SAirGroup liquidators will start making payments to creditors in November, Wenger Plattner, the Swiss law firm handling the liquidation, announced last week. An initial payment of CHF519.4 million ($429.7 million) will include a first installment for nonpreferential creditors. So far, SAirGroup's creditors have filed claims totaling CHF48.9 billion, of which CHF9.8 billion have been accepted for payment, WP said. It added that CHF29.3 billion worth of claims have been rejected while appeals or decisions are pending on the rest.
Aer Lingus pilots called off a two-day strike scheduled to begin today after the carrier and the Irish Air Line Pilots Assn. agreed to commence talks through Ireland's Labour Relations Commission on pay and conditions at EI's new Belfast base ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20).
Virgin Group executives revealed yesterday that the firm, which except for a brief period in the 1980s has eschewed selling stakes via public markets, is now considering IPOs for some of its business units, including Virgin Atlantic Airways. VG CEO Stephen Murphy told The Times of London, "Once we have built a company to a point where it has reached a level of stability and maturity, we will seek a public exit. We are much more comfortable with that idea now but there are no firm targets of how many businesses we want to float."
China Southern Airlines yesterday announced that it entered into an agreement with Boeing for the purchase of 55 737-700s/-800s for delivery starting in May 2011 and extending to October 2013. A Boeing spokesperson contacted by ATWOnline would not confirm the order but said the 55 aircraft were unrelated to the 80 737NGs ordered by China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group 16 months ago ( ATWOnline, April 12, 2006). The manufacturer did not update the orders list on its website.
Alitalia's new chairman, Maurizio Prato, is considering selling regional and charter subsidiary Alitalia Express in a separate tender, Finanza e Mercati reported. Air Alps and ItAli were named as potential buyers. Prato was appointed this month ( ATWOnline, Aug. 2).
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake told ATWOnline that the carrier is trying to get permission to fly to Toronto and hopes to fly to New York JFK, Chicago O'Hare and Atlanta. ET's current North American service comprises six-times-weekly flights to Washington Dulles. Wake said the carrier also is considering two more destinations in India and China, where it currently serves five markets combined. Back in Africa, Ethiopian plans to open its new hub in Lome by October. "We will lease two 737-300s or -400s for this operation and try to fly from Lome to five stations," he said.
Nearly three months after trading in its shares was suspended, China Eastern Airlines finally is on the verge of closing its deal to sell a 25% stake to Singapore Airlines. The transaction has been approved by appropriate government entities and is awaiting only a final okay from the State Council, an industry insider told ATWOnline last week.
Correction: An Aug. 13 item in Daily News incorrectly identified Air Moorea as an affiliate of Air Tahiti Nui. Air Moorea is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Tahiti, a regional based in Papeete. ATWOnline regrets the error.
Midwest Airlines, which accepted a cash buyout offer of $17 per share from TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines Friday, could end up being owned by Northwest, a TPG partner acknowledged.
SAS Group President and CEO Mats Jansson said four local trade unions, in addition to the heads of the unions organizing employees at SAS Ground Services and SAS Technical Service in Denmark, have promised to "work for a total no-strike situation" in a letter he called "a breakthrough toward a new cooperation model between SAS and our trade union organizations in Denmark." SAS said that as a result of the commitment, "the conditions and the realities have changed" regarding its decision to operate flights between Copenhagen and Stockholm and Oslo with only Swedish and Norwegian crews
Delta Air Lines flew 12.34 billion system RPMs in July, a 4.9% increase over the year-ago month, as domestic traffic rose 0.5% and international climbed 14.6%. Capacity grew 3.2% to 14.22 billion ASMs on a 2.1% domestic decline and a 15.5% international gain. System load factor rose 1.4 points to 86.8%, the highest single-month load factor in the carrier's history. Domestic load factor was up 2.2 points to 87.9% and international 0.1 point to 85%. British Airways flew 10.34 billion RPKs in July, a 2.9% decrease from the year-ago month.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew a combined 7.26 billion RPKs in July, up 2.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.8% to 8.59 billion ASKs and load factor improved 1.1 points to 84.6%.
Boeing will supply GoldCare lifecycle support services to Rolls-Royce for the UK company's Trent 1000 engine TotalCare program. The agreement covers repair and overhaul for 787 "underwing rotable airplane components as an option for Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TotalCare service agreements." Trent 1000 is the launch engine for the 787.
Ryanair will launch six new routes from its Madrid base in October and close four others. The LCC will start flying to Girona, Santander, Alghero, Cagliari, Frankfurt Hahn and Liverpool and cease service to Faro, Malmo, Bournemouth and Shannon. Frequencies will increase on several existing routes, including to Brussels Charleroi, which will move to twice-daily from four-times-weekly. LTU Airlines will open a third long-haul base at BerlinTegel in November. It will operate thrice-weekly flights to Bangkok and weekly flights to Punta Cana and Varadero.
CSA Czech Airlines announced that Vice Chairman and VP-Information Technology Jiri Devat was appointed to the SITA board. He will represent the members from Central and Eastern Europe.
Airbus announced yesterday that it will deliver the first A380 to Singapore Airlines on Oct. 15, with the carrier's first flight slated for Oct. 25 from Singapore to Sydney. The aircraft will be configured with 471 seats in three classes: Economy, business and "Singapore Airlines Suites." Seats on the first flight will be auctioned via eBay and SIA said it will donate the proceeds to charity. The return Sydney-Singapore flight is scheduled for Oct. 26.
Aer Lingus said it "hopes to operate a limited schedule of European flights" next week during a two-day pilot strike called in protest of its decision to open a Belfast base ( ATWOnline, Aug. 15). The airline said it has agreed to wet-lease "a number" of aircraft for Aug. 21-22.
A robust Australian economy fueled by resource demand from China helped propel Qantas Group to a record net profit of A$719.4 million ($595.4 million) for the fiscal year ended June 30 despite a 19.1 % increase in its fuel bill to A$3.3 billion.
El Al posted a net profit of $12.6 million in the second quarter, reversed from a loss of $10.4 million in the year-ago period, according to a financial release cited by press reports from Israel. A tax benefit of $5.8 million resulting from its accumulated losses boosted its final figure to $18.4 million, Globes reported. Revenue climbed 5.5% to $452.8 million while expenses fell 2.5%.
SR Technics promoted Marco Imboden to VP-marketing, effective Aug. 20. He currently is deputy head of corporate communications and head of Communications Switzerland.
Thai Airways reported a profit for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30 of THB405 million ($12.8 million), down 14.4% from the THB473 million earned in the year-ago period. Revenue growth of 5.7% to THB44.53 billion was outpaced by a 7.9% rise in expenses to THB44.42 billion. Operating profit plunged 88% to THB114 million from THB959 million. The carrier did not elaborate on the results. Nine-month net earnings of THB8.33 billion were down 20.6% from THB10.49 billion.
Lufthansa Technik signed a 12-year Total Component Support contract with LAN Airlines covering up to 129 A320s and up to eight A340s. The agreement expands a TCS agreement already in place and has an added value of more than $200 million, according to LHT.
TAM told a Brazilian congressional panel holding hearings on last month's A320 crash that it no longer allows aircraft to land at Sao Paulo Congonhas or Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont without both thrust reversers activated, a change in policy put in place after the accident.
