Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport was set to begin full-scale international and domestic operations this morning at 3 a.m. local time ( ATWOnline, Sept. 21). First arrival was expected to be a Lufthansa Cargo flight 5 min. later inbound from Mumbai. The first scheduled departure was to be a Saudi Arabian Cargo flight to Riyadh. The first passenger flight to arrive was to be VV#171 Aerosvit Airlines from Kiev. VV#172 outbound for Kiev will make the first passenger departure.
Lufthansa Technik yesterday announced a Total Component Support Agreement with Air Deccan covering the Indian LCC's newly arriving fleet of up to 60 A320s for a period of 10 years. Under terms of the $150 million deal, LHT and its Indian subsidiary, One Stop Airline MRO Support, "will independently serve" the Air Deccan fleet with the provision of components at the carrier's Bangalore hub.
Bmi is testing a security line reserved for its own passengers at London Heathrow, CEO Nigel Turner confirmed to ATWOnline. The trial started some months ago and was suspended temporarily following the Aug. 10 security alert. The bmi-only line is located in Terminal 1 and aims to speed up the lengthy waiting times passengers face to get through LHR's security. "Heathrow needs to improve its transfer product if it wants to maintain its lead position in Europe," said Turner, who also would like to see "an end to airports behaving in a monopolistic manner.
The Irish government and Aer Lingus yesterday priced the IPO of the state-owned airline at €2.20 ($2.80) a share, valuing it at €1.1 billion. Earlier this month, the carrier gave an indicative range of €2.10-€2.70 a share for the Dublin and London listing, which is scheduled for Oct. 2 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 13).
Island Air said it will return its recently acquired Q400 and halt the delivery of two more on order in a move that company officials tied directly to the $19 inter-island fares being offered by rival go!, a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group that entered the market last summer ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26).
United Airlines reportedly is exploring the possibility of merging with or acquiring another airline. According to Crain's Chicago Business, the carrier has hired Goldman Sachs & Co. to advise it in the matter. United declined to comment to the paper. In 2000 it announced plans to acquire US Airways, but the Dept. of Justice disallowed the merger.
Ryanair is offering to build a €250 million ($319.5 million) "low-cost, efficient" new terminal at Dublin Airport, operated by itself or an independent operator, and is calling on the Dublin Airport Authority to "scrap" its proposal to build a €760 million terminal that would increase passenger ticket taxes by as much as 25%.
All Nippon Airways recently took delivery of its fourth 767-300F and plans to use it to launch a six-times-weekly Nagoya-Chicago cargo service via Anchorage.
Alitalia trade unions have called for 24-hr. strikes on both Sept. 29 and Oct. 9, according to Il Sole 24 Ore. The announced work stoppages follow a 4-hr. strike by unions representing pilots, flight attendants and ground staff on Sept. 18 and will add further pressure on the carrier, which remains in a precarious financial situation. It reported a loss of €221 million ($282.4 million) in the first half of 2006, widened from a loss of €125 million in the year-ago period.
Gulf Air confirmed that President and CEO James Hogan will complete his tenure at the carrier Sept. 30, earlier than anticipated, fueling speculation he will move to another airline in the Middle East. VP-Finance Ahmed Al Hammadi will take over as acting president and CEO from Oct. 1.
Continental Airlines signed a five-year, $258 million contract with the US Postal Service to carry priority, first class and express mail within the US and Puerto Rico. "We have made substantial investments in our postal facilities, employees and technology," said VP-Cargo Jack Boisen.
CAE said it was awarded three contacts for full flight simulators with a combined value of C$45 million ($40.3 million). The contracts are with Continental Airlines for a 737NG, Lufthansa Flight Training for an A320 and UPS for a 747. The 737 FFS for CO will feature CAE's Tropos II Enhanced visual system. SAS Maintenance Training will establish a new facility in Riga during the fourth quarter to perform training for 737 Classics and NGs for customers in the Baltics and Eastern Europe.
Amadeus appointed Arnaud Debuchy director for its Airline Business Group, giving him responsibility for airline account management and sales in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. BAA announced further management changes related to its takeover by Ferrovial Group, appointing Jose Leo CFO to replace Margaret Ewing. Ian Hargreaves, corporate and regulatory affairs director, will leave the company.
FedEx said this week it will invest $2.6 billion to acquire and modify up to 90 757-200s to replace its 727-200 freighters. The FedEx Express airline unit is expected to bring the new aircraft into service from 2008 to 2016.
IBM signed a 3.5-year agreement with Prague Airport to implement, maintain and manage a new IT system. Based on the mySAP Business Suite product, the integrated information system will be used by 350 airport staff, IBM said.
Avion Group reported a $69 million net loss for the nine months ended July 31 and warned of a "difficult" fiscal fourth quarter, forcing it to lower its forecast for its fiscal year ending Oct. 31. "The fourth quarter will be difficult because of challenging market conditions in the UK due to terrorist threats, delays and an unusually hot summer," the company said. "Additionally, currency changes will result in $10 million reduction in EBITDA than forecasted initially.
Qatar Airways ordered 40 high-thrust GE90 engines to power 20 777s ( ATWOnline, Sept. 13) it has on order for delivery beginning next year. The engine order is valued at more than $750 million. The carrier ordered 14 777-300ERs, which will be powered by GE90-115Bs, and six 777-200LRs, which will be powered by GE90-110Bs. "There is a strong working relationship between" Qatar Airways and GE, CEO Akbar Al Baker said.
Italy's My Way Airlines yesterday placed a firm order with Bombardier for 19 CRJ900s in a deal valued at $702 million and the manufacturer said 15 of the firm orders will convert to the CRJ900X if it launches the stretched version of the 90-seat regional jet. My Way, which was founded by former executives of defunct Volare, operates scheduled services in Europe and the Middle East with five A320s. It plans to operate the CRJ900s on domestic and regional routes.
Air France Industries was selected by China Eastern Airlines to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for the CFM56-5Cs powering its five A340-300s and CF6-80C2s powering its 10 A300-600s. The CFM56 work will be done in the AFI shop at Paris Orly while the CF6-80C2s will be serviced at Orly or the new KLM Engineering & Maintenance facility located at Amsterdam Schiphol. AFI signed a contract with Vietnam Airlines to provide fleet support for four A330s to be delivered from October.
Air Baltic President and CEO Bertolt Flick expects further dramatic growth for the Latvian carrier, projecting it will carry around 2.2 million passengers in 2007, up nearly 50% over 1.5 million this year.
Hawaiian Airlines is charging that startup carrier go!, a Mesa Air Group subsidiary, is trying to drive competitors out of business in the Hawaii market. Mesa counters that go!'s smaller share of the overall market in Hawaii means that its impact cannot be as consequential as Hawaiian claims. "If it wasn't clear to everyone before, it should be now that Mesa is trying to eliminate competition in Hawaii," wrote Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Mark Dunkerley in a statement issued Sept. 22.
Spanair flew 718 million RPKs in August, a 5.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 3.3% to 996 million ASKs and load factor rose 1.5 points to 72%. AirBaltic flew 173 million RPKs in August, up 35.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 25.8% to 246 million ASKs and load factor was up 4.9 points to 70.5%. WestJet flew 951.7 million RPMs in August, a 19% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 18% to 1.13 billion and load factor was up 1 point to 84.5%.
