SunExpress, the JV between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, will open a third base in Turkey at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen. It will base two aircraft there starting with the new summer schedule, operating flights to Eastern Anatolia and Western European destinations. It currently operates from Antalya and Izmir. It carried 3 million passengers last year, up 27.3% from 2006, as revenue rose 23.6% to €300 million ($445.4 million). Come summer the carrier will operate 14 737-800s and three 757-200s.
Airberlin said Saudi Arabian investor Kamal Abdullah purchased 3.1% of the carrier through Moab Investments. Vatas is AB's largest shareholder at close to 18.6%.
ANA Aviation will provide cargo management services to Tui Travel, formed recently from the integration of Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways. Fleet totals 82 aircraft comprising 737s, 757s, 767s, A320s and A321s. Viking Freight, First Choice Airways' in-house cargo team, will transfer to ANA when services under the new provider begin Feb. 4.
Vietnam Airlines, which is state-owned, plans to launch an IPO for about 20% of the carrier ( ATWOnline, Jan. 3, 2007). Shares will be offered first to employees and Vietnamese investors, according to numerous media reports, with international investors to be offered remaining shares. The Vietnamese government made it clear that it will maintain about an 80% holding in the airline. The IPO may not occur for some time.
Jazeera Airways began trading on the Kuwait Stock Exchange Monday ( ATWOnline, April 17, 2007). The Kuwaiti LCC is the third Arab carrier to list shares on a regional stock exchange. Air Arabia staged an IPO in March and is listed on the Dubai Financial Market and Royal Jordanian launched an IPO in December and is listed on the Amman Stock Exchange.
Fiji's Air Pacific converted three 787-9 options into firm orders for delivery in 2016 and 2017. The new aircraft add to the five 787-9s the airline ordered in 2006 that are scheduled to arrive in 2011-12 ( ATWOnline, April 27, 2006). Air Pacific also added three purchase rights to its commitment, Chairman Nalin Patel said in a statement. Those aircraft will be available after 2019. The GEnx-powered 787-9s will replace the airline's two 747-400s and one 767-300ER.
Etihad Airways carried 4.6 million passengers in 2007, a 67% increase from the previous year, as it added 13 new aircraft to its fleet, launched service to nine destinations and increased frequencies on a number of key routes. Load factor averaged 69%. Networkwide it achieved loads of 71% in economy and 61% in business. It did not provide details on its first class load factor other than it rose by 75 points compared to 2006. "Our intense activity in 2007 resulted in another year of significant expansion.
CAE said Kuala Lumpur will be the location of its new training center, which will be developed in partnership with AirAsia. In November, CAE signed a contract to manage AirAsia's TRTO at the AirAsia Academy and provide pilot training services. The center also will train technicians and cabin crew across Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur will serve as CAE's regional hub for MPL and Airbus OEM training.
Delta Air Lines continued to decline to comment on reports that its board is considering authorizing merger negotiations with Northwest Airlines and/or United Airlines, but NWA President and CEO Doug Steenland said his carrier is giving the issue "serious attention."
BOC Aviation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of China, announced 10-year lease agreements for five 737NGs with India's Jet Airways. Aircraft will be delivered to Jet by Boeing between March 2010 and November 2011. BOC currently owns 76 aircraft flying with 29 airlines worldwide and has 40 more 737NGs on firm order, 37 of which already have been leased. Last month BOC announced deals to lease four 737-800s to Hainan Airlines, two -800s to Shandong Airlines and one -800 to Skymark Airlines.
Flybe announced a franchise agreement with Scotland's Loganair that will take effect when the latter's run as a British Airways franchisee ends on Oct. 25. Flybe said the deal, which it claimed is the "first of its kind ever for a low-cost carrier," will see Loganair operating in Flybe livery from Oct. 26. Loganair is based at Glasgow International and operates 13 Saab 340s, two Twin Otters and five BN Islanders. Separately, Flybe will launch thrice-daily London Gatwick-Aberdeen service on March 30.
Kingfisher Airlines Chairman and CEO Vijay Mallya told Mint business daily that the airline, likely through its acquisition of Air Deccan, has "secured all necessary clearances for flying overseas" and that as a result it will convert its five A380 options to firm orders. Kingfisher already has five A380s on order. "We will be operating all nonstop flights to international destinations," Mallya told the paper. Indo Asian News Service quoted him as saying that the first long-haul flight will operate Aug.
Two months after declaring at the Dubai Air Show that "shrinking the airline was the wrong way to go" and that Gulf Air would embark on a major fleet renewal, the carrier this weekend announced its plan to order up to 24 787s and revealed that it is negotiating with Airbus for eight A320s.
Aegean Airlines reported an 18% increase in passengers last year to 5.2 million from 4.4 million in 2006. Domestic passengers climbed 10% to 3.4 million and international passengers rose 35% to 1.9 million. Aegean said it "aims at accelerating its re-fleeting process and at further expanding its network" in 2008. Iberia flew 4.25 billion RPKs in December, down 0.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.4% to 5.52 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.5 points to 77%.
Air Arabia announced that it will establish a new hub in Katmandu from where it will operate a low-cost subsidiary in partnership with Nepalese carrier Yeti Airlines. It said the new carrier "will provide affordable and convenient service to a broad range of international destinations" throughout Asia. Flights to Sharjah will start before the end of the month, with service to Doha, Kuala Lumpur and India to follow shortly.
Mesa Air Group, which operates as a regional partner for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways as well as fielding its independent Mesa Airlines and go! operations, suffered an $81.6 million loss in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2007, as legal wrangling in Hawaii and losses at its Air Midwest subsidiary took a heavy toll on a company that posted a $34 million profit the previous year.
Aer Arann announced a franchise agreement with Nex Aviation under which the latter will offer the first jet service sold as part of the Aer Arann network. Customers will have access to BAe 146-200 flights to Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Malaga and Faro from both Galway and Waterford beginning May 1. Aer Arann currently operates 14 ATR turboprops and will take an additional eight 72-500s by 2009. MD Garry Cullen said the partnership with Nex "underpins the Aer Arann strategy of connecting regional Ireland to the UK and mainland Europe."
Niki, the Austrian low-fare airline that is part of the airberlin group, converted 10 options on A320 family aircraft into firm orders as its profits continued to rise. "We will take delivery of the new aircraft from 2010 onwards. For every aircraft, a year ahead [of delivery] we decide if we need an A319, A320 or A321," founder and owner Niki Lauda told ATWOnline.
Transportation Safety Board of Canada launched an investigation into last week's incident in which an Air Canada A319 abruptly plunged and swayed, causing some passengers to "hit the ceiling" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 11). All 10 passengers/crew taken to a local hospital in Calgary, where the aircraft made an emergency landing, were released late Thursday. But the mystery of exactly what happened and why it occurred remained unsolved.
Air France KLM flew 16.61 billion RPKs in December, a 3.1% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.1% to 21.12 billion ASKs and load factor fell 0.8 point to 78.6%. American Airlines flew 11.24 billion RPMs in December, down 1% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.7% to 14.25 billion ASMs, lowering load factor 0.3 point to 78.8%. American Eagle flew 671.4 million RPMs, down 6.7%, against a 5.6% fall in ASMs to 967.7 million. Load factor dropped 0.8 point to 69.4%.
ATR signed an MOU with Lonrho Air for the purchase of eight ATR 72-500s in a deal valued at more than $150 million. Aircraft will be configured with 66 seats (12 in first class) and will be operated by Fly540, a Nairobi-based airline belonging to the Lonrho investment conglomerate. The PW127M-powered planes are scheduled for delivery this year and into 2009. The deal includes a comprehensive support and spares package.
China Airlines will be announced as the next full member of the SkyTeam alliance this year, a source close to the carrier told ATWOnline. Talks between CI and SkyTeam members started last autumn.
