Alaska Air Group said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects to incur a full-year operating loss from its regional operation in excess of the $13.2 million suffered in the first six months, "but not a multiple of it." Horizon Air capacity is expected to increase 15%-16% in the third quarter, with unit cost falling 6%-7% to 16.7-16.8 cents. Revenue will exceed expenses during the period, but AAG expects costs to surpass revenue in the fourth quarter.
Norwegian will open its seventh base at the new airport in Rygge just south of Oslo. It initially will launch operations with a 737-800 on Feb. 14, with a second aircraft entering service March 13. It will serve Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade, Bergen, Budapest, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, London Stansted, Malaga, Marrakech, Palanga, Szczecin, Valencia and Warsaw from the airport. "We expect further expansion, both in the form of new routes and more planes," CEO Bjorn Kjos said, adding that RYG will be "state of the art. .
Aegean Airlines reported a €6.4 million profit for the six months ended June 30, its first reporting period as a publicly listed company, a nearly sixfold increase over the €1.1 million earned in the year-ago semester. "The recent IPO represents an important milestone for our company since the gross proceeds of €135 million, coupled with our improved positive results, give us the necessary tools to implement our growth plans with financial security," Executive VP Eftichios Vassilakis said.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprises plans to purchase at least 125 aircraft for its DAE Capital leasing segment over the next five years, CEO Robert Genise told Bloomberg News, adding that the company will "probably" need $4-$4.25 billion in debt financing for the acquisitions. DAE Capital is considering a future IPO and will focus principally on sale/leaseback arrangements with airlines, he told the news service.
British Airways and Korean Air both officially pleaded guilty to price-fixing charges yesterday in a US federal court, which levied a fine of $300 million against each.
Swiss International Air Lines announced that it will increase its stake in Swiss Aviation Training to 100%, buying out the 50% held by GCAT Flight Academy UK. Former Swiss COO Manfred Brennwald will be CEO of SAT. No financial details were provided.
Malaysia Airlines appointed George Snyder as its senior technical consultant-safety and security. Snyder was closely associated with the operational and safety turnaround at Korean Air in the early part of the decade when he served there as senior VP-corporate safety, security and compliance. Prior to that he was US Airways' VP-safety and regulatory compliance. SAS Group named Norwegian public relations executive Claus Sonberg executive VP-corporate communications and investor relations.
Air China will invest CNY5 billion ($657.9 million) to establish the country's largest flight simulator training base. It will be located in Shunyi District in suburban Beijing. CA reached a deal with district authorities yesterday. The complex will comprise 30 full-motion flight simulators, eight fixed-base simulators, a cabin crew training center, MRO training center, ground-handling service training center and other relevant support facilities that the airline said will help reduce its long-term dependence on foreign training resources.
Alitalia announced yesterday that it received a "telephone communication" from "an unspecified group of entrepreneurs" interested in purchasing the government's 49.9% stake in the Italian carrier. AZ said the group requested a meeting in late August or early September, without elaborating, but said it issued the statement in response to a press release from attorney Antonio Baldassarre, who represents the consortium ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14).
Singapore Airlines announced that it received court approval for a share buyback through a capital reduction that will see it cancel one share for every 15 held, paying shareholders S$18.46 ($12.07) per cancelled share. SIA said it will carry out the cancellation on Sept. 7.
Ryanair said it suspended all bookings to/from its base at Brussels South Charleroi from Nov. 12 "pending the resolution of a number of issues which remain outstanding" since a wildcat strike by security staff closed the airport June 15-17 ( ATWOnline, June 18).
Father and son Alberto Saba Raffoul and Moises Saba Masri made an official bid for AeroMexico yesterday after receiving permission from the country's National Banking and Securities Commission, announcing an offer valued at about $100 million.
China Airlines was ordered by the Taiwanese government to ground temporarily its 11 remaining 737-800s for safety checks following the post-landing fire and explosion that destroyed a -800 Monday morning at Naha Airport in Okinawa.
Compass Airlines, Northwest Airlines' new regional subsidiary that launched service in early May with a CRJ200, yesterday operated its first revenue flight with one of two new 76-seat E-175s from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Omaha. The pair of dual-class aircraft will be used on routes from MSP to Omaha, Dallas/Fort Worth, Missoula and Nashville. It plans to fly 10 175s by year end and 36 by the close of 2008.
Eos Airlines, the all-business-class carrier operating between London Stansted and New York JFK, yesterday announced that it secured an additional $50 million in equity capital "from institutional and private sources," with one investor accounting for $35 million. President and CEO Jack Williams said the investment "enables us to continue growing to a scale that will lead to strong corporate profitability" and ensures the delivery of a fifth and sixth 757-200ER in the next five months. A fourth 48-seat aircraft will enter service in September.
Air New Zealand is set to announce a new lower-cost, higher-value domestic product next Tuesday when it announces its fiscal-year results. The indication came yesterday in a press release issued in response to Virgin Blue's announcement that it will launch New Zealand domestic services within 12 months (see story above).
Australia's Virgin Blue Holdings cited a significant improvement in revenue and yield for a 92.9% surge in net profit to A$216 million ($172.6 million) for the fiscal year ended June 30. Revenue rose 16.3% to A$2.16 billion and yield lifted 8.1% to A11.57 cents. Expenses climbed 9.3% year-over-year to A$1.84 billion, reflecting an increase in flying and a 7.9% rise in fuel price. Operating income soared 41.2% to A$548 million, with A$16 million in one-off expenses dragging on a bottom line that otherwise would have been even more impressive.
Qantas said yesterday it will invest A$50 million ($40 million) to improve and expand its domestic terminal at Perth, with work set to commence by year end. It also revealed that it conducted an audit of all its aircraft maintenance workers after "discovering irregularities in documentation relating to the qualifications of one of its engineering employees." No other problems were found, QF said, adding that the worker in question resigned. Separately, Jamila Gordon, a former IBM executive, was named CIO.
Delta Air Lines ended its long search for a CEO yesterday, naming current DL board member and former Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson to succeed Gerald Grinstein, who had said he would retire after Delta emerged from bankruptcy.
Air Berlin said both the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office have followed the Swiss Cartel Office in clearing its acquisition of 49% of Switzerland's Belair ( ATWOnline, March 28). A subsidiary of Hotelplan Group, Belair currently operates two 757-200s and one 767-300.
China Southern Airlines enjoyed a significant turnaround in the first half of 2007, reporting net income of CNY226 million ($29.7 million) under IFRS, a reversal from a loss of CNY784 million in the year-ago semester, on a 19.2% lift in operating revenue to CNY24.56 billion. The carrier attributed the improved performance in part to "its double-hub strategy of Beijing and Guangzhou" and cost control. The "fast-growing Chinese economy, rising domestic demands and the appreciation of the yuan" also were credited for the result.
Product Support Solutions and Holly-Connects announced "successful deployment of US Airways' next-generation platform for voice self service" following a two-month development. The system will handle more than 12 million calls per year. US said it transitioned three legacy voice platforms and 11 applications to the Holly platform.
Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect flew a consolidated 489.3 million RPMs in July, up 25.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 24.9% to 578.6 million ASMs and load factor gained 0.7 point to 84.6%. The company estimated a 3.6% decline in yield to 13.63 cents and a 3.5% fall in RASM to 12.58 cents. Republic Airways flew 795.1 million RPMs in July, up 22.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 19.3% to 990.6 million ASMs, lifting load factor 2.2 points to 80.3%.
Ryanair yesterday confirmed the purchase of a further 4% of Aer Lingus shares, bringing its stake to "over" 29.4% ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20). "These new shares were acquired at or less than €2.45 ($3.30) per share, which lowers the average cost of Ryanair's shares in Aer Lingus," the LCC said.
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon will quit the airline after his current contract expires in July 2009. Speaking on Australia's Sky News Business Sunday, Dixon said, "There is a time to move on, and I don't think the board or I would contemplate anything after the time we've said, unless there is something out there I don't see. I really do think it would be time to move on." He also forecast a bigger role for Qantas low-cost subsidiary JetStar Airways, which will restore service to markets that QF abandoned.
