Japan Airlines ordered five additional 787-8s, bringing its total to 35 and pushing Boeing's total Dreamliner sales to more than 500 if new orders from unidentified customers are included. JAL placed an order for 30 787s in December 2004, nine months after Boeing launched the program. The manufacturer said yesterday that it has sold 514 Dreamliners to 43 customers, meaning 23 new orders from four customers including JAL have been received since the end of last week.
ANA applied for permission to wet-lease two 767-200SFs from ABX Air, each with a 40-tonne payload, for use on an expanded summer freighter schedule. It plans to increase flights to China from Osaka Kansai by 90% and ATKs by 72% compared to summer 2006. New services will include a four-times-weekly KIX-Beijing flight. Separately, ANA signed a general terms agreement with Thai Airways under which Thai will perform heavy MRO on 11 ANA 747-400s at its new maintenance center at Suvarnabhumi. Work will be completed by next year.
Skybus Airlines, which aims to start domestic low-fare A319 service out of Columbus this spring, late Monday announced the completion of a second round of financing worth $72.2 million, bringing the amount raised by the company to $160 million. "The confidence shown in Skybus by the business community in Columbus and major financial institutions in New York and Boston is a terrific endorsement of our business model, which uniquely focuses on delivering great destinations at extremely affordable prices with brand new aircraft and nonstop flights," CEO Bill Diffenderffer said.
Etihad Airways will add three A330-200s and two A340-600s to its fleet through the summer and increase its flying program 18%. New services are from Abu Dhabi to Sydney (now thrice-weekly aboard A340-500s, becoming daily June 29), Dublin (four-times-weekly from Aug. 3) and Milan Malpensa (thrice-weekly from Sept. 1), while 40 weekly flights will be added to existing routes on its network. An increase in its London Heathrow service to twice-daily has resulted in suspension of its Gatwick operation.
Japan Airlines completed oneworld's spring expansion Sunday, joining Malev Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian as members of the alliance ( ATWOnline, March 30). JAL subsidiaries JALways, Japan Asia Airways, JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air are new oneworld affiliate members. JAL was the largest airline in the world outside one of the three major alliances, oneworld said. It adds nearly 50 airports to the grouping's network and one new country, Guam.
ExpressJet Airlines launched operations yesterday under its own name in eight markets--Ontario (Calif.), Austin, Boise, Kansas City, Omaha, San Antonio, Spokane and Tucson--aboard 50-seat ERJ-145s. The airline, which announced details of its independent operation two months ago ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5), also unveiled its JetSet loyalty program.
Virgin Blue converted options for three E-170s to firm orders and took purchase rights on three additional E-190s, Embraer announced yesterday. The transaction adds to last fall's order for 14 aircraft ( ATWOnline, Nov. 3, 2006). "This added flexibility initially provides a range of new operating opportunities in Australia and, potentially, for short-haul routes to New Zealand and the South Pacific islands," Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey said.
British Airways selected Trent 800s to power the four 777-200ERs ordered last week ( ATWOnline, March 28) for delivery in 2009. It also signed a long-term maintenance agreement. Of BA's 43 777s, 15 are Trent-powered -200ERs with the remainder outfitted with the GE90.
Alitalia has attracted the interest of SkyTeam partner Aeroflot, Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance confirmed yesterday. The Russian carrier will team up with Italian bank UniCredit, which will control 5% of the bidding group, although UniCredit and Aeroflot reportedly are open to another airline joining the consortium. The Moscow Times reported that SU's bid is worth up to €700 million ($934.5 million).
Already a significant presence in Italy, Air One is committed to enhancing its international profile and expanding its European network. "Our growth in the next three years will be mainly in Europe," VP-Network and Marketing Giorgio De Roni told ATWOnline. Last year the carrier captured a 30% share of the domestic market, carrying 6.3 million passengers on more than 1,900 weekly flights to 23 Italian and 13 European destinations. By the end of next year it plans to serve 20 European cities and expects a 10% increase in total passenger numbers.
United Airlines signed a contract with the US Postal Service to carry domestic mail from April 28 through Sept. 30, 2011. The deal is worth up to $400 million, UA said.
EU's first written submission in its WTO challenge to US government subsidies to Boeing details "massive, long-standing and WTO-inconsistent" federal, state and local government support totaling $23 billion, the EU announced. It cited NASA and Dept. of Defense research and development support and tax beaks and infrastructure support from the states of Kansas and Washington as examples. A nonconfidential version will be released in "due course," the EU said. The US is scheduled to present its written defense on June 14 with the first panel hearing set for July 11.
AirTran Holdings raised the stakes once again in its bid to acquire Midwest Air Group by offering to purchase each outstanding Midwest share for $15 in cash and stock ($9 in cash and 0.5842 share of AirTran common stock), up from an October offer of $11.25 and a January bid of $13.25.
Delta Air Lines plans to make cash and stock payments valued at $480 million to its 39,000 noncontract employees--those not covered by a collective bargaining agreement or a management compensation program--upon emergence from bankruptcy. It will distribute 3.5% of common stock, initially valued at $350 million, and lump sum cash payments totaling $130 million to the workers following its planned May exit.
Delta Air Lines Friday unveiled a new board of directors, including the appointment of former Eastman Kodak CEO Daniel Carp as chairman, that will begin sitting upon the company's emergence from bankruptcy, expected during the second quarter. CEO Gerald Grinstein will be the lone current DL executive on the 11-person board.
Decks are now clear for the merger of Air India and Indian, the country's two state-owned carriers, which will combine under the newly formed National Aviation Co. Ltd.
US and Argentina reached an expanded air services agreement last week that will raise the number of possible weekly passenger flights between the countries from 56 to 77 immediately and to 112 by March 2009. Airlines from both countries also will have access to more follow-on international destinations.
Niki, the Austrian low-cost carrier and Air Berlin partner, took delivery of its first CFM56-5B-powered A319 last week, the first A320 family aircraft fitted with Airbus's enhanced cabin that is derived from the A380 and features 15% more bin volume, more passenger space at shoulder level, enhanced lighting and noise reduction features. Onboard the delivery flight, President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline that the carrier continues to achieve 30% annual passenger growth.
Considered to be a merger or acquisition target following approval of the EU-US open skies agreement, Iberia on Friday received a takeover approach from Texas Pacific Group, which values the Spanish flag carrier at about €3.4 billion ($4.53 billion).
Lufthansa Technik and Cathay Pacific Airways signed a 10-year Total Engine Support contract last week under which LHT will serve 15 CX PW4056-3 powered 747-400s, including six spares. The companies said they are in "final preparations" for another deal covering PW4062s on six new 747-400ERFs set to arrive in May 2008.
Hainan Airlines parent HNA Group launched its Grand Xinhua Express Airlines Friday in Tianjin just southeast of Beijing, from where it initially will operate five 32-seat regional jets. HNA holds 81% of the new carrier with an investment of CNY81 million ($10.5 million), while Hainan Airlines invested CNY19 million for the remaining stake. GXE is aiming to be China's top regional airline in both passenger and cargo traffic.
South African Airways "needs a full-scale restructuring to return to profitability," CEO Khaya Ngqula said last week while announcing the start of a "comprehensive" revamp "that will include all levels of the organization." SAA previously announced it will eliminate 1,000 positions this year ( ATWOnline, Dec. 4, 2006). A restructuring committee has been formed and the "process to develop a new business plan" approved, it said.
Buried deep within the filing cabinets in some airline analyst and CEO offices around Asia are reports that confidently predicted low-cost carriers never would succeed in the region. The rationale was simple and, to most, convincing: Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines had similar unit costs to Ryanair and easyJet so how could a budget airline work in Asia? Fortunately for 30 million passengers (through February 2007) who enjoy the world's lowest airfares every day, AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes never saw those reports.
Air France Industries-KLM Engineering & Maintenance promoted Jonathan Soesman to VP-sales-USA & Canada. AJ Walter Aviation appointed Vicky Gallagher-Brown dir.-human resources. American Airlines promoted Ron Olson to GM-Las Vegas McCarran Int'l. Airport. Boeing named Ian Thomas VP-Boeing Int'l. & president-Boeing India. CIT Aerospace tapped Graham Niven and Angus Greene as VPs-marketing, Commercial Airlines Group. Niven will be based in Singapore and Greene in Dublin. Darwin Airlines chose Fabio Parini as CEO.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. is planning to invest up to $100 million into its Maintenance Services group in an effort to bolster third-party business. It said the funding will be used to update facilities, invest in new technology and increase efficiencies. "In the past three years, we have worked with our [Transport Workers Union] partners to reduce costs, streamline processes and keep the vast majority of our own aircraft maintenance work in-house," said Senior VP-Technical Operations Bob Reding.
