Berlin Airports, which manages the city's three airports, finalized a €350 million ($439.7 million) bridge loan with an international consortium of banks headed by Commerzbank in another step toward transforming Berlin Schoenefeld into the larger and more modern Berlin Brandenburg International Airport. The consortium also includes Helaba, KfW/IPEX and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as co-arrangers. Other members are the investment banks in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.
Hawaiian Airlines filed a motion seeking a court order to stop Mesa Air Group from issuing inter-island tickets for its new startup carrier go!, which began service June 9. According to the Associated Press, Hawaiian claims to have proof that Mesa's CFO used "highly confidential documents and trade secrets obtained from Hawaiian in April 2004." At that time, Mesa was among a group of potential bidders for the bankrupt island carrier. In February, Hawaiian filed suit against the Regional and Mesa responded a month later with a countersuit charging Hawaiian with violating antitrust laws.
Bmi Chairman Michael Bishop celebrated bmi's role in European aviation liberalization and 20 years of scheduled services to Europe yesterday with a call for continued deregulation, particularly between the US and London Heathrow. On June 29, 1986, bmi Flight BD101 left LHR for Amsterdam, marking "the first scheduled flight between Heathrow and a major European city by any independent airline. Until that date, only the respective national airlines, or so-called flag carriers, were able to operate cross-border scheduled services on major routes," Bishop noted.
SkyTeam took another step toward adding China Southern Airlines yesterday, signing a Global Airline Alliance Adherence Agreement in Guangzhou that outlines the carrier's "commitment to meet the stringent set of standards to be officially recognized as a member of SkyTeam." It is expected to join in 2007.
JetBlue Airways is joining Northwest Airlines in opposing the deal struck by Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth that repeals the Wright Amendment by 2014 and effectively reduces the number of gates at Love Field from 32 to 20 ( ATWOnline, June 16). The 20 gates would be used by Southwest (16), American (2) and Continental Airlines (2).
Northwest Airlines said it will accelerate the retirement of its 12 remaining DC-10s, all GE CF6-50-powered dash 30s, over the next seven months. It is the last Major US passenger airline to operate the type. The DC-10s will be replaced with newly arriving A330s on transatlantic services and three parked 747-400s that are being returned to service on transpacific routes, NWA said. Currently, DC-10s operate on seven routes. After Oct. 31, the only remaining DC-10 service will be the carrier's daily Minneapolis/St. Paul-Honolulu trip. The final flight will take place Jan.
Air France appointed Florence Parly director-strategy and investments. Parly was formerly president of the Paris-Ile-de-France regional development agency and was budget secretary in the Jospin government from 2000 to 2002. EasyJet selected Tim Newing as IT director effective Aug. 21.
TAM signed an MOU yesterday with Airbus to acquire 37 aircraft, boosting both the manufacturer's flagging fortunes and the airline's hopes for domestic dominance as Varig lingers on the verge of shutdown.
UPS won a three-year contract from the US Postal Service to provide domestic air transport of mail to and from 98 cities, greatly expanding an arrangement under which it furnishes airmail services for 16 cities. The agreement, which covers mostly first-class and priority mail, takes effect July 1 and includes a two-year option.
SriLankan Airlines Group is recovering gradually from the December 2004 tsunami, reporting a net profit of LKR2.04 billion ($19.6 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31 that marks a 48.3% improvement from the prior year's profit of LKR1.38 billion but still falls far short of the LKR5.64 billion it earned in FY04.
New details emerged regarding the failed merger of Jet Airways and Air Sahara ( ATWOnline, June 23) as the legal fight between the carriers escalated and may be headed for India's Supreme Court. In an extensive interview with India's Financial Express, Air Sahara President Alok Sharma claimed Jet wanted to cut its $500 million acquisition price by 10%-20%, which Air Sahara "summarily rejected," effectively killing the deal.
Dragonair flew 450,509 passengers in May, a 7.7% increase over the year-ago month. It said passenger numbers were bolstered by higher traffic from secondary Chinese cities such as Changsha, Chengdu, Nanjing and Xian.
Teledyne Controls announced that Jade Cargo International, a joint venture among Shenzhen Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo and DEG, ordered its integrated Data Management Unit for aircraft condition monitoring and data recording on its new 747-400ERF fleet.
VarigLog, the former freight and logistics arm of Varig, has until Wednesday to finalize its offer for the beleaguered airline, a Rio de Janeiro bankruptcy court said yesterday, according to press reports.
Iberia Maintenance won a five-year contract from British Airways for maintenance of 29 RB211-535E4s used on the carrier's 757 fleet. The agreement calls for Iberia to perform all repairs, modifications, maintenance and inspection of engines, subassemblies, components and spare parts. Iberia Maintenance also signed a contract with Swiftair under which it will act as sole provider of maintenance services for components on the carrier's fleet of MD-80s/-83s. The contract remains in force until the end of 2009.
Comair asked the US Bankruptcy Court again to void its labor contract with 1,100 flight attendants following a breakdown in negotiations over a new agreement. The Cincinnati-based Regional, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, is seeking $8.9 million in annual concessions from the flight attendants and sought court permission in April to cancel the contract.
Northwest Airlines will offer dedicated boarding lanes for its premium customers starting next week at its Detroit hub and airports in Bismarck and Fargo, N.D., Phoenix and Portland, Ore. The lanes will be introduced at all Northwest loading bridge-equipped gates at US airports within the next two months.
Boeing named Jim Schlueter VP-communications for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, reporting to BCA President and CEO Alan Mulally and Tom Downey, Boeing Co. VP-corporate communications. For the past two years Schlueter led Commercial Airplanes media relations and international and sales communications efforts. Prior to that he was director-international communications for Boeing's corporate offices. He has spent more than 19 years with the company.
Virgin Atlantic reported a pre-tax profit of £41.6 million ($75.6 million) for the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, more than double the £20.1 million earned a year ago, a jump it attributed to a "large increase" in business passengers at primary subsidiary Virgin Atlantic Airways. The company, also parent to Virgin Nigeria Airways and tour operator Virgin Holidays, posted annual revenues of £1.91 billion, up 17.2% from £1.63 billion in the previous fiscal year.
MAIR Holdings, parent of Mesaba Airlines and Big Sky Airlines, reported a loss of $82.8 million in a fiscal year ended March 31 that turned on the bankruptcy of its primary subsidiary last fall ( ATWOnline, Oct. 14, 2005).
Varig's future is up in the air again as NV Participacoes, the employee-led investor group that was the only bidder at the June 8 auction of the bankrupt carrier, failed to make an initial $75 million down payment Friday, forcing a Rio de Janeiro bankruptcy court to cancel the deal.
Thales will supply a Level D full flight simulator to Turkish Airlines. It will be ready for training in December and will be installed at THY's training center at Istanbul Ataturk. Thales also will upgrade a 737-400 FFS.
Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun Airlines signed an agreement with ExelTech Aerospace to provide heavy maintenance service for both carriers' fleets of Dash 8s at ExelTech's facility in Quebec City.
News from Travel Technology Update: JetBlue Airways is "looking seriously" at GDS participation, according to David Neeleman, chairman and chief executive officer. At the Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference, Neeleman said the airline was missing out on business by not being in corporate travel departments' booking systems. He acknowledged that when JetBlue participated in Sabre, the average fares booked through the GDS were higher than those booked directly with the airline.
