Air Berlin named German Federal Ministry for Transport, Construction and Urban Development Secretary of State Matthias von Randow as its new director-global traffic rights & political affairs. Von Randow also was a member of Fraport's supervisory board.
Southwest Airlines reached a sale and leaseback deal with an unnamed lessor for 10 737-700s. Under the agreement's first tranche closed yesterday, SWA sold five -700s for "approximately" $175 million and immediately leased them back for 12 years. It will make monthly payments of around $7.8 million during the first six months of the leases, with the amount scheduled to reset every six months based on the six-month LIBOR rate. In the first quarter of 2009, SWA will sell the five remaining -700s and lease them back for 16 years under "similar terms."
Datalex reached agreement with Aer Lingus to provide its Travel Distribution Platform offering "flexi" fare customer pricing and service options expected to enhance ancillary and merchandising business.
AirBridgeCargo Airlines reported sales of $423 million through the first 11 months of 2008, up 55% year-over-year. Traffic rose 31% to 121,000 tons of cargo.
Libyan authorities rescinded permission allowing Swiss International Air Lines to serve Tripoli. A Swiss spokesperson said the carrier was informed that "technical reasons related to a project for Tripoli airport" was the cause, although widespread speculation has pointed to strained relations between the countries that began when a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was arrested last summer in Geneva.
US FAA's decision to downgrade Israel's aviation safety standard to Category 2 ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22) marked a "black day for Israeli aviation," El Al COO and Acting CEO Lior Yavor said, according to Israeli press reports. "We at El Al expect the Israeli government and the Knesset to take full responsibility for this serious decision, and to immediately and fully share in the costs accruing to Israeli airlines as a result, including the financing of security, which the government promised months ago.
Lufthansa Cargo announced a 10% capacity reduction from Jan. 1 in response to the decline in the global cargo business and a "distinct falloff in demand." It will suspend the wet-lease of two MD-11Fs and one 747-400F from World Airways and transfer those routes to 747-400ERFs operated by Jade Cargo International, in which LH holds a minority stake. LHC will continue operating its 19 MD-11Fs and, from the middle of next year, also will have access to capacity onboard newly delivered 777-200LRFs operated by AeroLogic, its joint venture with DHL Express.
Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it submitted an application to the US Dept. of Transportation for Canadian route authority, which is required in order to implement its codeshare agreement with WestJet ( ATWOnline, July 9). SWA said it hoped to receive approval next quarter and that it had no intention to fly to Canada with its own aircraft "at this time."
Boeing won approval from US FAA for its scheduled maintenance program defining tasks and intervals that operators will use to upkeep the 787 properly. Approval is one of the many requirements needed to certificate the aircraft.
News from Travel Technology Update: There's no way to prettify it: 2008 has been an annus horribilis, probably the worst economic mess since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It was a year dominated by the three Fs: fuel, fees and fear.
Air Tanzania suspended operations following the Dec. 8 suspension of its AOC by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority, which said the move was a "precautionary but very necessary action to avoid the possibility of the airline compromising flight safety." It said TC's aircraft were airworthy and that passenger safety never was at risk, and that the carrier has submitted "about half" of the documentation required for recertification.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday announced that it has "instituted proceedings" in Federal Court against Singapore Airlines Cargo, which it accused of colluding on fuel and security surcharges between 2001 and 2005 on flights to and from Australia. A hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 12. SIA Cargo will "defend allegations. . .that it, and several other airlines, have engaged in cartel conduct," a spokesperson told Reuters.
Royal Jordanian and Airbus/SITA joint venture OnAir signed an agreement to provide inflight Internet and mobile phone services including e-mail, SMS and voice calls on two A319s that will be joining RJ's fleet in February and March. Deal's second phase includes installing Mobile OnAir Service with a GSM/GPRS system on RJ's A320 family aircraft at the end of 2009.
Iberia flew 3.95 billion RPKs in November, a 10.6% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 7.7% to 5.12 billion ASKs and load factor fell 2.5 points to 77.1%. Austrian Airlines Group flew 1.31 billion RPKs in November, down 6.7% year-over-year, against a 5.7% drop in ASKs to 1.81 billion. Load factor was down 0.8 point to 72.8%. Copa Airlines flew 484.2 million RPMs in November, up 15.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 17.1% to 627.1 million ASMs and load factor fell 1.2 points to 77.2%.
Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo flight crew voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union announced. They formerly were represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. IBT said Air Canada's 650 US-based customer service employees voted to ratify a three-year labor agreement that will take effect July 1. In addition, 123 Frontier Airlines aircraft and maintenance cleaners represented by IBT ratified a deal providing wage concessions through Dec. 12, 2012.
Bogus Qantas aircraft engineer was jailed for a maximum 41 months by an Australian court last week, according to press reports. Timothy McCormack not only forged his qualifications and posed as a licensed engineer for nine months but also forged character references presented to the court for his defense. He was caught last summer, but only after having supervised some 30 "substantial and significant" safety checks in Sydney.
Frontier Airlines launched a new fare structure last week called AirFairs featuring three fare levels. Classic Plus is fully refundable or changeable to a seat on a different flight the same day at no charge. It also features priority boarding, two checked bags, free IFE, a snack and beverage and 150% mileage credit. Classic allows for advanced seat assignments, two checked bags, IFE and 125% mileage credit. Itinerary changes will cost $50 and same-day changes $75.
Argentine Senate signed off on the expropriation of Aerolineas Argentinas and Austral last week in a 42-20 vote, following the Chamber of Deputies' approval early this month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 5). AR owner Grupo Marsans has filed for arbitration at the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in response. Senators said last week that AR is losing ARS27 million ($7.9 million) per month, Reuters reported.
In a major blow to US-Israel aeropolitical relations, FAA Friday announced that it was downgrading Israel's aviation safety standard to Category 2 under the agency's International Aviation Safety Assessment program.
CAE sold one 787 simulator and one 777-300ER simulator to Air New Zealand. The 777 device will be delivered in 2010 to coincide with arrival of ANZ's first -300ER, with the 787 FFS to follow in 2012. CAE is providing a suite of Simfinity training devices for each aircraft type, to be used for both pilot and maintenance training.
Bmi launched a six-month trial of Mobile OnAir, offering passengers inflight communications services including the use of SMS-enabled mobile phones/PDAs and Internet access from laptop computers fitted with GSM data cards. Service is being trialed on a single A320 operating between London Heathrow and Moscow. Bmi is the first UK carrier to trial the service.
US Air Transport Assn. expressed satisfaction with last week's reports that Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) will be nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to be the new Secretary of Transportation ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18). ATA said LaHood "has a well-deserved reputation for his even-handed, thoughtful and deliberative approach to complex issues" and that it "look[s] forward to working closely" with LaHood if he is confirmed.
The Chinese government cut the domestic fuel price 32% to CNY5,050 ($736.49) per ton from CNY7,450, effective last Friday, marking the sixth time this year Beijing has adjusted the domestic price. Because of the way in which fuel prices are managed by the government ( ATWOnline, Oct. 7), Chinese airlines have not reaped the immediate benefit of the collapse in oil prices. Fuel expense currently accounts for 40%-50% of Chinese carriers' total operating expenses.
ICAO reported yesterday that preliminary traffic figures show that scheduled airline traffic (RPKs) for airlines of the ICAO member states rose just 1.8% in 2008 compared to 2007, a significant slowdown following the 7.1% rise in 2007 over 2006. Passenger enplanements climbed approximately 0.8% to 2.29 billion. ICAO said that the growth "was shared unequally between IATA airline members and other types of carriers, notably Low Cost Carriers. The non-IATA market share increased significantly, reaching 33% of domestic scheduled traffic and around 20% of total scheduled traffic."
