Ryanair yesterday completed a five-year agreement with the Moroccan government to "develop low-cost air access and tourism to the country" from its bases in Europe.
Wizz Air, citing data from the Polish CAA, said it carried 15.5% of the total passenger traffic to and from Poland in the first quarter, up from 11.7% last year. It claims to be Poland's second-largest airline and the largest LCC serving the country.
IATA, Royal Jordanian and the Jordanian CAA announced an MOU to introduce common-use self-service check-in by year end and industry-standard barcoded boarding passes during the first quarter of 2007 at Amman's Queen Alia International Airport. Under the agreement, Royal Jordanian will act as a project developer and operator, IATA will provide advisory support and JCAA will serve as a facilitator and regulator.
South Korea and Thailand agreed this week to liberalize passenger services between the two countries. Cargo operations already are liberalized under a 2004 accord. The new agreement comes as the limit of 42 weekly flights previously allowed by each nation's airlines is under strain, with load factors reported at 88%.
Spanair is extending its "punctuality guarantee" for all domestic flights to Dec. 31. Under the program, business class passengers receive a free ticket and economy class passengers a 25% discount on their next ticket if the aircraft pulls back from the gate more than 15 min. after the scheduled departure for reasons attributed to the airline.
Delta Air Lines announced a winter schedule in which it will start service to Telluride and Steamboat Springs and expand existing service to other "ski destinations" in the western US and Canada beginning Dec. 23. SkyWest Airlines will operate daily Salt Lake City-Telluride flights aboard CRJs and Delta will operate Saturday Atlanta-Telluride flights aboard an MD-88. Delta will start daily Atlanta-Steamboat Springs flights and expand service between SLC and Aspen and between Atlanta and Bozeman, Jackson Hole and Calgary.
Etihad Airways CEO Robert Strodel has stepped down, a spokesperson confirmed. According to the spokesperson, Strodel resigned almost two weeks ago but the airline made no public announcement. He had been CEO for less than a year, taking over on July 5, 2005. A search for a new CEO is underway, the spokesperson said. Separately, Etihad took delivery of its fifth and final 777-300ER this week. The aircraft will be used on flights to Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and London Gatwick. Etihad will add Casablanca in June and Khartoum in July to its network.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is sending a team to Bangalore to assist in the investigation of a reported left wing fuel tank explosion on a Transmile Airlines 727-200. According to NTSB, the incident occurred on May 4 and involved a Malaysia-registered aircraft during a ground repositioning. There were no passengers onboard and no injuries were reported.
El Al Israel Airlines posted a first-quarter net loss of $12.4 million, a 33% improvement over a net loss of $18.5 million in the year-ago period. The carrier said "the drastic increase in fuel costs" prevented it from recording a quarterly profit on the heels of its highest-ever full-year profit of $64.1 million in 2005. It added that the winter quarter is usually its weakest and that prospects for the rest of 2006 remain strong.
Austrian Airlines Group is under increasing pressure to stabilize its negative financial situation. "Austrian has a chance to survive. The only problem I see is that we are running out of time," new CEO Alfred Oetsch told ATWOnline. The group narrowed its first-quarter adjusted net loss before taxes to €67.7 million ($83.7 million) from €76.8 million in the year-ago period after losing €129.1 million for all of 2005.
Alitalia's acquisition of the assets of bankrupt Volare Group was suspended yesterday by Italy's top administrative court, AFX reported. The state council supported an appeal by Air One, which argued that the flag carrier should not have been allowed to bid for Volare because of its precarious financial position and for antitrust reasons. Volare Group, which includes charter carrier Air Europe and LCC Volareweb, was put up for sale in November by a government-appointed administrator.
Spirit Airlines promoted President and COO Ben Baldanza to CEO replacing Jacob Schorr, who left the chief executive post but will remain as chairman. Baldanza has been with the LCC since January 2005. Separately, South African Airways appointed Spirit VP-Sales and Distribution Marc Cavaliere executive VP-North America based at SAA's US headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale.
Emirates and Japan Airlines agreed to expand their existing codeshare agreement effective June 1 to allow JAL to place its code on new Dubai-Nagoya Emirates flights and Emirates to place its code on JAL domestic flights from Nagoya to Fukuoka and Sapporo. Separately, JAL said it will resume daily service from Tokyo Narita to both Bali and Jakarta on July 1 and from Osaka Kansai to Denpasar on July 13. It cut back on Japan-Indonesia services in October 2005 due to reduced demand that it attributed to the Oct. 1 terrorist bombing in Bali.
Aeroports de Paris' IPO should take place before summer, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton confirmed yesterday. "The company is ready. It is opportune to give it the necessary means to support its expansion. It needs a capital increase to pursue its development," Breton told France 2 television. A decree authorizing the government to privatize a minority stake in the airport operator was published in the Tuesday edition of France's official journal.
Lufthansa Technik signed an agreement with Bombardier to provide a Total Support Program for operators of 50/90-seat CRJs. LHT will offer support packages for APUs, landing gears, wheels, tires, brakes and rotables. Operators also have the option for a repair and overhaul program on CF34 engines from Lufthansa Technik Aero Alzey.
Deccan Aviation, parent of LCC Air Deccan, struggled to attract investors for its IPO as India's stock market sputtered last week and has extended its deadline to Friday. Deccan issued the IPO on May 18, the same day India's stock market plunged in what many in the country are calling an unprecedented crash. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, known as Sensex, ended last week down more than 1,300 points, an 11% drop from the previous Friday's closing, sending shockwaves through the Indian economy.
Northwest Airlines' 5,600 ramp service employees and stock clerks will see their hourly base wage rates reduced by 11.5% if they ratify a tentative five-year agreement reached between the airline and negotiators for the International Assn. of Machinists last week ( ATWOnline, May 22).
Aviation Refinancing Transaction awarded GA Telesis a five-year servicing contract to manage and remarket more than 50 Boeing aircraft and approximately 70 spare engines.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary will stand naked "in Warsaw's busiest street" if LOT Polish Airlines abolishes its fuel surcharge this month, the Irish carrier announced yesterday. A LOT spokesperson told Polish television last week that Ryanair would be willing to "walk naked down the street in front of TV cameras" in order to draw attention to the Polish airline's surcharges, Ryanair said. "We have no problem placing this wager with LOT because everyone knows that there is no chance whatsoever of LOT ever removing its fuel surcharges," Head of Communications Peter Sherrard said.
Indian Airlines signed an MOU with India's ICICI Bank for funding of the pre-delivery payments required for aircraft acquisition. Indian finalized a $2 billion deal for 43 A320 family aircraft in February ( ATWOnline, Feb. 22). Funding will come from a syndicated external commercial borrowing of $152 million spread from June 2006 to January 2010.
Air Transport Assn. warned of big crowds at US airports as the country observes Memorial Day Monday. ATA said US airlines will transport 21 million passengers from May 22 through May 31, or 2.1 million per day. It added that the passenger numbers are up 1.9% from the same week last year and advised travelers to arrive at airports 90 min. prior to departure for domestic flights and 120 min. prior to international departures and to be prepared for heavy traffic at security checkpoints.
