AirTran Airways will launch daily nonstop flights from Flint to Ft. Myers Nov. 8 using 717s. Separately, AirTran flew 1.1 billion RPMs in July, up 39.4% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 32.6% to 1.36 billion ASMs and load factor was up 3.9 points to 80.8%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs rose 32.3% to 6.45 billion, ASMs increased 29.4% to 8.67 billion and load factor gained 1.6 points to 74.4%.
Rockwell Collins was selected by Hapagfly (formerly Hapag-Lloyd Flug) to provide its Programmable Audio Video Entertainment System on 10 new 737-800s with an option for 10 additional aircraft. Deliveries are expected to begin in January.
LAN Airlines is the customer for six 767-300s, Boeing confirmed yesterday. The aircraft, a mix of 767-300Fs and 767-300ERs, previously were listed on the Boeing website as having been sold to an unidentified customer. The orders are in addition to six 767s ordered by LAN in 2004.
An Air France A340-300 skidded off the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport during a thunderstorm yesterday and broke into pieces, but there were only minor to moderate injuries among the 297 passengers and 12 crewmembers onboard, all of whom were evacuated safely before the aircraft wreckage caught fire.
Pinnacle Airlines reported net income of $13.8 million for the second quarter ended June 30, a 42.3% increase over net income of $9.7 million in the year-ago period. Total operating revenue rose 39.9% to $212.9 million while total operating expenses climbed 40.6% to $190.1 million, producing an operating income of $22.8 million, up 34.7% over operating income of $16.9 million in the year-ago period. "This quarter marks our tenth consecutive quarter of strong financial performance under our Airline Services Agreement with Northwest [Airlines]," President and CEO Phil Trenary said.
Austrian Airlines Group, in a strategy that complements its expanding network to Central and Eastern Europe, plans to boost its extensive presence in the Near East/Middle East and North Africa regions, adding up to five new destinations and increasing frequencies on established routes. "A good time to start new services to the Middle East will be in March/April next year.
Barely a month after laying out a timetable leading to an exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this year ( ATWOnline, July 4), United Airlines again is seeking more time to reorganize. This time, however, the delay comes not from airline management but at the request of the carrier's creditors.
Gol reported a 73.4 million reais ($31.2 million) net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, barely up on income of R$73.2 million in the year-ago period. Operating income, however, dropped 8.4% to R$85 million from R$92.8 million. "Gol remains committed to its virtuous cycle of maintaining low costs, allowing us to offer the lowest fares and achieve the highest load factors in the Brazilian market, thereby driving industry-leading profitability," CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr. said.
Ryanair shrugged off a doubling of its fuel bill to report a 31.2% profit rise to €69.9 million ($69.6 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 compared to net income of €53.1 million in the year-ago period. Current-period results include a gain of €5.2 million (net of tax) from the settlement of an insurance claim covering six 737-200s damaged during an overhaul. Operating profit also increased, jumping 23.4% to €79.9 million from €64.7 million in the 2004 period, although operating margin dipped from 21.6% to 19.7%.
Continental Airlines flew 7.88 billion RPMs in July, up 7.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity rose 9.6% to 9.4 billion ASMs and load factor was down 1.5 points to 83.9%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 9.4% to 46.29 billion, ASMs climbed 5.5% to 58.47 billion and load factor gained 2.8 points to 79.2%. For July, Continental said both consolidated and mainline passenger RASM are estimated to have increased 4.5%-5.5% compared to July 2004.
Singapore Airlines Group reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of S$235 million ($141.8 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, down 7.9% compared to a net profit of S$255 million in the prior-year period. Total revenue rose 11.7% to S$3.04 billion but total expenses climbed 15.3% to S$2.79 billion as higher fuel prices added S$363 million (before hedging) to expenditure. As a result, operating profit dropped 16.5% to S$253.1 million from S$303.1 million. SIA carried 4 million passengers in the quarter, up 5.7% over last year.
CSA Czech Airlines Supervisory Board approved the decision of the board of directors regarding the winner of the tender for financing the purchase of 12 A320s/A319s. The banks are Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka a.s., BNP Paribas and Natexis Banques Populaires. CSA will finance its new airplanes valued at CZK10-CZK12 billion ($402.4-$482.9 million) through a 12-year financial leasing guaranteed by European export credit agencies. The aircraft will be delivered in 2006-08.
Cargo Connection Logistics Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargo Connection Logistics Holding, was chosen by Continental Airlines to provide over-the-road service between Newark and 10 points located in the US Northeast and South.
Wizz Air signed an agreement to lease a new IAE V2500-powered A320 from ILFC. The aircraft will seat 180 in a single-class configuration. It will be delivered in April 2006 on a seven-year lease term. Volito Aviation added two A320s to its portfolio via a sale/leaseback with TACA. The aircraft are on lease with the Central American carrier through October. Financing was provided by DVB Bank AG. Volito placed a 1998 A320 with Sichuan Airlines on lease through July 2011. It is financed by PK Airfinance Luxembourg.
Primarily owing to an extraordinary loss on the sale of group-owned real property, ANA Group reported a 10.9% drop in net income to ¥2.16 billion ($19.3 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 from net income of ¥2.43 billion in the year-ago period.
KLM last week signed a five-year, €540 million ($658.9 million) credit facility that is supported by an international group of 11 relationship banks. Citibank, ING Bank, Rabobank and Societe Generale acted as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners, while Calyon and Natexis-Banques Populaires were co-mandated lead arrangers. BNP Paribas, Credit Mutuel-CIC, Deutsche Bank, Fortis and WestLB were arrangers.
LOT Polish Airlines minority shareholders agreed to an IPO of the state-controlled carrier, which should lead to a market debut by the second quarter of 2006. The airline announced last week that it wants a listing in the middle of next year. CEO Marek Grabarek confirmed that the shares owned by an investor syndicate will be sold along with newly issued shares. "The Polish government will retain control of the company with 51%," he told this website earlier.
Lufthansa's Terminal 2 in Munich will handle more than 20 million passengers this year, a record. Karl-Ulrich Garnadt, head of Hub Management Munich for LH, told ATWOnline that the carrier and its partner airlines are growing at the hub at a faster rate than had been expected; "In June we saw a passenger increase of 13%.
There is no shortage of warnings about the perils of the airline industry and the folly of not learning from its turbulent history. But the harsh lessons of the past are being ignored by many new low-cost carriers, say some analysts, who predict that the boom soon will turn into a bust.
Airbus welcomed Gustav Humbert as its new president & CEO and announced several appointments. Executive VP-Operations Gerard Blanc is leaving the company and is succeeded by Karl-Heinz Hartmann, Charles Champion becomes COO and deputy to the CEO and remains head of the A380 program, John Leahy becomes COO-customers, Tom Williams is executive VP-programs, Alain Flourens succeeds Hartmann as executive VP & head-center of excellence, Henri Courpon becomes head of procurement and Olivier Andres becomes executive VP-strategy & cooperation.
The return of air traffic to the near-saturation levels that existed prior to 9/11-with virtually no corresponding increase in airport capacity-means that congestion and delays are on the rise again. Thus it is no surprise that airlines are looking for information technology solutions to manage aircraft better in the airport environment. A number of IT providers are offering integrated packages to do just that. Sensis Corp. and Preston Aviation Solutions, a Boeing subsidiary, are two major players.
You joined BA as chief executive in May 2000 and will leave the company next month. What do you feel was your biggest accomplishment during these five years? The single most important thing is that we are in substantially better shape than we were at 9/11, despite the effect of 9/11, SARS, the Iraq war . . .
JAL Group recorded a net loss of ¥38.3 billion ($341.7 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, improved slightly from a net loss of ¥40.7 billion in the year-ago period. Total operating revenue was up 5% to ¥503.3 billion but operating expenses totaled ¥535.4 billion, resulting in an operating loss of ¥32 billion compared to an operating loss of ¥30.2 billion last year. The carrier said the loss is consistent with its performance over the past 12 years and it usually makes up the deficit with profits earned in the second quarter.
Iberia Group earned €45.3 million ($54.9 million) in the second quarter ended June 30, down 37.3% compared to a profit of €72.3 million in the year-ago period, while net earnings for the first half of 2005 fell 53% to €29.2 million from €62.2 million in 2004. The company said the decline in half-year results "stems from the 20% hike in fuel costs and the extraordinary income in 2004 from the divestment of Iberswiss and the flight simulator center, which increased first-half 2004 results by €33 million."
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines last week released preliminary traffic results for June. International passengers carried by AAPA members reached 10.6 million, an increase of 5.2% year-on-year. RPKs grew 6.7% on a slower capacity rise of 6%, resulting in a 0.5-point improvement in load factor to 74.7%. FTKs rebounded from last month's decline to increase 3.3% year-on-year. However, the increase in capacity outpaced FTK growth at 5.9%. As a result, load factor declined 1.7 points to 66.6%.
