FOR AIRCRAFT SPOTTERS, WHO REVEL IN variety, Kuala Lumpur International is becoming positively boring, with 44% of the flights being AirAsia A320s as the airline becomes the largest user of the airport. That statistic is more extraordinary given that just 7.5 years ago it had two aircraft and six routes and founder and CEO Tony Fernandes rarely if ever received an audience with regulators and politicians, let alone a cup of coffee from a banker. Now the red carpet is unrolled wherever he goes as airports build new terminals to accommodate AirAsia's expansion.
SkyEurope Airlines suspended operations yesterday, hours after airport operators in Prague and Bratislava said they would stop handling the LCC's flights beginning today because it is behind on payments. Vienna halted the LCC's flights in mid-August and SkyEurope had been shuttling VIE passengers to/from Bratislava ( ATWOnline, Aug. 24).
French BEA Director Paul-Louis Arslanian said investigators have not determined the cause of the May 31 Air France A330-200 crash in the Atlantic Ocean and reiterated that there still is no evidence that speed sensors caused the accident. "At the moment, we can't explain the accident," Arslanian told journalists yesterday in Paris. "We are making progress and will make progress and I'm optimistic, but this will take time. It takes a year-and-a-half, being responsible and reasonable, in order to make progress and ensure that we've run through all of the questions."
Jazeera Airways lost KWD1.3 million ($4.4 million) in the second quarter, widened 39.8% from the KWD897,900 net loss reported in the year-ago period. Revenue dropped 11.5% to KWD10.1 million against a 5.6% lift in expenses to KWD11.5 million. Operating loss of KWD1.4 million compared to a KWD516,100 profit in the 2008 second quarter. Six-month net loss of KWD2.2 million deepened from KWD152,100 in the year-ago semester.
Southwest Airlines and US FAA were working toward accommodation today on a plan and timetable to replace unapproved exhaust gate assembly hinge fittings on some 49 of the airline's 737s. When the agency became aware of the existence of the unapproved parts, it issued a letter giving SWA conditional approval to operate aircraft with the parts for 10 days, a deadline that expires today at 5 p.m. local time ( ATWOnline, Aug. 27).
Frontier Airlines reported a $17.8 million net profit in July, reversed from a $3.2 million loss in the year-ago month. Operating profit was $24.9 million compared to a $1.2 million surplus in July 2008. Results were impacted by $5.5 million in reorganization expenses. Mainline unit revenue fell 5.1% to 11.26 cents while unit cost was down 27% to 8.58 cents.
Lufthansa Cargo would consider giving up some or all of its fleet of 19 freighters if night flights are banned at Frankfurt, CEO Carsten Spohr told Reuters. A German court recently ruled that the Hesse state government should decide on whether to reduce or ban night flights. The state made a reduction to 17 flights per night part of its agreement to permit construction of a fourth runway at FRA in 2011. LH said it would require 23 nightly flights by 2020 for both passenger and cargo service, Reuters reported.
Aegean Airlines earned a €13.4 million ($19.2 million) profit in the first half of 2009, more than double the €5.5 million reported in the year-ago semester. Revenue rose 5% to €275.4 million. It cited falling oil prices and reduced maintenance and fuel costs associated with its recent fleet renewal. It took delivery of eight A320 family aircraft during the six-month period. Aegean transported 2.9 million passengers, up 9%, boosted by a 20% gain in international boardings to 1.3 million.
Air India said it presented its turnaround plan to the government's Committee of Secretaries and that, "while appreciating the various measures taken by Air India, the committee felt that in some areas more aggressive cost reduction measures were required to be adopted and the company also needs to examine its strategic position with respect to its shareholders' objectives." AI said the committee directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, to present a loan or bailout proposal to the cabinet.
Austrian Airlines Group will end the short-time work program for approximately 2,500 ground staff at the end of September as planned, although short-time work for cabin staff will continue until year end. The company will hold talks this fall with employees regarding new labor deals as it seeks to cut labor costs by €150 million ($214.5 million). AAG and Lufthansa are expected to discuss additional details of their merger at a Thursday news conference in Vienna ( ATWOnline, Aug.
Gulf Air signed a four-year, $70 million loan agreement with Bahrain Islamic Bank that will be used partly to finance eight A320s expected to be delivered in the 2009 fourth quarter and 2010 first quarter.
Lufthansa Systems will provide Dutch carrier transavia.com with FMS data from its Lido navigation database. Transavia.com already uses the Lido OC flight planning solution and Lido RouteManual navigation charts.
Singapore announced the conclusion of an open skies agreement with Peru and new bilateral air services agreements with Colombia and Ecuador. The deal with Peru includes unlimited hub rights for cargo operations. The Colombian agreement provides for up to eight weekly passenger and cargo flights, increasing to 14 by January 2011, while the Ecuador deal provides for up to 56 weekly passenger flights between and beyond the two countries along with an open skies provision for cargo operations. There currently are no direct scheduled flights between Singapore and South or Central America.
Messier Services signed a nine-year agreement with JetBlue Airways covering the periodic exchange and overhaul of the landing gear on the carrier's fleet of 113 A320 family aircraft. Monarch Aircraft Engineering reached agreement with Oy Air Finland to provide line maintenance technical handling at Manchester International with daily checks and unscheduled maintenance for an Oy Air 757.
Kale Consultants said it was chosen by IATA "as the prime technology supplier" for development of the association's "Simplified Interline Settlement initiative." SIS aims to standardize, facilitate and expedite interline billing and settlement in the airline industry, in large part by removing paper from the billing and settlement process. IATA Senior VP-Industry Distribution and Financial Services Tom Murphy said SIS will generate $500 million in annual savings for the industry.
Iberia announced the reorganization of its management structure including splitting its airline division into a Commercial and Clients division "focusing on generating income" and a Production Division "charged with enhancing profitability." The former will be led by Maintenance and Engineering Division Manager Manuel Lopez Aguilar and the latter by Production Management Unit head Juan Bujia. The former Airline Division led by Enrique Donaire has been dissolved.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.41 billion RPKs in July, down 13.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 17.3% to 2.88 billion ASKs and load factor rose 3.6 points to 83.8%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines reported a 7.6% drop in July yield as it flew 2.22 billion RPKs, a 15.3% decrease. Capacity dropped 19% to 2.63 billion ASKs and load factor was up 3.7 points to 84.5%. Norwegian said July yield rose 4% year-over-year to NOK0.59 (9.75 cents) while unit revenue was up 6% to NOK0.52. The LCC flew 1.28 billion RPKs, up 10%, against a 9% lift in capacity to 1.46 billion ASKs.
Star Alliance said EgyptAir, South African Airways and TAP Portugal are the first members to use the alliance's newly developed Common IT Mobile Platform. The mobile services are being rolled out in stages and currently include flight schedules, real-time departures and arrivals and lounge information among other features. More interactive services such as frequent-flyer program status, online check-in and seat selection and mobile boarding passes with 2D barcodes will be made available in the coming weeks, Star said.
East Star Airlines may become the first Chinese carrier to go bankrupt following the Wuhan local court's rejection of China Equity Group's re-launch plan ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26). CEG Chairman Wang Chaoyong said the lack of an agreement on how to handle East Star's sizeable debt was the reason for the rejection. The troubled airline owes money to China National Aviation Fuel Co. and several airports.
IATA reported yesterday that declines in passenger and cargo traffic slowed in July, but warned that airlines still are struggling financially owing to severe falls in revenue and yields. International passenger demand dipped 2.9% year-over-year, a "relative improvement" over June's 7.2% decrease and the 6.8% lowering through the year's first seven months. International cargo's 11.3% decline was improved over June's 16.5% dip and the average monthly drop of 19.3% in January-July.
Hawaiian Airlines' Air Line Pilots Assn. MEC launched a strike ballot lasting until Sept. 10 asking for authority to strike in protest of "two-and-a-half years of stalled contract negotiations and six years of bankruptcy-imposed contract terms," the union said. Permission to strike also must be secured from the US National Mediation Board, which first must formally declare an impasse in negotiations and establish a 30-day cooling-off period after which either side can resort to self-help measures.
