Austrian Airlines 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 as increases in traffic, load factor and revenue were offset by rising fuel costs. The net figure is adjusted for profits or losses relating to asset disposal, exchange rate valuations and revaluation of aircraft.
Aeroports de Paris' planned IPO could raise up to €600 million ($740.25 million) through the issuance of new shares, the Parisian airports operator said in a filing with stock market regulator AMF. The French government, which currently owns ADP, intends to remain a majority shareholder with a 51% holding. The IPO would include the issue of new shares and the government selling part of its stake; 10% of the shares would be reserved for ADP employees.
GE Commercial Aviation Services will acquire five CRJ700s for lease to GoJet Airlines of Missouri for its United Express service. Four are conversions of existing conditional orders and one is a new order. List price of the five aircraft is approximately $154 million. Deliveries will increase GoJet's CRJ700 fleet to 15. No schedule was announced.
DayJet, which plans to operate a fleet of so-called microjets offering "per-seat, on-demand" flights, said it will launch service inside Florida before year end using Eclipse 500s capable of carrying six occupants. It will be headquartered in Palm Beach and connect communities "that today have little or no scheduled service." DayJet's plans call for "a region-by-region service rollout" between specific airports it calls DayPorts.
Asiana Airlines earned KRW41.26 billion ($45.4 million) in the first quarter ended March 31, a 28.9% rise over the year-ago period when it earned KRW32 billion. According to wire service reports, the higher net profit occurred despite a 4.1% decline in operating profit to KRW16.6 billion that the carrier attributed to a 37.6% jump in the price of fuel. Operating revenue grew 9.1% to KRW796 billion.
Open skies agreement between the UK and Canada signed last week ( ATWOnline, April 24) offers virtually unlimited passenger and cargo flights to and from third countries to UK carriers via Canada and to Canadian airlines via the UK. Under the new bilateral, Canadian and British carriers will face no restrictions on how they set prices when carrying traffic through their own country's cities to the third country. More than 2 million passengers fly annually between Canada and the UK.
Following three days of deliberation, the Master Executive Council of the Delta Air Lines pilots union ratified the tentative labor agreement reached April 14 and sent it to members for a May vote. The accord then will be subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court and is scheduled to go into effect June 1 and become amendable on Dec. 31, 2009. The MEC voted late Friday and approved the deal by a 12-1 count.
The tentative pilot contract at Delta Air Lines, if ratified by ALPA membership, will drop the carrier from having the third-highest-paid narrowbody captains to the middle of the pack, while Northwest Airlines, if its pilots ratify their agreement, will fall even further, from having the second-highest-paid work group to the No. 8 position, just above JetBlue.
Midwest Air Group, parent of Midwest Airlines and Skyway Airlines, continued to show progress on its bottom line, reporting an $8.7 million loss for the first quarter, lowered from a $15.9 million deficit in the year-ago period.
SITA said it had revenue of $1.56 billion last year as it moves toward consolidation of its business units that were separated several years ago. SITA INC revenues rose 13% to $726 million while SITA SC revenues totaled $828 million.
European commercial airframe and engine MRO market generated revenues of $10.6 billion in 2005 and the figure will rise nearly 50% to $15.2 billion by 2012, according to consultancy Frost & Sullivan. Growth is being driven by strong air traffic demand between Eastern and Western Europe as well as the continuing trend toward outsourcing MRO. According to the firm, many of the A320 and 737 aircraft delivered in 1997-2002 will experience their first airframe heavy checks and engine removals "and correspondingly create a short-term spike in demand" during the forecast period.
BAE Systems Aircraft Trading and Management Services sold two A319s on behalf of a consortium of European banks and investors and Magritte Aircraft Leasing Ltd.
Kingfisher Airlines signed an order for five A340-500s with options for five more. The Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2008. Kingfisher currently operates eight A320s and four A319s and has placed firm orders for five each of the A380, A330 and A350. Vijay Mallya, chairman of Kingfisher parent UB Group, said the new aircraft will allow the Indian airline to launch direct flights to the US for the first time.
Volito Aviation, through its wholly owned subsidiary Volito Aviation Leisure KB, placed an A320 with Donbassaero Airlines through April 2012. The aircraft is financed by PK AirFinance. Separately, Volito Aviation increased its facility with HSH Nordbank AG in Kiel to $250 million. The facility is secured by commercial jet aircraft on lease to various carriers worldwide.
Former Air Wisconsin Chairman and CEO Preston Wilbourne died April 20. He was 80. Wilbourne joined the airline as GM in 1965 shortly after it commenced operations. At the time, it operated a single de Havilland Dove. He rose through the ranks to become chairman and CEO, retiring in 1990. Etihad Airways announced a revamp of its commercial management team, which now will feature four regional GMs based in Abu Dhabi and five department managers.
Air Berlin, as expected, on Friday began the road show for its initial public offering that is expected to raise gross proceeds of €350 million ($431.8 million) with net proceeds to the low-fare airline of €290 million.
Air New Zealand will raise fares on all domestic flights and outbound international flights by 10% on May 1. The carrier said rising fuel costs necessitated the change. "Fuel is now our number one cost," said CFO Rob McDonald. "We regret having to increase fares but the numbers are stark." The airline's annual fuel bill has more than doubled since 2004, jumping from NZ$480 million ($303.3 million) to NZ$1 billion. ANZ also announced a NZ$42 million upgrade to its domestic terminal facilities at Auckland International Airport.
Dniproavia accused Lufthansa of influencing German aviation authorities to get the Ukrainian carrier's route authority to serve Frankfurt and Berlin cancelled in violation of a 2005 open skies agreement between the countries. According to an "open letter" from Dniproavia to the Dept. of Aviation of the Federal Republic of Germany and shareholders of Lufthansa Airlines, the German LBA, "on Lufthansa's advice," on March 8 prohibited the airline from flying to Germany and cancelled its flights to Berlin and Frankfurt. Dniproavia alleged LH's goal is to monopolize the markets.
Bmi leased a 767 to be operated on its service to Riyadh from April 22 and a new route to Jeddah scheduled to launch May 18. The aircraft will be configured with two classes and will feature Star Alliance livery.
Austrian Airlines Group unveiled a new fare concept for short- and medium-haul flights permitting passengers to combine different fares and booking classes on the same itinerary, booking economy for an outbound flight and business class for the return, for example. Austrian also restructured economy fares to narrow the range of prices and is offering a "red-ticket" fare with an "all-in" price ranging from €159 ($196.2) to €299 depending on destination. It introduced a new business class fare, Business Holiday, for leisure travel on routes with high tourist potential.
ARINC will unveil a new airport IT systems support program today at the annual conference of the American Assn. of Airport Executives. The program includes "integrated systems support, operations, maintenance support and technical staffing." Separately, ARINC said Sun Country Airlines signed a long-term extension of its datalink communications contract.
Wizz Air took delivery of a new IAE V2500-powered A320, which the low-fare airline plans to operate to Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia as part its expansion of Eastern European services. The aircraft is leased from ILFC. Wizz also plans to launch thrice-weekly flights on July 14 between Cork and Katowice, the first direct service on the route.
Air Canada said it welcomed "the successful conclusion of an Open Skies Agreement for Canada and the UK." AC said the deal will allow it to introduce "more flexible simplified pricing" and enable it to expand its popular multitrip flight passes. London Heathrow is the carrier's most important international gateway.
Austrian Airlines reduced frequencies from Vienna to Tehran from five to three weekly flights owing to lower demand attributed to the worsening political climate. Meanwhile, in order to be more competitive against carriers such as Emirates, Austrian plans to install intercontinental business class seats in several 737-800s for flights to the Middle East. Currently it operates one 737-800 outfitted with 16 C class and 142 Y seats for flights to Dubai.
