ANA customers by the end of September will be able to use a single e-ticket when traveling on ANA and connecting to flights of any of the 11 Star partner airlines. Currently, ANA e-tickets are valid for connections on nine Star carriers: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Asiana, Austrian Airlines, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines. Lufthansa and Varig will be added by month's end.
Delta Air Lines will cut capacity at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, its second-largest hub, by 26% effective Dec. 1 and will sell 11 767-200s to ABX Air. Additionally, it will drop nonstop service operated by Delta Connection carriers in nine Cincinnati markets in favor of connecting service via Atlanta. In a letter to staff, the company said the reductions will result in around 1,000 job eliminations at the hub among Delta and Comair staff.
Air France-KLM Group said August passenger traffic increased 8.1% compared to the year-ago period to 17.3 billion RPKS on 5.1% higher capacity of 20.5 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2.4 points to 84.1%. The group carried more than 6 million passengers in the month, up 6.9% over August 2004. The European network remained "particularly buoyant," with traffic increasing 7.4% on a 1.5% rise in capacity and load factor improving 4 points to 72.8%. Cargo traffic climbed 3.2% on a 7% hike in capacity, pushing load factor down 2.2 points to 60.9%.
LOT Polish Airlines ordered seven 787-8s and took options on two and "hold purchase rights" on five more. Boeing valued the firm aircraft at around $910 million at list prices. They will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s and deliveries begin in 2008. The 787s will replace LOT's six 767-300s and two 767-200s. Airbus had offered the A350 in competition. LOT said the evaluation process was supported by Sabre Airline Solutions while the final results were scrutinized by Ernst &Young. The supervisory board's decision in favor of the Boeing product was unanimous.
Aug. 14 crash of a Helios Air 737-300 occurred owing to a series of errors and miscues that will likely have human factors experts studying it for years. According to a report in the International Herald Tribune that cites several people "connected with the investigation," the problem began during an overnight maintenance check in which a technician apparently left a "pressurization controller rotary knob" out of place. The cockpit crew did not discover the mistake during their pre-flight check and the cabin failed to pressurize after takeoff.
Olympic Airlines reported that revenue and passenger traffic increased in the first seven months of 2005 compared to the year-ago period. Revenue rose 14.6 % to €298.6 million ($372.4 million) on a 3.6% gain in passengers to 3.34 million. Results were achieved with four fewer aircraft as the fleet dropped to 40 from 44.
B/E Aerospace was selected by Connexion by Boeing to provide integration, certification and kit production of inflight high-speed Internet service for 777s and 767s.
Phuket Airlines requested a clarification from both the UK and France as to why it is banned, according to the Bangkok Post, which quoted a letter from Senior VP Kanin Phuvasiten to the French DGAC.
China Southern Airlines ordered eight A330-300s and two A330-200s with deliveries in 2007-08, Airbus said, noting that the carrier already operates four A330-200s. China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group also was involved in the deal, signing a GTA with Airbus. Engine selection and value of the agreement were not announced. China Southern's current A330s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trents.
Mandala Airlines 737-200 PK-RIM crashed Monday seconds after taking off from Medan in Indonesia, killing 102 of the 117 aboard plus as many as 47 people in a marketplace where it came to rest. Passengers who survived the crash all appeared to have been seated in the rear of the aircraft. The accident occurred around 9:40 a.m. local time and the 737 went down just 500 m. from the end of the runway. Mandala was formed in 1969 and is run by a military foundation. It operates a 727-200, 13 737-200s and two 737-400s on domestic routes. The accident aircraft was built in 1981.
Boeing named Jean Pritchard VP-Commercial Airplanes and commercial activities for Washington operations. Pritchard, 53, most recently served as director-commercial international programs for Asia and the Americas for five years.
China Airlines joined with Cargolux to take a 49% stake in Shanghai-based Yangtze River Express. The cargo carrier operates four 737-300QCs and transports cargo within China for UPS. According to a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, China Airlines will pay 312.5 million yuan ($38.6 million) for its 25% stake. Hainan Airlines has a 15% holding.
Air China reported a 25% fall in its first-half net profit to 591.3 million yuan ($72.5 million) owing to fuel prices. Revenue also was down at 16.94 billion yuan. The carrier did not provide the Hong Kong market with details.
Gol increased the number of 737-800s scheduled for 2006 delivery to 11 from six previously. It said the aircraft will be equipped with winglets and have a special performance package permitting operation to all airports served by the carrier.
Cyprus Airways intends to present a restructuring plan to the European Commission by next month. The government-controlled carrier, which was affected by the costs associated with the shutdown of its financially troubled Greek subsidiary Hellas Jet in May, posted a net loss of CYP20.4 million ($44.7 million) for the first half of 2005. The EC approved an emergency loan of $64 million in May but further aid is subject to completion of an EU-approved plan to return the carrier to commercial viability.
US Airways received interim approval from the bankruptcy court to sell and lease back five A330s, nine A319s and five A320s. If given final approval, the transactions will raise more than $120 million in liquidity. The court also approved a deal reached between US Airways and the US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. resolving nearly $2.7 billion in claims. Under terms of the agreement, the carrier will pay PBGC $13.5 million in cash in addition to giving it a $10 million note and 70% of the common stock being allocated to unsecured creditors.
Ryanair carried 3.26 million passengers in August, up 27% on the year-ago period. Load factor fell 1 point to 91%. The LCC noted that for the first month in its history it carried more passengers on its European network than British Airways did on its worldwide network, although this likely was owing to disruption of BA operations at London Heathrow last month (see next item). For the rolling 12 months ended Aug. 31, Ryanair's earned seats amounted to 30.97 million and load factor averaged 84%.
An-26B cargo aircraft operated by Galaxie dba Kavatshi Airlines crashed on approach to Isiro in the Democratic Republic of Congo Monday, killing all 11 passengers and crew onboard. According to Aviation Safety Network, which cited AFP and Radio Okapi, the aircraft struck a tree and crashed approximately 1.5 km. from the runway.
European Commission confirmed that it decided to reduce the financial assistance granted to the new Athens International Airport because the airport violated some requirements. In total, some €12.8 million in financial aid is being removed. AIA, which started operating in March 2001, was co-financed with €250 million from the EU's Cohesion Fund. It is owned 55% by Greece and 40% by German construction group Hochtief.
Air France-KLM Group said it expects its operating profit for the current fiscal year ending March 31 to exceed the €534 million ($667 million) reported under IFRS for its 2005 fiscal year ( ATWOnline, July 1) as it reported that operating profit for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 climbed 27.3% to €223 million from €175 million last year.
Mesaba Aviation said it reached a definitive agreement with Northwest Airlines to operate 15 CRJ200s under the Airlink banner, along with exclusive rights to the next 20 CRJ200 or CRJ440 aircraft NWA may order. The agreement is part of a new 10-year "omnibus airline services agreement" between the companies and also covers Mesaba's existing fleet of Saab 340s and Avro RJs, replacing a previous accord for the Saabs and Avros. "We're very excited about introducing the CRJ to our fleet and our passengers," said Mesaba President and COO John Spanjers.
American Airlines said August traffic rose 3.8% to 12.65 billion RPMs compared to the year-ago period on a 0.1% decline in capacity to 15.51 ASMs. As a result, load factor gained 3.1 points to 81.5%. Year-to-date through August, RPMs increased 6.8% to 94.2 billion, ASMs grew 1.4% to 119 billion and load factor rose 3.9 points to 79%. Passenger boardings climbed 5.4% to 8.7 million in August and 7.3% to 66.8 million for the first eight months. Southwest Airlines flew 5.7 billion RPMs in August, up 13.7 over August 2004.
Assn. of European Airlines members registered an overall traffic growth of 7% in July compared to the year-ago period. The South Atlantic market posted the highest growth with a 16% increase in traffic on 13.8% more capacity, whereas the larger Far East market recorded a 13% growth in RPKs on a capacity hike of 8.6%. Intra-European traffic rose 6.5%, with cross-border flows substantially stronger than domestic. The North Atlantic increase was just 2.2%. July passenger boardings were up 5% to 30.2 million and load factor gained 2.2 points to 81.1%.
Northwest Airlines, in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission late last week, said it expects to report a loss of $350-$400 million for the third quarter excluding unusual items. It noted that its unrestricted cash position deteriorated to $1.7 billion at the end of August from $2.14 billion on June 30 and reiterated a warning that without pension relief legislation "that significantly reduces future funding requirements," it will be forced to consider a bankruptcy filing.
