OnAir announced that Munich-based TriaGnoSys and Alabama-based Miltope Corp. will provide the software and server respectively for the OnAir onboard GSM solution that "will allow the safe and effective use of mobile phones on aircraft for the first time." With the recent selection of Siemens as the pico cell manufacturer, all suppliers for the system are identified and fully engaged with Airbus. A pre-production version of the server with the TriaGnoSys software is expected by year end.
Lufthansa will add six new destinations from Hamburg from Oct. 15. It will base four 737s there and start services to Budapest, Gothenburg, Madrid, Nice, Prague and Rome. Separately, Lufthansa said passenger traffic rose 6.8% in July to 10.23 billion RPKs, while capacity climbed just 2.1% to 13.13 billion ASKs. The result was a 3.4-point improvement in cabin factor to 77.9%. Most of the growth occurred on long-haul routes to the Americas and Asia/Pacific, LH said in an statement. The number of passengers rose 2.2 % to 4.76 million.
Gulf Air appointed Rohan Alce regional GM for Europe, Africa and the Americas. Clive Wratten succeeds Alce as UK GM. Alce has been with Gulf Air since 2002 and previously held positions at Qatar Airways, bmi, Virgin Atlantic and British Caledonian. Wratten joined Gulf Air in 2003 after stints with Qantas and British Airways
Adria Airways and LOT Polish Airlines will launch service between Ljubljana and Warsaw Sept. 2. The four weekly flights will be evenly divided between the carriers, which are codesharing on the route.
Germanwings, the low-fare clone of Eurowings in which Lufthansa holds 49%, will open a new base at Hamburg this winter. The carrier will base two A319s/A320s at Hamburg and offer services to London Gatwick, Stockholm, Oslo, Krakow, Warsaw, Zagreb, Munich, Toulouse and Istanbul. It also will increase flights on its existing Hamburg-Stuttgart route to thrice-daily. Fares will start at €15 ($18.50) including taxes. It will add another domestic route from Hamburg in the near future and expects to carry around 500,000 passengers in its first year there.
SAS Group flew 3.2 billion RPKs in July, up 5.2% over the year-ago period. Group capacity rose 1.8% to 4.4 billion RPKs and load factor improved 2.4 points to 74.1%. Flagship Scandinavian Airlines reported a 1.5% decline in RPKs to 2.4 billion while ASKs fell 5.4% to 3.1 billion, pushing load factor up 3 points to 76.9%.
Aerleasing.com, which celebrated its first month in business on Aug. 4, aims to use Web auctions to bring together buyers, lessors and sellers of aircraft and engines. The site is the brainchild of Jason Bell, a UK-based software designer who admits his background is in software and systems, not wheeling and dealing in airplanes. "I've come from the outside in," he told ATWOnline. The site has "two tracks: You are either sourcing an aircraft or you have an aircraft you want to part with via sale or lease," he explained.
Sun-Air of Scandinavia took delivery of a second Dornier 328JET specially configured for short takeoffs and landings and will use it for new service at London City Airport starting in November. The airline, which also operates 328 turboprops, is a franchise partner of British Airways. Private Wings, a charter carrier based at Berlin Templehof, also purchased a 328JET, boosting its total fleet to six.
Pakistan's Airblue ordered eight A320-200s and two A330-200s valued at $800 million. The airline, which started operations in 2004, operates three A320s. It is one of three private carriers in Pakistan. The order is in part a response to additional overseas route allocations from the Pakistan government. The A320s will be used on domestic routes and the A330s on flights to the UK.
United Services announced that MD-Sales and Marketing Gene House has retired. He was replaced by Garth Peterson, who assumed the role on July 1. Aviareps named Johnny Gardsaeter as the new GM of its office in Stockholm.
EasyJet raised its earnings forecast for the fiscal year to Sept. 30 and now expects that full-year pre-tax profit "will be broadly in line with last year," when it earned £62 million. CEO Ray Webster, who is retiring from the airline this fall, attributed the more bullish outlook to "the improving revenue position and our continued focus on cost."
Lufthansa Flight Training began work on the expansion of its training facility at Berlin Schoenefeld by laying the cornerstone for a new complex in the presence of Deutsche Lufthansa AG Executive Board Chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber. LFT currently is investing some €18.5 million ($22.9 million), which covers the cost of a new CAE-built A320 simulator that will be operational early next year plus two buildings that initially will house two simulators as well as supporting facilities including a canteen, several classrooms and terminals for computer-based training.
Air Canada flew 4.55 billion RPKs in July, up 6.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 2.8% to 5.44 billion ASKs and load factor was up 3.2 points to 83.6%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 5.8% to 25.7 billion, ASMs rose 1.3% to 32.01 billion and load factor gained 3.4 points to 80.3%.
British Airways reported that net profit for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 more than doubled to £90 million ($160 million) from £43 million in the year-ago period. Making his final quarterly results presentation as CEO, Rod Eddington said, "These are good results despite a 37.6% increase in fuel costs." He attributed a 4% rise in passenger revenue to "more customers flying in our premium cabins." Yield (pence/RPK) grew 1.5% on 2.5% gain in passenger traffic.
JetBlue Airways flew 1.98 billion RPMs in July, up 31.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity grew 27% to 2.17 billion ASMs and load factor was up 3.2 points to 91.1%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 30.9% to 11.54 billion, ASMs jumped 24.6% to 13.19 billion and load factor gained 4.3 points to 87.5%.
Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management entered into an agreement with Kingfisher Airlines to purchase and lease back to the Indian carrier two new V2500-powered A320s for delivery in September 2005 and February 2006.
Northwest Airlines chose the Trent 1000 to power its recently ordered 787 fleet comprising 18 firm and 18 option aircraft ( ATWOnline, May 6). The deal also includes a long-term TotalCare maintenance agreement. Rolls-Royce valued the order plus options and spares at up to $2 billion at list prices.
Lufthansa Systems said it received EASA's Letter of Acceptance enabling more than 110 customers of its Lido FMS database to apply for use of new precision area navigation procedures at their aviation authorities. The P-RNAV procedures will be permitted from October provided they are based on certified navigation data as is the case with LHS.
US carriers' ontime performance improved in June compared to the same month last year, but fell slightly against May 2005 figures. According to US Dept. of Transportation statistics, the 20 reporting airlines recorded an overall ontime arrival rate of 75.2% in June, better than June 2004's 73% but below May 2005's 83.7%. Hawaiian Airlines at 94.1% posted the highest rate. Of mainland airlines, SkyWest Airlines was best at 83.1% with Comair at 81.2% finishing second. Alaska Airlines had the lowest rate at 49.8%.
US National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday that it sent a team of specialists to assist in the investigation of the Air France A340 accident in Toronto that occurred Aug. 2 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 3). The team is led by senior NTSB investigator Robert Benzon.
In a direct challenge to Northwest Airlines, AirTran Airways will begin new daily nonstop service from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to both Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Orlando International airports on Nov. 8. Daily service to Sarasota-Bradenton will be added from Detroit starting Feb. 15. Detroit is AirTran's 48th city and the largest market in the country not served directly by the Orlando-based low-cost carrier, according to VP-Planning and Scheduling Kevin Healy. All new flights will use 717s configured for 117 passengers in two classes.
ACE Aviation Holdings, parent of Air Canada, yesterday reported net income of C$168 million ($138.5 million) for the second quarter ended June 30, which included a dilution gain of C$190 million and a tax provision of C$28 million related to an Aeroplan transaction offset by a $29 million charge related to the extinguishment of its credit facility with GE Capital Corp. This compares to a C$510 million net loss in the prior-year period, which included reorganization and restructuring items of C$426 million.
Gol flew 959.7 million RPKs in July, up 62.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 55.5% to 1.2 billion ASKs and load factor was up 3.3 points to 80%. Year-to-date figures were not provided.
United Airlines flew 10.7 billion RPMs in July, down 2.4% compared to the year-ago period. Capacity dropped 4.2% to 12.38 billion ASMs and load factor was up 1.6 points to 86.4%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs dipped 0.2% to 66.51 billion, ASMs declined 2.7% to 81.43 billion and load factor gained 2.1 points to 81.7%. Northwest Airlines flew 7.47 billion RPMs in July, up 5.4% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 3.4% to 8.54 billion ASMs and load factor was up 1.2 points to 87.5%.
LAN Airlines, two days after Boeing revealed that it is the customer for six 767s carried on the order book as having been sold to an unidentified carrier ( ATWOnline, Aug. 3), confirmed the order. In a statement released Thursday, LAN and LAN Cargo said they will acquire 12 767-300 passenger and cargo aircraft valued at $1.1 billion. The buy is believed to include six new orders as well as orders for six 767s placed in 2004.
