Spanish investigators are focusing on whether the Spanair MD-82 that crashed last week had reached adequate speed for takeoff and whether its flaps operated properly.
S7 Airlines flew 8.48 billion RPKs through the first seven months of 2008, up 18.1% from the year-ago period. Passenger numbers rose 20% to 3.5 million and load factor slipped 0.2 point to 79.2%.
Transavia.com flight schedule will operate normally today after a judge prohibited the carrier's pilots from striking and ordered management and Dutch pilots union VNV to continue negotiations to solve their pay dispute. VNV had called for industrial action between 2 a.m. and 5 p.m. today, which would have led to the cancellation of some 70 flights affecting more than 20,000 passengers. Separately, the Amsterdam-based LCC will abandon its twice-daily Rotterdam-Paris Orly service on Sept. 27.
Air Pacific carried more than 100,000 passengers in one month for the first time in July. Load factor was 72%. It flies to 18 destinations in 12 countries and last week launched its second-weekly Nadi-Funafuti flight, via Suva. Separately, it announced the promotion of Manager-Regulatory Affairs Jona Sevura to manager-government and industry affairs.
US FAA said it received a score of 91 out of 100 in a new ICAO audit conducted under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program. It said average score is 56.
TAM Cargo yesterday opened a new 2,160-sq.-m. airfreight terminal in Manaus with 80 tons of storage capacity. The facility has exclusive areas for different types of cargo and cold storage for perishables, TAM said. "The new terminal can handle nearly 35% more freight than its predecessor in addition to allowing for expansion in coming years depending on market demand," according to the airline.
Kyrgyzstan officials said yesterday they had recovered the flight data recorder from the Itek Air 737-200 that crashed Sunday, killing 68 of 90 passengers and crew, and have established a commission to conduct an investigation into the accident. The aircraft was owned and operated by Itek and reportedly was chartered for the flight by Iran Aseman Airlines. It was en route from Bishkek to Tehran.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. last week entered into an agreement with Merrill Lynch to sell up to $300 million in common stock "from time to time" through transactions "made by means of ordinary brokers' transaction on the New York Stock Exchange at market prices," it said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. AMR's capitalization was approximately $2.6 billion at Friday's closing.
CSA Czech Airlines may be put up for privatization before year end, Finance Ministry official Tomas Uvira told Reuters. "This may be one of the last chances to sell CSA, as the market situation could be much worse in coming years," he said, adding that an adviser should be secured next month ( ATWOnline, April 7). The Czech government holds 91.5% of the carrier.
Midwest Airlines has fallen behind on payments to General Mitchell Airport, owing some $1.1 million in gate fees, an airport spokesperson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It is the latest in series of downward turns for the financially beleaguered carrier that recently announced it would cut its workforce by 40% and ground its MD-80 fleet by September ( ATWOnline, July 22). Midwest pays an estimated $700,000 each month in gate fees, according to an airport official.
UPS on Friday opened a 27,000-sq.-ft. flight training center at Anchorage International, which it is building into its "gateway to Asia." Currently, 402 UPS Airlines pilots are based in ANC and 30 aircraft, including its entire 747-400F fleet and some MD-11Fs, will be domiciled there by 2010. The new facility houses two flight simulators including the carrier's only 747-400 simulator, classrooms and offices. "Established to support all phases of flight training, the new facility will make it unnecessary for Anchorage-based pilots to fly to Louisville for training," UPS said.
TAM flew 2.16 billion domestic RPKs in July, up 8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 13.8% to 3.07 billion ASKs and load factor fell 3.8 points to 70.4%. International traffic jumped 37.5% to 1.48 billion RPKs against a 27.2% hike in capacity to 1.82 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 6.1 points to 81.5%. Copa Airlines flew 534.8 million RPMs in July, up 14.6% year-over-year, against a 15.2% rise in ASKs to 632.3 million. Load factor dipped 0.5 point to 84.6%.
Airlines on both sides of the Taiwan Strait carried 95,765 passengers across the strait with an average load factor of 87% over the seven weeks ended Aug. 18, according to Taiwanese authorities. Taiwan Civil Aviation Chief Li Long Wen told media last week that cross-strait routes are among the few profitable services operated by Taiwanese carriers.
Spanish investigators are backing away from blaming an engine fire for last week's Spanair MD-82 crash following emergence of a video of the failed takeoff that shows no signs of fire until after the aircraft, which elevated only a few meters off the ground, crashed back down on the runway.
SAS Group airlines flew 4.16 billion RPKs in July, up 2.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.9% to 5.27 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.7 points to 78.9%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.62 billion RPKs, up 1%, against a 4.1% increase in ASKs to 3.25 billion. Load factor fell 2.5 points to 80.8%. Austrian Airlines flew 1.93 billion RPKs in July, down 2.9% year-over-year, against a 3.3% decline in capacity to 2.42 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.3 point to 79.6%.
Spanish authorities continued to search for the cause of Wednesday's Spanair MD-82 crash on takeoff from Madrid Barajas that killed at least 153 passengers and crew as the carrier insisted that a malfunctioning air intake probe that delayed the scheduled takeoff by 1 hr. had no relevance to the investigation.
Sabre Airline Solutions reached agreement with Air One to launch Sabre's Mobile Check-In solution featuring advanced check-in capabilities across multiple touch points. Technology is part of its SabreSonic customer sales and service solution and integrates with other SabreSonic self-service options including Web and kiosk check-in. Sabre also announced that Kuwaiti startup Wataniya Airways selected its SabreSonic sales and service system featuring mobile technology aimed at expediting the check-in process.
Unite said yesterday that a strike by baggage handlers and check-in staff at London Stansted, Gatwick and Manchester planned for Aug. 25 has been "suspended" following a new pay offer from Swissport. It said a ballot of union members will begin "shortly" ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18).
ITA Software announced that LOT Polish Airlines extended application of its QPX airfare pricing and shopping system, launching a weekend airfare search capability on LOT's website featuring flexible booking capabilities and advanced travel and cost options.
Gate Gourmet finalized its acquisition of Inflight Logistic Services, a Sydney-based company offering services such as menu/service design, logistics and supply chain management, onboard point-of-sale solutions and cash management processes. ILS also supplies cabin cleaning and manages personal media players for inflight entertainment. Major customers include Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue and Rex Regional Express. ILS recently won a long-term contract to handle Jetstar Airways' domestic catering beginning Nov. 12.
Malaysia Airlines and GMR Hyderabad International Airport signed an MOU this week to establish an MRO company at Rajiv Gandhi International capable of handling "all types of aircraft," including the A380. Financial details, ownership structure and timetable for launch were not disclosed.
Air New Zealand and key partners aim to demonstrate commercial aviation's potential to reduce carbon emissions by millions of tonnes annually with a Sept. 12 test flight between Auckland and San Francisco.
"We are a fragile industry and we are in crisis; wait and see is no longer an option," was yesterday's assessment from IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani, who was addressing the Australian National Aviation Press Club in Sydney.
Aer Lingus Group appointed Babcock and Brown Air CEO Colm Barrington as chairman succeeding John Sharman effective next month. Barrington currently is a nonexecutive director of Dublin Airport Authority, from which he will resign before taking over at EI.
United Airlines will stop serving complimentary snacks to North American economy passengers effective Sept. 2 and will begin charging for meals in domestic business class (except for certain flights between New York and Los Angeles/San Francisco) and in transatlantic economy cabins on Oct. 1, according to a memo to flight attendants obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle and subsequently confirmed by a UA spokesperson. "These are difficult but necessary changes.
