Finnair has made further progress with its fleet renewal financing, firming up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with GECAS for the sale and leaseback of two Airbus A330s.
The Russian government has approved a bill to allow local airlines to sell non-refundable tickets, which will enable local carriers to be more competitive on the international market.
Atlas Air and Qantas Freight, the cargo unit of Australia’s Qantas Airways, have extended their aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) contract.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines said it has received strong interest from investors in its issue earlier this month of approximately seven million preference shares with a value of SEK3.5 billion ($540 million).
Delta Air Lines’ SkyMiles frequent flyer program will change in 2015 to reward redeemable mileage to members based on ticket price rather than distance traveled.
AirAsia X, the long-haul affiliate of Malaysia-based low-cost carrier (LCC) AirAsia, has reported a net loss of MYR86.9 million ($24.5 million) for the financial year to Dec. 31, 2013, reversing the MYR33.9 million profit reported for FY2012.
Lilongwe-based Malawian Airlines, which is 49%-owned by Ethiopian Airlines, has opened its first international route between Lilongwe and Johannesburg.
Russia’s charter Nordwind Airlines, which will launch scheduled services this year, has applied for permission for nearly 20 international destinations from different Russian cities.
Full-time Equivalent (FTE) Employee calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee. * Formerly Pinnacle Airlines. Source: US Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics and ATW Research.
This chart represents the most recent 13 months, displayed as percent changes from the previous year, for Scheduled Passenger Airline Full-time Equivalent Employees* by Airline Group. Source: US Dept. of Transportation Footnotes: * Full-time Equivalent Employee (FTE) calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee. ** Includes network, low-cost, regional and other carriers. Other carriers generally operate within specific niche markets, i.e. Hawaiian Airlines and Sun Country Airlines.
Kenya Airways, which has just lost one of its senior managers to Fastjet, soon will formally unveil an April launch date for its fully owned Jambo Jet low-cost subsidiary (LCC).
Although some Asian flag carriers—such as Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways—are reporting lackluster performance and potential route cuts, Middle East carriers seem happy to continue their push into the regional Asian market.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) said it has decreased frequencies of nonstop scheduled flights on certain routes by around 12% from Feb. 24 until March 29 due to political unrest in the country.
Aircraft leasing companies have seen rates rise, deals increase and airlines’ confidence in the future grow in the past year. Airbus A320-family rates have particularly strengthened, after a sharp drop. Carriers appear to be up-gauging a bit, seeking bigger jets, perhaps because fuel prices emphasize scale economies in trip costs.
When Air Transport World was launched 50 years ago, the airline industry was just five years into the “Civil Jet Age.” The first issue of ATW in May 1964 excitedly chronicled how the fast-growing business had used jet aircraft to increase worldwide annual revenue by 45% to $7 billion in 1963 compared to $4.8 billion in 1958. In 2013, worldwide airline revenue topped $700 billion—a more than 100 times increase in the 50 years this magazine has been publishing.
Egyptair, having already suffered a major fall in traffic at the outset of the Arab Spring in 2011 when President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, found itself staring at a similar drop-off when his successor, Mohammed Morsi, was driven from office during 2013 summer protests backed by Egypt’s armed forces.
