Japan Airlines announced that its JAL Premium Economy cabin will be introduced beginning Dec. 1 on its daily Tokyo Narita-London Heathrow service. It will be added on flights to Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle next year, "followed by the expansion of the new service onto US and other Europe[ean] routes," JAL said. The product will feature what the airline called the world's first shell-shaped premium economy seat with 97-cm. pitch, a business class amenity kit and enhanced food service. Forty-four seats in 2-4-2 configuration will be available on 777-300ERs and 40 on 777-200ERs.
Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion warned yesterday in a letter to pilots that those who "fail to confirm your willingness to unreservedly engage in your full range of duties" related to EI's new Belfast base will be suspended from the payroll from the morning of Oct. 16.
Northwest Airlines will pre-fund the financing of 27 76-seat E-175LRs with $454 million in secured public aircraft financing structured with Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JPMorgan were joint bookrunners. Aircraft will be operated by NWA subsidiary Compass Airlines.
AWAS delivered the second of four 767-300ERs to Gol this week. Aircraft will be operated by VRG Linheas Aereas, the new Varig that now is a Gol subsidiary. Two further 767s will be delivered over the next six months. AWAS also finalized the acquisition of an A321 to Livingston S.p.a. from Bank of China Aviation. Livingston is the Italian leisure carrier owned by Ventaglio Group, AWAS said.
AerCap Holdings announced that AerVenture, a joint venture with LoadAir and AI Fawares ( ATWOnline, Feb. 3, 2006), will lease six new A320-200s to Aeroflot for 10 years. The CFM56-powered aircraft will be delivered to the Russian carrier between July 2008 and March 2009. Aeroflot Head of Fleet Planning and Aircraft Procurement Sergei Koltovich said the carrier's new partnership with AerVenture "should develop into a truly long-term relationship."
Cargo B Airlines, the new Belgian cargo carrier commencing operations this week out of Brussels, signed a five-year deal with CHAMP Cargosystems for the provision and hosting of business applications including eCHAMP, a cargo management system to manage the end-to-end cargo process.
Delta Air Lines named Comair President Don Bornhorst senior VP-Delta Connection, putting him in charge of the daily operations of nine partner carriers. He replaces Wayne Aaron, who will return to his role as VP-strategic planning and business development, DL said. Former Song head John Selvaggio will take over for Bornhorst at Comair.
Tiger Airways opened its new terminal at Melbourne Tullamarine in addition to initiating a fare war, with transcontinental routes such as MEL-Perth going on sale for A$39.95 ($35.90) and flights from MEL to Gold Coast running A$19.95. CEO Tony Davis told media in Melbourne that 15,000 seats will be available at those fare levels. Tiger will launch domestic services next month in Australia with five A320s ( ATWOnline, July 18).
CAE is introducing a new subscription-based service called CAE True Airport designed to "keep its customers' visual databases current with constantly changing airport environments."
British Airways flew 9.76 billion RPKs in September, down 0.7% from the year-ago month, against a 0.3% increase in ASKs to 12.46 billion that lowered load factor 0.8 point to 78.3%. Southwest Airlines flew 5.64 billion RPMs in September, an 8.6% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 7.8% to 8.34 billion ASMs and load factor lifted 0.5 point to 67.7%. Finnair flew 1.73 billion RPKs in September, up 16.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 18.6% to 2.31 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.1 points to 75%.
SR Technics opened a new 1,400-sq.-m. component overhaul workshop facility near Madrid Barajas. The shop initially will focus on wheels and brakes. Capacity will grow quickly to 500 wheels a month, SRT said. It opened its first Spain-based component overhaul facility at Palma de Mallorca in 1996.
Chinese carriers are beginning to follow the internationally common practice of recruiting privately trained pilots in an effort to make up for a pilot shortfall that CAAC Vice Minister Gao Hongfeng said last month will reach 2,000 over the next two years.
World Airways, a subsidiary of Global Aero Logistics, signed a one-year contract with Etihad Crystal Cargo to provide MD-11 freighter service to and from Frankfurt Hahn, Shanghai and Mumbai. Frequency of service was not announced. World was acquired by GAL last quarter ( ATWOnline, Aug. 8).
Hawaiian Airlines flew 667.7 million RPMs in September, up 21.7% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 15.1% to 760 million ASMs and load factor increased 4.8 points to 87.9%.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in his first public comments on allegations of insider trading at EADS and Airbus, said yesterday that government investigators will examine the issue thoroughly and that any executives found to have acted inappropriately should be "punished."
News from Travel Technology Update: The founder of Hotwire is back with a new venture: an application that will create a sort of "super PNR" for consumers, dramatically simplifying the management of a trip. "The simple description is that we replace the old-fashioned manila folder," Gregg Brockway, chief executive officer of TripIt, said. "Consumers are increasingly booking with suppliers, and they end up with 20 pages of printouts," he said. "We've made it easy to bring it all together in one place. We are going to drag the itinerary into the 21st century."
Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Co. broke ground on a new hangar complex at Shanghai Pudong. The S$56 million facility will be capable of handling three narrowbody and two widebody aircraft including the A380. STARCO is a joint venture of Singapore Technologies Aerospace and China Eastern Airlines. It already operates a facility at Shanghai Hongqiao with two hangars capable of handling one narrowbody and three widebodies.
Turkish Technic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkish Airlines established in May 2006, is preparing to launch an aggressive marketing campaign in mid-2008 to promote its new 200,000-sq.-m. MRO center at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen. The facility, scheduled to begin operating in 2009, will accommodate six widebody and nine narrowbody aircraft and required an investment of around $200 million, GM Ismail Demir told ATWOnline in Istanbul.
SkyEurope Airlines will sell two 737-700s scheduled for delivery this month and next for a profit of $10 million that it will use to boost its sagging financial base during the winter season, Austrian media is reporting. The company reportedly also will sell its aircraft handling unit at Budapest ( ATWOnline, Sept. 6), where it will close its base this month, for an additional €3.5 million ($4.9 million).
DR Congo President Joseph Kabila fired Transport Minister Remy Henri Kuseyo Gatanga Friday in the aftermath of last week's An-26 crash that killed at least 37 people and possibly as many as 51, both aboard the aircraft and on the ground in a heavily populated area of Kinshasa, where the aircraft plowed through a number of homes and burst into flames shortly after takeoff ( ATWOnline, Oct. 5).
Oasis Hong Kong Airlines secured a $30 million investment from funds managed by Value Partners Ltd. and affiliates, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said. Oasis currently operates three 747-400s with a fourth set to arrive this year and a fifth in early 2008. CAPA said Oasis plans to operate 14 -400s on eight routes by 2011.
Both houses of France's parliament will hold hearings this week on allegations of widespread insider trading at EADS and Airbus as lawmakers seek answers in a brewing controversy that has led to sensational headlines in European newspapers and threatens to ensnare many of Airbus's top executives.
