Lufthansa flew 7.94 billion RPKs in February, up 8.5% on the year-ago month. Capacity grew 5% to 10.92 billion ASKs and load factor rose 2.3 points to 72.7%. Singapore Airlines flew 6.86 billion RPKs in February, a 6.9% climb from the year-ago month. Capacity was up 2.1% to 8.6 billion ASKs and load factor rose 3.6 points to 79.8%. Iberia flew 3.98 billion RPKs in February, a 7.5% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity was up 2.3% to 4.98 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 3.9 points to 80%.
A year "marked by increasingly complex and serious problems" ended with a stunning €405.2 million ($541.7 million) pre-tax loss for Alitalia, which nevertheless promised that it possesses sufficient cash to cover operational and financial costs "for a period well in excess of 12 months."
US District Court in Hawaii denied a request by Mesa Air Group to dismiss a complaint filed by its inter-island competitor, Aloha Airlines, which accused Mesa of predatory pricing and fraud ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17, 2006). Aloha and rival Hawaiian Airlines each allege that Mesa illegally used proprietary information acquired when considering acquiring or investing in the bankrupt island carriers for last summer's launch of its low-cost go! subsidiary.
Virgin Nigeria this week launched thrice-daily Lagos-Port Harcourt service aboard F50s. It also increased twice-weekly flights to Sokoto from Lagos and Abuja to thrice-weekly. Separately, it named Head of Planning Adeola Bali finance director.
Delta Air Lines flew 7.94 billion system RPMs in February, a 2.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.8% to 10.71 billion ASMs and load factor dipped 0.2 point to 74.1%. Domestic RPMs fell 5% to 5.65 billion against a 5% decline in ASMs to 7.46 billion, leaving load factor at 75.8%. International traffic rose 27.7% to 2.89 billion RPMs, capacity grew 27% to 3.26 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.4 point to 70.3%. Ryanair transported 3.2 million passengers in February, up 24% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 1 point to 77%.
El Al lost $44.4 million in 2006 owing to capacity increases driven by heightened competition and the war in Lebanon, Israeli business daily Globes reported. Sales rose 3% to $1.66 billion but the number of available seats climbed 21%.
US legacy airlines do not plan to ramp up capacity this year despite posting their best full-year financial results since 2000. "I think you'll continue to see very modest capacity growth, particularly domestically," Continental Airlines Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner told the JP Morgan Aviation and Transportation Conference, available via webcast, this week. The 11 largest US carriers (including America West Airlines, part of US Airways Group) reported a 1% decrease in domestic capacity in 2006.
Aeroflot yesterday followed up on its verbal commitment to the A350 XWB by signing an MOU with Airbus for the purchase of 22 of the model. CEO Valery Okulov promised reporters at a news conference last week that the carrier was close to a deal ( ATWOnline, March 16). Neither Airbus nor Aeroflot specified the type(s) of A350s ordered. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2015, SU said.
LAN Airlines yesterday converted 15 options for A320 family aircraft into firm orders. The options were part of the carrier's 2005 order for 25 firm A318s and A319s ( ATWOnline, July 1, 2005). LAN and its affiliates currently operate 15 A319s and 15 A320s, Airbus said.
American Airlines will make an announcement regarding fleet renewal "in short order," according to Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey, who conceded that the carrier's more than 300 MD-80s burn too much fuel. He said 737NGs may be a viable replacement.
Virgin Blue Holdings confirmed its order for six 777-300ERs with options for six more, and will lease one additional -300ER from ILFC. The order for the six is worth $1.5 billion at list prices and was listed last week on Boeing's website as unidentified ( ATWOnline, March 19). The aircraft will be used to establish a new long-haul airline next year providing service from Australia to the US "and other destinations." ( ATWOnline, Feb. 22).
JetBlue Airways, burdened by winter weather and related operational problems in the current quarter, yesterday lowered its full-year estimated operating and pre-tax margin forecasts from its February guidance ( ATWOnline, Feb. 22). Operating margin range will be 7%-9%, down from the 8%-10% forecast last month, and pre-tax margin will be 2%-4%, down from 3%-5%. First-quarter projections did not change.
Saudi Arabian Airlines will sell 49% of its catering unit to a coalition of Saudi and Spanish firms for $373.4 million, according to the Arab Air Carriers Organization.
Air Dolomiti named Jorg Eberhart VP-marketing, network and commercial. OnAir, the SITA-Airbus joint venture, appointed ARINC VP and MD-Europe, Middle East and Africa Graham Lake as CCO.
FedEx reported net income of $420 million for its fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28, down 2% from $428 million earned in the year-ago quarter, on a 7% rise in revenue to $8.59 billion.
American Airlines and United Airlines, the only US carriers permitted to operate to London Heathrow, are backing adoption of a tentative US-EU open skies accord, on which EU transport ministers are scheduled to vote today, even though it could hurt them in the London market.
While its domestic competitors suffered through a difficult 2006, TAM established itself as the dominant airline in Brazil with a BRL808.8 million ($389 million) profit that represented an 89.6% surge over 2005 net earnings of BRL426.5 million according to US GAAP accounting standards.
FedEx said it plans to launch next-business-day domestic express service in China from May 28, with Okay Airways operating an air cargo network using 737 freighters in support. FedEx plans to provide 19 Chinese cities with next-business-day, time-definite delivery and another 200 cities with next-day but not time-definite service. It will operate a hub-and-spoke system centered at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International in Zhejiang Province. The Hangzhou hub initially will be able to sort up to 9,000 packages per hr., the company said.
TUI AG, parent of Hapagfly, Hapag-Lloyd Express, Thomsonfly, TUIfly Nordic, Arkefly, Corsair and Jetair, suffered a €846.6 million ($1.13 billion) loss in 2006, reversed from a €496.3 million profit the year before, owing to restructuring expenses and required depreciations. The company unveiled a restructuring plan in December that includes the merger of its airline brands under the TUIfly.com name ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18, 2006).
Goodrich reached a deal with Shanghai Airlines to supply wheels and electrically actuated brakes for its nine 787s, which it will put into service starting next year.
Menzies Aviation parent John Menzies plc yesterday announced the resignation of CEO Patrick Macdonald while reporting a 9% year-over-year drop in its full-year profit to £35.8 million ($69.6 million). Menzies Aviation was the company's best-performing unit, posting a 25% rise in profit to £16.6 million. It did not announce a successor.
Cargolux this week placed a follow-on order for three 747-8 freighters valued at $845 million plus two options, bringing its total firm orders for the type to 13. It is the co-launch customer for the 747-8F along with Nippon Cargo Airlines ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16, 2005). It also has 10 purchase rights. Boeing said it now has a combined 87 firm orders for the 747-8F and the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger version.
Air China and Air Macau parent Air China Ltd. earned a 2006 net profit of CNY3.19 billion ($411.8 million), up 86.71% over the prior year, on a 17.4% lift in operating revenue to CNY44.9 billion.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.6 billion RPKs in February, down 0.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.9% to 3.97 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 0.6 point to 65.5%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 1.79 billion RPKs, down 6.3%, against a 5.1% fall in ASKs to 2.63 billion, dropping load factor 0.8 point to 68%.
American Airlines said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that first-quarter mainline passenger RASM will increase 3.5%-4.5% year-over-year and consolidated unit revenue will rise 2.7%-3.7% from last year's 10.26 cents. Consolidated unit cost, which was 11.46 cents in January and 11.84 cents in February, is expected to come in at 11.52 cents for the quarter and 11.51 cents for the year, up from 10.90 cents in 2006. Consolidated CASM excluding fuel is forecast at 8.42 cents for the first quarter and 8.19 cents for the year, up from 7.82 cents in 2006.
