Air Astana, Kazakhstan's flag airline, carried 970,000 passengers in the first half of 2007, up 42% over the year-ago semester. It expects to carry more than 2 million passengers for the full year. First-half capacity increased 44% to 3.1 billion ASKs as the fleet grew to 18 aircraft with the delivery of two 767-300ERs, two A320s and two A321s. The carrier said its fleet will number 34 by 2014. Air France KLM flew 19.75 billion RPKs in July, up 6.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity increased 5.6% to 22.92 billion ASKs and load factor was ahead 1 point to 86.2%.
Qatar Airways said it will launch twice-weekly Doha-Nagpur flights from Sept. 23 and daily Doha-Ahmedabad service from Dec. 12 aboard dual-class A320s seating 144 passengers. The new flights will boost QR's India operations to 51 weekly flights to eight cities, making India the nation with the most destinations in the airline's network. It said it will be the only full-service international carrier offering scheduled service to Nagpur, which has a population of more than 2 million. It currently operates daily service to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Trivandrum, and Hyderabad.
European low-cost carrier seat capacity grew by 21% or 34 million seats in 2006 compared to 2005 and the sector accounted for around 30% of all intra-European seat capacity last year and 22% of departures, according to rdc's Low Cost Monitor 2007, a copy of which was provided to ATWOnline.
ABX Air yesterday agreed to purchase a 767-200ER from Air China and convert it to a freighter for long-haul international operations. The Wilmington, Ohio-based cargo carrier projected the total cost to purchase, modify and put the aircraft into revenue service at approximately $23 million. ABX primarily operates as a DHL subservice carrier in the US but is eager to grow non-DHL operations outside North America.
Japan Airlines parent JAL Group's strategy of focusing on high-yield business traffic appears to be paying dividends, evidenced by a narrowed fiscal first-quarter net loss of ¥4.2 billion ($36.8 million) for the three months ended June 30, a strong improvement over a ¥26.6 billion net loss in the year-ago quarter. The result was achieved on revenue of ¥520.6 billion, a 0.3% decline attributed to the removal of trading company JALUX from the group's figures. Airline operations produced revenue growth of 3% to ¥422 billion despite cutbacks in routes.
KLM became the first airline to offer self-service check-in to passengers at Kuala Lumpur International, using the SITA-installed CUSS kiosks now in operation there. Together with Malaysia Airports, SITA installed 12 CUSS kiosks with 24 more to follow over the next few months. SITA said CUSS check-in applications for both Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific will be placed on the kiosks before year end and the option also will be available to some 40 other carriers using KLIA.
Owing to a $300 million fine it agreed last week to pay to the US Dept. of Justice for antitrust violations regarding fares and surcharges, Korean Air reported a second-quarter net loss of KRW214 billion ($229 million), a significant decline from a net profit of KRW14.9 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Austrian Airlines Technik and Lufthansa Technik firmed an April MOU and signed a 10-year contract to increase a strategic cooperation, highlighted by the establishment of a 777 MRO center in Vienna that will service LHT clients and third-party customers.
Fraport AG increased its stake in the company operating Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport to 100% from 42.75%. The German company said it will sell off 40% of the airport to Peruvian investors and the World Bank investment fund. Fraport purchased the outstanding stake from a consortium led by US construction firm Bechtel. LIM reported revenue of around €80 million ($109.4 million) and processed approximately 6 million passengers last year, up from the 4 million it handled when Fraport entered the market in 2001.
Garuda Indonesia swung to a half-year profit of IDR148 billion ($15.9 million) from a IDR361 billion loss in the first six months of 2006, according to press reports from Jakarta. Revenue rose 12% to IDR5.8 trillion. CEO Emirsyah Satar was quoted saying that passenger numbers increased 7.1% to 4.4 million and that the improved result was due in part to higher fares (yield rose 8%) and a better utilization rate. Load factor climbed 6 points to 76% as the fleet decreased to 49 aircraft from 56, The Jakarta Post reported.
GE Aviation Materials launched its Singapore Distribution Center, the GE-Snecma joint venture's first in Asia. DHL Exel Supply Chain will operate and manage the center. The 31,300-sq.-ft. facility will hold about $30 million in new and used engine parts and complete spares.
Vueling Airlines reported a net loss of €33.7 million ($46.1 million) in the first six months of 2007, widened from a deficit of €6.5 million in the year-ago period, according to press reports from Madrid. Revenue climbed 57.3% to €149.7 million but costs soared 79% as competitive pressures hammered yields. Reuters reported that Vueling's average fare during the second quarter plunged 23.4% to €39.71.
EasyJet and Wizz Air last week announced that they will start charging for each piece of checked baggage. The UK-based LCC said that in order to "reduce the number of passengers who travel with checked-in bags," it will be charging £2 ($4.06) per piece of hold baggage per sector from Oct. 1. Previously, easyJet did not charge for the first bag but levied £5 for each additional piece. Maximum weight per passenger remains at 20 kg.
US Airways Group flew 6.15 billion consolidated RPMs in July, up 1.2% on the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.4% to 7.17 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.2 points to 85.8%. The company said July passenger RASM rose 4% year-over-year. Ryanair transported 4.8 million passengers in July, up 21% from the year-ago month. Load factor was steady at 90%.
Flight Explorer, a global flight tracking and IT solutions provider, entered into a teaming agreement with Metron Aviation "to integrate Metron's Enhanced Substitution Module product into Flight Explorer's FE Professional Aircraft Situation Display." Flight Explorer also will serve as "a value-added-reseller" of Metron's ESM product.
British Airways reported a profit of £269 million ($546.5 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, a 74.7% jump over a profit of £154 million for the year-ago quarter, a performance with which the airline said it was particularly pleased given ongoing security restrictions at London Heathrow. "These are very good results despite operational difficulties at Heathrow," CEO Willie Walsh said. "Profits are up as a result of steps we took last year to control costs."
Air France KLM Group subsidiaries Regional and KLM Cityhopper last week placed a joint order for 20 E-170/190 aircraft plus 18 options. The group said the combined order "will lead to substantial synergies both in the purchasing of aircraft, engines and spare parts and in fleet management, operational maintenance and crew training." Regional will take six 170s and four 190s and Cityhopper will take 10 190s and replace its oldest F100s. Deliveries are scheduled between 2008 and 2011.
Frontier Airlines President and CEO Jeff Potter, who joined the carrier in 1995 as VP-marketing and assumed his current position in April 2002, will step down on Sept. 6 in order "to accept a new position outside of the airline industry," the Denver-based carrier announced last week, adding that the board already has launched its search for a successor. Potter will remain on the board. He left Frontier in May 2000 to become president and CEO of Vanguard Airlines, spending a year with the now-defunct carrier before returning to Frontier as COO.
Air Arabia reported net earnings of AED115 million ($31.3 million) for the first half of 2006, more than four times greater than the AED26 million reported in the year-ago semester. Revenue rose 67% to AED513 million as passenger boardings surged 57.9% to 1.2 million. Second-quarter profit was AED71.7 million and passenger numbers during the three months ended June 30 increased 11.5% to 646,000. "The company has received acceptance and support from the market and our business has expanded rapidly," CEO Adel Ali said.
Already the subject of takeover rumors involving such heavyweights as TPG, British Airways and Air France KLM, Spanish flag carrier Iberia yesterday presented itself as an even more appetizing target by reporting a second-quarter profit of €62.6 million, up 75.2% on year-ago earnings of €35.7 million, and a half-year profit of €74.8 million that marked its "best performance in the last five years."
Philippine Airlines said it informed shareholders yesterday that it will exit receivership before year end thanks to an eight-year streak of operational profits and three straight years of net profits. The carrier earned a record $140.3 million in the fiscal year ended March 31 ( ATWOnline, June 29). Separately, PAL signed an MOU with authorities in Chongqing paving the way for future service. It already serves Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen on the Chinese mainland.
ExpressJet Holdings will have its 2007 block-hour rates under its capacity purchase agreement with Continental Airlines reduced by $14.2 million, an arbitration panel decided. The dispute went to arbitration June 25. ExpressJet said the reduction "represents changing staffing levels and overhead expenses allocated to the CPA as well as expenses associated with ExpressJet's nonflying businesses."
Montenegro Airlines signed an agreement to lease two E-195s from GECAS. Deliveries are scheduled for May 2008 and May 2009. Aircraft will be configured with 116 seats in two classes--the first business class-equipped E-195s in Europe--and used on routes to Russia, the UK and Scandinavia, Embraer said.
Despite the fact that one Chinese airline after another has forecast a first-half profit, significant operational challenges still face the industry as it continues to grow.
