China Airlines will retrofit Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglets to 11 737-800s. Work at the carrier's MRO facility in Taipei will commence in March and be completed by year end.
News from Travel Technology Update: AirTran, which dropped out of Worldspan in November because the two companies could not come to terms on the cost of participation, is back in the GDS with a new multiyear, full content agreement, effect Jan. 24. The carrier is distributing inventory, availability and fares through Worldspan at a level of participation called Limited Connect, which is below Worldspan's Full Service level. Worldspan said Limited Connect is designed to meet the distribution needs of carriers that require limited functionality
Royal Air Maroc announced creation of an A320 and 737 MRO subsidiary called Aerotechnic Industries to be based at Marrakech-Menara. RAM's initial investment of MAD70 million ($7.5 million) will be directed largely toward the construction of an 11,000-sq.-m. hangar with room for two aircraft.
Aer Lingus will order four A330s for delivery beginning later this year, according to sources at the carrier, possibly indicating it will favor the A350 over the 787 for its upcoming fleet expansion. It has a need for up to 12 A350-type aircraft. The deal is worth $400 million, according to media reports.
Chinese airlines reported robust growth in passengers and cargo for 2005 thanks to surging traffic, and in the case of China Eastern and China Southern the gains from mergers completed last year. Air China reported a 13% increase in passengers to 27.7 million while cargo jumped 10.2% to 732,818 tonnes. China Eastern saw a 37% leap in passengers to 24.3 million and a 14% rise in cargo to 755,010 tonnes. China Southern also had impressive numbers as passenger totals jumped 56.4% to 44.10 million and cargo climbed 42.1% to 774,550 tonnes.
Murray Air Certifications announced it completed Virgin America's operating manuals process and assisted it in its effort to become a US FAA-certified FAR 121 carrier.
Austrian Airlines Group transported a record 10.1 million passengers in 2005, 7.6% more than in 2004. Yearly traffic in RPKs increased 7.6% to 22.8 billion, ASKs rose 5.7% to 30.8 billion and load factor improved 1.3 points to 74.1%.
Jet Airways' net profits fell 53% to INR610 million ($13.8 million) in the third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, a "positive result," according to Executive Director Saroj Datta, who cited "industrywide capacity addition that was far in excess of demand growth," surging fuel costs that outstripped fare increases and operating losses on Jet's new international routes. The report came on the heels of the carrier's $500 million acquisition of Air Sahara, which will create the country's largest domestic airline ( ATWOnline, Jan. 20).
China Eastern Airlines will acquire five 50-seat ERJ-145LRs from Harbin Embraer to be delivered between November 2006 and June 2007. Harbin Embraer is a joint venture between Embraer and China Aviation Industry Corp. II.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines said it was forced to cancel hundreds of domestic and European flights from Copenhagen and Norway yesterday and this morning due to a strike by its Denmark-based pilots and a sickout by pilots at its SAS Braathens subsidiary. An announcement on Copenhagen Airport's website said "most flights" were called off and that passengers holding tickets for all but the "few flights" unaffected by the work stoppage were "advised not to come to the airport."
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, received from the US Bankruptcy Court in Chicago the expected approval of its reorganization plan on Friday, positioning the company to emerge from more than three years of Chapter 11 protection early next month. UAL did not provide a specific exit date. Creditor distributions will commence shortly afterward, it said. The airline sought bankruptcy protection on Dec. 9, 2002, after it was turned down for a federally guaranteed loan by the Air Transportation Stabilization Board.
Qantas confirmed to ATWOnline last week that its evaluation of the 777-200LR is ongoing despite local media reports indicating it had been shelved. Qantas CFO Peter Gregg told this website that the 777-200LR is "definitely under serious evaluation," although he was coy on the finer details of the operational options under examination.
Southwest Airlines' board of directors authorized last week the repurchase of up to $300 million worth of common stock, which the carrier said represented approximately 17.9 million shares as of Jan. 18. It has about 804 million shares outstanding. Repurchased shares may be retired or used to fund the carrier's employee stock plans.
EasyJet's net profit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 increased 38.5% to £59 million ($103.82 million) based on International Financial Reporting Standards, according to its annual report released Friday. In November, the airline reported a year-end profit of £42.6 million according to UK GAAP standards ( ATWOnline, Nov. 23). Turnover remained static at £1.34 billion. IFRS operating profit climbed 35.9% over the GAAP number to £66.2 million. Group Finance Director Jeff Carr called the changes "relatively minor in the current fiscal year and going forward."
Lufthansa said Friday that AirTrust AG, a joint venture between LH (49%) and the Almea Foundation of Switzerland (51%), completed its acquisition of Swiss International Air Lines ( ATWOnline, June 6, 2005) in a deal reportedly worth €310 million ($374.9 million). The delisting of Swiss shares will occur Jan. 27. Shareholders keeping Swiss shares in bank safe-custody accounts automatically will be compensated CHF8.96 ($6.98) per share, the same amount offered during the public purchase offer period.
Aeroflot reported 2005 traffic of 20.75 billion RPKs, an "average 1%-2% decline" from 2004 "mainly due to reducing passenger load as prices rose as a result of rocketing fuel prices." Passenger load factor was 69.1%. Cargo volume grew 1.4% to 2.74 billion RTKs. Separately, Aeroflot transferred its Paris CDG flights from Terminal 2B to Terminal 2C on Tuesday. Departure and arrival times are unchanged.
Globespan Group, parent of Scottish LCC flyglobespan, reported an FY05 pre-tax profit of £6.2 million ($10.94 million), a 67.6% improvement over 2004 earnings of £3.7 million, according to media reports. The company's fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2005. Turnover increased from £98 million to £163 million. Flyglobespan contributed half of the group's profits, up from £2 million in 2004, and flew nearly 1.5 million passengers, an increase of approximately 50%.
Lufthansa Group released an initial earnings projection yesterday indicating it expects to report a €550 million ($665.81 million) operating profit for 2005, well above its November projection of profits "significantly" higher than €400 million ( ATWOnline, Nov. 11) and a 43.6% rise over a 2004 operating result of €383 million. The company said the discrepancy between its 2005 projection and the result "is due to the good performance of the Passenger Business segment at the end of last year."
China Eastern Airlines said its 2005 net profit will narrow by more than 50% from its CNY514.1 million ($63.7 million) 2004 earnings, according to Shanghai Securities News cited by Reuters. China Eastern's results have fluctuated wildly--it reported a CNY471.4 million loss in the first half of 2005 but was CNY673.2 million in the black by the close of the third quarter. It lost CNY949.8 million in 2003.
Focus Aviation announced it completed the sale of two A300-600Rs on behalf of China Airlines to Avion Aircraft Trading, which will lease the aircraft to an unnamed Middle Eastern carrier. One will be converted into a freighter in October.
Star Flyer of Japan plans to launch operations with three 144-seat A320s by March, operating up to 12 daily flights from the new Kitakyushu Airport to Tokyo Haneda. "We will offer higher prices than Skymark but our fares will be around 20% lower than JAL or ANA," Senior Executive Director Yasushi Muto told this website. Launch capital for the new company is around $38 million. An IPO could be planned for 2008.
United Services Flight Training, a division of United Airlines, became the first foreign provider to receive CAAC certification to train Chinese airline pilots. It said it expects to train pilots from two carriers on 757s and A320s at its Denver Flight Training Center.
United Airlines' reorganization plan could be approved by the bankruptcy court today, putting the carrier on course to meet its timetable to complete Chapter 11 restructuring in early February.
