Etihad Airways and Virgin Blue announced a comprehensive interline deal that will provide passengers connectivity to 22 Australian cities and from Brisbane and Sydney to Abu Dhabi and beyond to Etihad's 45 international destinations. Deal is effective immediately. Etihad launched daily flights to Sydney in March (becoming 11-times-weekly in March 2008) and thrice-weekly service to Brisbane in September.
Sky West Inc., parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported third-quarter net income of $42.9 million, up 5.4% from a $40.7 million net profit in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue increased 10.6% to $875.6 million while expenses rose 11.2% to $783 million, producing operating income of $92.4 million, up 5.4%.
Transavia.com finalized an order for seven 737NGs valued at $523 million plus three options. The order, which is for -800s but allows for the substitution of other NG models, previously was listed by Boeing as unidentified. The Air France KLM subsidiary said the new 737s will be equipped with blended winglets and replace older aircraft in its fleet. CFMI valued the engine order at $95 million.
Spanair CEO Lars Nygaard "has requested to leave his position with immediate effect," parent SAS Group said yesterday. He plans to "assume a new position outside the SAS Group," it added. Spanair CFO Marcus Hedblom was named new CEO.
Mexico's flag carriers AeroMexico and Mexicana have seen their share of the domestic market decline from 84% to 50% since 2000, Mexicana Chairman Gaston Azcarraga said last week at the ALTA conference in Cancun.
KLM Engineering & Maintenance was contracted by Pegasus Airlines to overhaul five CFM56-7Bs plus two options. KLM E&M will provide two leased engines to the Istanbul-based carrier as part of the deal.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, posted third-quarter net income of $32.4 million, four-and-a-half times more than a net profit of $7.1 million in the year-ago quarter. President and CEO William Flynn said the positive earnings resulted from its ongoing effort to "optimize" its fleet of 32 747-200/-400 freighters and cut costs. He noted that aircraft utilization was up 4.1% to more than 11.4 hr. daily. Cost-cutting and efficiency initiatives provided $15 million in savings for the quarter, he added.
Boeing said Transavia France signed up for five modules of its Maintenance Performance Toolbox--Structures, Systems, Library, Authoring and Tasks--in an effort to streamline maintenance on its 737-800 fleet.
International Aero Engines said its V2500 SelectOne build standard is on target to deliver a 1% reduction in fuel burn plus savings in other areas. The engine upgrade package is undergoing a three-engine test program, and "performance results indicate" it will provide a 20% improvement in time on wing, "reduce miscellaneous shop visits by up to 40% and demonstrate compliance with the most stringent CAEP/6 NOx standards, in addition to the fuel savings." The flying testbed flight plan has been completed with seven flights and approximately 45 flight hr.
China Southern Airlines will become the first mainland Chinese carrier to gain full formal membership in a global alliance when it signs a "Global Airline Alliance Agreement" with SkyTeam on Nov. 15, Vice MD He Zongkai said. CZ signed a letter of intent with SkyTeam in August 2004, followed by a "Global Airline Alliance Adherence Agreement" in June 2006. Nine working experts from SkyTeam members gave CZ its final appraisal earlier this year.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace won three contracts valued at S$232 million ($160 million) from Delta Air Lines. The first will take effect in January and is a two-year heavy maintenance deal on 757-200s with an option to extend it three additional years. The second calls for business class interior modification on 757-200ERs. Work on the 757-200s and 757-200ERs will take place at San Antonio Aerospace. Under the third contract, modifications of 767 IFE systems will begin this month at ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering.
Embraer reported third-quarter net income of $194.9 million, nearly triple net earnings of $67.2 million in the year-ago quarter, as net sales jumped 62.9% to $1.43 billion. The manufacturer delivered 47 jets during the quarter, comprising 38 commercial and nine business aircraft. It delivered 38 jets in the year-ago period. Its firm order backlog reached a record $17.2 billion as of Sept. 30. The company produced 13 jets per month during the quarter and said it aims to build 14 per month by year end. It maintained a delivery forecast of 165-170 for 2007.
El Al Israel Airlines Board Chairman Izzy Borovich attended last week's ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun as the carrier looks to grow its presence in the region. Approximately 150,000 Israelis visit Latin America each year, Borovich told ATWOnline. Although El Al does not have plans to offer direct service to take advantage of this market, he envisions creating bilateral codesharing partnerships to serve the region via European gateways.
International Lease Finance Corp. is talking to Airbus about a 30-ft. stretch of the A380 for entry into service in 10-12 years, ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy told ATWOnline on the sidelines of the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun last week. In addition to boosting passenger capacity, the stretch would expand the space available for belly cargo on passenger flights. Cargo capacity on the A380-800 that entered service with Singapore Airlines last month is "dismal," Hazy said, because baggage takes up so much space. He also said that the 787-9 is around 14,000 lb.
TAM's third-quarter net income plunged 77.2% to BRL48.5 million ($27.8 million) from BRL212.7 million in the year-ago quarter as it contended with rising costs and flat revenue in the aftermath of July's fatal A320 accident at Sao Paulo Congonhas.
Bolstered by the rising value of the Canadian dollar and helped by decreasing unit costs, Air Canada reported third-quarter net income of C$244 million ($262.4 million), a more than sixfold jump over C$44 million posted in the year-ago period.
Mexicana and Amadeus announced Friday that the airline signed a preliminary agreement to adopt the full Altea Customer Management Solution to manage its reservations, inventory and departure control. Mexicana CIO Santiago Ontanon pegged the value of the investment at around $40-$50 million out of $100 million the airline has committed to invest in IT systems over five years. He told ATWOnline at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum that the carrier began its search for a new reservations system around the time it was privatized in 2005.
ABX Air declared Friday that DHL is "in default" of its contracts with the Ohio-based airline that transports cargo throughout the US for the express giant. ABX has both an ACMI and a hub and line-haul service agreement with DHL under which the latter reimburses the former for many of the expenses incurred while conducting DHL business.
Singapore Airlines and parent Temasek said Friday that they have signed a definitive agreement to buy 15.73% and 8.27% stakes respectively in China Eastern Airlines, nearly finalizing a deal that was announced in September.
SAS Group's third-quarter net income from continuing operations fell 12.6% to SEK472 million ($74.8 million) from SEK540 million in the year-ago period as it suffered a SEK200 million loss during the three months ended Sept. 30 owing to two Q400 landing gear incidents and subsequent groundings.
Singapore Airlines is the first customer for A380 Flight Hour Services, a new Airbus support package to provide airlines with "enhanced maintenance and logistics support for spare parts and services for their A380s." The agreement signed with SIA is for an initial 10-year period and covers Airbus LRU spare parts and services for avionics, cabin and integrated modular avionics systems on all the A380s SIA will operate.
Latin American airlines need to acquire 239 new aircraft above and beyond what they currently have on order between 2008 and 2012, or around 48 new aircraft per year, International Lease Finance Corp. Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy said yesterday at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun. Nearly two-thirds of the requirement falls in the narrowbody category, with ILFC estimating demand for 88 A320 family jets and 67 737NGs.
Malaysia Airlines signed an MOU with ATR for 10 ATR 72-500s to be delivered in 2009 and 2010 with options for five additional 72-500s. The agreement is valued at $285 million including options. The 72-500s, configured with 68 seats, will be operated by wholly owned subsidiary MASWings. They will be used to expand service in the states of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia. MASWings commenced operations in East Malaysia on Oct. 1 and currently operates four F50s and four Twin Otters. "The new aircraft will enable MASWings to expand its capacity by 150%," CEO Tengku Azmil Zahruddin said.
