Saudi Arabian Airlines will sell 49% of its catering unit to a coalition of Saudi and Spanish firms for $373.4 million, according to the Arab Air Carriers Organization.
Air Dolomiti named Jorg Eberhart VP-marketing, network and commercial. OnAir, the SITA-Airbus joint venture, appointed ARINC VP and MD-Europe, Middle East and Africa Graham Lake as CCO.
FedEx reported net income of $420 million for its fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28, down 2% from $428 million earned in the year-ago quarter, on a 7% rise in revenue to $8.59 billion.
American Airlines and United Airlines, the only US carriers permitted to operate to London Heathrow, are backing adoption of a tentative US-EU open skies accord, on which EU transport ministers are scheduled to vote today, even though it could hurt them in the London market.
While its domestic competitors suffered through a difficult 2006, TAM established itself as the dominant airline in Brazil with a BRL808.8 million ($389 million) profit that represented an 89.6% surge over 2005 net earnings of BRL426.5 million according to US GAAP accounting standards.
FedEx said it plans to launch next-business-day domestic express service in China from May 28, with Okay Airways operating an air cargo network using 737 freighters in support. FedEx plans to provide 19 Chinese cities with next-business-day, time-definite delivery and another 200 cities with next-day but not time-definite service. It will operate a hub-and-spoke system centered at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International in Zhejiang Province. The Hangzhou hub initially will be able to sort up to 9,000 packages per hr., the company said.
TUI AG, parent of Hapagfly, Hapag-Lloyd Express, Thomsonfly, TUIfly Nordic, Arkefly, Corsair and Jetair, suffered a €846.6 million ($1.13 billion) loss in 2006, reversed from a €496.3 million profit the year before, owing to restructuring expenses and required depreciations. The company unveiled a restructuring plan in December that includes the merger of its airline brands under the TUIfly.com name ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18, 2006).
Goodrich reached a deal with Shanghai Airlines to supply wheels and electrically actuated brakes for its nine 787s, which it will put into service starting next year.
Menzies Aviation parent John Menzies plc yesterday announced the resignation of CEO Patrick Macdonald while reporting a 9% year-over-year drop in its full-year profit to £35.8 million ($69.6 million). Menzies Aviation was the company's best-performing unit, posting a 25% rise in profit to £16.6 million. It did not announce a successor.
Cargolux this week placed a follow-on order for three 747-8 freighters valued at $845 million plus two options, bringing its total firm orders for the type to 13. It is the co-launch customer for the 747-8F along with Nippon Cargo Airlines ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16, 2005). It also has 10 purchase rights. Boeing said it now has a combined 87 firm orders for the 747-8F and the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger version.
Air China and Air Macau parent Air China Ltd. earned a 2006 net profit of CNY3.19 billion ($411.8 million), up 86.71% over the prior year, on a 17.4% lift in operating revenue to CNY44.9 billion.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.6 billion RPKs in February, down 0.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.9% to 3.97 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 0.6 point to 65.5%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 1.79 billion RPKs, down 6.3%, against a 5.1% fall in ASKs to 2.63 billion, dropping load factor 0.8 point to 68%.
American Airlines said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that first-quarter mainline passenger RASM will increase 3.5%-4.5% year-over-year and consolidated unit revenue will rise 2.7%-3.7% from last year's 10.26 cents. Consolidated unit cost, which was 11.46 cents in January and 11.84 cents in February, is expected to come in at 11.52 cents for the quarter and 11.51 cents for the year, up from 10.90 cents in 2006. Consolidated CASM excluding fuel is forecast at 8.42 cents for the first quarter and 8.19 cents for the year, up from 7.82 cents in 2006.
Airbus is facing an uphill battle to retain Malaysia Airlines as an A380 customer. According to Business Times, MAS remains in discussions with the manufacturer on "various options" for its order for six. The newspaper reported that the airline and parent Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd. said in an e-mailed statement that they had "yet to come to any conclusion." It also cited sources stating that a cancellation is likely.
Alitalia flew 2.67 billion RPKs in February, up 4.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.4% to 3.91 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2.9 points to 68.3%.
Jazeera Airways yesterday announced the submission of its application for listing on the Kuwait Stock Exchange ( ATWOnline, Oct. 13, 2006). Jazeera Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said the KSE has the second-highest capitalization in the Middle East and that the application process is expected to take 6-8 weeks. J9 claims to be the only airline in the region not owned or subsidized by any government.
Gulf Air named former British Airways employee and private consultant Jeffrey Solomon as acting VP-technical. Swiss International Air Lines said that MD and Head of Sales and Marketing-Intercontinental Markets Marcel Biedermann will head the carrier's North and South American management operations.
Japan Airlines was anticipating a one-day strike by approximately 2,000 "cockpit crew and other staff" today but promised all flights will operate normally and that there will be no cancellations. JAL said three unions--JAL Cockpit Crew Union, JAL Labor Union and JAL Domestic Labor Union--voted yesterday to strike. JAL Cabin Crew Union declined to join in the work action.
Republic Airways Holdings is unlikely to hold onto the 15 ERJ-135s released from the amended service agreement with Delta Air Lines announced last week.
Southwest Airlines authorized a new share repurchase program to buy back $300 million worth of common stock, or an estimated 20.2 million shares. CEO Gary Kelly said WN has repurchased 62.1 million shares worth $1 billion since the beginning of 2006. Separately, Southwest named Senior Chief Pilot Chuck Magill VP-flight operations.
Iberia reached a labor agreement with its 4,200 flight attendants that will include the conversion of 260 temporary contracts into permanent positions, pay raises linked to company performance, a lump payment of more than €7 million ($9.3 million) and "a number of employee benefits," according to IB. The deal is effective through Dec. 31. Separately, Iberia will add a third weekly Madrid-Algiers flight starting April 11.
US airlines' capacity is expected to grow 2.8% and traffic 3.4% in 2007, FAA forecasts. Mainline domestic capacity is expected to increase 2.1% in 2007 and 3.6% in 2008. Latin American Air Transport Assn.'s 33 member airlines flew 11.15 billion RPKs in January, down 7.6% from the year-ago month, a decline the organization attributed to cutbacks at Varig. Capacity fell 4.9% to 15.89 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.1 points to 70.2%.
AirAsia's planned low-cost, long-haul AirAsia X service, originally scheduled to start in July with flights to the UK ( ATWOnline, Jan. 10), likely will be delayed until next year owing to lack of aircraft, according to press reports. "We are looking at the cost structure, the right aircraft," CEO Raja Azmi Mohamad told Malaysian media, the BBC reported.
Qatar Airways won Australian government approval for daily service to Melbourne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Mark Vaile told reporters last week. QR also can introduce a second daily service to an additional Australian city next year. In response, Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said his airline "will have no option but to achieve further cost savings if it is to remain competitive" now that more carriers are gaining access to the country.
Air Arabia's AED2.57 billion ($698.9 million) IPO was scheduled to launch yesterday as 55% of the airline's share capital equal to 2.57 billion shares was put up for sale. The shares will be listed on the Dubai Financial Market upon completion of the 10-day IPO, which the carrier said is the largest in United Arab Emirates history.
