Air Berlin, Germany's second-biggest carrier, said that the German Federal Cartel Office approved its acquisition of LTU "without any restrictions." AB reached a deal in March to buy LTU for €140 million and assume €200 million of the company's debt ( ATWOnline, March 28). AB CEO Joachim Hunold said it was "regrettable that this process took so long" and that "synergies could not be exploited during this year as planned.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, posted second-quarter net income of $43.2 million, more than four times the $10.7 million profit earned in the year-ago quarter. It credited a 16% fleet reduction and "active asset management" for the improvement and pointed to a $27.7 million lowering in income tax expense owing to a tax benefit related to DHL's purchase of a 49% equity interest and 25% voting stake in Polar ( ATWOnline, Oct.
Pinnacle Airlines reported second-quarter net income of $7.7 million, down 35.3% from $11.9 million in the year-ago quarter, a drop it attributed mostly to a $4.1 million nonoperating loss associated with the sale of the remainder of its unsecured claim against Northwest Airlines.
World Airways and North American Airlines parent World Air Holdings reported earnings results for the first quarter revealing net income of $518,000 for the three months ended March 31, an 85.4% drop from net income of $3.5 million in the 2006 first quarter. World said reporting was in accordance with its legal requirements under the terms of its merger agreement with ATA Airlines parent Global Aero Logistics.
Aer Lingus will establish its first base outside the Republic of Ireland in December when it will base three A320s at Belfast International Airport and launch the first three of eight new routes. Among the new services will be 21-times-weekly flights to London Heathrow beginning Jan. 14, which will mark the end of EI's service to the UK capital from Shannon.
EasyJet said it is "on track" to post full-fiscal-year pre-tax profit growth of 40%-50% as it unveiled certain third-quarter numbers yesterday. The LCC reported a 5.7% year-over-year increase in revenue to £486.5 million ($990.9 million) as passenger numbers rose 13% to 9.9 million. CEO Andy Harrison said the results "provide further support to our maintained profit guidance for the full year." In the year ended Sept. 30, 2006, easyJet posted net earnings of £94.1 million and a pre-tax profit of £129.2 million.
US Federal Labor Relations Authority dismissed the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn.'s charges of unfair labor practices related to FAA's implementation of a new contract last year. The agency imposed the contract after negotiations failed to produce an agreement, leading the union to claim it was unlawful and to file complaints with FLRA. "This decision validates our new contract, which is saving taxpayers $1.9 billion over five years and providing the resources we need to invest in 21st-century air traffic systems," Administrator Marion Blakey said.
US Dept. of Transportation said that the 20 reporting US carriers posted a combined June ontime arrival rate of 68.1%, down from the year-ago month's 72.8%. Cancellations climbed to 2.7% of scheduled flights from 1.7%. Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines predictably were the most punctual, with SkyWest Airlines coming in third at 77.9%. Atlantic Southeast Airlines' 56% was the worst among the 20, followed by American Airlines' 57.9%. Mesa Airlines' 6.4% cancellation rate was the worst, with Hawaiian (0.2%) and Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines (0.4%) the best.
Cathay Pacific Airways exercised options on five GE90-115B-powered 777-300ERs, increasing its commitment to the model to 23 aircraft. The conversion is part of CX's December 2005 order for 16 (with 12 directly purchased from Boeing and four leased from ILFC) plus 20 options. Last year it exercised rights for two more aircraft ( ATWOnline, June 2, 2006). Its first -300ER will be delivered next month and it will have five by year end. They will be introduced on the Hong Kong-New York JFK route from Nov.
Allegiant Travel Co., parent of Allegiant Air, reported second-quarter net income of $10 million, more than double the $4.7 million earned in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was up 49.1% to $88.9 million while expenses increased 36.5% to $74.8 million. Operating income soared to $14.2 million from $4.9 million.
Air Astana, Kazakhstan's flag airline, carried 970,000 passengers in the first half of 2007, up 42% over the year-ago semester. It expects to carry more than 2 million passengers for the full year. First-half capacity increased 44% to 3.1 billion ASKs as the fleet grew to 18 aircraft with the delivery of two 767-300ERs, two A320s and two A321s. The carrier said its fleet will number 34 by 2014. Air France KLM flew 19.75 billion RPKs in July, up 6.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity increased 5.6% to 22.92 billion ASKs and load factor was ahead 1 point to 86.2%.
Qatar Airways said it will launch twice-weekly Doha-Nagpur flights from Sept. 23 and daily Doha-Ahmedabad service from Dec. 12 aboard dual-class A320s seating 144 passengers. The new flights will boost QR's India operations to 51 weekly flights to eight cities, making India the nation with the most destinations in the airline's network. It said it will be the only full-service international carrier offering scheduled service to Nagpur, which has a population of more than 2 million. It currently operates daily service to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Trivandrum, and Hyderabad.
European low-cost carrier seat capacity grew by 21% or 34 million seats in 2006 compared to 2005 and the sector accounted for around 30% of all intra-European seat capacity last year and 22% of departures, according to rdc's Low Cost Monitor 2007, a copy of which was provided to ATWOnline.
ABX Air yesterday agreed to purchase a 767-200ER from Air China and convert it to a freighter for long-haul international operations. The Wilmington, Ohio-based cargo carrier projected the total cost to purchase, modify and put the aircraft into revenue service at approximately $23 million. ABX primarily operates as a DHL subservice carrier in the US but is eager to grow non-DHL operations outside North America.
Japan Airlines parent JAL Group's strategy of focusing on high-yield business traffic appears to be paying dividends, evidenced by a narrowed fiscal first-quarter net loss of ¥4.2 billion ($36.8 million) for the three months ended June 30, a strong improvement over a ¥26.6 billion net loss in the year-ago quarter. The result was achieved on revenue of ¥520.6 billion, a 0.3% decline attributed to the removal of trading company JALUX from the group's figures. Airline operations produced revenue growth of 3% to ¥422 billion despite cutbacks in routes.
KLM became the first airline to offer self-service check-in to passengers at Kuala Lumpur International, using the SITA-installed CUSS kiosks now in operation there. Together with Malaysia Airports, SITA installed 12 CUSS kiosks with 24 more to follow over the next few months. SITA said CUSS check-in applications for both Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific will be placed on the kiosks before year end and the option also will be available to some 40 other carriers using KLIA.
Owing to a $300 million fine it agreed last week to pay to the US Dept. of Justice for antitrust violations regarding fares and surcharges, Korean Air reported a second-quarter net loss of KRW214 billion ($229 million), a significant decline from a net profit of KRW14.9 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Austrian Airlines Technik and Lufthansa Technik firmed an April MOU and signed a 10-year contract to increase a strategic cooperation, highlighted by the establishment of a 777 MRO center in Vienna that will service LHT clients and third-party customers.
Fraport AG increased its stake in the company operating Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport to 100% from 42.75%. The German company said it will sell off 40% of the airport to Peruvian investors and the World Bank investment fund. Fraport purchased the outstanding stake from a consortium led by US construction firm Bechtel. LIM reported revenue of around €80 million ($109.4 million) and processed approximately 6 million passengers last year, up from the 4 million it handled when Fraport entered the market in 2001.
Garuda Indonesia swung to a half-year profit of IDR148 billion ($15.9 million) from a IDR361 billion loss in the first six months of 2006, according to press reports from Jakarta. Revenue rose 12% to IDR5.8 trillion. CEO Emirsyah Satar was quoted saying that passenger numbers increased 7.1% to 4.4 million and that the improved result was due in part to higher fares (yield rose 8%) and a better utilization rate. Load factor climbed 6 points to 76% as the fleet decreased to 49 aircraft from 56, The Jakarta Post reported.
GE Aviation Materials launched its Singapore Distribution Center, the GE-Snecma joint venture's first in Asia. DHL Exel Supply Chain will operate and manage the center. The 31,300-sq.-ft. facility will hold about $30 million in new and used engine parts and complete spares.
Vueling Airlines reported a net loss of €33.7 million ($46.1 million) in the first six months of 2007, widened from a deficit of €6.5 million in the year-ago period, according to press reports from Madrid. Revenue climbed 57.3% to €149.7 million but costs soared 79% as competitive pressures hammered yields. Reuters reported that Vueling's average fare during the second quarter plunged 23.4% to €39.71.
EasyJet and Wizz Air last week announced that they will start charging for each piece of checked baggage. The UK-based LCC said that in order to "reduce the number of passengers who travel with checked-in bags," it will be charging £2 ($4.06) per piece of hold baggage per sector from Oct. 1. Previously, easyJet did not charge for the first bag but levied £5 for each additional piece. Maximum weight per passenger remains at 20 kg.
US Airways Group flew 6.15 billion consolidated RPMs in July, up 1.2% on the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.4% to 7.17 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.2 points to 85.8%. The company said July passenger RASM rose 4% year-over-year. Ryanair transported 4.8 million passengers in July, up 21% from the year-ago month. Load factor was steady at 90%.
