Bmi Group reported a pre-tax profit of £29.7 million ($59.4 million) for 2006, nearly triple the £10 million generated in 2005. Operating profit before exceptional items increased 85.5% to £10.2 million. Revenues rose 4.2% to £905.4 million while passenger boardings remained static at 10.5 million, 40% of which were carried by its bmibaby low-fare subsidiary. Per its custom, the company did not provide separate financial results for the mainline, bmibaby and bmi regional.
Japan Airlines yesterday revised down its earnings forecast for its 2006 fiscal year ended March 31 to a net loss of ¥16.2 billion ($135.5 million), significantly changed from a February forecast of a net profit of ¥3 billion for the 12 months.
Compass Airlines, Northwest Airlines' new regional subsidiary, launched its maiden flight yesterday out of Washington Dulles. For now, Compass will be operating a single CRJ200 on two daily roundtrips between IAD and Minneapolis/St. Paul. It expects to put the first of 36 E-175s into service by the third quarter.
Shanghai Airlines' 2006 annual profit plummeted 82.2% to CNY8.2 million ($1.1 million) from earnings of CNY46 million in 2005 as revenues rose 24.5% to CNY9.93 billion and costs climbed 27% to CNY8.49 billion. In the 2007 first quarter, SAL remained stuck in its downturn with a CNY95.8 million loss. Operating revenue increased 27.41% to CNY2.55 billion against a 29.5% lift in costs to CNY2.3 billion.
Swelling ancillary revenue and effective seasonal capacity deployment were among the reasons cited by WestJet for a booming first quarter during which the Canadian LCC posted net earnings of C$29.9 million ($26.8 million), more than double the C$12.9 earned in the first three months of 2006.
Volga-Dnepr Group reported sales of $725 million in 2006, up 55% from 2005, and is projecting $1 billion in revenue this year. It said rising turnover resulted from development in its An-124-100 (revenue up 26%) and IL-76 (up 114%) charter freight businesses and expansion at AirBridge Cargo (up 96%), which operates four 747Fs. V-D transported more than 155,000 tonnes of freight last year, 98% of which was flown internationally. AirBridge reported revenues of $227.4 million and transported 78,400 tonnes of cargo, up 79% on the prior year.
Northwest Airlines reported a $90 million profit for March, reversed from a $226 million deficit in the year-ago month, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Revenue slipped 0.3% to $1.12 billion against a 9.4% fall in expenses to $934 million. Operating profit more than doubled to $174 million from $80 million. The company took $54 million in net reorganization charges during the month, nearly all of which came from rejection of aircraft, including a delivery cancellation claim for 13 CRJ200s.
SkyEurope Airlines is planning to expand aggressively from its new Vienna base, possibly to 15 aircraft, in order to challenge Austrian Airlines' "Focus East" strategy, CCO Karim Makhlouf told ATWOnline. Speaking last week at the French Connect seminar in Nantes La Baule, Makhlouf said, "In times of consolidation it is normal to go where you expect a gap in the near future," adding that he considers Austrian to be "the weakest hub carrier in Europe. They have a cost problem. That is why we will attack them."
Indian government yesterday made seat assignments compulsory for all domestic airlines. The Office of the Director General of Civil Aviation said it was imposing the regulation "in order to ensure correct loading of aircraft and keeping the center of gravity of the aircraft within limits at all times during flight."
Shenzhen Airlines is looking to capture a significant share of the Chinese business aviation market with Yalian Business Jet Co., a recently established joint venture with Business Aviation Asia of Hong Kong and National Trust, a Beijing-based financial services provider. The carrier holds a 46% stake in the new entity with an investment of CNY46 million ($6 million), while BAA and NT put in CNY43 million and CNY11 million respectively for 43% and 11%.
Alitalia Group's net debt as of March 31 was €1.07 billion ($1.46 billion), down 2.7% from Feb. 28. During March the company repaid €14 million of medium/long-term financing.
HNA Group, parent of Hainan Airlines and several other carriers, reported net profit of CNY51.2 million ($6.6 million) in the first quarter, a more than fourfold improvement over earnings of CNY12.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue rose 20.6% to CNY3.45 billion against a 21.5% lift in costs to CNY2.72 billion. The company attributed the good results to "tightening cost control" and "fleet expansion," pointing out China's air transport market upturn also boosted its traffic revenue.
WITH A HISTORY OF 86 YEARS of operation and bragging rights as the fourth-oldest airline in the world, Compania Mexicana de Aviacion is about as "legacy" as a carrier can get. It played a crucial role in building Mexico's airport and airways system, was at one time owned by Pan American World Airways and even can boast that a certain Charles Lindbergh piloted one of its flights. It is a heritage that no one at Mexicana cares to forget, leastwise CEO Emilio Romano, who has led the airline since March 2004.
Airbus appointed Gerald Weber head-operations and member of the Executive Committee, Tom Williams acting head-procurement, Patrick Gavin executive VP-engineering and Charles Champion to succeed Gavin as executive VP-customer services. Air Dolomiti named Jorg Eberhart VP-marketing, network & commercial. Alaska Air Group promoted Wendy Jones to MD-internal audit and Jeff Butler to staff VP-station operations. Alpha Aviation Group tapped Groeme Ogilvie as VP-global operations. ALTA selected Gonzalo Yelpo to succeed Celestino Pena as chief legal counsel.
MAXjet Airways named Extra Space Storage CEO Kenneth Woolley as chairman, replacing Richard Sharp. It also named former Spirit Airlines CFO John Severson as CFO, George Paul as COO and Ceciley Bachnik as VP-people services.
Air China reported a net profit of CNY403 million ($52.1 million) for the first quarter, a result that contrasts sharply with the recently announced losses by China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. CA did not provide year-ago figures. The company cited "expansion of its principal operations and the investment income derived from Cathay Pacific Airways" as key to its performance ( ATWOnline, March 21). Operating revenue reached CNY10.47 billion against costs of CNY10.44 billion.
Pinnacle Airlines signed a 10-year capacity purchase agreement with Delta Air Lines to operate 16 CRJ900s as Delta Connection. Pinnacle will acquire and finance the 76-seat aircraft, to be delivered November 2007-July 2008, and begin flying for DL in December. "We are excited about this opportunity to join the Delta family," President and CEO Phil Trenary said.
Airline Partners Australia's A$11.1 billion ($9.21 billion) bid for Qantas was dealt yet another blow yesterday as acceptances fell to 25.52% from 27.8% as the offer moves into its final week ( ATWOnline, April 24). APA must secure 50% acceptance by Friday evening to trigger a two-week extension of the offer, giving it time to reach the revised target of 70%. It did say that more than half of QF shareholders have accepted the offer.
China Southern Airlines will join SkyTeam formally by year end, Group MD and CZ Chairman Liu Shaoyong announced Saturday at a summit between Chinese civil aviation leaders and the alliance in Sanya.
A newly painted 757-200 featuring a white fuselage and a revamped two-tone red widget on a blue tail rolled out at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport yesterday, signifying the end of Delta Air Lines' 19-month journey through bankruptcy and the launch of what CEO Gerald Grinstein called "a new and prosperous era."
Northwest Airlines posted a first-quarter net loss of $292 million, narrowed from $1.1 billion in the year-ago quarter, with the negative 2007 results owing to $393 million in reorganization costs as the carrier endeavors to exit bankruptcy during the second quarter. Pre-tax profit before reorganization costs for the three months ended March 31 was $100 million, reversed from a pre-tax loss of $129 million on a similar basis in the year-ago period.
MyTravel Group and Thomas Cook have increased the estimated annual pre-tax cost benefits resulting from their planned merger ( ATWOnline, Feb. 13) to "at least" €140 million ($191.1 million), the companies said in a regulatory filing, compared to the original estimate of £75 million ($149.8 million). Savings will be realized within 24-30 months.
IATA reported that international RPKs rose 7.8% in March, the largest year-over-year increase in a year, driven by 20.4% growth in the Middle East. Capacity lifted 5.8% and load factor was 76.4%. Freight was up just 2.3% on a 4.3% climb in ATKs.
ANA Group's fiscal year that ended on March 31, during which it was named ATW's Airline of the Year, concluded with net earnings of ¥32.6 billion ($273.9 million), representing the second-highest profit in the company's history and a 22.2% increase over earnings of ¥26.7 billion in the previous 12-month period.
