Avianca became an Airbus customer for the first time yesterday with an order for 33 A319s/A320s and five A330-200s collectively valued at nearly $3 billion, plus options for 27 A319s/A320s and five A330-200s. AV Chairman German Efromovich said the order signals a "new era" for the Colombian carrier, touting the "unbeatable economics" of the aircraft as well as fleet commonality. Delivery dates and engine choices were not released. Avianca and its SAM subsidiary currently operate five 757-200s, four 767-200s, one 767-300, 15 MD-83s and 10 F50s.
Star Alliance partners ANA and Asiana Airlines announced a cross-shareholding agreement that will strengthen their strategic partnership, which includes a codeshare deal announced in February covering 154 flights on 18 routes between Korea and Japan. The deal, first mooted in December, involves each carrier taking a $12 million stake in the other, an extension of the codeshare arrangement to cover ANA's Tokyo Narita-Honolulu service beginning July 1 and the creation of a major triangulation route among Seoul Gimpo, Tokyo Haneda and Shanghai Honqiao.
Qatar Airways signed an MOU with Airbus for the purchase of 80 A350 XWBs valued at $16-$18 billion, providing a major boost to an aircraft program that has undergone a significant redesign. The manufacturer said Qatar Airways will launch the aircraft into commercial service in mid-2013. In 2005 the carrier committed to 60 of the original-design A350s. Yesterday's agreement supersedes and expands that accord.
Component Control said AeroTurbine, a subsidiary of AerCap, selected its Quantum Control ERP software to manage its aircraft and engine aftermarket parts sales, maintenance, repair and overhaul operations.
Virgin Blue is moving to set up a lower-fare offshoot to combat both Jetstar Airways and the entry of Singapore-based Tiger Airways into the Australian domestic market ( ATWOnline, May 4). Unlike most countries, Australia allows foreign-owned and foreign-based airlines to operate domestically if they pass a public interest test.
Singapore Airlines' and Temasek's acquisition of a 25%, $930 million equity stake in China Eastern Airlines is close to being finalized, with regulatory approval from Beijing expected within a week ( ATWOnline, May 24). Final structure of the deal still may be altered somewhat owing to regulatory concerns within the Chinese government, sources in Singapore said.
Midwest Airlines will reconfigure and add seats to its fleet of MD-80s and 717s in an $8 million project it estimates will generate up to $35 million in annual incremental revenue. Passengers will have the choice between Signature service featuring a 2-2 layout previously available only on the 717 and Saver, a 2-3 layout previously offered only on the MD-80. The MD-80s will have 12 Signature and 132 Saver seats while the 717s will move to a mix of 40 Signatures and 59 Savers.
Qantas unveiled an expansion of its international network that likely will include an order for 20 additional 787s, CEO Geoff Dixon said. New frequencies/routes announced this week are: A fifth weekly Sydney-Shanghai Pudong flight starting in August; a new twice-weekly Melbourne-PVG service aboard A330s, two additional Brisbane-Los Angeles flights on 747-400s (increasing the service to daily) and one additional Sydney-LAX flight, all in March 2008; a new 747-400 service to Santiago and an additional weekly SYD-Johannesburg flight beginning in November 2008.
Air Canada named Executive VP and CCO Sean Menke executive VP-commercial strategy, focusing on long-term strategy and the implementation of AC's new Polaris reservation system. Air Canada Vacations President and CEO Benjamin Smith was named executive VP-commercial, succeeding Menke.
SAS Sverige planned to operate its full schedule today after the Swedish Salaried Employees Union, which represents approximately 800 SAS cabin staff, reached a labor agreement with the airline late Monday. The deal will apply March 1, 2007-April 30, 2010, and "is in line with the level applicable in the Swedish labor market, that is, 10.3% over 38 months," SAS said.
Thales was selected by Sichuan Airlines to supply and support two Level D full flight simulators to be installed in a soon-to-be-built Sichuan Airlines training center in Chengdu. Also ordered was an A320 Thales Formation Systems Trainer. Thales valued the contract at in excess of $20 million.
European Cargo Services acquired a stake in Africa West Cargo Airlines, the GSA network announced yesterday without disclosing details on the size of the shareholding or the purchase price. ECS said it believes this is the first time a GSA has invested in an airline. Africa West operates three An-12 freighters out of Lome to 14 destinations in West and Central Africa, offering some 160 tonnes of capacity per week. It feeds its African network with twice-weekly flights from Ostend.
Air Jamaica will drop its Kingston-London Heathrow route, on which it reportedly was losing $20-$25 million annually, and sold its LHR landing and takeoff slots to Virgin Atlantic Airways, according to media reports out of London and Jamaica. Virgin beat out rival British Airways to replace Air Jamaica's LHR-Kingston service and will operate two weekly flights on the route beginning this fall. Virgin currently operates two weekly London Gatwick-Montego Bay flights and will continue that service.
SAS Sverige announced the cancellation of flights to, from and within Sweden Saturday owing to a cabin staff strike launched Friday ( ATWOnline, May 25).
Luxair, which comprises the airline, a tour operator and a cargo handling division, posted a 2006 net profit of €16.9 million ($22.7 million), more than the triple the €5.5 million earned in 2005. Revenues increased 2.4% to €333.5 million. The airline division managed to halve its 2005 loss, the company said, although the figure was not released.
Ural Airlines reported a net loss of RUB91.2 million ($3.5 million) in the first quarter compared to a RUB63.3 million deficit in the year-ago period, Russia's AK&M reported. Revenue climbed 17.9% to RUB1.13 billion.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.82 billion RPMs in April, a 4.2% increase from the year-ago month, as domestic traffic declined 0.6% and international surged 17.3%. Capacity fell 0.7% to 12.06 billion ASMs on a 7.3% drop in domestic ASMs and a 17.1% climb in international. System load factor rose 3.9 points to 81.5%--domestic was up 5.6 points to 82.8% and international 0.1 point to 78.6%. Alitalia flew 3.26 billion RPKs in April, down 0.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.7% to 4.3 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.2 point to 75.6%.
Republic Airways President and CEO Bryan Bedford said the regional is "definitely looking" at larger jets, specifically E-190s and CRJ1000s, if it can find interested customers. "I think there is an opportunity out there. We are looking out at least two years for where the opportunity will be," he said at last week's Regional Airline Assn. conference in Memphis. But he pointed out that it is difficult to assess the prospects for larger aircraft because it is unclear if existing scope clauses will allow the operation of aircraft beyond the 70-seat range.
CSA Czech Airlines said it will avoid entering the high season "in a hole for the first time in several years" thanks to a CZK122 million ($5.8 million) first-quarter loss that was CZK500 million better than forecast in its business plan, which projected a deficit similar to that incurred in the first three months of 2006. "In terms of revenue, the first three months are problematic for all airlines. In that time period we achieved better revenue and greater cost savings than planned," President Radomir Lasak said.
The Alitalia board decided to move forward with a €197 million ($264.9 million) writedown of the value of the carrier's fleet, a step it declined to take in March when releasing its full-year financial results but that became necessary when it decided it had to "draw up a new and reliable business plan" ahead of the Italian government's sale of its AZ stake. The decision deepened the company's full-year loss to €625.6 million from the €405.2 million announced two months ago and the €167.8 million suffered in 2005.
Iberia last week confirmed that it was contacted by a consortium led by TPG Capital, recently joined by British Airways ( ATWOnline, May 23), investigating a formal offer for the Spanish carrier.
Sterling Airlines announced the Oct. 28 launch of flights from Oslo Gardermoen to Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Gatwick and Copenhagen as well as a Stockholm Arlanda-Nottingham East Midlands service. Frequencies were not disclosed. Sterling operates 25 737s. Separately, Sterling signed a labor agreement with its pilots this month that it said represented the final step in the merger of Sterling and Maersk Air.
Frontier Airlines reported a net loss of $20.4 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, widened from a net loss of $14 million for the prior year, with more than half of the deficit ($10.4 million) coming in the fourth quarter as severe winter weather hurt the Denver-based carrier's operations.
Air France KLM's 2.4% decline in consolidated net earnings to €891 million ($1.2 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, which compares to a €913 million prior-year profit boosted by the sale of its Amadeus stake, will not slow the airline, which yesterday announced an aircraft commitment worth approximately $7 billion.
