El Al will purchase four new 737-800s, one of which will be delivered next year with the remainder arriving in 2009, according to a statement from the carrier cited by Reuters. El Al yesterday confirmed to ATWOnline that it will acquire the four aircraft, but it was unclear whether it is a new order or a confirmation of previously placed options or purchase rights. Separately, El Al and American Airlines applied to US and Israeli authorities to begin codesharing. El Al and AA passengers will have access to Israel from 28 North American destinations, up from the current five.
Emirates said it raised $297 million to finance the acquisition of two 777s through a lease arranged by Doric Asset Finance & Verwaltungs. Transactions covering a 777-200LR delivered last month and a -300ER scheduled to arrive this month involve 10-year operating leases with extension options. Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale and Dr. Peters Group also were involved in the arrangement.
Asia's largest and most successful low-cost airline appears set to become the largest A320 operator in the world as well. AirAsia yesterday placed an order for 25 firm A320s plus 25 options, bringing the commitment of the group (Malaysia AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia) to 175 firm aircraft and 50 options. The contract was signed at the Langkawi Airshow by AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes and Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy.
Alitalia board is scheduled to meet today to review offers for the 49.9% stake that the government wants to sell. The embattled carrier last week delayed the deadline for nonbinding offers by one week to today and committed to "immediately" announcing the number of proposals received and the identities of the bidders ( ATWOnline, Nov. 3). Air One, Air France KLM and Lufthansa often are named as candidates, though the latter two had not confirmed publicly their intent to submit an offer as of yesterday.
Thales will provide avionics and IFE systems for AirAsia X's forthcoming fleet of 15 new A330-300s. Systems include the FMS, T2CAS Terrain and Traffic Collision Avoidance System and Mode S. Contract covers 15 years of after-sales repair and maintenance support through Thales Repair by-the-hour and Turn Key Maintenance packages.
Indian government will sell off up to 15% of Air India in the second half of next year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said this week, according to widespread press reports from New Delhi. Patel said the merged AI "certainly needs an infusion of equity to fund current acquisition needs and future growth. . .Its equity structure is very, very small." The company currently has an equity base of INR1.45 billion ($36.8 million), according to reports.
US National Transportation Safety Board recommended that FAA require installation of fire suppression systems in all cargo aircraft operating under Part 121 following its investigation into a fire that destroyed a UPS DC-8 in February 2006 in Philadelphia. Fire started "from an unknown source within one of the containers in the main cargo compartment," NTSB said, concluding "that the threat from cargo fires could be mitigated by the installation of fire suppression systems."
Delta Air Lines flew 9.36 billion system RPMs in November, up 5% from the year-ago month, against a 5.6% increase in capacity to 12.15 billion ASMs. Load factor fell 0.4 point to 77.1%. DL said unit revenue "increased modestly" year-over-year, with "strong improvements" in international operations. Northwest Airlines flew 6.13 billion consolidated RPMs in November, down 0.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.1% to 7.43 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.7 point to 82.4%.
American Airlines flew 11.15 billion system RPMs in November, a 4.1% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.2% to 13.72 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.5 points to 81.2%. American Eagle flew 723.6 million RPMs, down 0.9%, against a 1% increase in ASMs to 1 billion. Load factor fell 1.4 points to 72.1%. United Airlines flew 9.01 billion system RPMs in November, down 1.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.3% to 11.31 billion ASMs and load factor dipped 0.1 point to 79.6%.
US airlines yesterday warned of rising fuel costs and a slowing US economy, with Continental Airlines and Southwest Airlines reducing planned 2008 capacity growth and Delta Air Lines projecting that it could post an operating loss in the fourth quarter.
Turkish Ministry of Transport will impose stricter controls on civil aviation in response to the Atlasjet MD-83 crash that killed all 57 onboard last Friday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 4). The ministry will perform checks of all aircraft operated by private airlines in the country, as well as checks of training standards, Turkish media reported. In addition, authorities intend to reduce flights to destinations on which carriers suffer from low load factors, especially on routes to smaller cities in the provinces.
China Eastern Airlines shareholders conference that will decide the fate of the Singapore Airlines stake purchase is drawing near ( ATWOnline, Nov. 28), and Air China parent China National Aviation Corp. again has raised its stake in CEA. CNAC upped its share to 12.07% from 11.02% by purchasing its 4.278 million H shares, according to data released yesterday by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Malaysia Airlines ordered 20 ATR 72-500s for its wholly owned subsidiaries Firefly and MASwings. Each carrier will receive 10 aircraft, with 10 options earmarked for Firefly and five for MASwings. The deal excluding options is valued at $650 million. Firefly will take delivery of its first aircraft next year, while the first for MASwings will arrive in 2009.
South African Civil Aviation Authority announced the resignation of CEO Zakes Myeza. It said he resigned following a ruling by Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe that the CEO and Commissioner for Civil Aviation positions be merged. SACAA board "reluctantly accepted" the resignation, it said, adding that the move was unrelated to the current crisis involving Nationwide Airlines ( ATWOnline, Dec.
Boeing announced yesterday that Indonesia's Lion Air is the customer for 22 previously unidentified 737-900ERs. An order was placed on May 25 for 62 737-900ERs, with 40 confirmed at the Paris Air Show ( ATWOnline, June 19) and the balance confirmed yesterday.
Jordanian government launched an IPO of 71% of Royal Jordanian's issued share capital, the Arab Air Carriers Organization said. In October, RJ President and CEO Samer Majali confirmed to this website that privatization of the carrier would proceed as scheduled this month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25). Offer price is set at JOD2.75-JOD3.40 ($3.86-$4.77) per share.
Speaking last week on the occasion of the launch of Swiss International Air Lines' new daily service to Delhi, CEO Christoph Franz said his carrier's acquisition by Lufthansa not only will continue to benefit Swiss but should serve as a model as the industry continues down the road to consolidation.
Claiming it is on the verge of a "quantum leap" forward, Turkish Airlines yesterday reported a third-quarter profit of TRY104.9 million ($88.3 million), up 16.2% from the TRY90.3 million posted in the year-ago period. The profit will leave THY well-positioned as it plans to boost its fleet by 20%, taking delivery of seven A320-200s, five A321-200s and eight 737-800s through 2008.
Atlasjet MD-83 accident investigation was joined this week by Boeing and Pratt & Whitney officials who traveled to Turkey and inspected the crash site. There has been no initial discovery of technical problems on the MD-83, which was on wet-lease from World Focus Airlines, and no explanation yielded from tower recordings that reveal the pilots believed they were headed for a routine landing at Isparta Airport, according to Turkish officials ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3).
Qatar Airways will phase out its four A340-600s earlier then scheduled as it takes deliveries of its new 777s, CEO Akbar Al Baker said last week in Seattle as the carrier took its first 777-300ER. He also confirmed that QR will not exercise its six A340-600 options. It took its first -600 in September 2006. Separately, QR will establish a leasing company called Oryx Leasing that will aim to place the carrier's older aircraft. It will start by the middle of next year with six A300-600s and eventually will handle the A340-600s.
An Atlasjet Airlines MD-83 outbound from Istanbul crashed early Friday morning during its approach to Isparta Airport in southern Turkey, killing all 57 passengers and crew onboard. The crash site was located in mountainous terrain approximately 7 mi. from Isparta. The aircraft, which was wet-leased from World Focus Airlines, departed IST at 12:50 a.m., 90 min. late owing to its late arrival inbound from Pristina, according to Atlasjet. The crash occurred about 45 min. after takeoff. Published reports described weather as clear and moonlit.
Ryanair said Friday it filed its fifth lawsuit in recent weeks in the European Court of First Instance against the European Commission, this time alleging it failed to investigate illegal state aid to Alitalia. According to the LCC, AZ's subsidies included a split-up of the company's assets and operations and an uneven allocation of debt, resulting in a €1.7 billion ($2.51 billion) debt write-off. Ryanair said it called on the EC to investigate this "blatant abuse" of EU competition rules more than two years ago but the EC has failed to do so.
A profitable fourth quarter helped SkyEurope Airlines narrow its full-fiscal-year loss to €24.1 million ($35.6 million) from the €57.3 million suffered in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2006. Full-year revenue rose 27.4% to €236.2 million against just a 4.2% lift in expenses to €226.6 million. Fuel costs actually declined 5.2% even in the face of a capacity increase thanks to a fuel hedge that expired in August and a weak US dollar, the carrier said. Operating loss improved to €20.9 million from €55.5 million in the 2005-06 fiscal year.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp.'s announcement that it plans to divest subsidiary American Eagle was not enough to reassure shareholder FL Group, which said Friday that it lowered its stake in AMR to 1.1% from 9.1%.
Precision Conversions will provide Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management with a 15-pallet-position 757-200PCF. Following modification next year at the Flightstar facility in Jacksonville, CargoJet will operate the Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft under a lease from BBAM.
