KLM took delivery of its first 737-700. It ordered 13 as part of a €3 billion ($4.4 billion) fleet renewal that commenced in 2002. The 737-700s will replace its -300s and -400s. Three more -700s will be arriving later this year. Separately, KLM will add four weekly frequencies to its daily Amsterdam-Hong Kong 747-400 Combi service from March 29.
Lufthansa Technik Switzerland, formerly Swiss Technik, will launch operations under its new name on Oct. 1. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik.
Embraer signed a five-year collaborative inventory parts service contract with Chinese regional Kunpeng Airlines to manage the supply and distribution of spare parts. Separately, it has begun training pilots, cabin staff and technicians employed by Brazilian startup Azul Linhas Aereas, which is scheduled to launch operations in January. Azul has 36 E-195s on firm order plus 20 options and 20 purchase rights ( ATWOnline, May 7).
Virgin Atlantic Airways selected Mercator's Skychain as its new cargo reservation and business management solution. Implementation is expected by May 2009.
Two hijackers who took over a Sun Air 737-200 on Tuesday released the 95 passengers and crew yesterday in Kufra, Libya, and surrendered to authorities without violence, according to widespread press reports. The hijackers reportedly demanded to be flown to Paris.
Southwest Airlines informed US FAA this week that it does not intend to pay a $10.2 million safety penalty by tomorrow's deadline, potentially setting the stage for a US Dept. of Justice lawsuit against the carrier. The LCC is being fined for operating 46 737 Classics for nine days in March 2007 after it had disclosed to FAA that the aircraft were in noncompliance with an airworthiness directive ( ATWOnline, Aug. 19).
ACSS submitted a new software release for its runway incursion product, SafeRoute-SAMM 2.5, for certification by US FAA. The product enables own-ship and other aircraft to be displayed on a moving map of the airport surface using a Class 2 electronic flight bag. According to ACSS, installation of Surface Area Movement Management will allow operators to take advantage of FAA's recently announced cost-share program to help fund installation of runway incursion safety systems on aircraft. ( ATWOnline, July 15).
Air Canada and Jazz flew a combined 5.02 billion RPMs in July, down 0.6% year-over-year, against a 2% fall in capacity to 6.05 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.2 points to 83%.
Incheon said it is "indefinitely" postponing plans to launch a joint venture LCC with Singapore-based Tiger Airways. The planned airline, Incheon Tiger Airways, was to serve China and Japan with A320s from Incheon ( ATWOnline, Nov. 6, 2007). The city cited "widespread negative opinions about the project" but said the startup remains a future possibility.
Midwest Airlines said it will complete the rollout of its two-class 717 cabin by Oct. 21, at which point it will offer 40 2-by-2 Signature seats and 59 redesigned economy seats on each flight ( ATWOnline, May 30, 2007). Passengers paying higher refundable fares will be assigned a Signature seat at no charge, or they may reserve a seat "for a modest fee" when booking or at check-in, Midwest said.
Eurowings majority owner Albrecht Knauf, which holds 51% of the German carrier that is part of Lufthansa's regional system ( ATWOnline, March 7), plans to sell its shares to LH, according to several domestic press reports. Knauf reportedly wants to complete the transaction by October.
Sun Air 737 was hijacked yesterday afternoon after taking off from Nyala, Sudan. Aircraft was bound for Khartoum but landed at Kufra in southeastern Libya, according to press reports. Libyan authorities were in contact with the hijackers, Agence France Presse reported. Sun Air Executive Manager Mortada Hassan told AFP there were 95 passengers and seven crewmembers onboard. Further information was unavailable.
Ryanair yesterday dismissed reports that the oxygen masks onboard one of its 737-800s malfunctioned late Monday night when the aircraft suffered a sudden inflight depressurization on its way from Bristol to Girona and diverted to Limoges. "Ryanair's engineers have inspected the aircraft overnight and have confirmed that the oxygen masks which deployed were working properly," the LCC said, adding it would not comment further while the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Air France KLM, Air China and Turkish Airlines joined Lufthansa and S7 Airlines in expressing interest in purchasing state holding company OIAG's 42.75% share of Austrian Airlines, according to press reports ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
Delta Air Lines said this week it has "borrowed" its $1 billion revolving credit facility, which was made available to the carrier when it emerged from bankruptcy last year. It also extended its Visa/MasterCard processing agreement through the end of 2011. President and CFO Ed Bastian told employees in a memorandum that the moves will "strengthen Delta's financial position" and help smooth its planned merger with Northwest Airlines. He said DL had $3.7 billion in cash on hand at the end of July and "will have more than sufficient [liquidity]. .
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.
