Ukraine International Airlines posted a $6.2 million profit in 2008, its ninth consecutive year in the black. It reported a $12.9 million profit in 2007. Revenue last year was $371 million, up 36%, and operating profit rose nearly 20% to $22 million. It said the bottom line was impacted by a $7.6 million foreign exchange loss. UIA currently operates 17 737s.
Airlines scheduled 6% fewer flights this month compared with April 2008, with a 3% drop in seat capacity, according to the latest statistics from OAG. It marks the ninth successive month of declines and represents a reduction of more than 136,000 flights and 9 million seats year-over-year. Flight schedules within Europe are down by 8% while capacity is off 7% with 4.7 million fewer seats on offer. Figures for North America show downturns of 9% in domestic frequencies and 8% in capacity, with a 6% drop for flights and capacity to/from the region.
Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India announced that Ministry of Civil Aviation Joint Secretary and Financial Adviser Bharat Bhushan will serve as interim chairman and MD replacing Raghu Menon. Bhushan, 54, has held a variety of government positions for the past 30 years. No reason was given for the government's decision to replace Menon, according to press reports from India. A search for a permanent replacement is underway.
American Airlines said the US Dept. of Transportation issued a scheduling order establishing a six-month timeframe for its decision on the application for antitrust immunity from AA and oneworld partners British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian. A decision now is expected by November.
Air Senegal International suspended all operations last Friday. According to press reports, disputes between 51% owner Royal Air Maroc and the Senegalese government over management, control, audits and money owed resulted in the shutdown. RAM provided two 737-700s to the subsidiary and has withdrawn both, leaving ASI with just one -700 and one Dash 8. "For several weeks Royal Air Maroc has warned its Senegalese co-shareholders that there was a risk Air Senegal would stop its activities," RAM said in an April 24 statement.
Clickair launched a facility called Lock your Fare that guarantees ticket prices for a period of either 24 or 72 hr. with an option to extend the "protection" period by a further 24 hr. Prices for the service start at €2 ($2.65).
Qantas announced a comprehensive review of its seating configurations, with many premium seats expected to get the ax as business travel plummets. The reassessment comes as QF is suffering the worst decline in business travel in decades with a fall of up to 30% in premium travelers, who are paying up to 50% less than the normal premium fare. CEO Alan Joyce conceded to ATWOnline yesterday that "we have too few seats on some of our aircraft," with premium seats making up 40% of the total on some.
Airlines and regulators around the world are monitoring the swine flu outbreak and have been urged to review health emergency plans, but no action was taken yesterday aside from an EU official's warning to avoid "nonessential travel" to parts of North America and a number of airlines waiving change fees for flights to Mexico, where the disease originated and is believed to have caused more than 100 deaths.
Air New Zealand said it will lock out Zeal320 flight attendants represented by the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, who voted to strike for four days beginning May 7 ( ATWOnline, April 24). "Air New Zealand will not be held to ransom by a union who is not interested in coming back to the mediation table and working out a deal," GM-Short Haul Airlines Bruce Parton said.
Low-cost carriers represented 35% of all intra-European capacity last year, virtually unchanged from 2007, according to the 2009 edition of RDC Aviation's Low Cost Monitor. Growth across all sectors "slowed sharply toward the end of 2008," with aggregate annual capacity growing just 2.2%, the smallest increase this decade. Within this overall figure, however, the low-fare sector increased available seat capacity by 11% year-over-year while capacity in the non-low-cost sector dropped 2%. Significantly, the report noted that Ryanair assumed the No.
British Air Transport Assn. named former Virgin Atlantic Airways Director-External Affairs and Route Development Barry Humphries as chairman effective May 1, succeeding Monarch Airlines Chairman Danny Bernstein. BATA has 10 member airlines. Rockwell Collins named former US FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell as senior VP-Washington operations.
Chromalloy will invest $16.5 million to expand turbine engine component casting capabilities in Tampa. It said it would work with OEMs and operators to design and manufacture parts while "manag[ing] the entire supply chain process to deliver complete, engine-ready components." Facility enhancements will be ready by year end, with production ramp-up to start early next year.
SITA said CSA Czech Airlines signed a four-year deal making SITA the single supplier of CSA's global network communication and messaging services. Agreement involves evolution of the existing infrastructure "to increase performance while reducing cost by 25%." New "hybrid network" includes IP VPN, ISP, DSL and SITA AirportHub connections.
Blue Wings signed a deal with Abu Dhabi's Elite Aviation to operate two A320s, which the carrier hopes will help it reacquire its operating license that was suspended by Germany's LBA on April 1 ( ATWOnline, April 17). Blue Wings owner Alexander Lebedev told reporters that he has offered a 49% stake in the airline to Aeroflot (in which he holds 30%) for €1 ($1.30). SU said it would consider the offer, according to Reuters.
Air New Zealand flight attendants working at its Zeal320 subsidiary and represented by the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union voted to strike for four days beginning May 7 in a "move toward pay parity with other Air New Zealand cabin crew." Zeal320 was created to operate ANZ's A320s on transtasman, Pacific and select domestic flights. The work action will involve 240 cabin staff and may include an additional four-day strike starting May 11.
SR Technics said Vietnam Airlines extended an existing MRO agreement covering 23 CFM56-5Bs powering the airline's A320s for a further three years to 2012.
Frontier Airlines reported a 16% year-over-year fall in March unit revenue to 8.37 cents on an 11.32% decline in yield to 10.49 cents. It flew 716.1 million RPMs during the month, down 24%, against a 19.7% fall in capacity to 897.6 million ASMs. Load factor dropped 4.6 points to 79.8%.
OB10, a b2b global invoicing network, said Lufthansa is implementing its electronic invoicing with the objective of using the service "to generate tax-compliant invoices, thereby reducing invoice management costs both in Germany and internationally."
AAR signed a seven-year agreement with CSA Czech Airlines to provide rotable component repair services on a flight-hr. basis for the carrier's's nine 737-400s and 10 737-500s.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group lost $19.2 million in the first quarter, narrowed from a $37.3 million deficit in the year-ago period, and announced a $15 charge for the first checked bag.
Swiss International Air Lines yesterday named Chief Network and Distribution Officer Harry Hohmeister to succeed Christoph Franz as CEO on July 1, when Franz will become Deutsche Lufthansa deputy chairman and CEO and chairman and CEO of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines.
Vietnam Airlines posted a first-quarter pre-tax profit of VND24 billion ($1.3 million), according to a statement cited by Dow Jones that provided no year-ago comparisons. VN's 2008 pre-tax profit was $14 million ( ATWOnline, Jan. 9). First-quarter 2009 revenue was VND6.12 trillion on a 5% fall in passenger numbers to 2.3 million. Load factor rose 11 points to 88%.
