Airbus is facing an uphill battle to retain Malaysia Airlines as an A380 customer. According to Business Times, MAS remains in discussions with the manufacturer on "various options" for its order for six. The newspaper reported that the airline and parent Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd. said in an e-mailed statement that they had "yet to come to any conclusion." It also cited sources stating that a cancellation is likely.
Alitalia flew 2.67 billion RPKs in February, up 4.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.4% to 3.91 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2.9 points to 68.3%.
Jazeera Airways yesterday announced the submission of its application for listing on the Kuwait Stock Exchange ( ATWOnline, Oct. 13, 2006). Jazeera Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said the KSE has the second-highest capitalization in the Middle East and that the application process is expected to take 6-8 weeks. J9 claims to be the only airline in the region not owned or subsidized by any government.
Gulf Air named former British Airways employee and private consultant Jeffrey Solomon as acting VP-technical. Swiss International Air Lines said that MD and Head of Sales and Marketing-Intercontinental Markets Marcel Biedermann will head the carrier's North and South American management operations.
Japan Airlines was anticipating a one-day strike by approximately 2,000 "cockpit crew and other staff" today but promised all flights will operate normally and that there will be no cancellations. JAL said three unions--JAL Cockpit Crew Union, JAL Labor Union and JAL Domestic Labor Union--voted yesterday to strike. JAL Cabin Crew Union declined to join in the work action.
Republic Airways Holdings is unlikely to hold onto the 15 ERJ-135s released from the amended service agreement with Delta Air Lines announced last week.
Southwest Airlines authorized a new share repurchase program to buy back $300 million worth of common stock, or an estimated 20.2 million shares. CEO Gary Kelly said WN has repurchased 62.1 million shares worth $1 billion since the beginning of 2006. Separately, Southwest named Senior Chief Pilot Chuck Magill VP-flight operations.
Iberia reached a labor agreement with its 4,200 flight attendants that will include the conversion of 260 temporary contracts into permanent positions, pay raises linked to company performance, a lump payment of more than €7 million ($9.3 million) and "a number of employee benefits," according to IB. The deal is effective through Dec. 31. Separately, Iberia will add a third weekly Madrid-Algiers flight starting April 11.
US airlines' capacity is expected to grow 2.8% and traffic 3.4% in 2007, FAA forecasts. Mainline domestic capacity is expected to increase 2.1% in 2007 and 3.6% in 2008. Latin American Air Transport Assn.'s 33 member airlines flew 11.15 billion RPKs in January, down 7.6% from the year-ago month, a decline the organization attributed to cutbacks at Varig. Capacity fell 4.9% to 15.89 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.1 points to 70.2%.
AirAsia's planned low-cost, long-haul AirAsia X service, originally scheduled to start in July with flights to the UK ( ATWOnline, Jan. 10), likely will be delayed until next year owing to lack of aircraft, according to press reports. "We are looking at the cost structure, the right aircraft," CEO Raja Azmi Mohamad told Malaysian media, the BBC reported.
Qatar Airways won Australian government approval for daily service to Melbourne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Mark Vaile told reporters last week. QR also can introduce a second daily service to an additional Australian city next year. In response, Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said his airline "will have no option but to achieve further cost savings if it is to remain competitive" now that more carriers are gaining access to the country.
Air Arabia's AED2.57 billion ($698.9 million) IPO was scheduled to launch yesterday as 55% of the airline's share capital equal to 2.57 billion shares was put up for sale. The shares will be listed on the Dubai Financial Market upon completion of the 10-day IPO, which the carrier said is the largest in United Arab Emirates history.
Boeing added 46 orders to its backlog last week including 27 aircraft for unidentified customers: Six 747-8s (understood to be freighters), six 777s (understood to be -300ERs for Virgin Blue) and 15 787s.
LOT Polish Airlines reported a PLN539.8 million ($182.6 million) profit in 2006, largely from asset sales. A year-ago comparison was not provided. The carrier earned $27.3 million in 2005, according to ATW's "World Airline Report." Revenues from "basic operations" fell 0.4%, according to LOT, to PLN2.76 billion and costs rose 4.2% to PLN2.79 billion. Pre-tax earnings of PLN605.8 million represented a fivefold increase over the year-ago result, a figure that was achieved "from single transactions of sale of the company's assets." It did not elaborate.
Lufthansa Technik launched a dedicated Web suite allowing aircraft operators to monitor and manage all aspects of their fleets' technical operations via the Internet. Dubbed manage/m, the toolbox of Web-based modules is designed to "give the operator total control over the MRO requirements and operations of his fleet, anytime and everywhere," LHT VP-Customer Services-Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Alexander Heilmann told ATWOnline in Frankfurt. Manage/m comprises 15 modules covering every aspect of MRO management.
Airbus appeared to be on the verge of winning a significant order yesterday as reports from Moscow indicated that Aeroflot is close to announcing a major buy. Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulov told reporters at a news conference that SU was planning to sign a contract for 22 A350 XWBs with deliveries beginning in 2015. Reuters reported that Okulov said, "The deal will be done."
VLM Airlines is not talking with British Airways about a possible sale of the regional carrier that is currently the largest operator at London City, owner Jaap Rosen Jacobson told ATWOnline, putting to rest speculation that arose following BA's launch of CityFlyer ( ATWOnline, March 15). VLM accounts for about one-third of all aircraft movements at LCY. "There has been no negotiation with BA on this subject," Jacobson said. "I'm not saying a sale of VLM might not happen. One never knows.
LTU will launch service from Dusseldorf to Los Angeles (five-times-weekly from May 3) and Las Vegas (twice-weekly from May 3). It also will unveil a new livery when it takes delivery of its 12th A330, a -200, in May. Design will remain red and white, with a touch of silver added, and feature a larger logo on the tail. The new look "stands for the transformation of the former vacation carrier into an airline with standard routes and extremely attractive price-to-performance ratios for vacationers and business travelers."
Tiger Airways was given the green light by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board to proceed with the creation of Tiger Airways Australia ( ATWOnline, Feb. 12). Tiger said FIRB found that "the creation of Tiger Airways Australia was consistent with the government's foreign investment policy and did not place any specific conditions on the creation of the new airline." TAA now will now work toward securing its AOC.
Cyprus Airways' 2006 full-year loss narrowed to CYP7.2 million ($16.5 million) from CYP22.6 million in 2005 as it began to benefit from its restructuring initiatives. It said in January that it expects to be profitable this year ( ATWOnline, Jan. 4). It said improved yield and an increase in RPKs fueled a 10.7% rise in revenue to CYP157 million. Operating costs fell 0.8% to CYP159.8 million, which the airline credited to the layoffs that were part of its restructuring program.
Responding to calls for guidance from shareholders considering Airline Partners Australia's bid to buy the carrier, Qantas confirmed yesterday that a pre-tax profit of A$1.23 billion ($962.8 million), which matches an average of analysts' expectations, is likely for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.
Pinnacle Airlines yesterday signed a contract for 15 74-seat Q400s plus 10 conditional orders and 20 options. The firm aircraft are worth $381 million at list prices and the deal could climb to $1.2 billion if conditional orders and options are exercised, Bombardier said. Aircraft will be operated by Pinnacle subsidiary Colgan Air for Continental Connection.
Delta Air Lines is amending its service agreement to lower rates and cut some flying done by Republic Airways. At the same time, it tapped Mesa Air Group to operate 14 new Delta-owned CRJ900s under a 10-year agreement. The Mesa deal also includes six additional ERJ-145s, bringing the number of 145s it flies for Delta Connection to 36 and the total fleet to 62. Mesa will receive a general unsecured claim of $35 million as part of DL's bankruptcy proceedings.
India Ministry of Civil Aviation granted approval to Alliance Air, Jet Airways, Deccan Aviation, Sahara Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines, Paramount Airways and Indus Airways to acquire and operate foreign manufactured aircraft with fewer than 80 seats. Airlines in India are exempt from landing fees for planes with fewer than 80 seats. Separately, the ministry announced that the new Bangalore International Airport will open April 2.
