Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners voted unanimously to increase cumulative rents and fees at Terminals 1 and 3 at Los Angeles International to $292.8 million over five years from $76 million, according to press reports. The two terminals serve primarily low-cost carriers, with Southwest Airlines operating the most routes. In addition, maintenance fees will double, the Los Angeles Times reported. The increases will go into effect Feb. 1 and will equal a $4.19 increase in cost per boarded passenger to $9.89 in T1 and a $5.45 increase to $11.60 in T3.
Air France KLM flew 15.54 billion RPKs in November, a 4.1% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.2% to 19.8 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 0.1 point to 78.5%. Continental Airlines flew 7.03 billion RPMs in November, up 9.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity grew 7.1% to 8.71 billion ASMs and load factor increased 2 points to 80.7%. Domestic RPMs rose 8.1% to 3.53 billion against a 4.2% increase in capacity to 4.19 billion ASMs, raising load factor 3 points to 84.2%.
Royal Jordanian last week confirmed that the government will proceed with the announced privatization of the carrier next year. The government will sell 74% of the company to the private sector and retain the balance. The shares to be sold to non-Jordanian investors will not exceed 49% in order to maintain traffic rights.
Qatar Airways announced an order for two 777-200 freighters to add to its incoming fleet of 14 777-300ERs and six dash 200LRs ( ATWOnline, Sept. 13). The first freighter will be delivered in 2009 and will be used on long-haul routes to the Far East and Europe. The airline uses A300-600Fs for regional feed into Doha. Deliveries of the entire 777 order will begin next November and continue through the middle of 2010.
Former American Airlines Chairman and CEO Robert Crandall yesterday said that Pogo, the air taxi business he is launching built around very light jets, will begin offering on-demand flights out of small airports in the US Northeast in 2008.
AirTran Airways said it intends to bring new jobs and flights to Milwaukee if its $290 million bid for Midwest Airlines is successful ( ATWOnline, Dec. 15). It said its recent growth--it has added 2,800 jobs in the past five years--compares favorably to Midwest's, which AirTran said has cut 500 jobs during the same period, citing SEC filings. It also has 60 737s on order and said it is preparing to add 3,000 positions in the next five years. Midwest has two MD-80s on order, AirTran said.
AirAsia announced its selection of the CFM56-5B to power the 40 firm A320s and 30 options it ordered five months ago ( ATWOnline, July 20). The engine order, which includes six spares, is worth about $500 million at list prices and includes an OnPoint Solution service agreement worth approximately $1.1 billion. By July 2009, AirAsia will operate an all-A320 fleet of 100 aircraft.
EasyJet will add a fourth A319 at its Edinburgh base and launch new services to Milan Malpensa, Madrid and Palma, bringing to 12 the number of destinations served from the Scottish airport. The LCC said the expansion represents a capacity increase of 10%. The Palma route will commence as a weekly service May 5 and become twice-weekly from June 10. Daily services to Madrid and Milan will launch Feb. 25 and May 21 respectively.
FedEx yesterday acquired ANC Holdings, a UK express delivery operator, in a £120 million ($234 million) move the global air cargo power said will enable it "to directly serve the entire UK domestic market." ANC has annual revenues of more than £145 million. "The addition of ANC significantly expands our service portfolio in the important UK market and underscores our continuing commitment to grow the FedEx international business," FedEx Express President-International Michael Ducker said. ANC management will remain in place and report to FedEx executives.
American Airlines signed a four-year, $30 million deal with Allegiant Air for the provision in Tulsa of heavy MRO, including C checks, on Allegiant's 24 MD-80s. The deal leaves room for additional aircraft if Allegiant grows its fleet. Separately, AA will launch daily Seattle-Austin service on April 10 aboard a 136-seat MD-80.
Kenya Airways boosted its 787-8 commitment with an additional three firm orders announced over the weekend. It now has orders for nine firm aircraft plus four options, up from the six firm and six options placed in March ( ATWOnline, March 8). It will take first delivery in October 2010, with the balance of the order arriving through late 2012.
Varig received its new operating certificate last week, Merrill Lynch said. The restructuring carrier is operating 15 737-300s and up to three MD-11s to nine Brazilian destinations plus Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas and Frankfurt. ML said Friday that Varig must relaunch service on abandoned domestic routes by Jan. 13 or risk losing them to other Brazilian airlines. It has 180 days to restart its international operations or face the same consequence.
Delta Air Lines flew 8.91 billion system RPMs in November, down 1.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 6.5% to 11.51 billion ASMs and load factor rose 3.7 points to 77.5%. Domestic RPMs dropped 8.4% to 6.47 billion, ASMs declined 13.8% to 8.29 billion and load factor rose 4.6 points to 78.1%. International traffic climbed 21.2% to 2.44 billion RPMs against a 19.7% rise in ASMs to 3.22 billion, lifting load factor 1 point to 75.9%. Northwest Airlines flew 6.13 billion system RPMs in November, up 3.2% from the year-ago month.
Thales said it will supply the "majority" of critical avionics on up to 90 new A320s ordered by Air One. Deal includes Thales' Topflight Line of avionics and an LCD head-up display. Aircraft deliveries are scheduled through 2008. Thales also signed a 16-year deal with GoJet Airlines of St. Louis to provide spare and component services and MRO on avionics on GoJet's fleet of 15 CRJ700LRs.
Dutch aircraft lessor AerCap signed a firm contract with Airbus for 20 A330-200s. "The A330-200 is an excellent aircraft that helps us to expand our business and respond to market needs in the passenger markets," AerCap CEO Klaus Heinemann said. No engine choice was announced. The company's relationship with Airbus includes previous orders for a combined 102 A320 family aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines suspended its Kuala Lumpur-Cairo service. It will maintain a marketing presence in Cairo and serve it via codeshare. It also will cancel its KLIA-Stockholm Arlanda-Newark service on Jan. 15. It will codeshare with KLM from Amsterdam to ARN and said it is "in active discussions" with other carriers to develop links to the US via AMS.
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise, Asia's largest, announced Friday that it has been acquired by Bank of China for $965 million in cash. The bank said the purchase is part of its "overall corporate strategy in expanding its scope of diverse financial services and increasing its diversification into noninterest income."
Swiss International Air Lines CEO Christoph Franz told ATWOnline at the Star Alliance meeting in Istanbul earlier this month that the carrier no longer is in a crisis situation but that it will have to add liquidity to be safely positioned for the future. It will stay cautious in 2007 and not open any new long-haul destinations until 2008, he said. "We are not satisfied," he added. "It is not our goal to just maintain our position.
Ryanair sent a comprehensive letter to all Aer Lingus shareholders Friday urging them to approve the LCC's €2.80 ($3.70)-per-share takeover bid before a Dec. 22 deadline. Ryanair investors voted overwhelmingly to back the takeover at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders last week. The LCC appears to be making a last push to convince El shareholders to accept its offer, which it said is "generous" and will not be increased.
Air Madrid suspended operations Friday, saying on its website that a row with Spanish civil aviation authorities over the publicly threatened suspension of the LCC's operating certificate has "destroyed, completely, the commercial image of Air Madrid," harmed ticket sales, caused problems with suppliers and made it impossible to continue flying. The airline reportedly incurred authorities' ire over repeated and lengthy flight delays. Founded in 2004, it operates nine Airbus aircraft and has a significant Latin American presence.
Allegiant Travel Co., parent of Allegiant Air, announced yesterday the closure of its IPO of 5 million shares of common stock with net proceeds of $94.8 million. Money will be used as working capital and to pay off company debt ( ATWOnline, Dec. 11).
Midwest Airlines said it is rejecting overtures from AirTran because the offer isn't in the best interests of its employees, shareholders, customers or the communities it serves. AirTran revealed the $290 million deal Wednesday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 14), saying the two carriers are compatible and together could become a "national low-cost, high-quality airline" generating $3 billion in pro forma revenue next year.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh is in Calgary this week and plans to meet with WestJet executives today to hold preliminary talks on potential cooperation, Bloomberg News reported. "WestJet is a good airline," Walsh told the news service. "If there was an opportunity to do something, we'd certainly be pleased to look at that. Anything that provides connectivity is a plus."
Regional Airline Assn. named Roger Cohen president. He is a director at SmithBucklin, which oversees management of RAA and several other organizations. He takes office Monday, replacing Airports Council International-North America Senior VP Deborah McElroy. United Airlines parent UAL Corp. promoted Senior VP-Planning Greg Taylor to senior VP-corporate planning and strategy.
