TAM signed a loan agreement with BNP Paribas to finance up to $117.1 million in pre-delivery payments on 30 Airbus aircraft scheduled to arrive through 2010. Separately, TAM launched daily Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Madrid service aboard an A330. The Spanish capital is its fifth European destination.
Panasonic Avionics said Grupo Marsans selected Panasonic eX2 IFE systems for installation on 12 A330-200s operated by Aerolineas Argentinas and Air Comet. First delivery is scheduled for August.
Airlines throughout the world are contending with antitrust charges made at the end of 2007 by the European Commission, which has accused at least 11 and as many as 25 carriers of "cartel" activity relating to airfreight transport.
Lufthansa will add 4,300 new employees this year in Germany, including 2,000 flight attendants and 1,000 ground staff to be based in Frankfurt and Munich. In addition, 360 flight cadets will start their careers at Lufthansa Flight Training in Bremen. LH employs 105,000, with 65,000 based in Germany.
Assn. of European Airlines elected KLM President and CEO Peter Hartman as chairman for 2008. Hartman takes over from Iberia Chairman and CEO Fernando Conte.
NASA released some 16,000 pages of data from its 2001-04 National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service survey, in which more than 25,000 pilots were asked a range of questions about air safety in the US and reported much higher rates of midair near misses, runway incursions and engine failures than reported by FAA. But NASA, which drew strong criticism two months ago for failing to release the results of the $11 million project publicly ( ATWOnline, Nov.
Megadata Corp. said Newark Liberty selected its PASSUR Portal and inSight software technologies offering Web-based operational information and flight following capabilities.
Singapore Airlines on Monday began advertising its fares inclusive of all taxes, surcharges and fees. "In some markets, this may mean we look more expensive than our competitors at first glance. But we think consumers understand that there are a variety of extras that form part of the ticket price now," Executive VP-Marketing and Regions Huang Cheng Eng said. SIA has published all-inclusive prices on its website since November. Separately, SIA extended the contract of CEO Chew Choon Seng to December 2010, replacing a deal set to expire in June 2009.
Wizz Air and GECAS announced a sale and leaseback transaction covering six A320s scheduled for delivery in 2009 and set to be leased for 11 years each. The companies have similar deals covering eight additional A320s to be delivered over the next two years. Separately, Wizz announced summer schedule enhancements including 15 new weekly flights from Budapest (with new service to Gothenburg, Oslo Torp and Treviso) and a fifth A320 based at Katowice that will contribute to an expanded program scheduled to include new flights to Varna.
Alitalia announced the sale of three of its 13 slot pairs at London Heathrow for €92 million ($134.2 million). It called the slots "nonstrategic" and said it will report a €54 million gain on its 2007 balance sheet and a €38 million gain in 2008.
Vinci, a French construction and services company, confirmed the purchase of a 3.3% stake in Aeroports de Paris. ADP initiated an IPO in June 2006 but the French state still holds 68.4%.
Fischer Advanced Composite Components announced delivery of the passenger cabin for the ARJ21. Components include ceiling and sidewall panels, hat racks, cockpit dividers and other equipment. Final assembly will take place in Shanghai later this year.
Finnair Technical Services reached an eight-year, €200 million ($291.7 million) deal with Aeroflot Cargo to provide airframe, engine and component MRO services for its MD-11s. Aeroflot Cargo is FTS's largest customer outside Finnair Group. Approximately one-quarter of FTS's annual turnover comes from third parties. Finnair has sold its two owned MD-11s to SU Cargo, which will operate six of the type next year.
LET THERE BE NO DOUBT: EUROPE'S HIGH-SPEED TRAINS are on a mission to increase their competitive clout over their counterparts in the air. Last summer, seven HST operators announced the formal creation of Railteam, a marketing partnership mirroring the well-established airline alliances (see box, p. 42).
Social networking was undoubtedly the hot trend of the year, at least according to the people who plan travel industry conference agendas. The travel industry is still grappling with how to monetize the huge and amorphous phenomenon. "Two-thirds of online customers use social media," Cindy Estis Green, managing partner of the Estis Group, said.
Commport Aerospace Services Ltd. displayed its fuel administration software, realTimeFuel, at IATA's fuel forum in Istanbul. Compatible with most hardware and management systems, the technology offers hands-on, real-time access to the fueling operation, eliminating costs associated with printed tickets, fuel sheets and data handling in reconciliation systems.
ACTS Aero Technical Support & Services, formerly Air Canada Technical Services, signed long-term material and repair contracts from GE and CFM valued at an estimated $2.5 billion. "This is the biggest contract we've ever signed with a supplier," ACTS told Airline Procurement. "It goes beyond the typical customer and supplier relationship. It is an alliance."
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.
