Father and son Alberto Saba Raffoul and Moises Saba Masri made an official bid for AeroMexico yesterday after receiving permission from the country's National Banking and Securities Commission, announcing an offer valued at about $100 million.
China Airlines was ordered by the Taiwanese government to ground temporarily its 11 remaining 737-800s for safety checks following the post-landing fire and explosion that destroyed a -800 Monday morning at Naha Airport in Okinawa.
Compass Airlines, Northwest Airlines' new regional subsidiary that launched service in early May with a CRJ200, yesterday operated its first revenue flight with one of two new 76-seat E-175s from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Omaha. The pair of dual-class aircraft will be used on routes from MSP to Omaha, Dallas/Fort Worth, Missoula and Nashville. It plans to fly 10 175s by year end and 36 by the close of 2008.
Eos Airlines, the all-business-class carrier operating between London Stansted and New York JFK, yesterday announced that it secured an additional $50 million in equity capital "from institutional and private sources," with one investor accounting for $35 million. President and CEO Jack Williams said the investment "enables us to continue growing to a scale that will lead to strong corporate profitability" and ensures the delivery of a fifth and sixth 757-200ER in the next five months. A fourth 48-seat aircraft will enter service in September.
Air New Zealand is set to announce a new lower-cost, higher-value domestic product next Tuesday when it announces its fiscal-year results. The indication came yesterday in a press release issued in response to Virgin Blue's announcement that it will launch New Zealand domestic services within 12 months (see story above).
Australia's Virgin Blue Holdings cited a significant improvement in revenue and yield for a 92.9% surge in net profit to A$216 million ($172.6 million) for the fiscal year ended June 30. Revenue rose 16.3% to A$2.16 billion and yield lifted 8.1% to A11.57 cents. Expenses climbed 9.3% year-over-year to A$1.84 billion, reflecting an increase in flying and a 7.9% rise in fuel price. Operating income soared 41.2% to A$548 million, with A$16 million in one-off expenses dragging on a bottom line that otherwise would have been even more impressive.
Qantas said yesterday it will invest A$50 million ($40 million) to improve and expand its domestic terminal at Perth, with work set to commence by year end. It also revealed that it conducted an audit of all its aircraft maintenance workers after "discovering irregularities in documentation relating to the qualifications of one of its engineering employees." No other problems were found, QF said, adding that the worker in question resigned. Separately, Jamila Gordon, a former IBM executive, was named CIO.
Delta Air Lines ended its long search for a CEO yesterday, naming current DL board member and former Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson to succeed Gerald Grinstein, who had said he would retire after Delta emerged from bankruptcy.
Air Berlin said both the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office have followed the Swiss Cartel Office in clearing its acquisition of 49% of Switzerland's Belair ( ATWOnline, March 28). A subsidiary of Hotelplan Group, Belair currently operates two 757-200s and one 767-300.
China Southern Airlines enjoyed a significant turnaround in the first half of 2007, reporting net income of CNY226 million ($29.7 million) under IFRS, a reversal from a loss of CNY784 million in the year-ago semester, on a 19.2% lift in operating revenue to CNY24.56 billion. The carrier attributed the improved performance in part to "its double-hub strategy of Beijing and Guangzhou" and cost control. The "fast-growing Chinese economy, rising domestic demands and the appreciation of the yuan" also were credited for the result.
Product Support Solutions and Holly-Connects announced "successful deployment of US Airways' next-generation platform for voice self service" following a two-month development. The system will handle more than 12 million calls per year. US said it transitioned three legacy voice platforms and 11 applications to the Holly platform.
Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect flew a consolidated 489.3 million RPMs in July, up 25.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 24.9% to 578.6 million ASMs and load factor gained 0.7 point to 84.6%. The company estimated a 3.6% decline in yield to 13.63 cents and a 3.5% fall in RASM to 12.58 cents. Republic Airways flew 795.1 million RPMs in July, up 22.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 19.3% to 990.6 million ASMs, lifting load factor 2.2 points to 80.3%.
Ryanair yesterday confirmed the purchase of a further 4% of Aer Lingus shares, bringing its stake to "over" 29.4% ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20). "These new shares were acquired at or less than €2.45 ($3.30) per share, which lowers the average cost of Ryanair's shares in Aer Lingus," the LCC said.
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon will quit the airline after his current contract expires in July 2009. Speaking on Australia's Sky News Business Sunday, Dixon said, "There is a time to move on, and I don't think the board or I would contemplate anything after the time we've said, unless there is something out there I don't see. I really do think it would be time to move on." He also forecast a bigger role for Qantas low-cost subsidiary JetStar Airways, which will restore service to markets that QF abandoned.
SAirGroup liquidators will start making payments to creditors in November, Wenger Plattner, the Swiss law firm handling the liquidation, announced last week. An initial payment of CHF519.4 million ($429.7 million) will include a first installment for nonpreferential creditors. So far, SAirGroup's creditors have filed claims totaling CHF48.9 billion, of which CHF9.8 billion have been accepted for payment, WP said. It added that CHF29.3 billion worth of claims have been rejected while appeals or decisions are pending on the rest.
Aer Lingus pilots called off a two-day strike scheduled to begin today after the carrier and the Irish Air Line Pilots Assn. agreed to commence talks through Ireland's Labour Relations Commission on pay and conditions at EI's new Belfast base ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20).
Virgin Group executives revealed yesterday that the firm, which except for a brief period in the 1980s has eschewed selling stakes via public markets, is now considering IPOs for some of its business units, including Virgin Atlantic Airways. VG CEO Stephen Murphy told The Times of London, "Once we have built a company to a point where it has reached a level of stability and maturity, we will seek a public exit. We are much more comfortable with that idea now but there are no firm targets of how many businesses we want to float."
China Southern Airlines yesterday announced that it entered into an agreement with Boeing for the purchase of 55 737-700s/-800s for delivery starting in May 2011 and extending to October 2013. A Boeing spokesperson contacted by ATWOnline would not confirm the order but said the 55 aircraft were unrelated to the 80 737NGs ordered by China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group 16 months ago ( ATWOnline, April 12, 2006). The manufacturer did not update the orders list on its website.
Alitalia's new chairman, Maurizio Prato, is considering selling regional and charter subsidiary Alitalia Express in a separate tender, Finanza e Mercati reported. Air Alps and ItAli were named as potential buyers. Prato was appointed this month ( ATWOnline, Aug. 2).
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake told ATWOnline that the carrier is trying to get permission to fly to Toronto and hopes to fly to New York JFK, Chicago O'Hare and Atlanta. ET's current North American service comprises six-times-weekly flights to Washington Dulles. Wake said the carrier also is considering two more destinations in India and China, where it currently serves five markets combined. Back in Africa, Ethiopian plans to open its new hub in Lome by October. "We will lease two 737-300s or -400s for this operation and try to fly from Lome to five stations," he said.
Nearly three months after trading in its shares was suspended, China Eastern Airlines finally is on the verge of closing its deal to sell a 25% stake to Singapore Airlines. The transaction has been approved by appropriate government entities and is awaiting only a final okay from the State Council, an industry insider told ATWOnline last week.
Correction: An Aug. 13 item in Daily News incorrectly identified Air Moorea as an affiliate of Air Tahiti Nui. Air Moorea is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Tahiti, a regional based in Papeete. ATWOnline regrets the error.
Midwest Airlines, which accepted a cash buyout offer of $17 per share from TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines Friday, could end up being owned by Northwest, a TPG partner acknowledged.
SAS Group President and CEO Mats Jansson said four local trade unions, in addition to the heads of the unions organizing employees at SAS Ground Services and SAS Technical Service in Denmark, have promised to "work for a total no-strike situation" in a letter he called "a breakthrough toward a new cooperation model between SAS and our trade union organizations in Denmark." SAS said that as a result of the commitment, "the conditions and the realities have changed" regarding its decision to operate flights between Copenhagen and Stockholm and Oslo with only Swedish and Norwegian crews
