SAS Group yesterday reported a net profit of SEK553 million ($77.3 million) for the second quarter, a 10.8% improvement over the SEK499 million earned in the corresponding 2005 period. It credited record passenger numbers and high load factors for the result, even though its operating income fell 7.2% to SEK881 million. "During the first half of 2006, there was strong market performance in the Group's markets. The strong growth, combined with the new business models, contributed to considerably improved cabin factors," Acting President and CEO Gunnar Reitan said.
Qantas said yesterday that CEO Geoff Dixon will continue in his position on an "ongoing contract" that will last beyond July 1, 2007, when his previous contract was set to expire. Dixon has been instrumental in keeping Qantas in the forefront of the industry, pushing aggressive cost-cutting while at the same time launching low-fare units intended to address the changing competitive environment. Although it is the 12th largest airline by RPKs and revenue, Qantas posted the industry's sixth best profit in its 2005 fiscal year, earning $582 million on sales of $9.6 billion.
Asiana Airlines was boosted by increased demand, particularly for short-haul travel, and beat soaring fuel costs to post a second-quarter net profit of KRW16 billion ($16.1 million) that reversed last year's loss of KRW8.6 billion. Revenue jumped 12% to KRW843.3 billion and operating profit increased more than sevenfold to KRW22.2 billion. Fuel costs jumped KRW49.2 billion for the quarter. Key to the airline's strong performance has been the introduction by many Korean companies of a five-day work week, which enables many Koreans to take short breaks into Japan and China.
LTU German Airlines is having difficulty returning to the black and is expecting a €15-€20 million loss for the current business year. According to a spokesperson, LTU is generating around €30 million in savings through synergies with parent dba, new contracts with suppliers and other initiatives but will not reach its €45 million target ( ATWOnline, June 19) because of high fuel prices.
Amadeus signed three-year agreements with China Eastern Airlines and China Airlines to power their international websites with its e-Retail Solution. Both airlines also plan to implement the Amadeus e-Merchandise solution within a few months.
Alteon Training opened a new pilot and maintenance training facility at ANA's Flight Training Center near Tokyo Haneda. ANA will make its simulators available to Alteon for third-party use when the carrier is not using them. Alteon will install a 787 training suite at the facility by the first quarter of 2008.
TAM flew 1.87 billion RPKs in July, a 21.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 18.8% to 2.3 billion ASKs and load factor climbed 1.8 points to 81.2%.
Jordanian government sold an 80% stake in Royal Jordanian's former training and simulation division to Oriental Investment Group for Tourism and Development. According to the Arab Air Carriers Organization, the deal is worth approximately $14.8 million. Jordan Airline Training and Simulation is one of several noncore businesses separated from the flag carrier and sold under the government's privatization. As with previous privatizations, the remaining 20% will be retained by RJ.
Northwest Airlines announced successful completion of the IATA Operational Safety Audit and the US Dept. of Defense Commercial Air Carrier Quality and Safety Survey.
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings reported a second-quarter net loss of $26.4 million, widened from a net loss of $1.67 million in the year-ago quarter. President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said the carrier's earnings were affected negatively by rising fuel costs and an "increase in competitor capacity" on both inter-island flights and transpacific routes. He acknowledged that Hawaiian's "progress in this quarter has lagged that of several of our competitors." The airline faced new competition during the quarter when Mesa Air Group launched its go! subsidiary on June 9.
Southwest Airlines named Executive VP-Aircraft Operations Mike Van de Ven chief of operations effective Sept. 1. Van de Ven joined the carrier in 1993. Also, Southwest promoted VP-Inflight Daryl Krause to senior VP-inflight and provisioning and Senior Director-Provisioning Scott Halfmann to VP-provisioning. National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. elected Pat Forrey president and Paul Rinaldi executive VP.
US Dept. of Transportation reached a $50,000 settlement with British Airways, which denied boarding to four mobility-impaired passengers on flights leaving the US. BA was sanctioned for not attempting to determine if the passengers were able to assist in their own evacuation if necessary and will be allowed to credit $45,000 of the penalty toward new training programs for US-based employees.
Finnair's second-quarter net profit plunged to an "unsatisfactory" €900,000 ($1.2 million) from the €26.4 million earned in the year-ago period as falling unit revenues and one-time charges weighed on the carrier's bottom line.
Spirit Airlines will launch daily Fort Lauderdale-Las Vegas flights on Nov. 15, supplementing its current service via Detroit Metro. Separately, Spirit flew 423.6 million RPMs in July, a 5.6% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 4.3% to 511 million ASMs and laod factor declined 1.2 points to 82.9%.
Air France-KLM flew 18.49 billion RPKs in July, up 4.9% over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 5% to 21.7 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 0.1 point to 85.2%. Delta Air Lines flew 11.76 billion system RPMs in July, a drop of 0.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.1% to 13.77 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.3 points to 85.4%. Domestic RPMs declined 10.6% to 8.03 billion against a 12.6% decrease in ASMs to 9.38 billion. Load factor rose 2 points to 85.7%.
Northwest Airlines reported a second-quarter net loss of $285 million, widened from $234 million in the year-ago period, but insisted it is making "steady progress" as it works toward emerging from bankruptcy protection. Excluding reorganization-related items, the carrier said it earned $179 million in the period, improved from a net loss of $288 million excluding unusual items last year.
Assn. of European Airlines said yesterday that competition issues in Italy and Austria have highlighted the need for European regulators to take a closer look at fuel companies' relationships with airlines. AEA said Italian authorities fined fuel suppliers €315 million ($405.4 million) in June for anticompetitive practices and that Austrian Airlines has asked national authorities to investigate OMV, the state-owned company that supplies both the airline and fuel companies operating in the country.
Japan Airlines Group appears to have made significant progress in its restructuring with a fiscal first-quarter loss of ¥26.7 billion ($233.2 million) set against sharply increased fuel costs, an improvement over the year-ago period's ¥38.3 billion loss.
MAIR Holdings, parent of Mesaba Airlines and Big Sky Airlines, reported a net loss of $2.5 million for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30 compared to a profit of $1.2 million in the same quarter a year ago. "The company's financial result in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 was primarily the result of additional expenses the company associated with Mesaba's bankruptcy," MAIR President and CEO Paul Foley said.
Aviareto named GECAS MD and Senior VP-Business Development Niall Greene as MD and Rob Cowan, formerly of the Irish Aviation Authority, as its new head of operations.
Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas of Spain agreed to acquire Aeroporti di Roma Handling through its Flightcare subsidiary for €72.5 million ($93.3 million) subject to the approval of competition authorities. FCC said Flightcare will become the leading independent handling company at Fiumicino and Ciampino and "will be well placed to expand to the rest of Italy."
EasyJet yesterday released abbreviated operating results for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30 and said it expects full-year unit revenue and unit costs to be "slightly higher" than originally forecast as capacity now is expected to rise approximately 13% over the previous fiscal year. Pre-tax profit still is expected to grow 40%-50% over the £59 million ($112.5 million) earned for the year ended Sept. 30, 2005 ( ATWOnline, July 10).
Turkish Airlines CEO Candan Karlitekin and GM Temel Kotil said at a Friday news conference that THY has chosen to join Star Alliance and will begin negotiations with the group within days. The carrier also was considering SkyTeam. The officials cited the scope of Star's global network and its "efficiency" in certain markets for the decision, according to press reports.
TAM reported second-quarter net income of BRL97.1 million ($44.4 million), a strong improvement over a net loss of BRL24.7 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 38.9% increase in revenues to BRL1.73 billion. The carrier said its leading domestic market share averaged 45.9% in the quarter, including 47.6% in June, as it continued to boost operational performance. Fleet utilization rose to 12 block hr. per day, up from 10.7 hr. in the year-ago quarter.
British Airways continued its resurgence through the first quarter of its fiscal year as record load factors and a "better cabin mix" helped boost its profit for the three months ended June 30 to £154 million ($289.5 million), a 71.1% increase over net earnings of £90 million in the year-ago quarter. Turnover rose 12.5% to £2.32 billion and operating expenses climbed 11.8% to £2.11 billion, lifting operating profit 19.9% to £211 million from £176 million in the June 2005 quarter. Fuel costs surged 44.2% to £512 million.
