Jet Airways is evaluating the opening of a second European hub for services to South America. The Indian carrier currently maintains a small hub at Brussels from which it operates flights to India and North America in cooperation with Brussels Airlines, which provides European feed. "Jet is considering a hub similar to Brussels, like in Madrid or another airport in southern Europe," a source close to the airline told ATWOnline. No details about a timeframe for the decision were revealed.
Barfield reached a 10-year deal with SkyWest Airlines to service selected avionic equipment and mechanical devices. Contract covers 118 aircraft and "represents exciting new prospects for Barfield in its company strategy with narrowbody and regional aircraft," Sabena Technics said. It acquired Barfield in 2006.
The troubles at London Heathrow's Terminal 5 persisted over the weekend, this time owing mainly to poor weather conditions. British Airways cancelled 126 flights at LHR Sunday--114 because of heavy snowfall and 12 owing to computer glitches at T5--and another 34 at T5 yesterday as it battled a scheduling backlog. It also cancelled 32 flights at Gatwick Sunday.
Skyway Airlines, a regional subsidiary of Midwest Airlines, shut down last Saturday as expected. In January, Midwest announced that it would "reposition" Skyway as an airport service provider and shift its regional flying to SkyWest Airlines, which now operates 50-seat CRJs on Midwest's behalf ( ATWOnline, Jan. 17). In announcing the transition, Skyway CEO David Reeve said that operating its fleet of 32-seat 328JETs had become more costly and complex because the aircraft no longer are in production.
EasyJet opened its Lyon base last Friday ( ATWOnline, Oct. 5, 2007) with two new A319s and launched service to Bordeaux (twice-daily), Lisbon (five-times-weekly) and Venice (daily). Thrice-weekly to Porto began Saturday and it soon will fly to Toulouse (twice-daily from May 2), Casablanca (five-times-weekly from May 2), Marrakech (thrice-weekly from May 3) and Biarritz (daily from June 7, seasonal).
Etihad Crystal Cargo signed a contract to publish airfreight rates and post operational announcements to freight forwarders on OAG Cargo Solutions' worldwide cargo portal.
Airberlin announced that Sapinda and Vatas Holding subsidiary Harlem One BV sold its 18.6% share in the airline group. It had bought a 15.4% stake in early January, becoming the company's largest shareholder, before raising its share shortly thereafter. AB said "an institutional investor has agreed to acquire shares in the same amount" but did not elaborate. AB and its subsidiaries transported 2.2 million passengers last month up 5.5% from the year-ago period. Load factor rose 3.9 points to 77.8% and unit revenue was up 0.6% to €5.23 cents.
China Eastern Airlines admitted yesterday that last week's "disgraceful" incidents at its Yunnan Branch Co., where 21 flights departing the airport turned around and returned, were the result of a "human factor," most likely disgruntled pilots. The flights, which were scheduled to leave Kunming for Dali, Lijiang, Banla, Mangshi, Simao and Lincang, took off but then returned, causing significant delays at the airport. CEA originally cited weather as an explanation even though other carriers operating from the provincial capital completed their flights successfully.
Air France-KLM said in a statement that its board approved the cessation of takeover talks with Alitalia and that it now is up to the ailing Italian carrier's unions to spell out their vision of AZ's future. Alitalia is scheduled to hold a board meeting today and meet with its unions Wednesday. Trading of its shares was suspended last week.
Bombardier reported consolidated net income of $317 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, an 18.3% increase over the $268 million earned in the prior year, on a 17.4% growth in revenue to $14.9 billion. Rising aircraft sales and orders boosted revenue at Bombardier Aerospace 17% to $9.7 billion as operating profit soared 74.8% to $563 million from $322 million the previous year. The order backlog increased to a record $22.7 billion, up from $13.2 billion in FY06. Orders for regional aircraft surged to 238 from 87.
Volga-Dnepr Group reported a 51% increase in sales last year to $1.05 billion, $300 million of which was contributed by its scheduled airline AirBridge Cargo. The latter figure represented a 32% gain over 2006. V-D said the overall revenue rise was due in large part to a "substantial" 62% increase in the charter market for outsize and heavy cargo. Volga-Dnepr Airlines carried that freight while AirBridge transported 101,900 tons aboard its 747s, an increase of 29%. The company said it is in the process of growing and upgrading its fleet.
Worldwide Flight Services acquired a 60% shareholding in British Airways Regional Cargo late last month from three of the latter's founders, with the remaining 40% continuing to be held by British Airways World Cargo. Terms of the acquisition were undisclosed. BARC operates more 260,000 sq. ft. of handling facilities at 11 airports in the UK and Ireland. Employing 246 staff, it provides cargo handling for BAWC and other major carriers, including American Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Air India and GB Airways.
A brutal week for the US airline industry that featured the closure of two established carriers and embarrassing Congressional hearings concluded Friday night with the announcement that Skybus Airlines, an ambitious LCC based out of Columbus, had ceased operations. The startup said in a message posted on its website that it "struggled to overcome the rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment," but that those issues "proved to be insurmountable for a new carrier."
Turkish Airlines celebrated its entry into Star Alliance last week as well as an 80% increase in full-year profit to $224 million, saying the figure would have been higher if not for foreign exchange-related losses.
Pratt & Whitney Canada received type certification from Transport Canada and EASA for the PW127M, the latest derivative of the PW127F and PW127E engines that power the ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-500. P&WC said the PW127M offers 5% more power than earlier versions. It will be offered on existing variants of the aircraft going forward and also will be the standard engine on the 42-600 and 72-600.
Continental Airlines became the fifth major US carrier to raise its fees for a second checked bag ( ATWOnline, March 31), announcing that economy class passengers who are not premium members of CO's loyalty program will pay $25 for the second piece effective May 5. Policy applies to flights in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.
Czech government last week announced a tender for an adviser to facilitate the privatization of CSA Czech Airlines. The tender will begin April 15, and once a consultant is chosen the government intends "to finish the privatization within months," Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said, according to Reuters.
US Dept. of Homeland Security avoided potential confusion at airports last week by granting an extension to Maine on compliance with the first phase of a federal law mandating new security features on driver's licenses. Extension followed assurances from Gov. John Baldacci (D) to "use the resources at my disposal" to amend state policies in accordance with DHS demands. It was unclear, however, whether the state legislature would back him.
SITA announced completion of 700 workstations at Beijing Capital's Terminal 3 to support Olympic Games traffic this summer including check-in, boarding and transfers. A $3 billion addition, the terminal is expected to boost annual capacity by 30 million passengers ( ATWOnline, March 3). SITA projects that 50 of its self-service check-in kiosks will be ready to go live for the Olympics.
Air One will increase its presence from Milan Malpensa this summer, using opportunities available as a result of Alitalia's downscaling at the airport. The Italian carrier will operate 138 weekly flights from MXP on a network featuring domestic, European and long-haul routes. Last month, Network, Marketing and Business Development Director Giorgio de Roni told ATWOnline that AP had applied to the US Dept. of Transportation for authority to launch flights to the US. The new transatlantic open skies agreement eliminates the designation requirements but still requires licensing.
TACA expects 2008 revenue to increase 15% year-over-year to $1.1 billion as passenger traffic rises 10%-15%, President Roberto Kriete told the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit last week, according to the news service. "We are growing because we do not depend on the North American market," he said.
Compass Airlines, a wholly owned Northwest Airlines subsidiary, said it served nearly 500,000 passengers in its first year of operation flying 17 E-170s. It also announced that it was approved for daily Detroit-Monterrey service beginning May 2. Compass operates 74 daily flights to 26 cities as Northwest Airlink and expects to fly 36 aircraft and transport more than 2 million passengers by year end.
United Airlines flew 10.04 billion system RPMs in March, down 2.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity was level at 12.14 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 2.3 points to 82.7%. US Airways Group said consolidated March passenger RASM climbed 5%-7% year-over-year but President Scott Kirby said high fuel prices will lead the company to reduce mainline capacity 3%-4% in the second half of 2008. The group flew 5.58 billion consolidated RPMs last month, down 0.7% from the year-ago month, against a 2.9% fall in capacity to 6.65 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.9 points to 83.9%.
British Airways expects to operate a full schedule to and from London Heathrow's Terminal 5 Saturday and next week. However, the financial impact of the troubled opening is estimated to be around £16 million ($31.7 million), BA said yesterday, reflecting all costs associated with the disruption in addition to lost revenue opportunities.
