Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 6.87 billion RPKs in September, a 4.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 14.2% to 9.5 billion ASKs and load factor fell 6.7 points to 72.3%. Air Canada and Jazz flew a combined 4.26 billion RPMs in September, down 5% year-over-year. Capacity fell 6.4% to 5.33 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.2 points to 79.9%. AirTran Airways flew 1.23 billion RPMs in September, down 2% year-over-year, against a 9.7% fall in capacity to 1.66 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 5.9 points to 74.4%.
Primaris Airlines, a Las Vegas-based charter carrier, sold 75% of its preferred and outstanding stock to CorpoPetrol Global Energy Development and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to allow CorpoPetrol to finalize the financing. Primaris operates 757-200s.
Continental Airlines yesterday reported a third-quarter net loss of $236 million, reversed from a $241 million profit in the year-ago period, and announced that it has pushed back delivery of 18 aircraft scheduled to arrive over the next two years. Two 777s will be delivered in 2010 instead of 2009 and 16 737NGs slated for 2009-10 have been deferred to 2011 and beyond with no new schedule set. CO still is scheduled to take delivery of 14 737NGs next year, though executives concede that the Boeing machinists strike could push some of those back as well.
S7 Airlines, Air Berlin and Niki announced a codeshare agreement yesterday in Moscow and promised that "all three airlines intend to deepen their relationship in other areas in the future." The agreement initially covers flights from Moscow Domodedovo to Frankfurt, Hannover (both operated by S7), Dusseldorf, Munich (both operated by S7 and AB) and Vienna (operated by Niki). The airlines "plan to offer unrestricted sales of tickets for each others' flights" and passengers will have access to all three networks with one ticket. Talks among the trio began five months ago.
Chinese airlines showed a slight recovery last month as the "golden week" travel period starting Sept. 29 helped boost passenger traffic that had been declining since May. According to CAAC, passenger boardings rose 0.7% year-over-year to 16.4 million while cargo traffic plummeted 8.8% to 360,000 tonnes. In contrast with the overall growth, China Southern Airlines continued to suffer from declining market demand last month as passenger boardings fell 1.1% to 5 million with a 2.4-point decrease in load factor to 67.1%.
Turkish Airlines A320 on the way from Antalya to St. Petersburg landed safely after a passenger who handed a note to a flight attendant claiming he had a bomb was subdued by fellow passengers. The passenger, an Uzbek or Russian national, according to varying press reports, demanded access to the cockpit but was "pacified," said Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim.
Jet Airways, India's largest airline by market share, announced yesterday that it will lay off 1,900 employees across all levels. The news, which sent ripples through the domestic airline industry, came two days after Jet sealed a surprising partnership with former rival Kingfisher Airlines ( ATWOnline, Oct. 15).
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. posted a $45 million third-quarter net profit, a result skewed by the sale of American Beacon Advisors, which netted the company a $432 million gain in the quarter.
American Airlines placed a firm order for 42 787-9s valued at more than $8 billion with first delivery scheduled for September 2012, a move it said signals its continued focus on the future even as it navigates current economic difficulties. AA also has options for 58 more Dreamliners. The order is contingent upon reaching an agreement with its pilots that would allow the carrier to operate 787s. A provision in the purchase agreement with Boeing forces AA to "reconfirm" its order 18 months before each scheduled delivery.
Delta Air Lines reported a third-quarter net loss of $50 million, reversed from net income of $220 million in the year-ago period, a result CEO Richard Anderson referred to as "a modest loss considering costs related to fuel prices.
S7 Airlines, Air Berlin and Niki are expected to announce a strategic cooperation today in Moscow, a source close to the deal told ATWOnline in the Russian capital.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.29 billion RPMs in September, down 10.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 11.1% to 1.69 billion ASMs, raising load factor 0.5 point to 76.5%.
Re-launched negotiations aimed at settling the five-week-old International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers strike at Boeing broke down without any indications of progress.
Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways are emphasizing that their newly formed "alliance" is not a merger or a precursor to one but was necessary to "enable a stabilization of the Indian aviation industry in the larger public interest."
Bmi announced the promotion of Interim Commercial Director Martyn Bridger to commercial and service director and Interim Marketing Director Katherine Gershon to sales and marketing director.
Turkish Airlines moved forward with its fleet renewal, announcing yesterday its intention to place an order for 25 widebody and 50 single-aisle aircraft plus 10 widebody and 10 narrowbody options.
Ryanair said it "may" decide to close its Valencia base Friday over a dispute with the regional government, which the LCC claimed "has opted to support other airlines who have not provided a fraction of the growth which Ryanair has to the airport" and has failed to reply to its "proposal on how to ensure the continued growth" at VLC. It set Friday as a deadline for that response. No further details were provided.
Air Berlin confirmed that it is discussing a possible merger with TUIfly, whose effort to combine with Condor and Germanwings was scuttled when Condor parent Thomas Cook withdrew last month ( ATWOnline, Sept. 30). "There are talks, but no results," an AB spokesperson told Bloomberg News.
Jazeera Airways has partnered with NBK Capital and DVB Bank to launch a Kuwait-based aircraft lessor called Sahaab Aircraft Leasing, the companies announced yesterday. Sahaab has been capitalized at $375 million and plans to order 40-50 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus next year, according to press reports. Jazeera CEO Marwan Boodai told Reuters that the low-fare airline will be Sahaab's first customer and that "the Gulf offers plenty of growth opportunities. Cash is here."
Malaysia Airlines is postponing its decision on its long-haul fleet renewal owing to current market conditions, CEO and MD Idris Jala told ATWOnline at the World Route Development Forum in Kuala Lumpur. "It is clear that we will delay the process to look at a widebody aircraft order. We are not in a hurry," he said. MAS had anticipated analyzing future widebody requirements in the current quarter to complement its spring commitment for 35 737-800s plus 20 options ( ATWOnline, April 1).
SkyWorks Leasing entered a comprehensive aircraft management and remarketing agreement with Philip Morris Capital Corp. covering the latter's entire portfolio of 119 aircraft currently on lease to US carriers. Deal includes asset management services such as technical management and supervision, future dispositions, sales and re-leases. Terms were not disclosed.
China Eastern Airlines expects to report a significant loss for the first nine months of 2008 owing to the sharp decline in domestic market conditions and a CNY720-per-ton increase in third-quarter jet fuel prices. CEA posted a CNY212.5 million ($31 million) net loss in the 2008 first half and said it will deepen due to a "decline in domestic demand starting from the third quarter" that it said will continue for the time being as a result of the global economic slowdown.
Thales Training and Simulation and A J Walter Aviation added the A330 to a flight simulator support program under an agreement announced last week. Program also covers the A320 and 777 and includes maintenance and spare parts for instruments and avionics.
AirAsia X hopes to announce its first UK service from its base at Kuala Lumpur International's low-cost-carrier terminal next month and commence the route in March, CEO Azran Osman Rani told ATWOnline at the Routes Leaders Forum in the Malaysian capital.
