Jet Airways received approval to lease out three 777-300ERs to Royal Brunei Airlines. Jet also announced the launch of a daily Delhi-Doha flight on Jan. 21 aboard a 737-800.
US Air Transport Assn., American Airlines, Continental Airlines and United Airlines last week initiated a legal challenge in the UK High Court of Justice against aviation's inclusion in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, arguing that it violates the Chicago Convention (ratified in the UK in March 1947), the Kyoto Protocol, the US-EU open skies agreement and is "contrary to the customary international law principle that each state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory." The lawsuit was filed against the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate C
UTair Aviation of Russia launched a Ukrainian subsidiary, UTair-Ukraine, which is operating from Moscow Vnukovo to Luhansk, Kharkov and Nikolaev with ATR 42s. UTair transported 3.2 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2009, up 6.1% year-over-year. Load factor was up 0.8 point to 71.3%.
Moscow Domodedovo announced that "in accordance to ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices" it now is capable of operating simultaneous departures from its parallel runways spaced 2 km. apart. The airport said this will "ensure future increased capacity" up to 90 movements per hr. DME is Russia's largest airport in terms of passenger traffic, with a 45% share of passenger volume. It is served by 80 airlines.
Alaska Airlines ramp service and stores agents represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ratified a two-year contract extension, while 2,800 clerical, office and passenger service employees represented by the same union rejected an identical two-year offer, the airline announced. It said it will reopen negotiations with the latter group in early 2010.
Turkish Airlines Chairman Candan Karlitekin submitted his resignation last week and will leave the company on Jan. 1. A source close to THY told ATWOnline that Karlitekin left of his own free will and offered no reason for the decision. He had held the post since 2002. Reuters reported that Deputy Chairman Hamdi Topcu will succeed Karlitekin next month.
Qantas subsidiary Jetstar Airways and AirAsia "have entered discussions regarding a potential cost-saving joint venture," QF said in a statement last week. A Jetstar spokesperson told Dow Jones that the companies are "looking at ways we can further cut costs through economies of scale" via cooperation on airport operations and procurement. "We both compete for passengers from a growing pool, and that clearly will remain." A source told Dow Jones that no cross-ownership is involved.
The US Air Transport Assn. reported that passenger revenue fell 7% in November versus the same month in 2008 based on a sample group of carriers that includes the major network airlines and their regional partners but excludes Southwest Airlines. November was the 13th consecutive month of annual revenue declines, which ATA said were fueled primarily by the 12th consecutive month of ticket price declines. Approximately 1% fewer passengers traveled on US airlines in November, while the average price to fly 1 mi. fell 6.4%.
AMF, the French stock market regulator, last week cleared 17 current and former EADS/Airbus executives of wrongdoing regarding alleged insider trading related to A380 program delays.
ATR opened a logistics support center at Kuala Lumpur International to be managed by DHL Supply Chain. It said there are nearly 90 ATR aircraft operating in Southeast Asia. ATR also has centers in Paris, Miami, Auckland and Singapore.
SAS Group airlines flew 1.86 billion RPKs in November, down 11.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 13.5% to 2.77 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.7 points to 67.2%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 1.72 billion RPKs, down 12%, against a 14% fall in ASKs to 2.53 billion. Load factor rose 1.5 points to 67.9%. Air Berlin said November unit revenue rose 1.7% year-over-year to €5.24 cents (7.55 cents). Passenger numbers fell 0.1% to 2.2 million and load factor was down 0.8 point to 71.9% on a 1.1% rise in capacity.
China's airlines earned a collective profit of CNY7.35 billion ($1.07 billion) through the first 11 months of 2009, almost triple the CNY2.53 billion reported in the year-ago period, according to CAAC.
EU last week finalized and implemented an open skies accord with Canada, signed an air services pact with the West African Economic and Monetary Union and reached agreement with Iceland and Norway to allow those nations to become part of the EU-US open skies deal. The Canada agreement, first announced in May, allows airlines from each side to operate freely without any restrictions on the number of carriers or flights between any airport in the EU and any in Canada ( ATWOnline, May 8).
Unite, the union that represents London Heathrow and Aberdeen baggage handlers and check-in staff employed by SAS Ground Services UK, said the workers "will strike next week unless there is movement on resolving a pay dispute." It said a series of strikes would take place Dec. 22-24 (48 hr.), Dec. 26-27 (24 hr.) and Jan. 3-4 (24 hr.). "The stoppages will hit travelers on Turkish [Airlines], Emirates and Thai [Airways] at London Heathrow and KLM, Air France, Wideroe and [Virgin Atlantic Airways] at Aberdeen," the union said.
Pemco World Air Services agreed to acquire the 757 cargo conversion operations and assets of Alcoa--SIE Conversions, a California-based Alcoa company joined with Structural Integrity Engineering. Pemco will acquire ASCC's 757-200 STC, allowing it to add the conversion program to its product line early next year. It currently offers freighter, combi, and quick-change configurations of the 737-300 and 737-400. Financial details were not disclosed.
Trans States Airlines will cut 50 baggage handlers and customer service representatives handling its United Express flights at St. Louis, according to an announcement cited by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Layoffs will take effect Feb. 11.
Ryanair said it will begin displaying third-party advertising on boarding passes early next year. The carrier this year implemented 100% online check-in and said the ads will appear on passes printed by customers. "Ryanair passengers must reference their boarding cards on a number of occasions during a trip, providing repeat exposure for advertisers," it said.
Austrian Airlines passed a resolution to squeeze out remaining minority shareholders, who will be paid €0.50 ($0.73) per share. Transactions "probably" will take place in the first half of 2010, it said. Lufthansa subsidiary Osterreichische Luftverkehrs Holding currently holds 95.4% of the company.
Russia's Ministry of Transport could banish Austrian Airlines from its airspace on Jan. 31 owing to a dispute over the carrier's nationality, with Russian authorities arguing that based on current bilateral agreements with Austria, OS no longer is considered a domestic airline following its acquisition by Lufthansa in September.
Ryanair transported 5 million passengers in November, up 15% year-over-year, while load factor rose 1 point to 82%. EasyJet transported 3.4 million passengers in November, up 12.2% from the year-ago month. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 84.8%. AirTran Airways flew 1.47 billion RPMs in November, a 10.5% lift year-over-year. Capacity rose 9.2% to 1.92 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.9 point to 76.7%.
Air India plans to operate 105 aircraft by March 2011 compared to the 146 currently in the fleet, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Parliament, according to The Wall Street Journal. He added that 133 of AI's 192 routes were loss-making during the April-October period and that the loss on unprofitable routes was INR15.23 billion ($325.1 million).
Lufthansa Technik signed a five-year contract with bmi to handle "all aspects" of MRO for V2500 engines powering the airline's 25 A320 family aircraft. First services are expected to be carried out around the end of the 2010 first quarter. No contract value was given.
