Qantas will establish an independent flight training business by year end with the aim of training 3,000 new pilots over the next 10 years. "We are in discussion with leading simulator manufacturers, aviation training organizations and financial partners," CEO Geoff Dixon said. The training company initially will operate from existing QF training facilities in Sydney and Melbourne.
South African Airways' restructuring program, which is aiming for revenue improvement/cost reduction of ZAR2.7 billion ($378 million) by the end of 2008, is moving ahead rapidly, CEO Khaya Ngqula told Business in Africa. He said losses in the second half of its fiscal year ended March 31 were about ZAR200 million, not as steep as some had projected and reduced from a loss of ZAR652 million in the first fiscal semester.
Southwest Airlines flew 6.83 billion RPMs in June, up 11% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 8.7% to 8.32 billion ASMs and load factor was up 1.7 points to 82.1%. Gol flew 1.61 billion RPKs in June, up 30.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 47.3% to 2.35 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 8.7 points to 68.6%.
Spring Airlines plans a stock listing to finance the acquisition of six A320s in 2009 ( ATWOnline, June 29), President Wang Zenghua announced. The LCC also plans to reach a deal with an international investment bank as a strategic investor next year, preferring an institution over another airline as it holds fast to its "go it alone" strategy. Wang said Citibank is Spring's first choice and the parties already are in discussions. He said the carrier's biggest headache at present is a shortage of pilots.
S7 Airlines said it recorded net profit of RUB61 million ($2.4 million) for 2006, down 44.5% from a net profit of RUB1.1 billion in the prior year, on a 27% increase in revenue to RUB24.97 billion. Passengers carried rose 16.4% to 4.9 million.
Boeing delivered a second 737-800 to Babcock & Brown for lease to transavia.com's new Paris Orly-based sister carrier, bringing the number of -800s in its fleet to four. The French low-fare carrier ( ATWOnline, June 1), owned jointly by Transavia (40%) and Air France (60%), launched operations in May and plans to add three more -800s next year and two in 2009. The aircraft are configured in a 186-seat all-economy layout.
Skyways Aviation announced the arrangement of an ATR 72 lease to Jat Airways. Aircraft will be leased for four years from ATR Leasing. It is Jat's fifth ATR 72.
Indonesia and ICAO yesterday signed a "groundbreaking declaration" in Bali under which Indonesia committed to wide-ranging initiatives to improve the safety of its civil aviation system. The deal comes after the EU banned all Indonesian airlines from flying into its airspace ( ATWOnline, July 2).
Lufthansa said it will shift its daily 44-seat all-business-class flights to Frankfurt-Newark from the current Munich-EWR route beginning Oct. 28. It will operate a three-class A330-300 on MUC-EWR "to accommodate increased demand in all categories on the route." The FRA-EWR flights will be aboard a wet-leased PrivatAir BBJ. The 44 lie-flat seats "provide a near-horizontal sleeping surface measuring 6-ft. 6-in. long," LH said.
Denim Air of the Netherlands signed a five-year contract with Fokker Services for an integrated services package for the support of five F50s. The package includes the Abacus Component Availability Program as well as an expendables availability program and propeller and landing gear MRO.
GE Aviation last week signed a 10-year OnPoint Solutions services agreement with easyJet covering the CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B engines powering its fleet of 192 A319s and 32 737-700s respectively. The accord, which could cover as many as 340 shop visits, potentially is valued at $1 billion.
Air Deccan took delivery of its 20th new A320 last week, bringing its total fleet to 44 aircraft. The A320 will seat 180 in a single class and be the eighth based in Kolkata. Deccan will introduce a new flight to Vishakapatnam starting July 10.
Gulf Air, which is in the midst of an extensive restructuring ( ATWOnline, April 18), revealed a "new network" based on a "wave model" designed to schedule flights to maximize connection possibilities for Middle East business travelers. "Our restructuring plan seeks to put in place an efficient network that improves punctuality, reduces the transit time between connecting flights and provides a range of travel options," President and CEO Andre Dose said. The Bahrain-based carrier will operate 588 weekly flights.
Hawaiian Airlines promoted VP-E-commerce Rick Peterson to VP-marketing and sales. Rolls-Royce Canada named Michel Toutant president and COO, replacing retired Pierre Racine. Toutant has served as VP-strategic operations for R-R Energy Solutions since 2006 and previously held a number of positions with R-R Canada, including VP and GM-gas turbines.
CAAC officially approved the launch of the Tianjin-based joint venture cargo airline to be owned and operated by Chinese logistics firm Sinotrans and Korean Air. The new entity has a registered capital of $65 million, in which Sinotrans Air Transportation Development Co. holds a 51% stake with an investment of $33.15 million. KE invested $16.25 million for a 25% stake. Minority shareholders are Hana Capital Co. (13%) and Shinhan Capital (11%).
News from Travel Technology Update: The Star Alliance's Alternative Content Access Platform initiative, launched two years ago with the aims of harnessing modern technology and reducing distribution costs for alliance members, is dormant. The Star Alliance signed letters of intent with G2 Switchworks, ITA Software and Lufthansa Systems to develop the ACAP project. But the alliance said recent changes in the distribution landscape "have delayed the implementation process of alternative distribution solutions."
GKN Aerospace completed acquisition of Teleflex Aerospace Manufacturing Group. According to GKN, the amalgamation creates a market-leading supplier to the aero-engine sector and takes aero-engine products to approximately 25% of GKN Aerospace total revenues.
The Indonesian airline industry was dealt a blow by the European Commission, which reportedly has banned all 51 registered Indonesian carriers from operating into the EU. While no Indonesian airlines currently fly to EU member states, an EU spokesperson warned that "European citizens should avoid flying with these carriers. They are really unsafe," in a statement cited by The Times of London.
Precision Conversions received a 757-200PCF order from DHL. The ex-VIM Airlines aircraft will be modified at Flightstar Aircraft Services in Jacksonville and will be redelivered in October. It is owned by DHL's European Air Transport but is expected to be operated by Blue Dart Aviation in Chennai.
