Australia's Regional Express Holdings reported a net profit of A$24.3 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, up 3% from the prior year. Fourth-quarter profit climbed 31.7% year-over-year to A$8.3 million despite the fact that Rex is entirely unhedged. Executive Chairman Lim Kim Hai said 2008-09 earnings should "remain at relatively the same levels" assuming the price of fuel and the US dollar are static. Rex operates 38 Saab 340s to 23 Australian destinations.
Aegean Airlines reported a net profit of €5.5 million ($8.1 million) for the first half of 2008, down 13% from the €6.4 million it earned in the year-ago semester. Revenue rose 26% to €262.7 million on a 13% increase in passengers to 2.6 million, comprising an 8% growth in domestic enplanements and a 24% gain internationally. EBIT fell 42% to €6 million.
Air Canada and Jazz flew a combined 5.02 billion RPMs in July, down 0.6% year-over-year, against a 2% fall in capacity to 6.05 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.2 points to 83%.
Air China's first-half net income fell 20.7% to CNY1.24 billion ($180.8 million) on surging oil prices and softening traffic resulting from May's Sichuan earthquake and heightened security surrounding the recently completed Olympics. The company reported an operating loss of CNY336 million, a significant reversal from the CNY1.37 billion earned in the year-ago semester. The carrier remained in the black thanks to currency gains of CNY1.92 billion as the stronger yuan reduced the value of its US dollar-dominated debt.
Bahrain Air signed a letter of intent for the acquisition of up to six A320s. It said the order would increase its fleet to 11 aircraft upon delivery. Dates were not announced. The privately held carrier currently serves 10 destinations.
Air New Zealand blamed a NZ$300 million hike in fuel expenses for a 1% decline in profit for the fiscal year ended June 30 to NZ$218 million ($154 million) from the NZ$221 million reported in the prior year. The year-over-year profit drop was a more significant 24% to a normalized NZ$197 million compared to last year's normalized NZ$259 million. Normalized earnings exclude net gains and losses on nonhedge-accounted and ineffective derivatives in other financial periods.
Virgin Atlantic yesterday reported a net profit for the year ended Feb. 29 of £47.7 million ($88.2 million), up from £6.6 million the previous year, citing a surge in business travelers at Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Eurowings majority owner Albrecht Knauf, which holds 51% of the German carrier that is part of Lufthansa's regional system ( ATWOnline, March 7), plans to sell its shares to LH, according to several domestic press reports. Knauf reportedly wants to complete the transaction by October.
Ryanair yesterday dismissed reports that the oxygen masks onboard one of its 737-800s malfunctioned late Monday night when the aircraft suffered a sudden inflight depressurization on its way from Bristol to Girona and diverted to Limoges. "Ryanair's engineers have inspected the aircraft overnight and have confirmed that the oxygen masks which deployed were working properly," the LCC said, adding it would not comment further while the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Air France KLM, Air China and Turkish Airlines joined Lufthansa and S7 Airlines in expressing interest in purchasing state holding company OIAG's 42.75% share of Austrian Airlines, according to press reports ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it will cut 196 daily flights while adding just six when it launches its winter schedule on Jan. 11, a more than 5% reduction from its current schedule. The carrier cited traditionally lower demand and poor weather during winter months as well as a slow economy and high fuel costs. It said some flights potentially could be added back to the schedule in the spring.
Delta Air Lines said this week it has "borrowed" its $1 billion revolving credit facility, which was made available to the carrier when it emerged from bankruptcy last year. It also extended its Visa/MasterCard processing agreement through the end of 2011. President and CFO Ed Bastian told employees in a memorandum that the moves will "strengthen Delta's financial position" and help smooth its planned merger with Northwest Airlines. He said DL had $3.7 billion in cash on hand at the end of July and "will have more than sufficient [liquidity]. .
Spanish investigators are focusing on whether the Spanair MD-82 that crashed last week had reached adequate speed for takeoff and whether its flaps operated properly.
Etihad Airways yesterday signed a firm contract for the purchase of 25 A350 XWBs, 20 A320s and 10 A380s. Order was announced at the Farnborough Airshow ( ATWOnline, July 15).
Grupo Marsans' planned sale of Aerolineas Argentinas and its Austral subsidiary to the Argentine government ( ATWOnline, July 18) moved forward after the lower house of the national congress, the Chamber of Deputies, approved the renationalization last week. AR was privatized in 1991 and reportedly is carrying debt of around $900 million. The Chamber of Deputies approved the measure by a 167-79 vote, according to press reports.
S7 Airlines flew 8.48 billion RPKs through the first seven months of 2008, up 18.1% from the year-ago period. Passenger numbers rose 20% to 3.5 million and load factor slipped 0.2 point to 79.2%.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told employees Friday that while DL supports the proposed transatlantic joint venture among American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia "in principle," it will advocate that "AA and BA need to give up enough slots and gates so that everybody has unfettered access to Heathrow." The employee hotline message was cited by The Dallas Morning News. BA CEO Willie Walsh has gone on record saying that carrier will refuse to surrender slots at LHR.
Transavia.com flight schedule will operate normally today after a judge prohibited the carrier's pilots from striking and ordered management and Dutch pilots union VNV to continue negotiations to solve their pay dispute. VNV had called for industrial action between 2 a.m. and 5 p.m. today, which would have led to the cancellation of some 70 flights affecting more than 20,000 passengers. Separately, the Amsterdam-based LCC will abandon its twice-daily Rotterdam-Paris Orly service on Sept. 27.
Lufthansa, which has been considered the prohibitive favorite to become Austrian Airlines' strategic investor and savior, was the only carrier to confirm its participation in Austrian's privatization, although other airlines are thought to have registered their interest before Sunday's deadline. Austrian state holding company OIAG had given prospective investors until Sunday to declare their intentions to bid for its 42.75% stake, and possibly more. An LH spokesperson told Bloomberg News yesterday that the German company "have expressed our interest,"
Air Pacific carried more than 100,000 passengers in one month for the first time in July. Load factor was 72%. It flies to 18 destinations in 12 countries and last week launched its second-weekly Nadi-Funafuti flight, via Suva. Separately, it announced the promotion of Manager-Regulatory Affairs Jona Sevura to manager-government and industry affairs.
US FAA said it received a score of 91 out of 100 in a new ICAO audit conducted under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program. It said average score is 56.
TAM Cargo yesterday opened a new 2,160-sq.-m. airfreight terminal in Manaus with 80 tons of storage capacity. The facility has exclusive areas for different types of cargo and cold storage for perishables, TAM said. "The new terminal can handle nearly 35% more freight than its predecessor in addition to allowing for expansion in coming years depending on market demand," according to the airline.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. last week entered into an agreement with Merrill Lynch to sell up to $300 million in common stock "from time to time" through transactions "made by means of ordinary brokers' transaction on the New York Stock Exchange at market prices," it said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. AMR's capitalization was approximately $2.6 billion at Friday's closing.
CSA Czech Airlines may be put up for privatization before year end, Finance Ministry official Tomas Uvira told Reuters. "This may be one of the last chances to sell CSA, as the market situation could be much worse in coming years," he said, adding that an adviser should be secured next month ( ATWOnline, April 7). The Czech government holds 91.5% of the carrier.
Midwest Airlines has fallen behind on payments to General Mitchell Airport, owing some $1.1 million in gate fees, an airport spokesperson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It is the latest in series of downward turns for the financially beleaguered carrier that recently announced it would cut its workforce by 40% and ground its MD-80 fleet by September ( ATWOnline, July 22). Midwest pays an estimated $700,000 each month in gate fees, according to an airport official.
