Air France KLM flew 17.01 billion RPKs in October, a 5.6% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 6% to 20.91 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 0.3 point to 81.4%. Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz flew a combined 3.95 billion RPMs in October, a 4.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 3.8% to 5.03 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.6 point to 78.4%.
Cargo carrier ABX Air reported third-quarter net income of $6.6 million, down 10.8% from net income of $7.4 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 24% drop in revenues to $281.3 million.
Falling operating income and a C$102 million ($90.2 million) noncash pre-tax charge related to the redemption of Aeroplan miles issued before 2002 weighed heavily on ACE Aviation's bottom line as the Air Canada parent reported a third-quarter profit of C$103 million, down 62% from C$271 million earned in the year-ago period. Chairman, President and CEO Robert Milton called the result "solid" and said the quarter featured "continued progress achieved in the implementation of ACE's business strategy" of spinning off its various subsidiaries.
Austrian Airlines will launch twice-weekly Vienna-Erbil flights on Dec. 11, nine months after it postponed the service ( ATWOnline, Feb. 27). It said the city in the Kurdistan region now is secure. It will be the first European carrier to operate to Iraq and will use A319s. Meanwhile, it has ceased its Vienna-Pecs service.
AirAsia challenged the Singapore government to open its skies and "allow everyone to fly." CEO Tony Fernandes, delivering a keynote address at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation's Outlook 2007 summit in Singapore, said the LCC's fares around ASEAN countries are "90% less than the typical fare from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur." He told delegates that AirAsia has tried for five years to gain access to Singapore but the government has declined.
Delta Air Lines announced plans to recall 1,000 flight attendants next year. During the "first few months" of 2007 it is scheduled to train up to 500 previously furloughed cabin staff. "It is great that our plan is working and we are able to continue to bring back Delta people," COO Jim Whitehurst said. The airline recalled 200 flight attendants in September ( ATWOnline, Sept. 12).
Delta Air Lines is bankrupt but profitable thanks to a $98 million noncash gain from reorganization items that propelled it to a $52 million net profit in the third quarter, a monumental reversal from the $1.13 billion loss incurred in the year-ago period.
Emirates said yesterday that it is investing $27 million to outfit its entire fleet with equipment from AeroMobile that will allow use of mobile phones in flight. The service will be launched onboard a 777 as early as January, the airline said. Calls will be linked to the ground using the Inmarsat satellite communications system already installed in all EK aircraft and will be billed to passengers' phone bills "as with any other roaming call," the carrier said.
EasyJet transported 2.9 million passengers in October, up 7.3% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 2.4 points to 83.2%. Separately, the carrier will reinstate its thrice-weekly Bristol-Pisa service on Jan. 18. The route originally was a summer-only service. Year-round service will become daily by the end of March.
SkyTeam carriers Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia and KLM have co-located their operations at Sao Paulo Guarulhos Terminal 1, which the alliance said is the first co-location in its network where the participating airlines operate equally. A common-use ticket office and joint purchasing of ground handling services also have been implemented. The alliance operates 75 weekly flights to and from GRU.
United Airlines flew 9.67 billion RPMs in October, up 2.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose at the same rate to 11.99 billion ASMs, leaving load factor at 80.6%. Lufthansa flew 9.87 billion RPKs in October, a 3.5% rise over the year-ago month. ASKs climbed 1.3% to 13.06 billion and load factor was up 1.6 points to 75.6%. Gol flew 1.33 billion RPKs in October, up 39.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 49.6% to 1.91 billion ASKs and load factor fell 4.9 points to 70%.
Southwest Airlines will establish both pilot and flight attendant bases in Las Vegas by October 2007. The 17,000-sq.-ft. facilities will be located near McCarran Airport's C Concourse and initially will accommodate 350 pilots and 600 cabin staff. When fully staffed, SWA will employ 600 pilots, 1,000 flight attendants and 2,500 total staff at the airport. It operates 225 daily flights out of LAS to 53 cities. Separately, Southwest will launch Detroit Metro-Orlando International service and add a Denver-MCO service on Dec. 20.
SAS Ground Services will provide handling for Air China at London Heathrow. SAS will take care of passenger services and load control and has subcontracted Aviance to provide ramp handling. Air China operates six weekly 747 flights from Beijing to LHR.
Qantas informed investors yesterday that 46.08% of the carrier is now owned by foreign investors following "recent" sales, an increase of 1.18 points since May 10. The ceiling is 49%.
Boeing began using a moving assembly line--moving at 1.6 in. per min.--during final assembly of the 777. The company said it plans to complete a continuous, one-bay moving 777 assembly line that will include systems installation, final body join and final assembly in 2008. Separately, Boeing announced the delivery of the first of four 777-200ERs to Thai Airways, which will take an additional two next year.
SAS Group reported third-quarter net income of SEK604 million ($84.3 million), up 14.2% from a profit of SEK529 million in the year-ago quarter, on an 8.9% rise in revenues to SEK18.04 billion. Acting President and CEO Gunnar Reitan called the results "positive" but noted that a "strong economy is a significant contributory factor," adding, "The result is far from the group's return requirement and, accordingly, it is necessary to continue focusing full energy on cost-cutting measures."
Japan Airlines emerged from a year in the red with a ¥28.2 billion ($239.2 million) profit in its second fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, a figure calculated by ATWOnline based on the carrier's half-year results released yesterday. For the six-month period, JAL posted a ¥1.5 billion profit that represented a reversal from a ¥12 billion net loss in the semester ended Sept. 30, 2005. Six-month revenues rose 3.4% to ¥1.15 trillion.
Vietnam Airlines and the US Export-Import Bank announced a preliminary agreement for a loan "in excess" of $400 million that will support the carrier's acquisition of four 787-8s that it ordered last year ( ATWOnline, June 22, 2005). The deal was announced in Hanoi by Michael Marine, US ambassador to Vietnam. The bank previously financed four 777-200ERs for VN.
ExpressJet Holdings, a Regional partner of Continental Airlines, reported a 10.9% drop in third-quarter net income to $22.7 million from $25.4 million in the same period a year ago. Operating revenues increased 8.8% to $428.6 million while operating expenses grew 10.8% to $394.1 million. Operating income was down 9% to $34.5 million. Traffic rose 14.1% to 2.7 billion RPMs, which bumped up load factor 1.5 points to 78.1%. ASMs increased 12% to 3.5 billion. Earlier this year, CO removed 69 ERJs from ExpressJet's network after the two companies failed to agree on new financial terms.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.56 billion system RPMs in October, a 1.7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity fell 4.5% to 12.4 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4.7 points to an October record 77.1%. Domestic traffic dropped 5.5% to 6.72 billion RPMs against a 14.1% decline in capacity to 8.57 billion ASMs, sending load factor up 7.1 points to 78.4%. International RPMs grew 24% to 2.84 billion, ASMs increased 27.2% to 3.83 billion and load factor dipped 1.9 points to 74.2%.
FedEx Express yesterday cancelled its $2.3 billion order for 10 A380Fs and placed an order for 15 777Fs with 15 options, becoming the first airline to cancel an A380 order and dealing a serious blow to beleaguered Airbus.
AirBridge Cargo, the 747F scheduled freight airline launched by Volga-Dnepr in 2004, said yesterday it has received an Air Operators' Certificate from the Russian government, which Volga-Dnepr called a "a key milestone" in its effort to establish ABC as an independent operator.
Pinnacle Airlines yesterday reported a third-quarter profit of $15.8 million, a reversal from a $21.4 million loss in the year-ago quarter when it was hit hard by the bankruptcy of codeshare partner Northwest Airlines.
