In a blow to Airbus, Northwest Airlines yesterday said it has ordered 18 787s with options and purchase rights for up to 50 more. NWA operates 15 A330-200s and dash 300s and has 17 more on order, so was an obvious candidate for the proposed A350. Instead, the carrier, which has not ordered a Boeing widebody since the 747-400, chose the Dreamliner. It did not disclose which version but said its 787s will be fitted with 36 World Business Class and 185 coach seats and will have a nonstop range of 8,500 nm, which implies the 787-8. Engine selection was not announced.
British Airways carried 2.9 million passengers in April, 3.4% fewer than in April 2004. By comparison, Ryanair carried 2.7 million passengers in April. BA's passenger boardings on its UK/European routes decreased 5.1% to 1.9 million. Systemwide, BA flew 8.95 billion RPKs last month, a 0.1% increase on the year-ago period. Passenger capacity rose 1% to 11.98 billion ASKs and load factor was down 0.8 point to 74.7%. The growth in traffic comprised a 13.3% rise in premium and a 2% fall in nonpremium traffic. Cargo as measured in cargo tonne kilometers dipped 0.2%.
American Airlines flew 11.31 billion RPMs in April, up 4.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity increased 1.1% to 14.6 billion ASMs and load factor gained 2.5 points to 77.4%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs climbed 6.1% to 43.55 billion, ASMs rose 0.7% to 57.35 billion and load factor jumped 3.9 points to 75.9%.
Lufthansa yesterday commenced its tender offer to holders of approximately 15% of Swiss International Air Lines stock. Major investors holding 85% of the airline already have agreed to the acquisition. LH offered the small shareholders CHF8.96 ($7.48) per share for their more than 8 million shares for a total cost of about €47 million ($60.8 million). The offer period runs through June 2. The purchase is being carried out via a holding company, AirTrust, which was set up to enable Lufthansa to take over Swiss in stages.
Hansung Air, a new low-cost carrier based in Cheongju 85 mi. south of Seoul, has been given the green light for domestic air service from the Ministry of Construction and Transportation. The airline, a JV between the Jeju provincial government and Aekyung Co., plans to lease an ATR turboprop for flights between Cheongju and the resort island of Jeju off the south coast of Korea. It will begin services in June and follows the launch of another LCC in Korea, Jeju Air, which started operations March 25.
Delta Air Lines reached an agreement with Mesa Air Group under which Mesa subsidiary Freedom Airlines will operate up to 30 CRJ200s in the Delta Connection feeder network over a 12-year period beginning in October.
Singapore Airlines confirmed reports that delivery of its first A380 will be delayed from the original target of May 2006 ( ATWOnline, May 3). A spokesperson told this website yesterday, "We have been notified by Airbus of a delay and are working with them to minimize it. We are still working toward an entry into commercial service in the second half of 2006." Insiders at the airline said that contrary to reports from German media, the delay is not by mutual agreement.
US Airways yesterday said it will reduce its mainline fleet by a further 10 aircraft this summer. The move will have "a limited impact on flight schedules," the carrier said, and will result primarily in the temporary cancellation of some selected seasonal Caribbean and Florida service. It stressed that it does not expect to eliminate service to any cities and does not anticipate any additional furloughs.
Delta Air Lines flew 10.01 billion RPMs in April, up 7.3% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 4.3% to 13.11 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.1 points to 76.4%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs increased 10.6% to 38.19 billion, ASMs jumped 5.5% to 50.99 billion and load factor gained 3.4 points to 74.9%.
Assn. of European Airlines members posted overall scheduled traffic growth in March of 6.7% compared to the year-ago period. The increase in boardings was much lower at 2.2%. Among the long-haul regions, the Europe-Far East market remained buoyant with a growth of 13.9%. This contrasted with an increase of just 1.5% in North Atlantic traffic. In both cases, however, the growth closely matched capacity on offer and load factors remained high, approaching 84% in the case of the North Atlantic.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is expected to announce a fresh order--possibly at the Paris Air Show--for more widebody aircraft for delivery over the next five years. Speaking at the opening of the Arab Travel Market, Etihad Chairman Shaikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan said in a prepared statement that the airline will be operating to more than 30 destinations within a year. He added, "The role of Etihad Airways in promoting the destination regionally and internationally cannot be ignored. Since it started operations, the number of tourists dramatically increased.
Two pilots were killed when a Metroliner carrying mail from Auckland to Blenheim apparently exploded in midair. Airways New Zealand said the Airpost aircraft disappeared from radar as it was flying at about 6,000 m. (19,685 ft.).
Southwest Airlines flew 4.81 billion RPMs in April, up 2.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 13.2% to 6.96 billion ASMs and load factor declined 7.1 points to 69.1%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs increased 9.5% to 18.05 billion, ASMs gained 10.9% to 27.19 billion and load factor decreased 0.8 point to 66.4%.
Frontier Airlines took delivery of its 38th 132-seat A319 that is on lease from ILFC. With the delivery, the carrier's fleet now totals 45 aircraft comprising 38 A319s and seven A318s.
Northwest Airlines announced that CFO Bernie Han resigned from the company and will be replaced by former US Airways Executive VP and CFO Neal Cohen. Han was named CFO at Northwest in October 2002 following a seven-year stint as CFO at America West Airlines. No reason was given for his departure.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. reported net income of $23.3 million for the first quarter ended March 31, which included an $11.3 million one-time gain related to the retirement of its note payable to Northwest Airlines. Excluding this item, net income totaled $12 million. This compares to net income of $8.1 million in the year-ago period. Total operating revenue rose 45.5% to $194.7 million while total operating expenses climbed 46.1% to $174.7 million. This produced operating income of $20.1 million, a 39.9% increase over operating income of $14.3 million in the 2004 first quarter.
In what is normally its weakest quarter, SAS Group reported a net loss of Sek971 million ($135.7 million) for the three months ended March 31, narrowed from a loss of Sek1.37 billion in the year-ago period. "The first quarter of 2005 was challenging for the airline industry," President and CEO Joergen Lindegaard said. "In particular, there was the continued challenge of handling the overcapacity situation from Copenhagen, which is leading to profitability problems for all players."
Continental Airlines flew 6.39 billion RPMs in April, up 6.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 5.1% to 8.25 billion ASMs and load factor gained 1.1 points to 77.5%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs increased 10.1% to 245 billion, ASMs rose 4.3% to 31.83 billion and load factor jumped 4.1 points to 77%. For April, consolidated and mainline passenger RASM are estimated to have increased 2%-3% compared to April 2004. For March 2005, consolidated passenger RASM rose 4.6% compared to March 2004 and mainline passenger RASM climbed 5.3%.
European Commission authorized rescue aid in the form of a six-month, £30 million ($56.7 million) loan guarantee at market rates for Cyprus Airways. The aid will "allow the authorities to organize the restructuring of the airline," the EC said in a statement, adding that it complies with community rules on state aid.
Alitalia last week announced that as of May 1, Alitalia Servizi SpA is operating as an independent company. It said it has 100% control of the new company at present but noted that it is in "an advanced phase of negotiations" with government holding firm Fintecna to buy a stake. Alitalia Servizi holds 100% of Alitalia Airport, 100% of Atitech, 60% of Alitalia Maintenance Systems and 49% of Ales.
Austrian Airlines and Vienna Airport jointly opened a hub control center to secure their position as an East/West transfer point, both companies said yesterday. The new HCC will employ 28. "Growing competition between hubs forced us to optimize our transfer policy in Vienna, which makes up 50%-60% of all our passengers," CEO Vagn Soerensen told ATWOnline. The carrier has seen performance at VIE slip; 83.7% of all AAG flights were ontime in 2003 but this dipped to 77.3% in 2004. AAG wants to boost punctuality there to at least 83% and perhaps up to 87% this year.
Qantas could face another major challenge to its dominance on Australia-US routes with Emirates emerging as a third potential contender for the lucrative transpacific corridor. Emirates Chairman Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum and President Tim Clark plan to hold discussions with the Australian government this month on prospects for the UAE airline to increase capacity between Dubai and Australia and in the longer term extend services to the US West Coast.
Lufthansa is in no hurry to replace its fleet of 60 737-300s/-500s even though the aircraft have an average age of 14 years, Senior VP-Corporate Fleet Nico Buchholz told ATWOnline.
Flight attendants and mechanics at United Airlines both threatened to engage in strike action if the carrier's agreement to terminate its pension plans is approved by the US Bankruptcy Court at a May 11 hearing.
Japan Airlines will expand its inflight Internet service to flights between Tokyo and New York from May 10. The Pacific rollout will be the first for the region and is provided by Connexion by Boeing. The JAL Inflight Internet Service enables passengers to use their own wireless LAN-compatible PCs to gain real-time Internet access during flight. Using VPN technology, the service also lets passengers access their company's network, e-mail and Intranet sites securely. Initially the service will be available on alternate days but toward the end of June it will be available daily.
