Royal Brunei Airlines named Ray Sayer its new CEO, effective Sept. 1. Los Angeles World Airports named Gina Marie Lindsey executive director, replacing Lydia Kennard, who resigned in January. Formerly executive director of Seattle-Tacoma International, Lindsey will oversee Los Angeles International, Ontario, Van Nuys and Palmdale airports.
Virgin Atlantic Airways revealed yesterday that it intends to launch a business class-only carrier within the next 12-18 months. In a first stage, the new airline will fly transatlantic routes to the US from London and other European cities including Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich. Direct flights from points throughout the EU to the US will be possible under the new open skies regime that will take effect March 30, 2008. Virgin did not say which aircraft it would use to operate the flights.
South African Airways said yesterday that it will ground its 747-400 fleet, divide into seven subsidiaries and cut its management staff by 30% as part of a comprehensive restructuring effort aimed at returning the carrier to profitability.
Korean Air, saying it "shall no longer remain indifferent to the invasion of low-cost carriers from China and Southeast Asia into the Korean market," announced plans yesterday to launch an LCC within three years that will operate flights on domestic and short and mid-range international routes using 737s. The plan's unveiling culminated a process that began in 2005 when a KAL task force started studying the feasibility of the airline operating its own LCC.
Swiss International Air Lines will launch daily Zurich-Delhi service on Nov. 25 aboard A330-200s and a daily ZRH-Shanghai Pudong flight in summer 2008. It is adding two A330-200s and one A340-300 this summer and will take two additional A340-300s by next April.
Australia's Regional Express Holdings, which operates as Rex, said last week that it earned a A$17.3 million ($14.3 million) profit in the first nine months of its fiscal year, a figure 51.8% higher than in the year-ago period. It is projecting full-year profit growth of 40%. Nine-month passenger numbers rose 19.8% to 1.05 million.
BCI Aircraft Leasing acquired the first of three 737-300QCs that it had been leasing. The aircraft are on long-term operating lease to Europe Airpost. The other two will be purchased in the coming months.
Aeroflot on Friday denied Italian media reports that it plans to drop out of the bidding for Alitalia ( ATWOnline, May 31), while revealing that it is working with the EU on maintaining AZ's European traffic rights if its consortium beats out Air One and wins the privatization tender. "There is no hesitation to leave the bidding. There is no question of dropping out," Lev Koshliakov, an SU deputy DG, told Thomson Financial.
Kingfisher Airlines revealed a few more details Friday about parent United Breweries Group's acquisition of 26% of Air Deccan parent Deccan Aviation ( ATWOnline, June 1), including that the promised offer to acquire an additional 20% of Deccan will be priced at the same INR155 ($3.82) per share. The initial stake cost UBG INR5.46 billion. UBG will be the largest shareholder in Deccan and will nominate three directors to the 12-member board.
SkyEurope Airlines reported a consolidated net loss of €32.5 million in the fiscal semester ended March 31, a slight amelioration from the €33.6 million lost in the year-ago period.
Delta Air Lines promoted VPs Robert Cortelyou to senior VP-network planning, Pam Elledge to senior VP-global sales and distribution and Gail Grimmett to senior VP-revenue management.
While China Eastern Airlines is on the verge of selling a 25% stake to Singapore Airlines ( ATWOnline, May 30), Shanghai Airlines appears to be interested finding its own foreign investor.
While US carriers are certainly in far better shape financially than in recent years, "profitability" is a relative term. Even considering that the first quarter is traditionally the weakest reporting period, it's hard to view the year's first three months -- when half of the 10 largest US airlines were in the red -- as anything but slightly disappointing given that 2006 was the industry's best year since 2000 and better results are expected in 2007.
AerCap Holdings welcomed Thomas MacAleavey as chief executive-engine leasing. Alaska Air Group elected Gregg Saretsky executive VP-flight & marketing, Glenn Johnson executive VP-airport services, maintenance & engineering and Brad Tilden VP-finance & planning. American Eagle named Dave Campbell senior VP-technical operations and Cathy Jacobs VP-people. AWAS introduced Angus Williamson as head-risk management. Boeing selected Mary Armstrong as VP-environment, health & safety.
THE 47TH PARIS AIR SHOW (JUNE 18-24) arrives with the airline industry in better shape than at any time since the summer of 2001 and the commercial aerospace industry enjoying a third consecutive year of strong aircraft orders. Add to this the fact that the US government and military will be making their largest appearance at the biennial event since the US and France fell apart over the Iraq war and the result is that attitudes at Le Bourget should be upbeat.
US Airways' aggressive attempt to acquire Delta Air Lines, which fizzled earlier this year when DL's creditors refused to endorse the takeover, might have sparked a consolidation frenzy that could have reshaped the world's largest air transport market. If the merger actually had gone through, it's unlikely the US's other four legacy carriersUnited Airlines, American Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlinescould have afforded to stand pat.
Transavia.com nearly doubled its full-year net earnings and enjoyed a 29th successive year in the black despite "a strongly competitive market with prices under continual pressure," the Dutch LCC said. It reported a €20.1 million profit for the fiscal year ended March 31 compared to an €11.1 million profit the year before. The Amsterdam-based airline, whose French spinoff commenced operations from Paris Orly last month ( ATWOnline, Nov.
HNA Group subsidiary Lucky Air will launch West China Airlines, HNA's new LCC, by June 18 in Chongqing with three 737-300s transferred from the parent company. The new carrier is expected to receive its operating license from CAAC soon. It will join HNA's other western venture, Western Airlines, which it has been working on since December 2005 with Chongqing Real Estate Group. That carrier has yet to be approved by CAAC. HNA is the parent of Hainan Airlines.
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe said the airline intends to "open one new long-haul destination every year" and wants to increase its offering of round-the-world services. It currently operates Auckland-London Heathrow via Los Angeles and Hong Kong and is starting flights to Vancouver this year. "We want to use our existing Auckland-Shanghai service to continue onwards to Europe," Fyfe told ATWOnline, adding that the number of ANZ passengers taking advantage of round-the-world services is increasing.
The pace of Indian consolidation appears to be ramping up as Kingfisher Airlines took a significant step toward acquiring Bangalore rival Air Deccan with the purchase of a 26% stake for INR5.46 billion ($133.6 million).
Ryanair exercised options for an additional 27 blended winglet-equipped 737-800s with deliveries scheduled from September 2009 through March 2010. The order, previously assigned to an unidentified customer, is worth $1.9 billion at list prices and brings the LCC's 737-800 order book to 308, of which 137 have been delivered. It plans to operate a fleet of 262 aircraft by 2012.
Northwest Airlines' new NWA common stock began trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange at $25.10 per share, marking the carrier's emergence from a 20-month bankruptcy restructuring process and ending a period dating back to December 2002 during which at least one US legacy airline was operating under Chapter 11 protection.
WestJet announced that Executive VP-Culture and co-Founder Don Bell will retire effective July 2. Bell has been chairman of the Air Transport Assn. of Canada since November 2005.
Brussels Airlines is talking with Mauritius about establishing a local airline, the carrier confirmed Monday. The project is part of the carrier's strategy to expand its African network, which includes adding new destinations, increasing direct flights and frequencies and participating in local airlines ( ATWOnline, May 24).
Air Astana, the Kazakh flag carrier, enjoyed a 60% lift in passengers last year to 2 million that CEO Peter Foster joked had "absolutely" nothing to do with the success of the film "Borat." Talking to ATWOnline from Almaty, Foster said the airline is expanding rapidly and evaluating both the A350 XWB and 787 to replace its 757s and 767s from 2011. It currently operates 18 aircraft. Key to its success has been the country's mineral boom. Air Astana took delivery of its seventh A320/A321yesterday, with an additional three A320s and one A319 due next year.
