude by March 14.
Delta Air Lines flew 8.47 billion system RPMs in February, a 6.7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.6% to 11.31 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 74.9%. Northwest Airlines flew 5.92 billion consolidated RPMs in February, up 5% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.5% to 7.38 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 80.2%. Republic Airways flew 712.7 million RPMs in February, up 39.7% on the year-ago month, against a 37.9% increase in ASMs to 1.02 billion. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 70%.
Qantas yesterday introduced into service its first aircraft, a 747-400, fitted with a premium economy cabin ( ATWOnline, July 24, 2007). Executive GM John Borghetti said the product will be installed in all of QF's 747-400s and A380s. It will be available initially on Sydney-Hong Kong -400 service, with London Heathrow and Johannesburg coming on line as three more -400s are outfitted later this month. The PE cabin has 32 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. Pitch is 42 in.
Emirates President Tim Clark said the carrier will "have to raise fares and strip costs to compensate" for rising fuel prices. He told Zawya Dow Jones yesterday that EK is targeting cost savings of "at least $100 million" as well as higher fares in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.
British Airways, which will close the books on its fiscal year at the end of this month, said yesterday that it expects its operating margin to fall in the 2008-09 financial year to approximately 7%. CEO Willie Walsh said last fall that BA was targeting a 10% margin for the current year ending March 31 ( ATWOnline, Nov. 5, 2007). Its operating margin for the nine months ended Dec. 31 was 11.1%.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore yesterday announced a S$10 million ($7.2 million) expansion project at Changi Airport's Budget Terminal scheduled to begin in July. The seven-gate facility, which opened in March 2006 and caters to LCCs ( Airport Equipment & Technology, Summer 2006), will be enlarged to 28,700 sq. m. from 25,000 and boost annual passenger capacity to 7 million from 2.7 million.
Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines pilot groups resumed meetings on a proposed merger after a break of nearly two weeks, The Detroit News reported. The airlines last month briefed their pilot groups on details of a potential merger, but leaders of the two carriers' pilots, all of whom are represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., reached an impasse over combining seniority lists ( ATWOnline, Feb. 29). NWA and DL appear reluctant to move forward with a merger agreement absent the support of pilots.
Sun Country Airlines ended a 10-month search for a new chief executive yesterday, naming AirTran CFO Stan Gadek as its new president and CEO effective March 10.
Lufthansa said its operations were "gradually returning to normal" yesterday following a series of 3-hr. "token strikes" by German airport workers represented by the ver.di and komba unions early in the day. LH said it canceled 300 of its 1,850 flights yesterday, affecting about 18,500 passengers. Its long-haul operation was not impacted.
CTC Aviation and flyLAL Training signed an agreement to cooperate in the training and supply of flight deck and cabin crew. Contract calls for delivery of training courses and other activities to support airlines in Europe and Russia.
British Airways flew 8.04 billion RPKs in February, a 5.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.4% to 11.77 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.6 point to 68.4%. Southwest Airlines flew 5.43 billion RPMs in February, up 12% from the year-ago month, against a 9% increase in ASMs to 7.91 billion. Load factor rose 1.8 points to 68.6%. Ryanair transported 3.8 million passengers in February, up 20% from the year-ago month. Load factor slipped 2 points to 75%.
Varig added to its growing list of interline agreements by reaching deals with six more European carriers: Aegean Airlines, Air Moldova, Air Comet, CSA Czech Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and Ukraine International Airlines. The new agreements follow interline accords already forged with its parent Gol, Air France KLM, Hahn Air, Malev Hungarian Airlines, El Al, Air One, Japan Airlines, Mexicana, Korean Air, Iberia, Qatar Airways and Delta Air Lines.
Germanwings will increase the number of employees from the current 1,087 to 1,300 during 2008, MD Thomas Winkelmann said at the ITB convention in Berlin Wednesday. Some 200 new employees will be needed as cabin and cockpit crew as the A319/A320 fleet increases from 28 to 31 this year. He said the carrier was profitable in 2007 but declined to provide figures. Turnover rose 12.7% to €630 million ($957.7 million) and passengers increased 12.5% to 8 million. Last year's load factor was 82%.
JetBlue Airways named Joseph Eng to the new position of executive VP-systems and technology. He formerly was president and CEO of IT solutions and services provider Spectrum Systems. SkyWest Airlines promoted Casey Madsen to director-employee relations, Christopher Brown to director-flight operations and Robin Wall to director-training.
Cathay Pacific Airways reported a profit attributable to shareholders of HK$7.02 billion ($901.9 million) in 2007, up 71.8% from the HK$4.08 billion earned in 2006.
American Airlines likely would have gotten credit in the old, pre-global-warming days for operating a nearly empty 777 across the Atlantic to avoid further disrupting the travel plans of a handful of customers. But in today's hyper-climate of environmental concern, the airline is taking some heat for the decision. The Feb. 9 flight from Chicago O'Hare to London Heathrow, revealed in London newspapers yesterday, occurred when the originally scheduled flight was delayed 11 hr. owing to a mechanical failure and most passengers were moved to other flights.
Silvio Berlusconi, head of the Forza Italia party and the favorite to be elected Italy's new prime minister in April, said this week that he opposed Air France KLM's acquisition of Alitalia. The comments, made on domestic television, conflict with those by Lega Nord officials last month. LN is allied to the center-right coalition headed by FI ( ATWOnline, Feb. 20). "On Alitalia I am critical, very critical. I think Italy should not be deprived of its flag carrier," Berlusconi reportedly told Sky TV 24.
Singapore and Portugal concluded an open skies agreement that will become fully effective from the 2010 IATA summer schedule. Singapore now has concluded open skies agreements with 14 EU countries.
SAS yesterday announced the launch of an aggressive environmental strategy aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 2007 levels by 2020. The airline group said it will reach the target, which assumes passenger growth of 4% annually, by "implementing energy enhancements and mixing jet fuel with renewable sources."
Turkish Airlines took delivery of its second converted A310-300F from the EADS EFW facility in Dresden. A third A310-300 will be converted beginning in July.
Continental Airlines paid $209 million for four pairs of slots at London Heathrow, according to a US Securities and Exchange filing cited by several press reports. CO did not identify the seller of the slots. It plans to serve the airport from both Newark and Houston Intercontinental ( ATWOnline, Jan. 18). The Financial Times said GB Airways (two), Air France and Alitalia sold the slots and that CO will pay $116 million for the summer season and an additional $93 million for the next witner schedule.
