Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines' 17 members transported 10.8 million international passengers in September, a figure "effectively matching" the year-ago month for the first time in more than a year, the group said. International RPKs fell 0.9% but capacity was cut 6.1%, boosting load factor 4.1 points to 76.4%. The 6.5% year-over-year decline in FTKs was the smallest this year, AAPA said. Freight capacity was down 11.2% and load factor climbed 3.4 points to 68.7%.
Airbus said EASA certified brake-to-vacate and runway overrun warning and protection systems for the A380. BTV and ROW/ROP were trialed on the aircraft for the first time in May 2008 and will be added to the first A380s delivered to Air France and Lufthansa.
Air France launched its new premium economy product, Premium Voyageur, on Sunday's 777-200ER flight from New York JFK to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Aircraft featured 24 Voyageur seats ( ATWOnline, March 23).
AirTran Airways said mechanics and inspectors represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ratified a new 48-month collective bargaining agreement. Contract covers around 400 employees at seven US airports.
FAA has talked a great deal about transitioning to a satellite-based NextGen ATC system, which would allow carriers to use RNP procedures supported by ADS-B and other technology to operate more direct flight paths, increasing system efficiency and reducing airline fleets' fuel burn and carbon dioxide emissions. But the US Congress repeatedly has stalled trying to determine how the $45-$75 billion transition to NextGen will be funded.
Dublin Aerospace was issued EASA Part 145 certification by the Irish Aviation Authority. Its MRO facility is based at Dublin Airport at the former SR Technics (Ireland) site. Hangar can accommodate three narrowbody aircraft. It currently performs heavy MRO on 737NG and A320 family aircraft, as well as 737 landing gear and Honeywell APU overhaul. It expects A320 landing gear capability to come online next year.
Brussels Airlines is "set and ready" to enter the Star Alliance, with the formal accession scheduled for Dec. 9 in Brussels, MD Bernard Gustin told ATWOnline last week. "We performed out last IT tests yesterday in Frankfurt and we expect a green light," he said. "When we were formally invited to join Star Alliance in December in Chicago, I was cautious and expected the integration could take between 12 and 18 months. We did it in less than a year." Lufthansa, a 45% shareholder in the carrier, assisted SN with the integration.
Hamilton Sundstrand signed a 10-year agreement with Air Canada to provide component and repair services on AC's 18 777s under HS's Comprehensive Accessory Repair and Exchange aftermarket program.
Norwegian will equip its new 737-800s with 186 seats rather than the available 189, the carrier revealed last week. The LCC is the European launch customer of the Boeing Sky Interior, which will be standard on its -800s delivered after 2010. It has 48 737NGs on order from Boeing as well as 22 airplanes from leasing companies.
Lufthansa intends to pay €0.50 ($0.75) per share to buy out remaining Austrian Airlines shareholders. The Austrian board and shareholders, likely to meet in mid-December, must approve the deal. "The minority shareholders of Austrian Airlines will receive cash compensation for their shares in conformity with the law after notification of the squeeze-out has been entered in the commercial register. That will probably occur in the first half of 2010," Austrian said. LH currently holds 95.4% of Austrian.
B/E Aerospace and Aviation Partners Boeing signed a three-year contract under which B/E's Consumables Management segment will support the hardware kitting requirements for approximately 250 767 winglet kits.
US National Transportation Safety Board last week launched an investigation into the Oct. 21 incident in which a Northwest Airlines A320 en route from San Diego to Minneapolis-St Paul "overflew" MSP. NTSB said Flight 188 "became a NORDO (no radio communications) flight at 37,000 ft.," adding, "The aircraft flew over the destination airport and continued northeast for approximately 150 mi." The MSP Center controller "reestablished communications with the crew" 78 min.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, the 747 wet-lease freighter specialist, announced Friday that it has won a contract to operate "outsourced premium-passenger private charter service" between Houston Intercontinental and Luanda using two customized executive-class 747-400s provided by Angola's SonAir. The "Houston Express" charter service will ferry members of the US-Africa Energy Assn. between the US's primary oil center and West Africa on thrice-weekly flights. The service is not open to the public.
Air France KLM will begin charging economy class passengers for a second checked bag on flights between Europe/North Africa and the US next month. The second piece of luggage will cost €50 ($74.80) on flights from Europe and $50 on flights from the US. Premium loyalty program members will be exempt, and the airline is offering a 20% discount to those checking in and paying online.
JetBlue Airways promoted New York JFK Base Chief Pilot Andres Sandoval to VP-flight operations and named Northwest Airlines Director-System Operations Control and Central Load Control Marc Gross VP-system operations, planning and control.
SunExpress, the Antalya-based joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, said revenue through the first nine months of 2009 rose 5.9% year-over-year to €329 million ($492.1 million) on a 29% lift in passenger numbers to 4.1 million. Load factor grew 1 point to 79.4%. It plans to launch service during the winter schedule from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen to Hamburg, Nurnberg, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Zurich, Hatay and Mardin. It currently operates 23 737-800 and 757-200 aircraft.
El Al named former Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Eliezer Shakedi as its new CEO, succeeding the resigning Haim Romano. Globes reported that the transition is expected to take two months. The airline did not release a statement.
Delta Air Lines flew 15.13 billion system RPMs in September, a 5.2% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 6.7% to 18.32 billion ASMs and load factor was up 1.4 points to 82.6%. United Airlines flew 9.25 billion consolidated RPMs in September, a 1.1% decline year-over-year. Capacity fell 3.7% to 11.39 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.1 points to 81.2%. Lufthansa Passenger Airlines flew 10.99 billion RPKs in September, a 2.8 % year-over-year decline, against a 3.6% cut in capacity to 13.69 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.7 point to 80.3%.
EU's Environment Council agreed Wednesday to set a target of reducing aviation greenhouse gas emissions by 10% below 2005 levels by 2020. The EU will use this target as a negotiating position for December's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
Boeing's ongoing problems with the 787 and 747-8 hit home yesterday as previously announced charges totaling $3.5 billion resulted in a $1.56 billion third-quarter loss despite a 9% year-over-year lift in revenue to $16.69 billion.
Southwest Airlines yesterday placed into revenue service a "green plane"--a retrofitted 737-700 with a new interior featuring lighter, "eco-friendly" seat and carpet materials--for a six-month trial and projected that the aircraft could yield 10,000 gal. in fuel savings per year. Speaking in Dallas during the airline's annual media day, Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said the four-year-old aircraft now is 519 lb. lighter than a standard SWA -700 and offers 5 lb. of savings per seat.
Sudan Airways 707-300 freighter on lease from Azza Transport crashed yesterday after taking off from Sharjah, killing all six aboard. The flight was scheduled to land in Khartoum.
