ANA said it will retire its last 747SR March 10 following a flight from Kagoshima to Tokyo Haneda. The carrier's first 747SR took flight 27 years ago. It was the first aircraft to carry 500 passengers in an all-economy configuration. At one point ANA operated a fleet of 23 of the type.
National Air Traffic Services said it handled a record 2.3 million flights through British airspace in 2005, a rise of 5.7% over the previous year and the highest annual growth since 1999.
American Airlines' December system traffic rose 4.6% over the year-ago month to 11.49 billion RPMs. Capacity dropped 1.1% to 14.55 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 4.3 points to 78.9%. The number of enplaned passengers lifted 4.8% to 8.2 million. Domestically, RPMs rose 2.6% to 7.55 billion, ASMs fell 4.5% to 9.42 billion and load factor surged 5.6 points to 80.1%. International traffic grew 8.8% to 3.94 billion RPMs with capacity up 5.7% to 5.13 billion ASMs, resulting in a load factor of 76.9%, up 2.2 points. Cargo ton-miles lowered 3.1% to 185.9 million.
Delta Air Lines was granted an extension last week by the US Bankruptcy Court to file its reorganization plan by July 11. The original deadline was Jan. 12.
CAE signed a deal with Oman Air to extend its pilot training program. It will involve instructor-led upgrade training and recurrent training for 737NGs at the ECFT center in Dubai. SpiceJet of India signed a similar deal. CAE also reached an agreement with Qatar Airways for A330/A340 pilot training. Separately, CAE said it will invest $630 million in a six-year R&D program dubbed Project Phoenix "with the goal of improving current leading-edge technologies and developing additional ones."
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines released preliminary traffic results for November that show a significant slowing in passenger growth. Passenger numbers were up just 1.2% to 10.6 million, making the month the weakest in 2005. In terms of RPKs, passenger traffic rose by 2.1% on a restrained capacity increase of 2.9%, resulting in a marginal decline in passenger load factor to 72.3%. International cargo traffic fared much better with 4% growth in FTKs after four months of virtually flat numbers. Capacity was up 3.1%, resulting in a slightly higher freight load factor of 68.7%.
British Airways flew 9.16 billion RPKs in December, up 4.7% over December 2004, on a 2.6% passenger capacity hike to 12.34 billion ASKs. Passenger load factor rose 1.5 points to 74.2%. The number of passengers carried dipped 0.2% to 2.73 million, including a 3.1% reduction on the European network to 1.68 million. Cargo, measured in CTKs, rose 0.2% to 436 million. BA's Asia/Pacific routes showed the most growth with a 16.7% increase in RPKs to 1.7 billion and a 13.3% gain in capacity to 2.22 billion ASKs.
Volito Aviation placed a 1995-vintage A320-200 with Aigle Azur for lease through April 2009. Aircraft is financed by DVB Bank. Midwest Airlines sold an MD-81 to AeroTurbine of Miami. Meridian Aerospace acted as an exclusive agent for the seller.
Northwest Airlines continues to seek agreement from its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., for permission to launch a new subsidiary carrier that would operate 70/100-seat regional jets at Regional airline industry average pilot labor costs ( ATWOnline, Oct. 14). NWA outlined its plans for the subsidiary in a special edition of its internal newsletter Passages. The airline, which has a working name of NewCo, would have its own AOC and would employ furloughed NWA pilots, who would have the right of recall to NWA when that opportunity arises.
Air France-KLM Group denied reports it is increasing its stake in Alitalia. Earlier this week, Finanza e Mercati indicated AF-KLM might take over the struggling Italian carrier. "We are currently not holding merger talks and we are not increasing our holding in Alitalia," Air France spokesperson Samuel Coulon told ATWOnline. "We start to get used to the reports in the Italian press." He added that the French-Dutch group's position has not changed: "We have always said Alitalia has to be privatized and be profitable before we initiate talks to join our group."
EADS named Michael Hauger head of corporate media relations and communications-Germany. He succeeds Rainer Ohler, who took over as head of government relations, communications and external affaires at Airbus on Jan. 1.
CSA Czech Airlines announced that President and Chairman Jaroslav Tvrdik is resigning, subject to formal approval at extraordinary board meetings scheduled Jan. 18. Tvrdik is leaving to become general campaign manager of the Czech Social Democratic Party.
United Airlines' budget for 2006 includes capital spending of $400 million that will be invested in new resources including more airport check-in kiosks, refurbishing aircraft interiors, upgrading computer systems and new ground equipment. The information was contained in UAL Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton's weekly telephone message to employees.
Air Canada is taking its simplified fares concept onto the transatlantic this year, beginning with service to London Heathrow and Manchester. The international pricing structure contains just four fare categories: Tourist, Leisure, Latitude Plus and Executive First. Other international destinations will follow "in the near future." AC has been transitioning to a simpler fare structure over the past few years beginning with its domestic network and in 2005 with its transborder services.
Continental Airlines reported a 13.1% rise in December traffic to 7 billion RPMs from 6.19 billion in 2004. Capacity was up 11.4% to 9.01 billion ASMs and load factor grew 1.2 points to 77.7%, a December record. CO said consolidated passenger RASM increased 7%-8% over December 2004 and mainline RASM grew 5.5%-6.5%. Separately, Continental Express posted a record load factor of 75.4%, up 4.6 points. Regional traffic shot up 23.1% to 817.2 million RPMs and capacity rose 15.6% to 1.08 billion ASMs.
Continental Airlines' announcement that it would take 69 aircraft out of its fleet agreement with ExpressJet ( ATWOnline, Jan. 4) came as no surprise to ExpressJet CEO and President Jim Ream. During months of negotiations, CO followed in the footsteps of other mainline carriers and aggressively sought concessions as it moved to cut costs. ExpressJet is the exclusive provider of Regional flying to CO using a fleet of some 274 ERJ-145s.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Systems Group said it received authorization from Israel's CAA to install its Flight Guard anti-Manpads system on 767 passenger aircraft. According to press reports, El Al will install the system on six 767s.
EADS bought a 10% stake in Russia's Irkut Corp. for $65.3 million last month, the Russian aerospace company announced. The deal coincided with the awarding of a 10-year contract for A320, A330/A340 and A380 component and subassembly production ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22). "It is part of the global strategy of EADS to form partnerships with leading aerospace companies," EADS Russia CEO Vadim Vlasov said. The companies have been working together since 2002.
Caribbean Aircraft Leasing will acquire an additional 50-seat Q300 turboprop for $16.3 million, Bombardier announced. The lessor, parent of Caribbean Star Airlines and Caribbean Sun Airlines, ordered three A300s two months ago.
Aerospace Industries Assn. named Susan Mertes director-aviation infrastructure, a new position focusing on improvements to the civil air transport system. Rockwell Collins appointed Beverly Carmichael VP-staffing and organizational development. She comes from Southwest Airlines.
EasyJet will add 14 new routes across its European network this spring as it takes delivery of nine A319s. It also will convert its bases in Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow to all-Airbus operations, replacing its current fleet of 737s in a move signifying its "commitment to future investment and expansion." It will operate 116 A319s by this summer.
B/E Aerospace announced that it completed a $45 million deal with Emirates to design and manufacture the international super first class cabins on a portion of its new 777s.
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, said its reorganization plan was accepted by all classes of creditors in voting tabulated and submitted last week to the US Bankruptcy Court. A confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18.
