Southwest Airlines will establish both pilot and flight attendant bases in Las Vegas by October 2007. The 17,000-sq.-ft. facilities will be located near McCarran Airport's C Concourse and initially will accommodate 350 pilots and 600 cabin staff. When fully staffed, SWA will employ 600 pilots, 1,000 flight attendants and 2,500 total staff at the airport. It operates 225 daily flights out of LAS to 53 cities. Separately, Southwest will launch Detroit Metro-Orlando International service and add a Denver-MCO service on Dec. 20.
SAS Ground Services will provide handling for Air China at London Heathrow. SAS will take care of passenger services and load control and has subcontracted Aviance to provide ramp handling. Air China operates six weekly 747 flights from Beijing to LHR.
Qantas informed investors yesterday that 46.08% of the carrier is now owned by foreign investors following "recent" sales, an increase of 1.18 points since May 10. The ceiling is 49%.
Boeing began using a moving assembly line--moving at 1.6 in. per min.--during final assembly of the 777. The company said it plans to complete a continuous, one-bay moving 777 assembly line that will include systems installation, final body join and final assembly in 2008. Separately, Boeing announced the delivery of the first of four 777-200ERs to Thai Airways, which will take an additional two next year.
SAS Group reported third-quarter net income of SEK604 million ($84.3 million), up 14.2% from a profit of SEK529 million in the year-ago quarter, on an 8.9% rise in revenues to SEK18.04 billion. Acting President and CEO Gunnar Reitan called the results "positive" but noted that a "strong economy is a significant contributory factor," adding, "The result is far from the group's return requirement and, accordingly, it is necessary to continue focusing full energy on cost-cutting measures."
Japan Airlines emerged from a year in the red with a ¥28.2 billion ($239.2 million) profit in its second fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, a figure calculated by ATWOnline based on the carrier's half-year results released yesterday. For the six-month period, JAL posted a ¥1.5 billion profit that represented a reversal from a ¥12 billion net loss in the semester ended Sept. 30, 2005. Six-month revenues rose 3.4% to ¥1.15 trillion.
Vietnam Airlines and the US Export-Import Bank announced a preliminary agreement for a loan "in excess" of $400 million that will support the carrier's acquisition of four 787-8s that it ordered last year ( ATWOnline, June 22, 2005). The deal was announced in Hanoi by Michael Marine, US ambassador to Vietnam. The bank previously financed four 777-200ERs for VN.
ExpressJet Holdings, a Regional partner of Continental Airlines, reported a 10.9% drop in third-quarter net income to $22.7 million from $25.4 million in the same period a year ago. Operating revenues increased 8.8% to $428.6 million while operating expenses grew 10.8% to $394.1 million. Operating income was down 9% to $34.5 million. Traffic rose 14.1% to 2.7 billion RPMs, which bumped up load factor 1.5 points to 78.1%. ASMs increased 12% to 3.5 billion. Earlier this year, CO removed 69 ERJs from ExpressJet's network after the two companies failed to agree on new financial terms.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.56 billion system RPMs in October, a 1.7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity fell 4.5% to 12.4 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4.7 points to an October record 77.1%. Domestic traffic dropped 5.5% to 6.72 billion RPMs against a 14.1% decline in capacity to 8.57 billion ASMs, sending load factor up 7.1 points to 78.4%. International RPMs grew 24% to 2.84 billion, ASMs increased 27.2% to 3.83 billion and load factor dipped 1.9 points to 74.2%.
FedEx Express yesterday cancelled its $2.3 billion order for 10 A380Fs and placed an order for 15 777Fs with 15 options, becoming the first airline to cancel an A380 order and dealing a serious blow to beleaguered Airbus.
AirBridge Cargo, the 747F scheduled freight airline launched by Volga-Dnepr in 2004, said yesterday it has received an Air Operators' Certificate from the Russian government, which Volga-Dnepr called a "a key milestone" in its effort to establish ABC as an independent operator.
Pinnacle Airlines yesterday reported a third-quarter profit of $15.8 million, a reversal from a $21.4 million loss in the year-ago quarter when it was hit hard by the bankruptcy of codeshare partner Northwest Airlines.
TAP Portugal and Espirito Santo International signed the contract for TAP's acquisition of 99.81% of PGA Portugalia Airlines. Purchase price was "some €140 million," according to a statement, and thus higher than the price indicated by TAP CEO Fernando Pinto last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 1). TAP also is purchasing PGA's 6% holding in the Groundforce handling company for €4 million.
SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express announced that Brussels Airlines will be the name of the merged company, a "new-generation" carrier that will meet "the real needs of...both business and low-cost travelers: Flexibility, service and timesaving for the former, and the lowest fare guarantee for the latter."
Airbus announced a 12-year agreement with Skybus Airlines of Ohio for a Total Support Package covering the 65 A319s that the startup LCC purchased last month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 27). Airbus said the deal "is the most comprehensive selection ever of Airbus fleet maintenance solutions built on the Air+ by Airbus services." The manufacturer selected MRO network partner Singapore Technologies Aerospace and Messier Bugatti to provide the support. Skybus expects to launch service next spring.
Finnair reported a third-quarter net profit of €10.3 million ($13.1 million), narrowed 61% from net income of €26.4 million in the year-ago quarter, and said it will cut jobs and outsource "some operations" in an effort to lower operating expenses.
Continental Airlines estimated a 4.5%-5.5% year-over-year rise in October consolidated RASM and a 5%-6% increase in mainline RASM and said September consolidated and mainline RASM each gained 4.8% over the year-ago month. CO flew 7.26 billion consolidated RPMs in October, up 9.5% over October 2005, against a 6.8% rise in ASMs to 9.16 billion. Load factor rose 2 points to 79.3%. Domestic traffic climbed 8% to 3.58 billion RPMs, capacity increased 4.4% to 4.32 billion ASMs and load factor was up 2.9 points to 83.1%.
MAIR Holdings, parent company of Mesaba Airlines and Big Sky Airlines, narrowed its second fiscal quarter net loss to $2.5 million from the $25.5 million deficit posted in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2005, which was attributable in large part to the bankruptcy filing of Northwest Airlines. MAIR officials attributed the loss primarily to expenses related to Mesaba's Chapter 11 reorganization. The Northwest Airlink carrier, which currently operates 49 Saabs, had its fleet reduced over the past year by 40 aircraft by NWA.
Ryanair outperformed market expectations as it reported a 23.7% increase in second fiscal quarter net profit to €213.4 million ($271.3 million) from €172.5 million in the year-ago period and raised its profit guidance for the year to next March 31 by 16% to €350 million, up around 11% from its previous guidance of €335 million.
Aeroflot's board said last week that production of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, for which the Russian flag carrier became the launch customer with an order for 30 ( ATWOnline, June 1), "is being realized in conformity with the schedule and working plan." The RRJ is scheduled to be certified and delivered in 2008.
Lufthansa will wait until after Airbus firmly commits to the A350 XWB before making a decision on buying a 250-seat long-haul aircraft, VP-Americas Jens Bischof told reporters in Washington last week. The carrier will compare the revamped A350 with the 787. "We'll see who has the better product once the A350 redesign is done," he said.
Emirates reported a $323 million net profit for the first half of its fiscal year, widened from $251 million in the year-ago period, on a 30% jump in revenues to $3.67 billion, marking the highest first-half profit in its history. "The results reflect a strong revenue performance driven by robust passenger and cargo demand, and better yields, which softened the impact of high fuel prices on operating costs," the airline said in a statement.
TNT yesterday officially completed the sale of its logistics unit to Apollo Management for $1.9 billion ( ATWOnline, May 5). The Dutch express delivery company last week also signaled its intention to sell off its Freight Management freight forwarding business. Both sales are part of its effort to divest itself of high-revenue, low-margin units and concentrate on growing its "core" mail and express delivery business, CEO Peter Bakker said.
Ryanair flew 3.7 million passengers in October, a 23.4% rise over the year-ago month. Load factor fell 2 points to 83%. JetBlue Airways flew 1,86 billion RPMs in October, a 16.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 15.7% to 2.36 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 78.8%. Royal Jordanian transported 145,000 passengers in October, a 19% increase over the year-ago month. It operated 2,077 flights during the month compared to 1,570 in October 2005.
