SAS said Sveneric Persson, currently president and CEO of its Finnish subsidiary Blue1, will take over as VP-Americas based in New York on Sept. 1. He replaces Jorgen Hoe-Knudsen, senior SAS executive in the Americas since 1996, who is retiring. Persson joined the airline in 1970.
British Airways World Cargo and worldwide logistics and forwarder grouping IFLN announced a strategic partnership to increase their business together. "The commitment from both parties recognizes the potential of the IFLN member companies to utilize BA World Cargo's global network, a benefit that will offer greater freighting possibilities to IFLN and its customers," they said in a statement.
Boullioun Aviation Services inked a medium-term lease with TUI Group for a CFM56-3C1-powered 737-300. The aircraft will be delivered later this month and will be operated by Thomsonfly, Britannia Airways' low-cost carrier. Both Britannia Airways and Thomsonfly are part of TUI Group.
The Air Transport Assn. has reacted strongly to a proposal by House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) to double the $2.50-per-segment federal security fee in order to fund the purchase and installation of explosive detection systems for in-line baggage screening at 64 US airports and install reveal technology at a further 376 airports over the next three years.
Air Jamaica pilots will take a 5.6% pay cut under a new contract reached with the airline last week. According to the Associated Press, the 180 pilots also agreed to a reduction in a range of employee benefits, including meal allowances and overtime pay. The carrier, which has posted massive losses owing to higher fuel costs and a significant drop in passengers following 9/11, did not reveal how much it will save with the new deal.
Volga-Dnepr Airlines is extending its outsize and heavyweight air cargo service capability in Afghanistan to include Kandahar and Heart. Since December 2001, Volga-Dnepr has operated more than 570 cargo flights into Kabul using An-124-100 and Il-76 freighters.
US and Maldives signed a new open skies agreement that will permit US and Maldivian airlines to operate air services between the two countries without reservation.
Wizz Air will launch operations from Poznan, its fourth city in Poland, beginning Sept. 18, offering four weekly flights to London Luton using A320s. Wizz Air has carried more than 1.1 million passengers since launching in May 2004, more than 700,000 of whom have traveled on its Polish routes.
United Airlines flew 9.05 billion RPMs in April, down 3.8% compared to the year-ago period. Capacity declined 4% to 11.3 billion ASMs and load factor gained 0.2 point to 80.1%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs increased 0.4% to 35.58 billion, ASMs decreased 2.5% to 45.24 billion and load factor rose 2.2 points to 78.6%.
Northwest Airlines flew 6.34 billion RPMs in April, up 8.2% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 6.9% to 7.81 billion ASMs and load factor gained 1 point to 81.2%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs rose 8.6% to 24.5 billion, ASMs increased 4.9% to 30.57 billion and load factor jumped 2.8 points to 80.2%.
Australia will resume highly sensitive bilateral talks with Singapore in two weeks with the aim of negotiating an open skies agreement by mid-year. Singapore Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said the governments of both countries will attempt to resolve the issue of Singapore Airlines' securing access to the Australia-US route during the negotiations. Qantas has been lobbying strongly against the move to grant SIA fifth freedom rights, arguing that it does not enjoy reciprocal benefits on routes through Singapore.
Air China placed an order for 11 shipsets of Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglets for its 737-700s. Installation will begin in August and be completed by July 2006. According to APB, discussions are underway to retrofit the remainder of the airline's 737NGs with the winglets as well.
British Airways carried 2.9 million passengers in April, 3.4% fewer than in April 2004. By comparison, Ryanair carried 2.7 million passengers in April. BA's passenger boardings on its UK/European routes decreased 5.1% to 1.9 million. Systemwide, BA flew 8.95 billion RPKs last month, a 0.1% increase on the year-ago period. Passenger capacity rose 1% to 11.98 billion ASKs and load factor was down 0.8 point to 74.7%. The growth in traffic comprised a 13.3% rise in premium and a 2% fall in nonpremium traffic. Cargo as measured in cargo tonne kilometers dipped 0.2%.
American Airlines flew 11.31 billion RPMs in April, up 4.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity increased 1.1% to 14.6 billion ASMs and load factor gained 2.5 points to 77.4%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs climbed 6.1% to 43.55 billion, ASMs rose 0.7% to 57.35 billion and load factor jumped 3.9 points to 75.9%.
Hansung Air, a new low-cost carrier based in Cheongju 85 mi. south of Seoul, has been given the green light for domestic air service from the Ministry of Construction and Transportation. The airline, a JV between the Jeju provincial government and Aekyung Co., plans to lease an ATR turboprop for flights between Cheongju and the resort island of Jeju off the south coast of Korea. It will begin services in June and follows the launch of another LCC in Korea, Jeju Air, which started operations March 25.
Delta Air Lines flew 10.01 billion RPMs in April, up 7.3% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 4.3% to 13.11 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.1 points to 76.4%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs increased 10.6% to 38.19 billion, ASMs jumped 5.5% to 50.99 billion and load factor gained 3.4 points to 74.9%.
Assn. of European Airlines members posted overall scheduled traffic growth in March of 6.7% compared to the year-ago period. The increase in boardings was much lower at 2.2%. Among the long-haul regions, the Europe-Far East market remained buoyant with a growth of 13.9%. This contrasted with an increase of just 1.5% in North Atlantic traffic. In both cases, however, the growth closely matched capacity on offer and load factors remained high, approaching 84% in the case of the North Atlantic.
Two pilots were killed when a Metroliner carrying mail from Auckland to Blenheim apparently exploded in midair. Airways New Zealand said the Airpost aircraft disappeared from radar as it was flying at about 6,000 m. (19,685 ft.).
Southwest Airlines flew 4.81 billion RPMs in April, up 2.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 13.2% to 6.96 billion ASMs and load factor declined 7.1 points to 69.1%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs increased 9.5% to 18.05 billion, ASMs gained 10.9% to 27.19 billion and load factor decreased 0.8 point to 66.4%.
Frontier Airlines took delivery of its 38th 132-seat A319 that is on lease from ILFC. With the delivery, the carrier's fleet now totals 45 aircraft comprising 38 A319s and seven A318s.
SITA SC has responded to the extreme financial pressures facing many North American airline customers by providing substantial price reductions, SITA DG and CEO Hans-Peter Kohlhammer told ATWOnline yesterday as he reported that SITA SC generated North American revenue of $212.5 million in 2004. "SITA's restructuring is gaining significant momentum," Kohlhammer said, noting that a goal was to "help the air transport industry save money."
Continental Airlines flew 6.39 billion RPMs in April, up 6.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 5.1% to 8.25 billion ASMs and load factor gained 1.1 points to 77.5%. For the four months ended April 30, RPMs increased 10.1% to 245 billion, ASMs rose 4.3% to 31.83 billion and load factor jumped 4.1 points to 77%. For April, consolidated and mainline passenger RASM are estimated to have increased 2%-3% compared to April 2004. For March 2005, consolidated passenger RASM rose 4.6% compared to March 2004 and mainline passenger RASM climbed 5.3%.
Lufthansa Systems in cooperation with Amadeus successfully transferred all of TACA's inventory, consisting of more than 200,000 data sets and close to 500,000 e-tickets, during the night of April 23 to LHS's integrated passenger management solution. Migration included the successful merge of the inventories of Aviateca, Lacsa and TACA into a single inventory. Additionally, LHS implemented a next-generation revenue management system at TACA.
