Lufthansa appointed Karsten Benz VP-sales and services-Europe effective July 1. Benz took over from Ulrich Wachter, who has moved to Frankfurt to head Lufthansa's cabin crew division. In his new position, Benz has overall responsibility for sales and airport operations across Europe excluding Germany.
American Airlines flew 12.67 billion RPMs in June, up 7.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 2.8% to 15.29 billion ASMs and load factor gained 3.8 points to 82.8%. For the six months ended June 30, RPMs rose 7.1% to 68.02 billion, ASMs increased 1.5% to 87.75 billion and load factor was up 4.1 points to 77.5%. Delta Air Lines flew 11.12 billion RPMs in June, up 4.7% over the year-ago period. Capacity grew 4.3% to 13.57 billion ASMs and load factor gained 0.3 point to 82%.
DBA announced last week that Germania Express, which is owned by businessman Hinrich Bischoff, has quit its 64% stake in DBA that was taken up in March in a deal that saw DBA assume Gexx's fleet and routes ( ATWOnline, March 18). DBA Supervisory Board Chairman and main investor Hans Rudolf Woehrl said he and Bischoff decided to go their separate ways as shareholders but to continue to work together. A DBA spokesperson told this website that financial terms of the deal have not been released and that Bischoff does not plan to sell his majority interest to another company.
SkyTeam partners Delta Air Lines, Air France, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, KLM and Northwest Airlines filed a response to comments on their application for antitrust immunity with the US Dept. of Transportation. "The only comments filed opposing the application were filed by American Airlines, based on its claim that the DOT's decade-long policy approving immunized alliances and seeking to open aviation markets and improve international air services through Open Skies Treaties has been a mistake," Delta Senior VP-Government Affairs Scott Yohe said.
The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn yesterday reversed itself and asked the National Mediation Board to release the union from contract talks with Northwest Airlines, citing the carrier's refusal to "take contract negotiations seriously." In May, the union successfully blocked a similar request by Northwest. If NMB grants AMFA's request, it then will offer to arbitrate a settlement. Should either party reject this, the Board will declare an impasse, initiating a 30-day cooling-off period after which the airline can impose a contract and the union may strike.
The management of Vietnam Airlines has been given the green light to pursue a conservative growth strategy that should see the state-owned carrier boost its fleet to up to 70 aircraft by 2015 from 38 today. The airline also expects to be operating pure freighters within 10 years and to carry 8-9 million passengers, according to Chairman Nguyen Sy Hung, who spoke with ATWOnline in Hanoi. VN transported 5 million passengers in 2004 and is expecting a 20% increase for 2005, making it one of the fastest-growing carriers in the region.
Spanair and airBaltic announced a marketing agreement whereby Spanair, a member of SAS Group, will place its code on three weekly flights operated by airBaltic between Riga and Barcelona while airBaltic, 47% owned by SAS, will place its code on Spanair flights from Barcelona to Spanish destinations including Madrid, Ibiza, Mahon, Bilbao, Oviedo and Palma de Mallorca.
Air France will raise its fuel surcharge by €1 ($1.19) per sector on domestic flights, €2 on medium-haul flights and €4 on long-haul fights from July 19. KLM also plans to increase its fuel surcharge by €14 ($16.66) per segment on all long-haul flights on the same day.
Brazil's Gol announced plans to establish a low-cost carrier in Mexico in partnership with Inversiones y Tecnicas Aeroportuarias, SA de CV, Fernando Chico Pardo and CPH. The carrier, which will based on the same model that has made GOL an outstanding success, is expected to commence flights in the second quarter of 2006.
AirTran Airways canceled its Atlanta-New Orleans flights scheduled for yesterday evening and this morning owing to Tropical Storm Cindy, which was expected to hit the US Gulf Coast.
America West Airlines flew 2.16 billion RPMs in June, up 4.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 0.2% to 2.59 billion ASMs and load factor jumped 3.1 points to 83.6%. For the six months ended June 30, RPMs increased 7.5% to 12.06 billion, ASMs grew 1% to 15.06 billion and load factor gained 4.8 points to 80.1%.
British Airways restated its financial results to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards in accordance with EU regulations, which required the company to adopt IFRS from April 1. Under IFRS, net profit was unchanged at £251 million ($298.9 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31 but operating profit increased to £556 million from £540 million under UK GAAP and profit before tax climbed from £415 million to £513 million. Separately, BA said it flew 9.74 billion RPKs in June, up 4.7% over the year-ago period.
US Airways announced that the 30-day period for alternative offers on its proposed merger with America West Airlines ended without any competing offers being submitted. The two airlines expect to close the merger in late September or early October.
Etihad Airways named Robert Strodel as the Abu Dhabi-based airline's first CEO. Strodel previously was head of cargo and mail for the two-year old carrier. Prior to that, he worked for Lufthansa and founded Lufthansa Cargo India in 1996, according to Etihad. He also managed an aviation consulting firm in Germany. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saif Al Nahyan, chairman of Etihad and DG of the Civil Aviation Dept. of Abu Dhabi, said Strodel "has contributed substantially to the considerable success Etihad has enjoyed.
Continental Airlines flew 7.23 billion RPMs in June, up 7.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 7.2% to 8.8 billion ASMs and load factor gained 0.3 point to 82.2%. For the six months ended June 30, RPMs increased 9.7% to 38.4 billion, ASMs rose 4.8% to 49.07 billion and load factor jumped 3.6 points to 78.3%. In June, Continental said both consolidated and mainline passenger RASM are estimated to have increased 6%-7% compared to June 2004. For May 2005, consolidated passenger RASM gained 9% compared to the year-ago period and mainline passenger RASM rose 9.5% from May 2004.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings filed its 10-K annual report for 2004 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, confirming its previously announced financial results for the year ( ATWOnline, May 24), which included a five-month period that ended Dec. 31, 2004, following its emergence from Chapter 11 protection, and a seven-month period ended July 27, 2004, that preceded it. For the five-month period, the company reported net income of $22.7 million. Revenue totaled $679.3 million and total expenses were $612.3 million, producing an operating income of $67 million.
OAG teamed with 15below, an aviation software applications specialist, to offer PASNGR, "a groundbreaking passenger communications system that interfaces to reservations and other data stores to allow airlines and travel agents to communicate practically any information to their customers on a worldwide basis." The system already is live with a number of airlines including Ryanair, Monarch, Virgin Express, AirAsia, TUI, MyTravel, First Choice and Jetstar. The companies said PASNGR also addresses EU regulatory requirements to notify passengers when service disruptions occur.
The merger of Sterling of Denmark and Maersk Air, the airline unit of the Danish A.P. Moeller-Maersk Group, if consummated, will create Europe's fourth-largest low-fare airline behind Ryanair, easyJet and Air Berlin. It also would lead to much-needed rationalization in Scandinavia's airline sector, which is home to several low-fare carriers including Norwegian, Fly Nordic and Snowflake. Currently, some 64 airlines serve Copenhagen in a home market of fewer than 10 million.
US Airways last week filed a disclosure statement and plan of reorganization based on its proposed merger with America West Group Holdings ( ATWOnline, May 20) that is expected to close in late September or early October. According to the airline, the bankruptcy court set a hearing on approval of the disclosure statement for Aug. 9. Under the proposed plan, creditors having claims of $50,000 or less will receive a cash payment of 10% of the amount of their claims. Other creditors holding unsecured claims will receive stock in the reorganized company.
Lufthansa in response to the "continuing dramatic increase in oil prices" is increasing its fuel surcharge. From July 8, the surcharge on intra-European routes will jump from €7 ($8.36) to €9 per flight leg. On long-haul routes, the surcharge will increase from €27 to €37 per leg.
CSA said it carried almost 1.8 million passengers in the first five months of 2005, up 16% compared to the year-ago period. May traffic rose more than 20% to 444,000 passengers.
Northwest Airlines mechanics and related workers, citing the carrier's "continuing refusal to take current contract negotiations seriously," will begin a strike vote, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. said Friday. The two sides have been negotiating since October 2004. In June, Northwest filed a request with the National Mediation Board to declare the talks at an impasse, but it was rejected and NMB told the parties to keep talking ( ATWOnline, June 13).
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, said Friday it has proposed a timeline that calls for the company to file a plan of reorganization and disclosure statement with the US Bankruptcy Court on or about Aug. 1 and to exit Chapter 11 this fall.
The carrier told its corporate clients that it will begin accepting credit card payments for the fares beginning Oct. 1. It said some clients had complained that its policy had made payment processing too complicated.
