IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said the US and Europe have "lost the vision" that made them the world's top air transport markets and it is now "Asia's turn" to lead the industry. Speaking this week to the Asia Pacific Aviation Media Assn. in Singapore, he noted that intra-Asia traffic will be "the largest market in the world, accounting for one-third of the world's traffic" by 2010 and pushed Asian nations to meet international safety standards and liberalize traffic rights. "Not all governments in Asia are at the same level in safety oversight," he said.
Delta Air Lines flew 10.42 billion system RPMs in March, a 3.5% increase from the year-ago month, as domestic traffic fell 3.2% and international RPMs climbed 23.1%. Capacity rose 0.4% to 12.55 billion ASMs on a 6% domestic decline and an 18.7% international increase. Load factor improved 2.5 points to 83%. Domestic load factor was up 2.5 points to 83.6% and international load factor rose 2.9 points to 81.6%. Southwest Airlines flew 6.08 billion RPMs in March, up 4.3% from the year-ago month.
AirTran Holdings repeated its request for a list of Midwest Air Group shareholders, citing Wisconsin state law. It was rebuffed in its February attempt to access the list through a New York subsidiary ( ATWOnline, Feb. 22). Midwest once again denied its unwanted suitor the list, saying it would not supply it until notices and proxy statements for its May 23 annual meeting are mailed out.
China Southern Airlines plans to partner with Chongqing Investment Corp. to create Chongqing Airlines, which is expected to launch operations in June with three A320s. The new carrier is expected to be approved by CAAC next week. CS holds 60% with an investment of CNY720 million ($93 million) while Chongqing Investment has put in CNY480 million for the remaining stake. Chongqing Airlines aims to challenge Air China and China Eastern Airlines, the two dominant players in western China, for both passenger and cargo traffic.
Northwest Airlines' new regional subsidiary, Compass Airlines, yesterday announced the receipt of US FAA certification to launch CRJ200 operations. It expects to start flying next month between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington Dulles. It will be based in nearby Chantilly, Va., and will operate out of NWA's hubs at MSP, Detroit and Memphis as Northwest Airlink. During the third quarter, it expects to put the first of 36 76-seat, two-class E-175s into service ( ATWOnline, Oct. 6, 2006).
US National Transportation Safety Board released documents in which Comair conceded that the pilots of the CRJ200 that crashed last August after attempting to take off from the wrong runway at Lexington Blue Grass Airport ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2006) violated sterile cockpit guidelines. The airline added that "it would be simple but inaccurate to conclude that the only cause of this tragic accident was a mistake by Comair's well-trained and experienced flight crew," the Associated Press reported.
Ural Airlines reported 2006 net income of RUB27.1 million ($1 million), up from a RUB4.5 million profit in 2005, Russia's AK&M reported. Passenger traffic rose 11% to 1 million. The company flies mainly Russian-built aircraft but leased its first A320s last year.
Swissport International said Air New Zealand has reversed course and opted not to outsource ground handling in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to a Swissport-Transfield Services New Zealand joint venture. The proposed contract, reached last October, was for 10 years.
The subject of significant speculation following last month's execution of the new EU-US open skies agreement, bmi moved to strengthen its transatlantic operation through a tie-up with Star Alliance partner United Airlines. The pair filed a joint motion with the US Dept. of Transportation this week requesting approval for antitrust immunity, which the government put on hold five years ago absent an open skies accord.
Gulf Air CEO Andre Dose, who took charge this week ( ATWOnline, April 4), announced a reduction of his senior staff in order to "drive the necessary efficiencies and to allow our management to focus on our customers." VP-Finance Ahmed Al Hammadi, VP-Services Tariq Sultan and VP-Business Units Ali Murtada will be leaving the airline.
Lufthansa will install a new first class cabin on one of its long-haul aircraft for a test run this year. "Even though the A380 is delayed for Lufthansa, we will introduce our new first class on time on our A340 fleet, starting the reconfiguration process with the 2008 winter schedule," Executive VP-Marketing and Sales Thierry Antinori told ATWOnline. LH will complete the retrofit of its 83 long-haul aircraft with its new business class next month. Economy passengers should benefit from the installation of individual video screens starting this fall.
British Airways flew 9.67 billion RPKs in March, up 3.3% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.3% to 12.67 billion ASKs and load factor lifted 0.7 point to 76.3%. Ryanair transported 3.8 million passengers in March, up 26% on the year-ago month. Load factor fell 1 point to 79%. WestJet flew 1.02 billion RPMs in March, a 23% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 18% to 1.2 billion ASMs and load factor was up 3.3 points to 85.2%.
As the three global alliances angle for a foothold in the Chinese market, China Eastern Airlines is leaving its options open, preferring to identify a new strategic investor before committing to one of the groupings.
Garuda Indonesia said it posted a IDR131 billion ($14.4 million) profit in the first two months of 2007, a period in which it has lost money each of the past three years. It suffered a IDR173.9 billion loss in the first two months of 2006. It cited a 9-point increase in load factor to 76% and an 8% lift in yield to $0.074 as key factors in the result. Passenger numbers rose 9% to 1.4 million. "Enhanced efficiency and consolidations" pushed the number of profitable domestic routes to 24 from three in the first two months of last year, it said.
Gol received approval yesterday from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency for its planned acquisition of Varig ( ATWOnline, March 29). "Varig will incorporate modern concepts of efficient administration and reduce operating costs to become a competitive company," Gol CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr. said. The transaction, valued at $320 million, still requires approval from the Brazilian antitrust authority.
Mobiqa and Nok Air are partnering to make tickets available for download on customers' mobile phones via an SMS containing a barcode that can be scanned at check-in. Separately, Nok launched twice-daily Bangkok-Krabi service aboard a 737-400.
American Airlines filed an application with US DOT to operate daily Chicago O'Hare-Buenos Aires service beginning Oct. 28 onboard 219-seat 767-300s. AA already serves EZE from Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and New York JFK. The US and Argentina signed an expanded air services agreement last week ( ATWOnline, April 2).
Shandong Airlines posted net income of CNY44 million ($5.7 million) in 2006, a reversal from the prior year's loss of CNY273.6 million, on a 45.2% lift in operating revenue to CNY 4.2 billion.
Northwest Airlines' full reorganization plan, filed Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, includes detailed P&L projections through 2010. It projects net income of $794 million this year on $12.77 billion in revenue, a reversal from its $2.84 billion loss in 2006 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7). Net earnings in 2008 are expected to fall 12.6% to $694 million on rising expenses and taxes, but 2009 profit will be back up 21.6% to $844 million on revenues of $13.94 billion.
Air Arabia's 10-day IPO closed with approximately 40,000 subscribers buying up 2.57 billion shares representing 55% of the company's share capital ( ATWOnline, March 19). It said the AED2.57 billion ($698.8 million) offering was 150% oversubscribed and that share allocation will occur April 8, with refunds distributed April 11 and 14. Shares will be listed on the Dubai Financial Market.
CAE said yesterday that it sold two 7000 Series 787 full-flight simulators to Japan Airlines valued at C$36 million ($31.2 million). The first will be delivered to JAL's Tokyo Haneda training center in 2008.
American Airlines flew 11.93 billion system RPMs in March, down 1.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.9% to 14.48 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.3 points to 82.4% United Airlines flew 10.32 billion system RPMs in March, up 1.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.5% to 12.14 billion ASMs and load factor improved 1 point to 85%.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, reached a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission regarding accusations of inaccurate financial reporting from 2000 to 2002, agreeing to make no future misleading financial statements while paying no penalty for alleged transgressions that took place under previous management. SEC said AAWW failed to "report accurately its financial results, maintain requisite accounting records and implement adequate internal accounting controls" in fiscal years 2000, 2001 and the first half of FY02.
Gulf Air said former Crossair and Swiss International Air Lines CEO Andre Dose officially took over as CEO this week ( ATWOnline, Feb. 2). It added that Dose will be "unveiling a new long-term business plan" in a few weeks after spending time studying the airline and its operations.
