Korean Air placed an order with Boeing for up to 20 787s as part of what it says is "a strategic plan to meet future demand for point-to-point travel on mid/long-range destinations to the US and Europe." The deal includes 10 firm 787-8 s and 10 options and is valued at $2.6 billion at list prices. Deliveries are scheduled from 2009 through 2011. Engine selection was not announced.
Finnair will retire its 10 MD-80s "at an accelerated rate" by fall 2006. As a result of the premature retirement, the European and domestic fleet of Finnair Group will consist of 29 A320 family aircraft and 12 Embraer 170s that will be acquired over the next two years, with the first being delivered this autumn. The airline has options for a further eight aircraft. Finnair also said lease agreements for four 757s used for leisure flights have been renewed, replacing accords that were signed before aircraft values plunged following 9/11.
Iberia will hold up to 11.7% of Amadeus after the €7.35 ($9.53) per share bid by Cinven Ltd. and BC Partners Ltd. is completed, the carrier said in a statement. The stake could be reduced to 11.4% if 100 directors of the travel distribution group take up their option to acquire a stake in the new company.
Cathay Pacific flew 5.33 billion RPKs in March, up 22.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity rose 14.4% to 6.78 billion ASKs and load factor gained 4.9 points to 78.5%. For the three months ended March 31, RPKs increased 17.7% to 15.51 billion, ASKs jumped 12.8% to 19.75 billion and load factor rose 3.3 points to 78.5%.
LAN Airlines flew 1.51 billion RPKs in March, up 23% over the year-ago period. Capacity grew 17.2% to 1.98 billion ASKs and load factor improved 3.6 points to 76.3%. For the three months ended March 31, RPKs increased 19.2% to 4.56 billion, ASKs rose 15.5% to 5.98 billion and load factor was ahead 2.4 points to 76.3%.
Lufthansa flew 8.64 billion RPKs in March, up 3.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 4.4% to 11.62 billion ASKs and load factor fell 0.9 point to 74.4%. For the three months ended March 31, RPKs increased 2.9% to 23.77 billion, ASKs rose 2.2% to 32.47 billion and load factor gained 0.5 point to 73.2%.
Gol filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission an amendment to its registration statement revising the size of its proposed offering to 14.7 million of its preferred shares, consisting of roughly 5.5 million shares offered by Gol and approximately 9.2 million by a selling shareholder, BSSF Air Holdings.
Alitalia is facing more social unrest as the Sult flight attendant union called for a 24-hr. strike on April 19. The union made the move after failing to make any progress in talks with management following several previous strikes earlier this year, the latest on March 16. Sult is the only Alitalia union that has not endorsed the carrier's restructuring plan, which includes the spinning off of ground activities from the airline operation and a €1.2 billion ($1.56 billion) recapitalization of the airline division.
JetBlue Airways flew 1.66 billion RPMs in March, up 33.7% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 24.1% to 1.84 billion ASMs and load factor gained 6.6 points to 90%. For the three months ended March 31, RPMs increased 31.5% to 4.34 billion, ASMs rose 22.5% to 5.17 billion and load factor jumped 5.9 points to 85.8%.
Pan Am International Flight Academy is closing its Career Pilot Development training campus in Ft. Pierce, Fla., and relocating equipment and aircraft to its CPD campus in Phoenix. The move will be completed by midsummer. The decision "was spurred primarily by the devastation caused by last year's hurricane season and the strong likelihood of future hurricanes," the company said.
Emirates launched three weekly flights from Dubai to Sydney via Bangkok last week. The services, which are operated using 777-300ERs, will increase to daily from May 1. The new flights will boost Emirates' service between Dubai and Bangkok from twice-daily to three per day and the current daily service between Dubai and Sydney to twice-daily from May.
AirTran Airways will introduce service to Richmond, Va., from Atlanta and Philadelphia beginning June 23 with continuing service to Boson. It will operate four daily Richmond-Atlanta nonstops and two daily Philadelphia services. Beginning Nov. 8, Richmond will receive one daily roundtrip to Orlando as well. All service will be flown with 717s configured for 12 business class and 105 coach seats.
Citing higher fuel prices that will cost it an additional A$1 billion ($770 million) in 2005-06 compared to the current fiscal year, Qantas is almost doubling its surcharge for domestic travel in Australia and New Zealand from A$12 to A$20 per sector. For transtasman travel the surcharge will increase from A$29 to A$40 per sector, and for other international travel including on Australian Airlines the surcharge will more than double from A$29 to A$60 per sector. Jetstar will increase its surcharge from A$10 to A$19 including GST per sector.
United Airlines COO Pete McDonald told employees Friday that the carrier "is on track to beat our first quarter goal of 8.13 cents for mainline cost per ASM excluding fuel and we expect to beat that goal by a significant margin." In a recorded message, McDonald added that "in every area of the company with the exception of fuel, we are ahead of plan and expenses."
Cathay Pacific Airways may be further away from a new long-haul aircraft order than has been speculated previously. COO Tony Tyler told ATWOnline that the airline is evaluating both the 747ADV and A380 and the 777-300ER/A340-600, plus "other possible available options for long-haul aircraft," but that it "will not approach the market until we are ready. . .Our needs until the end of 2007 are already provided for, so we are not in a rush to make any decisions on future acquisitions."
Today's near-record energy prices will overwhelm a "gradually improving" airline revenue picture and create a liquidity challenge for some struggling US airlines, according to JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker. In a report released Friday, Baker forecast that oil will remain at or above the $50-per-barrel mark for the rest of 2005 and fall only a few dollars to $47 per barrel in 2006. With most airlines lacking hedges, the result will be a significant cash drain and an approaching "liquidity crunch time" for America West, Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
Air France signed a €1.2 billion ($1.54 billion) five-year syndicated multicurrency revolving credit facility with 19 international banks. According to the carrier, the facility will enable it to "strengthen its liquidity position and can be used for its general corporate purposes." It also will "diversify its sources of financing, in addition to the existing structured aviation finance deals."
Lufthansa Technical Training, a Lufthansa Technics subsidiary, opened a new EASA-approved training center in Manila. Courses range from basic maintenance up to advanced type-rated training and can be held either at the fully equipped facility or at any customer-requested location. Separately, LTT signed up SkyLink Airways for its blended training concept.
Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings late Wednesday said it successfully completed concurrent equity and convertible debt offerings ( ATWOnline, April 4), raising C$720 million ($595 million), C$120 million more than originally sought. The equity offering comprised 11.4 million Class A Variable Voting Shares and Class B Voting Shares priced at C$37 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $420 million. ACE raised a further C$300 million through the sale of 4.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2035.
EasyJet will add another aircraft to its Bristol base for a total of eight and introduce three new routes from the airport to Inverness, Murcia and Pisa. The daily flights will begin July 7. In the last 12 months easyJet has launched nine new routes from Bristol, making it the LCC's largest UK base outside London.
A majority of US air travelers believe the FCC should not lift a ban on cellphone use during flights, according to a new study that was sponsored by the Assn. of Flight Attendants/Communications Workers of America and the National Consumers League and released yesterday. Of the 702 air travelers surveyed, 63% wanted to keep cellphone restrictions in place while 21% said it is time to let people talk on their phones during flights. The study, conducted by Lauer Research, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7%.
SAS Group flew 2.81 billion RPKs in March, up 4.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity increased 1.8% to 4.39 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.7 points to 64%. For the three months ended March 31, RPKs were ahead 4.4% to 7.34 billion, ASKs jumped 5.2% to 12.47 billion and load factor declined 0.4 point to 58.9%.
Air France-KLM Group flew 14.95 billion RPKs in March, up 6.2% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 3.9% to 18.67 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1.7 points to 80.1%. AF reported a 2.4-point gain in load factor to 78.7% with traffic increasing 6% on a 2.7% rise in capacity, while KLM traffic grew 6.4% on a 6.1% capacity hike for a 0.3-point increase in load factor to 82.7%. For the fiscal year to date, consolidating AF over 12 months and KLM over 11 months, RPKs increased 8.9% to 169 billion, ASKs climbed 6.9% to 214.61 billion and load factor improved 1.5 points to 78.7%.
