Austrian Airlines Group raised its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights from €37 ($45) to €52 per leg and its surcharge for short-haul flights from €9 to €12 per leg. The new charges take effect from Sept. 26.
Aer Lingus, KfW IPEX-Bank and Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank closed structured debt financings for two A320s, jointly arranged with Babcock & Brown.
Royal Jordanian said its earnings for the first half of 2005 totaled JOD5.7 million ($8.2 million). Income for the year-ago period was not provided but the airline said current-period results represented a big increase compared to 2004. Revenue for the January-June period rose 15% to JOD187 million. Royal Jordanian carried 800,000 passengers, a 4% increase. For the full year, it expects earnings to match 2004 results of around JOD17 million. Fuel costs are expected to total $128 million this year, up from $96.5 million in 2004.
Bryan T. LaBrecque was named president and COO of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest Inc. LaBrecque most recently served as senior VP-operations for ASA, which was purchased by SkyWest from Delta Air Lines and continues to operate as a Delta Connection carrier. US Transportation Security Administration named Robert Jamison deputy administrator. He has been deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration for the past three years.
Olympic Airlines will appeal to the European Court of Justice to overturn the European Commission's recent ruling that the carrier must repay to the Greek government up to €700 million ($859 million) in illegal state aid, Transport Minister Mihalis Liapis confirmed. Liapis also said negotiations to sell Olympic are in a "delicate but ongoing phase."
SriLankan Airlines Group said it had an after-tax profit of 1.37 billion rupees ($13.57 million) for the fiscal year to last March 31, down 75.6% compared to income of LKR5.64 billion in the prior fiscal year but a strong showing in light of last December's tsunami and soaring fuel prices.
Forecast International added its voice to the chorus of those who see demand for regional jets migrating to larger versions. "Demand for 50-seat jets is cooling," according to its recent study, "The World Market for Regional Transport Aircraft." The firm predicted that relaxation of scope clauses, competition and continuing financial pressures will increase demand for RJs with more than 50 seats.
American Airlines filed a motion with the US Dept. of Transportation asking the department to suspend consideration of the joint application for antitrust immunity by Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines and four SkyTeam partners--Alitalia, KLM, Air France and Czech Airlines--in light of the bankruptcy filings by both Delta and Northwest last week. AA believes DOT should postpone deliberation "for at least 12 months," arguing, "The simultaneous bankruptcies of two of the largest US carriers are unparalleled in US aviation history.
India's aggressive airport infrastructure program suffered a setback with Singapore Changi pulling out of a joint venture for Delhi Airport reconstruction because of what insiders term a severe performance penalty of up to $80 million. Changi was part of the Baharti-DLF Universal consortium for the project, and Baharti announced last week that it will not be able to proceed without Changi. It also stated that it had been confident of "building a world class airport and meeting all the terms of the tender."
Jet Airways is betting heavily on international growth and much of its anticipated $3 billion in new investment will go toward the acquisition of a new long-haul fleet, CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told ATWOnline in Mumbai last week.
US Airways' reorganization plan received bankruptcy court approval Friday, clearing the way for the carrier to emerge from Chapter 11 and merge with America West as early as Sept. 27, US Airways said. The airline filed for its second reorganization on Sept. 12, 2004, having emerged from its first go-around on March 31, 2003.
Icelandair owner FL Group said last week that it is in talks with Sterling owner Fons Eignarhaldsfelag on an investment in or purchase of Sterling and Maersk Air. Fons received regulatory clearance to move forward with the purchase of the air assets of Maersk from A.P. Moeller last week ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15). FL also owns 13.01% of easyJet.
Japan Airlines announced a number of new codeshare agreements. It will expand its agreement with Cathay Pacific between Japan and Hong Kong to include a daily roundtrip between HK and Fukuoka beginning Oct. 3 that will be operated by Cathay. The flight is routed via Taipei but JAL passengers can travel only between Fukuoka and Hong Kong. Also, JAL and Korean Air will expand their codeshare to include KAL's twice-daily flights between Fukuoka and Seoul. The deal becomes effective Oct. 3, subject to government approval.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, both of which filed for Chapter 11 protection last Wednesday, have begun shrinking their operations. Northwest told its pilots union it intends to cut flying hours by 13% over the next eight months, which will result in furloughs for 400 of the 5,200 pilots currently flying, according to the Air Line Pilots Assn.
Successful airlines around the world consistently teach five lessons, said Conor McCarthy speaking at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam. McCarthy, MD of the Plane Consult consultancy, a veteran of Aer Lingus and Ryanair and a co-founder of AirAsia, said the primary rule is that the human factors in both internal company makeup and customer relations that make airlines successful are "absolutely identical regardless of where you go around the world. Don't listen to the argument, 'Oh, it's different here.'"
Lufthansa jumped its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights to €52 ($63.80) per leg from €37 and its surcharge for domestic and intra-European flights to €12 from €9. The increases are in response to the surge in oil prices caused by Hurricane Katrina. LH noted that owing to its "forward-looking fuel-hedging policy and its modern, fuel-efficient fleet, it is in a relatively good position compared to its competitors."
AirCell began a flight demonstration program of its inflight broadband system. Targeted for commercial deployment in 2007, the system "will enable airline passengers to use their own laptops, PDAs and mobile phones in a fully integrated wireless cabin over a broadband air-to-ground link." US FAA has yet to approve the use of personal communication devices on commercial aircraft.
Austrian Airlines Group is mulling a number of ways to trim capacity further in the face of what it anticipates will be massive overcapacity in Europe this winter as well as intense competition from LCCs and sky-high fuel prices.
Drager Aerospace will supply passenger service units on the 787 under a long-term contract with Boeing, the German company announced. It will deliver the first units in October 2007 and will construct a production facility in Seattle to assemble the PSUs, which contain reading lights, loudspeakers, message indicator lights, oxygen masks and other equipment.
Varig would eliminate 1,500 jobs, or around 13% of its workforce, and the Rubem Berta Foundation would give up majority control of the airline under the company's bankruptcy reorganization plan presented in court earlier this week in Brazil. The Foundation, which represents current and retired employees, owns 56% of Varig. In the past it blocked restructuring efforts that would have resulted in a reduction in its stake.
European regulators aim to stem the rising tide of low-cost competition with a slew of new laws and regulations designed to prop up tottering legacy carriers, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary charged yesterday. Delivering the keynote address at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam, O'Leary pointed to the new passenger rights legislation, the proposed world development tax, restrictions on route development aid from regional airports, emissions trading for airlines and illegal state aid to carriers such as Alitalia as examples of how the EU is trying to hurt competition.
Southwest Airlines has "strongly requested" that Boeing develop a more fuel-efficient successor to the 737-700 that would use technology developed for the 787, the Seattle Times reported earlier this week. CEO Gary Kelly made the remark during an interview in Seattle. "We are now facing energy prices that no airline can make money at, at least with today's [ticket prices], so we're anxious to partner with Boeing to find a successor aircraft," the newspaper quoted Kelly as saying.
Danish competition authorities approved the purchase of the commercial activities of Maersk Air A/S by Fons Eignarhaldsfelag hf of Iceland and the merger between Maersk Air and Sterling ( ATWOnline, July 4). The successor company is Sterling Airlines. "I am very pleased that the agreement is in place. This means that many jobs are now secure and a competitive airline company has been created for the benefit of our customers. Finally we can realize the many possibilities and advances ahead of us," Sterling CEO Almar Orn Hilmarsson said in a statement.
Middle East startup Jazeera Airways plans to operate its first flights on Nov. 16, Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai confirmed. The Kuwait-based LCC initially will operate about 30 flights per week to Dubai, Damascus, Amman, Beirut and Bahrain. This will rise to more than 75 weekly flights with the addition of destinations in Egypt, India and Southeast Asia.
Ryanair will establish its 15th European base at Nottingham East Midlands with a pair of 737-800s. Ten routes will be opened from March 7, adding to five already being operated at the airport. New destinations are Berlin, Derry, Nimes, Carcassonne, Nantes, Dinard, Limoges, Lodz, Wroclaw and Bergerac. Ryanair already serves Dublin, Shannon, Murcia, Barcelona and Rome.
