Following the formation of an alliance with five other logistics companies in January, Shanghai Airlines took a further step toward strengthening its position in a city that commands 70% of the Chinese freight market through the injection of CNY260 million ($37.2 million) into its SAL Cargo International subsidiary.
Porter Airlines has been advised by the US Dept. of Transportation that it must reduce its Toronto City-Newark schedule less than two months after launching the seven-times-daily service ( ATWOnline, March 27). The cutback is part of DOT's effort to reduce congestion at New York area airports ( ATWOnline, May 19). Porter will eliminate one flight each weekday from June 20.
Spirit Airlines reported a $3.8 million loss in 2007, a significant improvement from its $79 million deficit in 2006, according to US Dept. of Transportation figures cited this week by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. A $14.2 million loss in the fourth quarter pushed Spirit into the red, the paper said. Full-year revenue climbed 41% to $761.6 million. Despite increased fuel costs, the low-fare carrier continues with its expansion plans, adding 20 new flights this summer. It operates A319s and A321s on 200 daily flights to 39 destinations.
Ryanair will begin charging passengers who check in online the same £4/ €5 for its priority boarding service as those who check in at the airport effective June 3. It previously had been free of charge for Web check-in customers. The LCC makes 40% of its seats (80) available for priority boarding on each flight. Separately, it will launch thrice-daily Dublin-Kerry on July 22.
US FAA named Air Traffic Organization VP Vicki Cox as senior VP-NextGen and operations planning. "Given the aviation community's increasing need for faster modernization of our air traffic control system, we must implement NextGen at a quicker pace," Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell said. "The FAA is putting an emphasis on near- and mid-term implementation, while the Joint Planning and Development Office continues its focus on long-term research and development and cross-agency cooperation."
Turkish Airlines plans to announce a major fleet renewal program later this year and is considering the A340-600, 777, A350 XWB and 787 for its widebody orders, CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline yesterday in Istanbul, where the carrier celebrated its 75th birthday.
Martinair suffered a €68.9 million ($107.2 million) loss in 2007, a steep fall from its €7 million deficit in 2006 on level revenue of €951 million, as operating loss deepened to €71 million from €5 million.
SAS Norge will pay NOK132 million ($26.3 million) in damages to Norwegian following a district court ruling in the nearly three-year-old proceeding into SAS's alleged misuse of information contained in Norwegian's Amadeus reservation system. SAS was acquitted in a 2005 criminal trial but was found to have misused confidential information ( ATWOnline, Nov. 20, 2006).
Virgin Blue and Hawaiian Airlines have cancelled maintenance work with Air New Zealand after ANZ warned that it is facing industrial action from engineers in Auckland and Christchurch. The strike by members of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and the Aviation and Marine Engineers Assn. is due to start June 6. While the action excludes third-party work, the two airlines decided to take their work elsewhere.
Airbus announced an order for six A350 XWB Prestiges (five -900s and one -800) from Middle Eastern company MAZ Aviation and n order for two A318 Elites and one Airbus Corporate Jetliner from Austria's Jetalliance Group.
Singapore Airlines yesterday launched daily A380 service to Tokyo Narita using the fourth aircraft that was delivered last month. The first three fly to Sydney and London Heathrow. The inaugural flight from NRT carried 420 passengers and fell on the 30th anniversary of the airport. Delivery of SIA's fifth aircraft is expected by the end of next month. SIA also recently announced that it will operate an A380 on one of its three daily flights to Beijing Aug. 2-8 to accommodate increasing travel ahead of the Olympic Games. The other two flights will continue to be operated with 777s.
Malaysia Airlines yesterday said it posted a MYR120 million ($37 million) profit in the first quarter, down 9.8% from the MYR133 million earned in the year-ago period, Reuters reported. It cited fuel costs for the decline.
TAM last week reported first-quarter net income of BRL2.6 million ($1.6 million), down 95.7% from BRL59.2 million earned in the year-ago quarter, as escalating expenses offset revenue increases. Total revenue rose 22.7% to BRL2.35 billion but costs lifted 28.5% to BRL2.24 billion including a 48.1% leap in fuel expense to BRL844.8 million. Fuel costs were more than double any other expense category. Operating income was BRL8.5 million, down 89.8% from BRL83.4 million last year.
Ethiopian Airlines said "preliminary reports" suggest it earned a record ETB484 million ($50 million) profit in the fiscal nine months ended March 31, a result it said was "appreciably higher" than the year-ago period. Revenue rose 29% year-over-year to ETB6.6 billion on a 19% lift in passengers to 1.9 million, the carrier announced. It credited increased frequencies, new international services and its freight business for driving revenue growth. Operating expenses climbed 21%. ET will launch flights to Kuwait City, its 51st destination, on June 2.
Jazeera Airways reported a KWD745,815 ($2.8 million) first-quarter profit, a 42% increase from the year-ago period's result. "Our strong Q1 results follow the major expansion strategy we pursued in 2007. We will continue to expand in the rest of '08, bringing new routes on the back of more aircraft deliveries throughout the year," Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said. Revenue climbed 46% year-over-year to KWD10.8 million. Jazeera flies six A320s and has 34 aircraft on order with deliveries scheduled through 2014.
Delta Air Lines flew 10.07 billion system RPMs in April, up 2.5% from the year-ago month, against a 2.7% increase in ASMs to 12.38 billion. Load factor slipped 0.1 point to 81.4%. Ryanair transported 4.7 million passengers in April, 15% higher than the year-ago month. Load factor dropped 4 points to 79%. EasyJet transported 3.6 million passengers in April, up13.4% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 3 points to 80.1%.
Taipei-based Far Eastern Air Transport ceased operations last week owing to a shortfall in operating funds, according to widespread press reports. FEAT was launched in 1957 and recently has been suffering from scattered stock rights and frequent changes in senior leadership. In February it launched a search for a strategic investor to alleviate its debt burden but failed to attract one ( ATWOnline, Feb. 21).
ABX Air said yesterday that it reached agreement with DHL to extend its hub and line-haul services agreement to carry the express delivery giant's cargo in the US market for another year, capping a busy week of activity in which it also reported a slight drop in first-quarter earnings and its parent company was renamed.
Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems will design and produce the composite center fuselage frame section for the A350 XWB under an agreement with Airbus announced last week. The structure, which will be approximately 64.7 ft. (19.7 m.) long and weigh around 8,990 lb. (4,078 kg.), will be manufactured in a new assembly plant to be built in North Carolina, Spirit said.
Despite rising fuel prices, an economic slowdown and the troubled opening of London Heathrow's Terminal 5 in the last days of its fiscal year, British Airways reported a record profit performance for the year ended March 31 with net income of £694 million ($1.35 billion), more than double the £304 million it earned in the prior year.
AirAsia X announced that Perth will be its next Australian destination. The low-cost, long-haul airline started operations last year to Australia's Gold Coast. The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier will launch service to Perth with six weekly flights from Nov. 2, which coincides with the delivery of its first new-build A330-200, before moving to daily services in March. Chief Executive Azran Osman-Rani said, "AirAsia X will feed passengers from its extensive network into Perth, effectively creating a low-cost link from Southeast Asia and China to Western Australia."
Safran Group last week celebrated the opening of its new CFM56 maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Queretaro, Mexico. Snecma America Engine Services is dedicated to CFM56-5A, -5B and -7B engines powering the A320 and 737NG families. It is owned jointly by Snecma Services (51%) and Turborreactores SA (ITR) with a 49% stake.
Thai Airways blamed higher fuel costs and foreign exchange losses for a 48% decrease in first-quarter net profit to $68.2 million despite an 11.2% rise in revenue to $1.69 billion. Fuel costs leapt 39.6% $432 million while exchange losses cost the airline $20 million compared to a $45.5 million gain in the prior period. Almost 50% of Thai's debt is in euros, which appreciated 14% against the baht in the quarter, Bloomberg reported.
Singapore Airlines launched its new all-business-class service to Newark this week. Its five A340-500s are in the process of being reconfigured with the previous executive economy section removed. Total fit-out is for 100 of SIA's new business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. It is the only carrier offering an all-business-class configuration across the Pacific. The upgrade will be completed by September for all nonstops from Singapore to Newark and Los Angeles.
British Airways said speculation that it will defer the launch of OpenSkies, its new transatlantic subsidiary, to later this year or cancel the project "is not true."
