The fares will increase by €15 for one-way flights and €30 for roundtrips. Lufthansa will continue to offer its pre-hike fares, which it has dubbed "Lufthansa Preferred Rates," after July 1 for direct sales through its Web site, call center, ticket counter and its dedicated travel agent Web site, lufthansa-agent.com. Travel agents can book Preferred Rates through a GDS if they agree to pay a fee of €4.90 plus VAT per coupon. Otherwise, they will have access only to the higher fares in the GDS.
ENGINE CONDITION MONITORING is moving from diagnostics toward prognostics, pushing at least part way toward true condition-based maintenance. Sensors and systems have become very good at forecasting and thus preventing potential failures, saving money on delays and major repairs. But they cannot reliably predict success: How much longer a part or engine can stay on-wing.
GLOBAL AIR CARGO TRAFFIC growth rates have been disappointingly below average for the past three years, holding at 4%-5% for each of the last two years following growth of just 2% in 2005. That falls short of the 6.1% annual average growth over the long term projected by Boeing, Airbus and other observers, and well below the overall global cargo growth rate of 10% for all forms of transport.
A YEAR AGO, ATW PREDICTED that 2007 would be the peak year of the current airline earnings cycle. It appears we may have been correct. The good news is that barring a catastrophe the industry will enjoy a second consecutive year of profitability in 2008. The bad news is that it probably won't be as good as 2007. Measured against the losses of the first half of the decade, however, one reasonably may conclude that the bad news just isn't that bad. Expectations have been reset, not just owing to 9/11 and SARS but also because of $90/barrel crude.
Pratt & Whitney took a big step forward toward expanding its engine maintenance, repair and overhaul footprint in Europe and the Middle East with this month's agreement with Turkish Airlines Technic to build a 25,000-sq.-m. engine overhaul center at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport.
MERE MONTHS AGO, MANY EXPERTS RELEGATED BIOFUELS for commercial jets to the realm of the quasirealisticsomething hovering just over the horizon. This magazine said as much in our May 2007 story "Fueling the Future" (ATW, 5/07, p. 38). Things have changed.
IN A MATTER OF WEEKS, ONE WOULD-be purveyor of a next-generation passenger services system dropped out of the market and another joined the fray. Lufthansa Systems ceased development of its FACE (Future Airline Core Environment) passenger management platform, citing but not identifying "commercial reasons" for the decision.
IN EARLY 2004, KLAUS ZUMWINKEL, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF DHL Express parent Deutsche Post World Net, made something of a victory lap in the US. The contentious legal dispute over whether DHL subservice airlines Astar Air Cargo (formerly DHL Airways) and ABX Air (formerly the air arm of Airborne Express) could carry DHL cargo in the US had just been decided favorably.
CAE won orders for full-flight simulators and related CAE Simfinity training devices valued at more than C$126 million ($124.1 million) from Continental Airlines, US Airways, Etihad Airways, Air Algerie and Alteon Training.
LLamasoft released Version 4.0 of its Supply Chain Guru network design software featuring data importation and modeling options, a new simulation engine, multitime period optimization and production process and transportation modeling.
CSA Czech Airlines approved the sale of its Air Czech Catering subsidiary to Italian company Alpha Overseas Holdings. Sale is subject so shareholder approval at a meeting scheduled for next month. "By selling the catering service we will succeed in disengaging ourselves from past debts and freeing up funds for the further development of the company without the help of the owner," President Radomir Lasak said. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Iberia said it will not open its books to a Spanish consortium led by Gala Capital, which approached the airline last month with a suggested offer of €3.60-€3.90 ($5.17-$5.60) per share ( ATWOnline, Nov. 28). "For the board of directors it is essential to maintain a framework of stability and certainty, which is being compromised by the excessive delay in the analysis of the company undertaken by interested third parties who, to date, have not submitted any binding offer," IB said.
US federal court in New York upheld a passenger rights law passed earlier this year by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, rejecting the Air Transport Assn.'s assertion that states do not have the authority to regulate airlines. The law, the first of its kind in the US, is set to take effect Jan. 1 and enables the state government to impose fines of up to $1,000 per passenger against airlines operating at JFK, LaGuardia and other New York airports.
The European Commission on Friday issued charges against at least five airlines "concerning their alleged participation in a cartel in the provision of airfreight services in violation of EU rules on restrictive practices."
Workers at BAA airports represented by Unite voted to conduct 24-hr. strikes at all seven facilities from 6 a.m. on Jan. 7, 14, 17 and 18 in protest of BAA's decision to close the final salary pension scheme to new members. BAA said in a statement that it would "work hard to resolve this issue."
Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Assn. reassured travelers that it will not disrupt services over the Christmas-New Year break despite its members voting to approve an industrial campaign against Qantas. The union claims the airline has "stalled" negotiations on a new agreement covering 1,700 engineers. The engineers flagged industrial strife late last month over a salary increase ( ATWOnline, Nov. 30).
Vietnam Airlines and its leasing arm Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Co. firmed up commitments for 10 A350 XWB-900s and 20 A321s worth a combined $3.8 billion at list prices ( ATWOnline, Oct. 2). Contracts were signed in Hanoi by Vietnam Airlines CEO Pham Ngoc Minh and Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy. The A321s will be delivered from 2012 and the A350s from 2016. VN will take the A350s and 10 A321s while VALC will acquire the remaining A321s.
Air New Zealand Engineering Services signed a NZ$45 million ($34 million), five-year contract with Virgin Blue for heavy maintenance of its 50-strong 737-700/-800 fleet. ANZES has carried out heavy maintenance checks on Virgin Blue's 737s at its Christchurch base for the past three years. The deal renews a contract due to expire at year end.
Cathay Pacific Airways announced an agreement with the Flight Attendants Union on adjustments to the company's medical plan, ending threats of a work stoppage during the Christmas/New Year period.
Jade Cargo International named Lufthansa Cargo Head of Transport Management and Flight Operations Kay Kratky as its new GM. Claus Richter, who had been head of operational support and acting leader of flight operations at LH's passenger division, will succeed Kratky.
Following months of lobbying against the potential implementation of congestion pricing and/or an auction of existing capacity at New York JFK and Newark, US airlines operating at the airports appear willing to accept flight caps and make voluntary scheduling changes to avoid imposition of what they believe would have been far more damaging congestion-reduction proposals.
Air France announced yesterday that passengers onboard an A318 operating in Europe now can send and receive SMS and MMS messages and e-mails via mobile phones with Internet access using the Mobile OnAir system. The capability is similar to the one JetBlue Airways launched last week on an A320 ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12). First flight occurred Monday between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Warsaw.
Iberia flew 4.42 billion RPKs in November, up 5.2% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.3% to 5.55 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.4 points to 79.5%.
