News from Travel Technology Update: American Airlines took Google to court over the sale of its keywords to other companies for use in Google searches. In its complaint, filed in U.S.
EgyptAir signed a contract for five firm A330-200s plus three options, Airbus announced. The airline said the purchase will allow it "to continue its impressive route network growth." No engine choice or delivery schedule were announced.
Turkish Airlines yesterday reached a pay agreement with the Hava-Is union, which represents thousands of aviation workers and had voted to strike following an earlier collapse in negotiations, the government told reporters in Ankara. Separately, THY will launch thrice-weekly services from Istanbul Ataturk to Johannesburg and Cape Town on Sept. 17 aboard A340-300s.
Hawaiian Airlines flew 728.5 million RPMs in July, up 16.8% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 19.2% to 833.3 million ASMs, dropping load factor 1.9 points to 87.4%.
Malaysia Airlines recorded a second-quarter net profit of MYR113 million ($32.4 million), improving its performance from a MYR177 million loss a year earlier and marking its fourth straight profitable quarter since the February 2006 launch of its Business Turnaround Plan ( ATW, May 2007).
Kang Pacific Airlines will become the United Arab Emirates' fifth airline. Established by Indian aviation tycoon Paul Kang, the new carrier will be based in Fujairah and plans to start operations in October, Gulf News reported. The LCC will fly to the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the UK and India. The paper said Kang will invest $10 million of his own money in the airline, which will start with two leased DC-10s and one 747.
ILFC announced the following lease contracts: Bangkok Airways for one new A319-100 for six years with delivery in January 2009; Zoom Airlines for one used 757-200ER for four years and eight months with delivery in February 2008; Air Austral for two new 777-300ERs for eight years each with delivery in February and March 2009; Kenya Airways for one new 737-800 for eight years with delivery in October 2008; Eos Airlines for one used 757-200ER for five years with delivery in April 2009; Aerolineas Argentinas for one used A340-300 for six years with delivery this October; Iberia for one used
Ryanair's effort to simplify the check-in and boarding process, cut costs and increase ancillary revenue will include a new £2/€3 ($4.00-$4.07) fee charged to each person using an airport check-in desk beginning Sept. 20.
Volga-Dnepr Group, Motor Sich and Antonov Design Bureau signed an agreement at the MAKS air show outside Moscow last week to resume production of An-124-100 freighters and modernize existing aircraft of the type. VD and Motor Sich, a Ukrainian company, last winter announced the formation of a joint venture company to manage the re-launch of the An-124-100F ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8). ADB said last week it will join the venture, known as GLA Cargo Aircraft. Production timelines were not announced.
Austrian Airlines Group carriers flew 1.99 billion RPKs in July, down 19.2% on the year-ago month. Capacity fell 18.7% to 2.5 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 0.4 point to 79.5%. Jat Airways carried 186,480 passengers in July, up 11% from the year-ago month. Load factor soared 8.5 points to 77%.
Delta Air Lines will launch daily Salt Lake City-Paris Charles de Gaulle service starting June 2, 2008. The 767-300ER flight will be the first transatlantic operation ever from the Utah capital, Delta said. The aircraft will have capacity for up to 214 passengers and 5 tons of cargo.
Alitalia flew 3.75 billion RPKs in July, the same number as the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.1% to 4.72 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.1 point to 79.5%. WestJet flew 1.05 billion RPMs in July, up 17% on the year-ago month. Capacity grew 16% to 1.27 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.1 points to 82.6%. Air New Zealand reported a 6.7% year-over-year growth in July passenger numbers and an 11.4% rise in RPKs to 1.4 billion. Load factor was up 6.2 points to 82.2% and yield increased 0.2%.
Alaska Air Group said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects to incur a full-year operating loss from its regional operation in excess of the $13.2 million suffered in the first six months, "but not a multiple of it." Horizon Air capacity is expected to increase 15%-16% in the third quarter, with unit cost falling 6%-7% to 16.7-16.8 cents. Revenue will exceed expenses during the period, but AAG expects costs to surpass revenue in the fourth quarter.
Norwegian will open its seventh base at the new airport in Rygge just south of Oslo. It initially will launch operations with a 737-800 on Feb. 14, with a second aircraft entering service March 13. It will serve Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade, Bergen, Budapest, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, London Stansted, Malaga, Marrakech, Palanga, Szczecin, Valencia and Warsaw from the airport. "We expect further expansion, both in the form of new routes and more planes," CEO Bjorn Kjos said, adding that RYG will be "state of the art. .
Aegean Airlines reported a €6.4 million profit for the six months ended June 30, its first reporting period as a publicly listed company, a nearly sixfold increase over the €1.1 million earned in the year-ago semester. "The recent IPO represents an important milestone for our company since the gross proceeds of €135 million, coupled with our improved positive results, give us the necessary tools to implement our growth plans with financial security," Executive VP Eftichios Vassilakis said.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprises plans to purchase at least 125 aircraft for its DAE Capital leasing segment over the next five years, CEO Robert Genise told Bloomberg News, adding that the company will "probably" need $4-$4.25 billion in debt financing for the acquisitions. DAE Capital is considering a future IPO and will focus principally on sale/leaseback arrangements with airlines, he told the news service.
British Airways and Korean Air both officially pleaded guilty to price-fixing charges yesterday in a US federal court, which levied a fine of $300 million against each.
Swiss International Air Lines announced that it will increase its stake in Swiss Aviation Training to 100%, buying out the 50% held by GCAT Flight Academy UK. Former Swiss COO Manfred Brennwald will be CEO of SAT. No financial details were provided.
Malaysia Airlines appointed George Snyder as its senior technical consultant-safety and security. Snyder was closely associated with the operational and safety turnaround at Korean Air in the early part of the decade when he served there as senior VP-corporate safety, security and compliance. Prior to that he was US Airways' VP-safety and regulatory compliance. SAS Group named Norwegian public relations executive Claus Sonberg executive VP-corporate communications and investor relations.
Air China will invest CNY5 billion ($657.9 million) to establish the country's largest flight simulator training base. It will be located in Shunyi District in suburban Beijing. CA reached a deal with district authorities yesterday. The complex will comprise 30 full-motion flight simulators, eight fixed-base simulators, a cabin crew training center, MRO training center, ground-handling service training center and other relevant support facilities that the airline said will help reduce its long-term dependence on foreign training resources.
Alitalia announced yesterday that it received a "telephone communication" from "an unspecified group of entrepreneurs" interested in purchasing the government's 49.9% stake in the Italian carrier. AZ said the group requested a meeting in late August or early September, without elaborating, but said it issued the statement in response to a press release from attorney Antonio Baldassarre, who represents the consortium ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14).
Singapore Airlines announced that it received court approval for a share buyback through a capital reduction that will see it cancel one share for every 15 held, paying shareholders S$18.46 ($12.07) per cancelled share. SIA said it will carry out the cancellation on Sept. 7.
Ryanair said it suspended all bookings to/from its base at Brussels South Charleroi from Nov. 12 "pending the resolution of a number of issues which remain outstanding" since a wildcat strike by security staff closed the airport June 15-17 ( ATWOnline, June 18).
