American Airlines flew 10.85 billion RPMs in September, up 2.4% on the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.4% to 13.83 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.9 points to 78.4%. American Eagle Airlines flew 709.4 million RPMs, up 1.8%, against a 1% increase in ASMs to 1.01 billion. Load factor lifted 0.5 point to 70.2%. SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.44 billion RPMs in September, a 14% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity was up 12.9% to 1.9 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.8 point to 76%.
SkyTeam partners Air France KLM and Delta Air Lines today will announce a wide-ranging agreement on the joint operation of transatlantic flights, including a number of flights from London Heathrow to US destinations, as the carriers seek to challenge British Airways directly when the EU-US open skies accord takes effect at the end of March.
Lufthansa is making inquiries about purchasing a 25% stake in LOT Polish Airlines from receivers of the old Swissair, Polish Deputy Treasury Minister Dawid Jackiewicz said in comments to reporters cited by Thomson Financial. "We would prefer that it not be a sector investor because any existing player could be opposed to the expansion and development of LOT. If it is Lufthansa, we will be every unhappy," he said.
Virgin Atlantic Airways plans to conduct a 747 biofuel test flight next year, parent Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said. At a recent appearance in Amsterdam and again yesterday during a speech in Boston, he said that Virgin will "early next year. . .fly one of our 747s without passengers with [an alternative fuel] we have developed." No other details were revealed. Virgin has said in the past that it is working with Boeing and GE to develop biofuels.
Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion announced that the airline reached an agreement with pilots over issues concerning the opening of EI's Belfast base and that "the threat of disruption of services this week has been lifted." Mannion had threatened to suspend noncompliant pilots beginning today ( ATWOnline, Oct. 11). EI said the base will open on time with "staff employed on local terms and conditions" and that the agreement with the Irish Air Line Pilots Assn.
Kitty Hawk Inc., which operates air cargo and ground handling services, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which operates 727-200 and 737-300 freighters, said it would continue to pay employee wages and benefits while it attempts to reorganize and secure interim financing. Kitty Hawk officials said the move was taken in "the best long-term interests" of employees, vendors and customers.
Cathay Pacific Airways will start a second-daily Hong Kong-San Francisco flight Oct. 18 aboard a 777-300ER. CX and Dragonair flew a combined 6.57 billion RPKs in September, up 5.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.6% to 8.32 billion ASKs and load factor was ahead 3.4 points to 79%.
Ancra International said Cargo Aircraft Management placed an order for its 757-200 Cargo Loading System. Installation is scheduled to take place during the ongoing Precision Conversions passenger-to-freighter modification at Flightstar in Florida.
Finnair said yesterday it has approved a new long-term plan that focuses on developing Europe-Asia services with a future goal of also boosting North America-Asia service by turning Helsinki Vantaa into a significant connecting hub. "We will take advantage of Helsinki's geographical location even more extensively," President and CEO Jukka Hienonen said. "In years to come, the airspace and terminal facilities of large European airports are likely to become increasingly congested while Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has plenty of room for construction and possibilities for development."
S7 Airlines said revenue through the year's first nine months rose 27% year-over-year to $845 million and full-year turnover will reach $1.17 billion compared to RUB24.97 billion ($1 billion) in 2006. The company expects full-year EBITDA of $57 million. Nine-month passenger numbers grew 10% year-over-year to 4.3 million, with RPKs up 5% to 10.42 billion and load factor ahead 3.6 points to 81.9%.
There was a guarded sigh of relief in Toulouse yesterday as Airbus handed over the first of 19 A380s to launch customer Singapore Airlines, and a clearly delighted SIA CEO Chew Choon Seng said, "better late than never."
AerCap announced that subsidiary AeroTurbine promoted Senior VP-Materials Michael King to the newly created position of president reporting to AeroTurbine CEO Nicolas Finazzo.
CAAC is aiming to boost China's long-neglected domestic regional market further with the distribution of new subsidies even as the recent trend of companies investing in regional startups appears to be accelerating.
Gol said it concluded a committed aircraft pre-delivery payment loan facility worth $310 million covering the 21 737-800s scheduled for delivery from July 2008 through 2009. It said the financing comprises eight banks and was led by Calyon and Citigroup.
UPS Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew will retire at the end of the year and be succeeded by Vice Chairman and CFO Scott Davis, the parcel delivery giant said yesterday. Davis, 55, joined UPS in 1986 when it acquired technology company II Morrow, of which he was CEO. He served in positions of increasing responsibility in finance and accounting before assuming the role of CFO in 2001. He was named vice chairman and elected to the UPS board in 2006.
Finnair flew 1.73 billion RPKs in September, a 16.8% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 18.6% to 2.31 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.1 points to 75%. WestJet flew 963.4 million RPMs in September, up 18% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 13% to 1.22 billion ASMs and load factor increased 3.5 points to 78.7%. Austrian Airlines Group flew 1.82 billion RPKs in September, down 17.8% from the year-ago period, against a 17.9% fall in capacity to 2.3 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.1 point to 79%.
Nacional de Aviacion Let 410 that had been missing since departing Villavicencio on Oct. 8 was discovered last week in mountains near Cubarral, with all 15 passengers and three crew onboard killed, Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network reported. The aircraft belonging to the Bogota-based airline was on its way to Uribe and first flew in 1990.
Japan Airlines said it will offer early retirement plans to 900 cabin staff who will have completed 15 years of service and will be at least 54 years old if managerial or 50 if nonmanagerial on March 31. JAL said it is working to cut yearly employment costs by ¥50 billion ($425 million) from FY06 by increasing productivity 10%, a hiring freeze and early retirement incentives. It said 630 ground staff employees holding middle management positions have accepted an early retirement package offered in August and will leave the carrier Nov. 30.
AMC Airlines MD-82 was destroyed following an emergency landing in Istanbul last week, according to press reports. All 156 passengers and seven crew aboard the aircraft, which reportedly requested the landing owing to problems with the landing gear, escaped before fire consumed it. AMC is an Egyptian charter and ACMI carrier.
Delta Air Lines announced the sale of $1.4 billion in Pass Through Certificates, which were sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers. The funds generated will be used to refinance nearly $1 billion in existing debt currently secured by aircraft.
Mexico's Federal Competition Commission last week rejected Mexicana's bid to acquire AeroMexico, ruling that a merger of the country's two largest airlines would be unfair to competitors and "unfavorable to consumers."
Singapore Airlines today will take delivery of the first A380 at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse, where the carrier also will unveil the cabin interior. The Trent 900-powered aircraft is scheduled to depart for Singapore Tuesday and will begin operating on SIA's Sydney service with a special charity flight on Oct. 25-26.
Megadata Corp. said US Airways will use PASSUR FlightPerform live airspace analysis tools at US's Pittsburgh operations control center "for improved airspace utilization, fuel management and diversion management."
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines parent SkyWest Inc. announced plans to acquire 22 larger regional jets, replacing 23 30-seat Brasilia turboprops and four 50-seat CRJs that will be transitioned out of the fleet. Operating as a regional partner of United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, SkyWest said it has not selected a manufacturer for the new aircraft but will begin discussions with Bombardier and Embraer. It expects deliveries to begin in late 2008 and continue through 2009.
Russian airlines have been ordered by the Transport Ministry to follow a list of customer service regulations beginning Oct. 20 or risk fines and the eventual loss of their operating licenses, The Moscow Times reported. Under the new directives, airlines are forbidden from denying travel in the case of lost or stolen tickets and must provide hot meals every 4 hr. and hotel rooms in the case of extended delays, among other things, the paper said.
