Emirates signed a $119 million financing agreement with China Construction Bank Corp. for an A340-500, which will be delivered to the airline in August. This represents the first-ever leasing agreement Emirates has signed with a Chinese bank.
Finnair flew 1.44 billion RPKs in June, up 10.4% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 5.7% to 1.91 billion ASKs and load factor grew 3.2 points to 75.2%. For the six months ended June 30, RPKs rose 7.9% to 8.28 billion, ASKs increased 6.1% to 11.52 billion and load factor gained 1.2 points to 71.9%.
Korean Air reported an 11.9% increase in traffic to 4.36 billion RPKs last month on the back of strong international traffic, which rose 12.3%. Passengers were up 7.3% to 1.8 million. The strongest traffic growth was from China, up 28% to 209.5 million RPKs. Domestic traffic rose 6.8% year-on-year to 308.4 million RPKs. Reflecting the usual seasonal dip, freight was down 1.9% to 677.2 million FTKs. Japan and US cargo fell 3% and 5.6% respectively, while Southeast Asia dropped 21.3%.
News from Travel Technology Update: British Airways dropped its three-year battle to shift the burden of credit card fees for certain negotiated net fares in the U.K. 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.
Pratt & Whitney was awarded an exclusive five-year, $20 million service contract from Blue Panorama Airlines covering engine maintenance and overhaul of the carrier's fleet of PW-powered aircraft. Blue Panorama operates five 737-400s and four 767-300ERs and plans to take delivery of two 757s this year. Under the contract, Pratt will be responsible for maintenance of the PW4000s and PW2000s that respectively power the 767s and 757s. OCS Transport Services was awarded a contract to undertake aircraft grooming for the entire British Airways fleet at London Gatwick.
Northwest Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Professional Flight Attendants Assn., last week filed suit against the carrier for what the union claims is a violation of the "status quo" between the cabin staff and the airline. The group is seeking injunctive relief against management's decision to pursue the training of replacement flight attendants onboard its flights. According to the union, on June 5 Northwest placed job postings in newspapers and on websites seeking replacement flight attendants in the event of a labor dispute or strike.
The world's airlines continued to operate at a very high level of safety during the second quarter and first half of 2005, Airclaims reported. Five total losses were recorded in the March-June period, including one fatal accident that killed three passengers. Nine total losses to Western-built jets occurred during the first half of the year, including two fatal accidents resulting in 99 passenger and eight crew deaths.
Air New Zealand reached agreement with its long-haul cabin crew, represented by FARSA, on a new three-year contract, staving off a third walkout that was set to begin yesterday. Terms of the deal were not released but the airline previously had offered a 3.3% wage increase in each of the next three years while the union was demanding 3.8%. Other issues included crewing levels for the carrier's new 777-300ERs. The earlier 48-hr. strikes led ANZ to cancel 85 flights, causing widespread disruption to passengers.
Frontier Airlines flight attendants voted against union representation by the Assn. of Flight Attendants/Communications Workers of America. According to the airline, of the 744 eligible voters, 320 votes were cast for AFA representation and eight for other representation. A total of 373 votes were needed to organize. The carrier said that this is the fourth time its flight attendants have voted against union representation.
Passengers with respiratory problems will be able to use two kinds of portable oxygen concentrator units onboard commercial aircraft under a new regulation published by US FAA. The two devices, manufactured by AirSep Corp. and Inogen Inc., do not use compressed oxygen, which the agency classifies as a hazardous material. Instead they work by filtering nitrogen from the air and delivering oxygen in concentrated form to the user. The new rule marks the first time passengers will be able to use their own medical oxygen devices onboard an airliner.
Adria Airways carried 93,700 passengers in June, a 7% increase over the same month last year. There were 5% fewer travelers on scheduled flights this June but 81% more on charter routes. In the first six months, Adria carried 411,800 passengers, up 3% compared to the first half of last year. It has approximately 180 weekly regular flights to 18 cities in Europe and will start a twice-weekly service from Ljubljana to Warsaw by September.
NAV Canada said it reached a tentative collective agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers/Canadian Air Traffic Control Assn. representing air traffic controllers. Terms were not disclosed. The agreement is subject to ratification by union membership.
Varig signed a six-month consultancy contract with Lufthansa Consulting for its reorganization and restructuring. Following the filing of an application for the protection of creditors at the bankruptcy court, the airline must develop an appropriate restructuring plan within 60 days as well as a related business plan and submit those to the court. If the court accepts the plans, the implementation phase must be completed within a maximum of 120 days thereafter.
Sabre said the acquisition of lastminute.com by Travelocity Europe has been completed. The UK-based online travel and leisure group will be the lead brand for Travelocity in most of Europe and will continue to expand as lastminute.com. Brent Hoberman, who co-founded the company, remains as CEO. Separately, Sabre Airline Solutions announced that Trans States Holdings subsidiary GoJet Airlines has selected Sabre's flight operations tools for its crew management, flight planning and dispatch, and operations control and flight following when it begins operations in August.
America West and US Airways on Friday said they received approval for their planned merger from the US Air Transportation Stabilization Board, which has guaranteed loans for both airlines. Pending final bankruptcy court and US Airways board approval and upon close of the merger, "the two airlines' outstanding ATSB loan guarantees will be consolidated with payments beginning September 2005 through September 2010," the carriers said in a statement. Final terms are still being negotiated.
Targeting what it sees as the changing needs of the short-haul operator market, International Aero Engines launched V2500 Select, a new maintenance program linked to a package of technology enhancements that promises to cut MRO costs 20%-30%, reduce fuel burn up to 1% and increase time-on-wing by 20% compared to current-standard engines.
Germanwings increased its first-half sales by 60% to €163 million ($198 million), the carrier said in an statement. The number of passengers rose 60% to more than 2.3 million. The airline expects to carry 5.5-6 million passengers this year, generating sales of about €400 million, up from €247 million in 2004.
United Airlines cleared a major hurdle yesterday when its 20,000 ramp agents and customer contact employees, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists, ratified a tentative agreement reached in June ( ATWOnline, June 20). According to the union, roughly 67% of IAM members voted to approve the agreement. Terms of the deal were not released but it is believed to provide the carrier with savings of $175 million a year.
Mba was awarded a four-year contract valued at $1.7 million by the US Export-Import Bank to perform airline and aircraft technical due diligence under the bank's Worldwide Aviation Inspection Services program.
Air France is negotiating with Brazilian low-cost carrier Gol as well as with TAM to conclude a cooperation agreement, Le Figaro reported. AF is keen on increasing its market share in the Europe-South America market, specifically to Brazil, and currently operates daily services between Paris CDG and Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. An accord with Gol would secure connections to destinations beyond Rio while TAM could provide travel beyond Sao Paulo.
Response to Air New Zealand's new long-haul product has exceeded expectations. Group GM-Marketing, Network and Sales Norm Thompson told ATWOnline that the airline received "overwhelmingly" positive feedback from customers on the initial flights. He said ANZ has sold almost 8,000 Pacific Premium Economy sectors even before the new long-haul product officially enters service on the Melbourne-Auckland-San Francisco route Aug. 7.
