AerVenture, a joint venture between AerCap and Kuwaiti cargo startup LoadAir ( ATWOnline, Feb. 3), placed an order valued at $360 million for CFM56-5Bs to power the 30 A319s/A320s ordered late last year.
WestJet announced the promotion of Executive VP-Sales and Marketing and Airports Sean Durfy to president succeeding airline co-founder Clive Beddoe, 60, who will remain chairman and CEO of the Calgary-based LCC. Durfy, 40, joined WestJet in late 2004 from Enmax Energy Corp., where he was president and COO of the Calgary power utility. "Over the past two years I have progressively passed many of my duties over to our executive team as a natural progression of the growth of our company," Beddoe said in a statement.
A consortium of United Arab Emirates-based investors is to acquire 90% of SR Technics from its current owners in a transaction valued at CHF1.6 billion ($1.3 billion). The consortium is led by Mubadala Development, the investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi government, which will own 40% of the Zurich-based maintenance, repair and overhaul company after the purchase is completed in about two months.
UK NATS reported a 3.1% year-over-year increase in the number of flights handled in August despite the uncovering of a terrorist plot Aug. 10 and subsequent security alert. The ATM provider handled 220,408 flights. Overflights showed the greatest increases, with transatlantic flights up 7.1% and nontransatlantic up 18.3% with routes between Ireland and Italy, France, Spain and Germany showing the largest increases. The domestic market improved 0.3%. Traffic at the 15 airports where NATS operates grew 1.2%. The picture was mixed owing to the security alert.
Air France ordered Boeing Class 3 electronic flight bags for its fleet of 777s, comprising 42 in-service aircraft and 13 to be delivered. It is the eighth carrier this year to order the Class 3 EFB, Boeing said, adding the order was the "most significant" to date from a European airline. AF partner KLM was the launch customer for the 777 EFB in 2002. The Dutch flag carrier currently operates 13 EFB-equipped 777s and eventually will have 18.
US FAA approved the AmSafe Child Aviation Restraint System safety device for use on commercial flights. The device features an additional belt and shoulder harness that wraps around the seat and attaches to the lap belt and is designed for children weighing 22-44 lb.
World Air Holdings, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, posted a second-quarter net loss of $7.5 million, down from $5.5 million in net income in the year-ago quarter.
Air Berlin said that competition authorities approved its takeover of dba without restrictions ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18). AB CEO Joachim Hunold now will chair dba's board. Starting this week, dba flights can be booked through AB's website and call center.
Philippine Airlines told stockholders last week that the carrier will continue to push into new markets and modernize its fleet, with evaluations underway for acquisition of five regional widebody aircraft and three long-haul aircraft in addition to the order for 20 A320 family aircraft ( ATWOnline, Nov. 9, 2005) that will begin delivery this month.
TAP Portugal reached agreement with OMNI Aviation of Portugal for the sale of TAP's small leisure carrier White Airways for an estimated €5 million ($6.4 million). White operates one A310-300 and one L-1011-500. According to the terms, the ownership of the L-1011 is transferred to TAP, due for subsequent alienation, while OMNI will operate the A310 currently under lease.
Oneworld redesigned its website that now features an interactive route map, more accessible schedules, country and language specific sites, itinerary planning aids and other enhancements.
United Airlines flew 10.6 billion system RPMs in August, a 1.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 3.2% to 12.69 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.3 points to 83.5%. Gol flew 1.34 billion RPKs in August, a 72.4% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 47% to 1.75 billion ASKs and load factor was up 11.3 points to 76.9%.
Frontier Airlines placed a firm order with Bombardier yesterday for 10 74-seat Q400 turboprops with 10 options and said it plans to launch a wholly owned subsidiary carrier to operate the aircraft. The new unnamed airline will "use its fleet of Q400s to bring low-cost service to underserved markets in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region," Frontier said in a statement. "The subsidiary expects to serve as many as 18 destinations using the new aircraft and to create 300-400 new jobs." Destinations will be announced at a later date.
ABX Air won a new four-year contract to manage US Postal Service terminal handling services in Indianapolis in a deal expected to generate $17.7 million in revenues through October 2010. ABX, whose main US client is DHL, has managed the USPS Indianapolis sort facility since 2004. It has similar handling contracts with USPS in Dallas and Memphis.
CanJet Airlines, a Halifax-based LCC that launched operations in 2000, announced yesterday that it will discontinue scheduled services on Sept. 10 due to "rising business risks" and turn its focus to increasing its charter business. The subsidiary of IMP Group currently operates nine 737-500s and one dash 300 to 13 destinations in Canada, New York and Florida and runs charter services to the Caribbean.
Siemens yesterday was awarded a $19.1 million contract to develop an inline baggage handling system at Detroit Metro's North Terminal, which is in the midst of a $418 million upgrade. Siemens will design, build and install a system that will include 9,577 ft. of conveyors routing checked baggage through inline EDSs.
Boeing yesterday operated the first 737-900ER test flight, taking off from Renton and flying for 45 min. over Washington and Oregon before landing at Boeing Field in Seattle, marking the start of a five-month test program aimed at securing FAA and EASA certification by early 2007 followed by delivery to launch customer Lion Air ( ATWOnline, July 20, 2005). The manufacturer has firm orders from five customers for 80 737-900ERs, designed to carry up to 215 passengers and fly up to 3,200 nm.
British Airways yesterday revealed that the disruption at London airports caused by the terrorist bombing scare cost it an estimated $75 million, a figure it said includes lost revenue and costs associated with hotel accommodation, catering and baggage repatriation. BA said advance bookings have returned to year-ago levels but are "still weaker than the trend of the past few months." It cited a drop in transfer traffic owing to carry-on baggage limitations at London airports. During the week of Aug.
Ryanair will launch service from Dublin to Malta, Stockholm Skavtsa and the Canary Islands in February as well as double frequencies to Berlin Schoenefeld, Rome Ciampino, Malaga and Faro, the LCC announced yesterday. Separately, Ryanair said it flew 4 million passengers in August, an increase of 22.9% over the year-ago month. Load factor was steady at 91%.
Continental Airlines reported a 9.6% year-over-year increase in July consolidated RASM and anticipated August growth of 6.5%-7.5%. It flew 8.4 billion system RPMs in August, an increase of 9.3% over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 8.5% to 10.19 billion ASMs and load factor grew 0.6 point to 82.4%. Domestic traffic climbed 7.1% to 3.98 billion RPMs, capacity was up 5.5% to 4.65 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.2 points to 85.5%. International RPMs increased 11% to 3.46 billion against an 11.3% lift in ASMs to 4.31 billion, dropping load factor 0.2 point to 80.3%.
LCCs are driving global aviation growth, according to an OAG special report released in advance of the Routes Development Forum in Dubai and the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London taking place later this month. Capacity on low-cost carriers has more than doubled in just four years. This month, budget airlines plan to fly more than 46 million seats on more than 323,000 flights compared with 22 million seats on 169,000 flights in September 2002.
Delta Air Lines yesterday received permission from the US Bankruptcy Court to terminate its pilot defined benefit pension plan. The carrier established Sept. 2 as the effective termination date but still must obtain approval from the US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Termination had been opposed by a group of 100 retired pilots, but that organization removed its objection over the weekend. DL will pay the group some $500,000 to cover legal fees and other expenses.
Lufthansa will make a long-awaited announcement on the purchase of long-haul aircraft before year end, a spokesperson confirmed to ATWOnline. The decision could come soon: Der Spiegel reported the LH supervisory board will sign off on a deal at a meeting later this month. The carrier is in talks with both Boeing and Airbus and also has had discussions with Embraer and Bombardier about regional jets.
