Italian government authorized Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti to organize the sale of its 49.9% stake in Alitalia, with Intesa Sanpaolo serving as adviser.
Iberia decided to withdraw its bid for Spanair last week, shortly after telling reporters at its annual shareholders meeting that it had decided to "consider what the future of our offer is within this new market environment" ( ATWOnline, May 30), Reuters reported. It then submitted a stock exchange filing indicating it would withdraw the bid. Spanair parent SAS Group did not comment.
AirTran Airways will defer the delivery of 18 737-700s from 2009-11 to 2013-14, it announced Friday. President and CEO Bob Farnaro said the deferment will "accomplish a substantial portion" of the carrier's previously announced plan to reduce 2008-09 growth from 10% to "no more than flat" ( ATWOnline, April 23). It currently operates 54 -700s and 87 717-200s.
Turkish Airlines reported a first-quarter net profit of $104 million, which it said represented a 260% increase over the year-ago result. Revenue rose 33% to $910 million and operating profit was up 1% to $84 million. THY did not offer details on the reason for the surge in net result. Passenger numbers increased 16% year-over-year to 4.5 million, with 76% of scheduled revenue coming from international traffic. RPKs climbed 15% against a 10% increase in ASKs, lifting load factor 3 points to 70%.
While United Airlines and US Airways both reiterated that they are strong believers in consolidation, the two carriers announced on Friday that they will not enter into a merger "at this time."
Swiss International Air Lines named Peter Spring CCO of its Edelweiss Air subsidiary effective Aug. 1. BAA and Ferrovial named Stephen Peat MD of its new airports division with responsibility for running six of BAA's seven UK airports (excluding London Heathrow). He currently is director-operations for Ferrovial subsidiary Amey's Tube Lines consortium.
JetBlue Airways increased the offering size of its 5.5% convertible debentures due 2038 to $175 million from the $160 million announced earlier last week ( ATWOline, May 29). Sale of the two series of debentures worth $87.5 million each is expected to close Wednesday.
A TACA A320-200 overran the runway at Tegucigalpa's Toncontin International Friday morning, crashing into a street and buckling and cracking as it collided with a billboard, an embankment and several cars, according to published photos and reports. A pilot, two passengers and a motorist reportedly died and 81 people were injured, according to the Associated Press. The carrier confirmed the incident on its website but did not report the deaths. It said there were 124 passengers onboard.
Frontier Airlines lost $16.5 million in its first three weeks of bankruptcy to April 30, it reported in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Revenue of $69.1 million was offset by expenses of $81.4 million, resulting in an operating loss of $12.3 million. Frontier also announced an agreement with First Data Corp., the credit card processor whose decision to increase customer receipt holdback drove the Denver-based carrier into bankruptcy ( ATWOnline, April 14).
Unable to secure critical funds from UAE-based investment group Viceroy Holdings, all-business-class carrier Silverjet shut down Friday, following Eos Airlines and MAXjet Airways into the history books.
US and Kenya announced an open skies agreement in Washington Friday. Deal is effective immediately and allows US carriers to fly to another African country from Kenya after three years. Kenya is the US's 20th open skies partner in Africa.
Oman Air transported 445,923 passengers in the first quarter, a 49.9% increase from the year-ago period. It said it lost money during the quarter "because of the foremost expansion programs to make the airline competitive."
CAE won orders for full-flight simulators and related Simfinity training devices valued at more than C$56 million ($56.6 million) from Aeroflot, Ansett Aviation Training, Skymark Airlines and a JV company that owns 50% of CAE's training center in Bangalore. SU purchased a CAE 5000 Series A320 FFS slated for delivery to its Moscow facility this year, while Skymark ordered a CAE 7000 Series 737-800 FFS for 2009 delivery. AAT committed to a CAE 7000 Series A320 FFS.
JOACHIM BUSE BELIEVES good procurement is a consummate balancing act--trying to drive the lowest possible cost without letting that cost cripple contenders. "It's our job to reduce costs and be aggressive pricewise," says Lufthansa Passenger Airline's corporate procurement VP. But in the end analysis suppliers have got to make a decent living.
THERE IS MAGIC IN THE AIR AT SOUTH KOREA'S ASIANA Airlines. Whether it is flight attendants trained to entertain passengers with sleight-of-hand tricks or the industry-leading reliability of its aircraft and engines, the magic is working. But everything has not always worked like magic for Asiana, which turned 20 in February.
Aer Lingus appointed Greg O'Sullivan group company secretary succeeding Laurence Gourley, who becomes head-legal affairs. AJ Walter promoted Conrad Vanderluis to MRO director. Alaska Air Group elected Joe Sprague VP-Alaska Air Cargo and Ann Ardizzone VP-inflight services, Alaska Airlines. Aviareto elevated Rob Cowan to MD. AWAS welcomed J.T. Foo as VP-sales-Asia/Pacific. Billund Airport named Jesper Klausholm marketing mgr. Blue Sky Network tapped Carlton van Putten as senior VP-sales & marketing.
Robust demand and a 10% increase in its average fare helped AirAsia avoid the pitfalls plaguing most of the industry during the first quarter as the Malaysian LCC reported a MYR161.3 million ($49.7 million) net profit that represented an 86% improvement over the MYR86.9 million profit earned in the year-ago quarter.
Mesa Air Group yesterday won a preliminary injunction in US District Court when a judge blocked Delta Air Lines from terminating its contract with Mesa subsidiary Freedom Airlines, which operates 34 ERJ-145s for Delta Connection. Delta notified Mesa in late March that it would end the service agreement, claiming that Freedom had failed to maintain an acceptable completion rate.
Austrian government, which holds 38% of Austrian Airlines Group via state holding company OEIAG, demanded that the carrier determine whether it will continue as a standalone enterprise or look to align with a strategic partner such as Lufthansa or Air France KLM ( ATWOnline, May 16). A survival plan should be presented this summer, or by autumn at the latest. AAG, which has debts of close to €1 billion, has been hit by high fuel prices, a relatively old fleet (average 9.2 years) and high employee costs.
Air One will outsource its international cargo business to Cargo Counts, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Cargo, as part of a three-year Total Cargo Management agreement encompassing sales, marketing, freight handling, accounting, IT and controlling as well as flight data, yield and capacity management. Collaboration begins June 14 with the launch of AP's five-times-weekly Milan Malpensa-Boston service and subsequent six-times-weekly MXP-Chicago O'Hare flights aboard A330-200s.
DHL's plan to shift its US air lift from ABX Air and Astar Air Cargo to rival UPS leaves the fate of both airlines and the DHL-owned Wilmington, Ohio, air hub in limbo, with thousands of job losses and dozens of aircraft sales possible. The transition from ABX and Astar to UPS likely will take 12-18 months ( ATWOnline, May 29). DHL hopes to finalize a contract with UPS within the next three months and likely won't be able to make any definitive moves until the exact language is determined.
ACE Aviation Holdings, which was created in 2004 as part of Air Canada's restructuring and subsequently spun off AC and regional Jazz as independent entities, said yesterday that it has sold its remaining stakes in Aeroplan and Jazz as part of its plan to wind down operations within the next 3-6 months pending disposal of its assets ( ATWOnline, May 12). It sold 19.9 million Aeroplan shares for C$349.3 million ($351.7 million) and 11.7 million Jazz units for C$85 million.
Air Berlin narrowed its first-quarter net loss to €59 million ($92.5 million) from €66.4 million as rising sales and hedges helped offset the "significant" jump in fuel costs. Sales revenue for the group, which includes LTU and Belair, rose 4% to €654.5 million and its operating loss of €67.7 million represented a 20% improvement from an €85 million deficit in the year-ago period.
