Airlines & Lessors

JetBlue Airways will use new slot pairs it gained at Washington National Airport (DCA) from the American Airlines/US Airways divestiture to start service to Charleston, S.C., Hartford, Conn. and Nassau in the Bahamas from June 19.

Spring Airlines is considering selling standing tickets if approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), according to Spring chairman Wang Zhenghua.

SriLankan Airlines will become a full member of oneworld on May 1, becoming the first carrier from the Indian subcontinent to become part of any global airline alliance.

Indonesia-based low-cost carrier Lion Air has appointed Rudy Lumingkewas as its new CEO, succeeding Lion Group founder Rusdi Kirana.

Aegean Airlines has reported net profits of €66.3 million ($91.3 million) for 2013, a €77 million ($101.8 million) improvement on the €10.5 million loss the carrier posted for 2012.

The nine US passenger airlines that have already released full-year financial results for the past year collectively earned a net profit of $11.6 billion in 2013, or $7.4 billion excluding one-time special charges, according to the 2013 Financial Recap released by Airlines for America (A4A).

Boeing and Hainan Airlines announced a five-year pilot training agreement to support Hainan’s recent introduction of the 787 to its fleet.

Garuda Indonesia has joined SkyTeam as its 20th member, the alliance announced. The national airline of Indonesia, Garuda becomes the second airline from Southeast Asia.

Airberlin, which is awaiting the much-delayed opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER) to use as its major hub, is preparing for two more years at Berlin Tegel Airport.

Aer Lingus has started rearranging flight schedules in an attempt to minimize disruption from a planned March 14 strike.

Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines returned a net profit of TL88.3 million ($40 million) for 2013, down 30.1% on 2012’s figure of TL126.3 million.

Dubai-based budget carrier flydubai posted net income of AED222.8 million ($60.7 million) for 2013, a 46.7% increase over the carrier’s 2012 net profit of AED151.9 million.

Boeing is expanding its initiative with South African Airways (SAA) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) to provide more opportunities for smallholder farmers in Southern Africa to grow crops that produce sustainable fuels.

Russia’s UTair has taken delivery of first Airbus A321 equipped with sharklets.

Global air cargo rebounded in January with “a solid 4.5% rise” in global FTKs year-over-year, according to IATA’s global air freight market analysis for January.

People

Briefs from the March 3, 2014 issue of ATW's Skypaths

International Airlines Group (IAG) is hoping to integrate US Airways’ flights into its joint venture (JV) with American Airlines and is eyeing other oneworld-based partnerships.

Bombardier has signed a deal for 10 Dash 8 Q400 aircraft with the Kazakhstan government to help set up regional airline Air Kazakhstan, which is scheduled to start services in early 2015.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has grounded 15 MA60s after recent safety incidents involving the landing gear.

Air China said it will start 4X-weekly Beijing-Washington Dulles service from June 10 using a Boeing 777-300ER.

Avianca Holdings reported a 2013 operating profit of $384.9 million, up 37% year-over-year, on an 8% rise in revenue to $4.6 billion.

The launch of Thai AirAsia X (TAAX) has been delayed to the latter half of the year due to civil unrest in Thailand affecting the tourism and aviation industries.

Kenya Airways will take delivery of its first Boeing 787 on April 4, marking the first of six of the type to join its fleet in 2014.

International Airlines Group (IAG) plans to add 8.1% net capacity in 2014, although this conceals variable ASK increases across its three airlines—British Airways (BA), Iberia and Vueling.