Asserting that aviation is the "fastest-growing emissions source among modes of transportation," a European Commission official reiterated yesterday that all airlines that operate to the EU must submit plans for monitoring and reporting carbon dioxide emissions by Aug. 31 to relevant authorities in EU member states in advance of a 2010 "pre-compliance phase" for the Emissions Trading Scheme that includes aviation from 2012.
VLM Airlines will be rebranded as CityJet although it will continue to operate under its own operating certificate, the carriers announced. Both regionals are wholly owned subsidiaries of Air France KLM. Antwerp-based VLM is the largest operator at London City. It will adopt the group's Flying Blue loyalty program and abandon its own VLM Encore program in September ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12, 2008).
Frontier Airlines Holding reported a $2.4 million net profit in April, reversed from a $26.9 million deficit in the year-ago month. Operating profit was $5 million compared to a $21.9 million operating loss last year. It incurred $1.1 million in bankruptcy-related expenses during the month. Mainline unit revenue rose 1.3% year-over-year to 9.30 cents and unit cost dropped 19.5% to 8.49 cents.
The UK-based International Bureau of Aviation (IBA) has announced expansion of its aircraft asset management and risk advisory services which the organisation says will benefit operators in the Middle East.
EgyptAir said it will offer OnAir's inflight Internet service on its A330-300s. It offered no further details, but press reports indicated that installation will take 18 months and begin in August 2010.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline does not expect to try to obtain new capital beyond the A$500 million ($389.6 million) raised through a February share placement ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5). "We have built up our cash balances and our plans going forward have deferred capital expenditure," he said in comments cited by Reuters.
Air Southwest of Plymouth, England, will add the SZ code to its flight numbers beginning May 31, allowing its flights to be available for sale in external systems. It previously used the WOW prefix. "Our website. . .will continue to be our main source of bookings, but we now see great opportunities in being able to use global sales systems. And it means we can work more closely with other airlines in the future," MD Peter Davies said. Air Southwest serves 13 destinations
Blue1 will furlough each of its 450 employees for 2-4 weeks, a spokesperson told Finnish national broadcaster YLE. Leave will be staggered and will not affect scheduled flights. The SAS Group subsidiary serves 24 destinations.
US Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May yesterday said the organization does not support the environmental approach being taken by the Aviation Global Deal Group, the partnership among Air France KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Qatar Airways, Finnair and UK airports operator BAA.
Deccan 360, a cargo startup established by Air Deccan founder G.R. Gopinath, launched service yesterday with an A310 freighter flight from Delhi to Hong Kong. "Deccan 360 will be the first Indian company to create a hub-and-spoke distribution model in the express industry in India," parent company Deccan Express Logistics said. "Deccan 360's air and surface network will offer unmatched, next-day connectivity to more than 85% of the Indian GDP." The carrier reportedly will add more A310Fs later this year.
Natural Resources Defense Council International Climate Policy Director Jake Schmidt said the "writing is on the wall" regarding carbon dioxide emissions standards for US airlines. Speaking yesterday in Washington at the Eco-Aviation conference presented by ATW and Leeham Co., he said that "no source of emissions can be left unchecked. . .Emissions controls are coming. Within the US, aviation will be covered in some form or another. Inevitably it's coming."
Alitalia has been reestablished as an IATA member and said it is "now in a position to play an active role in all the association's projects, confirming its intention to be a key player in the air transport world, at the same time as following an investment strategy to continuously improve its services and products."
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 12.2 billion RPKs in April, down 4.5% year-over-year. Capacity fell 1% to 16.14 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.8 points to 75.6%. United Airlines flew 9.39 billion consolidated RPMs in April, an 8.7% decline year-over-year. Capacity fell at the same rate to 11.75 billion ASMs, leaving load factor at 79.9%. China Southern Airlines flew 7.47 billion RPKs in April, up 2.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.1% to 9.78 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.6 points to 76.4%.
Jat Airways intends to change its name, Chairman Sasa Vlaisavljevic told Vecernje Novosti. Names under consideration are Air Serbia, Serbia Airlines and Serbia Airways, the newspaper reported.
Russia's S7 Airlines will join oneworld next year, the 10-member group announced, adding 54 new destinations and eight new countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) to the alliance's network.
Astra Airlines of Greece acquired a second 99-seat BAe 146-300 from BAE Systems Asset Management. The Thessaloniki-based charter and ACMI carrier took its first of the type last July and will use the new aircraft to launch its first scheduled flight to Kiev.
Malev Hungarian Airlines said Russia's Vneshekonombank, which took over the carrier in January ( ATWOnline, Feb. 12), has provided a €20 million ($28 million) loan that will enable it to add a third and fourth Q400 over the summer. Chairman Anatoly Ballo said Malev has revised its 2009 business plan, which now "includes important steps to offset the crisis that are sufficient to bring the airline into a stable operational position."
A major restructuring of the way Libya carries out its aircraft handling and MRO services has been announced by the country's major operator - The Libyan African Aviation Holding Company (LAAHCO).
Abu Dhabi's Royal Jet is hosting a Healthcare Expansion Congress in the city this week to reinforce statistics issued by the luxury jet charter business that show a steady increase in demand for aero-medical evacuations and services.
The US House of Representatives last week passed an FAA reauthorization bill containing several controversial provisions championed by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), setting the stage for debate in the Senate on the long-stalled effort to renew FAA's legislative mandate and provide long-term funding for the agency.
Bombardier Aerospace selected SAMCO Aircraft Maintenance as a recognized service facility for Dash 8/Q Series aircraft. SAMCO's facility is located at Maastricht and will provide service for aircraft based in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It will be able to perform C checks, heavy maintenance and aircraft modifications and upgrades.
US Senate last week confirmed former Air Line Pilots Assn. President Randy Babbitt, 62, as FAA administrator ( ATWOnline, March 30). The confirmation giving Babbitt a five-year term ends a period that lasted more than 19 months in which the agency was headed by acting administrators. "We heartily congratulate Administrator Babbitt on his confirmation and look forward to working with him. .
Hainan Airlines is expected to receive a CNY3 billion ($439 million) capital injection from the Hainan provincial government and its parent Hainan Airlines Group to facilitate fleet expansion and improve its debt ratio. The provincial government and HAG each will provide CNY1.5 billion to HNA. The money is intended to reduce the Haikou-based carrier's debt ratio to 81%. HNA plans to introduce 90 new aircraft in 2009-13. They will cost around CNY24.3 billion; the capital injection is aimed at broadening aircraft financing channels available to HNA, Guotai Junan Securities noted.
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair reported an 8.8% rise to 2.2 million passengers enplaned in April. Traffic increased 5.3% to 7.88 billion RPKs on a 1.1% lift in capacity to 9.54 billion ASKs, resulting in load factor heightening 3.2 points to 82.6%. The increase was mainly owing to the Easter holiday falling in April this year and fare stimulation, the airline group said. "The slump in demand for premium traffic continued unabated across the network and. .
