Ryanair lodged yet another case in the European Court of First Instance against the European Commission for failing to act on the LCC's complaint about illegal state aid to Volare, a subsidiary of Alitalia. Ryanair claims the aid consisted of the writeoff of around €20 million in debts owed by Volare to Italian airports and reductions in airport charges and fuel costs in favor of the airline. Ryanair said it initially called on the EC to investigate the allegations two years ago.
Goodrich signed a 12-year agreement with LAN Airlines to provide MRO and asset management solutions for its fleet of V2500-A5-powered A319s and A320s. Goodrich's Alabama Service Center will refurbish thrust reversers and provide as-needed services for inlets and fan cowls. Goodrich also will supply on-site spares.
Etihad Airways will launch four-times-weekly Abu Dhabi-Beijing flights on March 30 aboard a two-class, 262-seat A330-200. It is EY's first Chinese service and its eighth to the Asia/Pacific, where it already serves Brisbane, Sydney, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok. Flights to Beijing will depart Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Aircraft also will have 11 tonnes of cargo capacity.
SITA Passenger and Travel Solutions and S7 Airlines launched online calendar booking this week via SITA Airfare Shop. S7 said it is the first Russian carrier to display all fares across multiple days and offer calendar-based booking for all domestic and international flights. It currently sells 6.3% of its tickets on its website and expects "further significant growth in 2008."
Rolls-Royce Trent 700s will power six A330 freighters owned by Aircastle. Deliveries are scheduled for 2010-11. Separately, Rolls signed a TotalCare services agreement with Singapore Airlines covering the Trent 900s on SIA's A380s. SIA selected the engine for its initial 10 aircraft. Deal runs to 2021 and work will be conducted at Singapore Aero Engine Services.
ANA will pay cash for at least 20% of its order for 50 787s, or at least ¥140 billion ($1.3 billion), from the proceeds realized from its hotel sales ( ATWOnline, April 16), Senior VP-Finance and Accounting Eiji Kanazawa told Bloomberg News. It also will sell bonds and use loans backed by Japan Bank for International Cooperation. "We're not going back to the days of more than ¥1 trillion in debt," Kanazawa told Bloomberg.
Flybe released select financial data for the fiscal year ended March 31, including a pre-tax profit figure of £4.7 million ($9.7 million) that represents a reversal from the £12.2 million loss suffered in the previous year.
AmSafe said FedEx Express now is using the AcuTemp RKN container, which employs compressor technology rather than dry ice to maintain temperature, for appropriate shipping services.
Hawaiian Airlines yesterday announced the choice of Airbus aircraft for its widebody fleet renewal, saying it will replace its 18 767-300s and -300ERs with up to 24 new planes comprising six firm A330-200s and six firm A350 XWB-800s plus six purchase rights for each type.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. said yesterday it plans to divest regional subsidiary American Eagle next year, a move that comes after prominent shareholders urged the company to consider selling off noncore units to stem the slide of its stock price. Eagle is one of the industry's largest regionals with 2006 revenues of $1.91 billion and an operating profit of $185.9 million, according to data filed with the US Dept. of Transportation. AMR projects 2007 revenues for the unit of around $2.3 billion.
El Al yesterday released details of its third-quarter financial performance, confirming that net profit soared to $41.2 million from the $1.4 million earned in a year-ago period marked by conflict in Israel and Lebanon ( ATWOnline, Nov. 22). Revenue climbed 27% to $567 million and operating profit surged to $63.8 million from $8.5 million in the third quarter of 2006. Fuel costs were up $6 million, but the carrier said it saved $5.1 million through its hedging program.
Alteon Training and Lufthansa Technical Training announced an alliance they said "will optimize the organizations' training capacity for airline maintenance personnel around the world." Cooperation will start with joint maintenance training courses for 737NGs, 777s and 747-400s.
AirAsia's MYR180 million ($53.6 million) profit in its first fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30 represented a huge improvement over the MYR70 million reported in the year-ago period and, according to CEO Tony Fernandes, "shows the maturity of our marketing strategy whereby we are able to turn the traditionally weakest quarter and deliver strong results."
United Airlines expects a decision next week on a proposal presented to lenders yesterday under which it would pay down $350 million of the term loan on its existing credit agreement and "get the flexibility to implement up to $500 million of shareholder initiatives." The proposed amendment also would allow for future term loan pre-payments. UA said it has reduced its total net debt by $2.7 billion in the past 20 months, including $1.6 billion this year.
Zurich Airport named Thomas Kern CEO effective Jan 15, replacing Josef Felderer. CFO Beat Spalinger will leave the company in April and will be succeeded by controlling, treasury and investor relations head Daniel Schmucki.
Air India board this week signed off on a loss of INR4.48 billion ($112.5 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, a result reversed from a INR149.4 million profit in the prior year, according to widespread press reports from India. Revenue climbed 2.8% year-over-year to INR95.9 billion and the carrier struggled to fend off low-fare competition as its fuel bill rose a reported INR3.86 billion, or nearly 13%, and it was forced to pay INR4.25 billion in wage arrears. Dow Jones reported that Indian Airlines, which has merged with Air India under the National Aviation Co. of India Ltd.
China Eastern Airlines is targeting a shareholders meeting on Jan. 8 to secure approval for the sale of a 24% stake to Singapore Airlines and parent Temasek and soon will launch a road show to gather support for the deal in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Singapore. CEA this month signed a definitive agreement to sell 15.73% and 8.27% stakes to SIA and Temasek respectively and agreed to nominate SIA Chairman Stephen Lee and CEO Chew Choon Seng to the CEA board ( ATWOnline, Nov. 15).
Qantas will pay a $61 million fine to settle with US authorities investigating the carrier's role in a widespread price-fixing scheme related to fuel surcharges on international cargo flights, CEO Geoff Dixon announced late yesterday.
The British Airways and TPG-led consortium yesterday confirmed that it formally withdrew its interest in bidding for Iberia because a bid under friendly terms no longer was possible. The decision follows last week's announcement by Caja Madrid, which holds a stake in IB similar in size to BA's, that it wanted to increase its shareholding from just under 10% to 23% and that BBVA and Logista, holding 7.3% and 6.7% respectively, intended to sell their shares to CM ( ATWOnline, Nov. 27).
Thai Airways suffered a 29.5% decline in profit in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30 to THB6.34 billion ($201.7 million), according to press reports from Bangkok that cited weak aircraft sales and unfavorable foreign currency fluctuations for the result. Sales climbed 7.5% to THB192.03 billion, but foreign currency gains plunged 80.6% to THB1.2 billion and the THB500 million earned from the sale of three aircraft compared to THB2 billion it made from disposal of four freighters in the 2005-06 fiscal year, Thomson Financial reported.
Bombardier opened a new spare parts depot near Tokyo Narita to support operators of its CRJ and Q-series aircraft ( ATWOnline, Nov. 14). The 4,000-sq.-ft. facility will be operated by Schenker-Seino and will be stocked with approximately 2,300 regional aircraft line items.
Air France KLM Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta credited the airlines' "strong" long-haul network and "ongoing group-wide efforts to contain costs" in the face of rising oil prices for a robust profit of €736 million ($1.09 billion) in the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, up 96.8% from the €374 million reported in the year-ago period.
