US Airways said the 600 new self-service kiosks it promised to install in the wake of first-quarter operational difficulties ( ATWOnline, April 27) will come from Kinetics and will be deployed at the 107 airports US serves domestically and in the Caribbean. The agreement with Kinetics includes a three-year maintenance provision. The replacement kiosks will be installed from mid-June through September.
WestJet announced that Executive VP-Culture and co-Founder Don Bell will retire effective July 2. Bell has been chairman of the Air Transport Assn. of Canada since November 2005.
Aviareps and its Airline Centre subsidiary will take over all future sales and marketing activity for Air Italy in Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain and the UK.
A J Walter Aviation signed a new power-by-the-hour parts and MRO agreement with Air Moldova for its A320 fleet. Contract runs for in excess of three years.
Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen now is a member of the Airbus Spares repair station network, offering structure and composite repairs for Airbus proprietary parts in Asia.
Brussels Airlines is talking with Mauritius about establishing a local airline, the carrier confirmed Monday. The project is part of the carrier's strategy to expand its African network, which includes adding new destinations, increasing direct flights and frequencies and participating in local airlines ( ATWOnline, May 24).
GE Aviation Materials, a joint venture between GE Aviation and Snecma that provides used serviceable aircraft engine and related spare parts, will open distribution centers and sales offices in Singapore and Amsterdam, complementing its Dallas facility. The 30,000-sq.-ft. Singapore center is scheduled to open in July while the 50,000-sq.-ft. Amsterdam center will open in August
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon yesterday released a statement saying that the airline "believed" the level of foreign ownership did not exceed the 49% permitted under Australian law, but QF admitted that "reconciliation of its shareholding, despite extensive monitoring, [has been] extremely difficult" in the wake of Airline Partners Australia's failed takeover bid ( ATWOnline, May 18).
Component Control said AeroTurbine, a subsidiary of AerCap, selected its Quantum Control ERP software to manage its aircraft and engine aftermarket parts sales, maintenance, repair and overhaul operations.
Singapore Airlines' and Temasek's acquisition of a 25%, $930 million equity stake in China Eastern Airlines is close to being finalized, with regulatory approval from Beijing expected within a week ( ATWOnline, May 24). Final structure of the deal still may be altered somewhat owing to regulatory concerns within the Chinese government, sources in Singapore said.
Midwest Airlines will reconfigure and add seats to its fleet of MD-80s and 717s in an $8 million project it estimates will generate up to $35 million in annual incremental revenue. Passengers will have the choice between Signature service featuring a 2-2 layout previously available only on the 717 and Saver, a 2-3 layout previously offered only on the MD-80. The MD-80s will have 12 Signature and 132 Saver seats while the 717s will move to a mix of 40 Signatures and 59 Savers.
Qantas unveiled an expansion of its international network that likely will include an order for 20 additional 787s, CEO Geoff Dixon said. New frequencies/routes announced this week are: A fifth weekly Sydney-Shanghai Pudong flight starting in August; a new twice-weekly Melbourne-PVG service aboard A330s, two additional Brisbane-Los Angeles flights on 747-400s (increasing the service to daily) and one additional Sydney-LAX flight, all in March 2008; a new 747-400 service to Santiago and an additional weekly SYD-Johannesburg flight beginning in November 2008.
Air Canada named Executive VP and CCO Sean Menke executive VP-commercial strategy, focusing on long-term strategy and the implementation of AC's new Polaris reservation system. Air Canada Vacations President and CEO Benjamin Smith was named executive VP-commercial, succeeding Menke.
SAS Sverige planned to operate its full schedule today after the Swedish Salaried Employees Union, which represents approximately 800 SAS cabin staff, reached a labor agreement with the airline late Monday. The deal will apply March 1, 2007-April 30, 2010, and "is in line with the level applicable in the Swedish labor market, that is, 10.3% over 38 months," SAS said.
Thales was selected by Sichuan Airlines to supply and support two Level D full flight simulators to be installed in a soon-to-be-built Sichuan Airlines training center in Chengdu. Also ordered was an A320 Thales Formation Systems Trainer. Thales valued the contract at in excess of $20 million.
Air Line Pilots Assn. will contribute $2 million to support the efforts of Pinnacle Airlines pilots who have been in contract negotiations with the carrier since February 2005. A mediator from the National Mediation Board has guided talks since last August.
Snecma Services and Airfoil Technologies International formed Propulsion Technologies International. The joint venture will be located in the Miami facility previously known as Propulsion Technology LLC. PTI will provide component repair services focusing on "major rotating assemblies, booster vanes, cases and frame repairs." Messier Services announced landing gear MRO contracts covering Airbus equipment (A300, A320 family and A330) with four airlines: Aer Lingus, Monarch, bmi and My Travel. A total of 60 aircraft are included. Work will be done by Messier Services France.
European Cargo Services acquired a stake in Africa West Cargo Airlines, the GSA network announced yesterday without disclosing details on the size of the shareholding or the purchase price. ECS said it believes this is the first time a GSA has invested in an airline. Africa West operates three An-12 freighters out of Lome to 14 destinations in West and Central Africa, offering some 160 tonnes of capacity per week. It feeds its African network with twice-weekly flights from Ostend.
SAS Sverige announced the cancellation of flights to, from and within Sweden Saturday owing to a cabin staff strike launched Friday ( ATWOnline, May 25).
Luxair, which comprises the airline, a tour operator and a cargo handling division, posted a 2006 net profit of €16.9 million ($22.7 million), more than the triple the €5.5 million earned in 2005. Revenues increased 2.4% to €333.5 million. The airline division managed to halve its 2005 loss, the company said, although the figure was not released.
Ural Airlines reported a net loss of RUB91.2 million ($3.5 million) in the first quarter compared to a RUB63.3 million deficit in the year-ago period, Russia's AK&M reported. Revenue climbed 17.9% to RUB1.13 billion.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.82 billion RPMs in April, a 4.2% increase from the year-ago month, as domestic traffic declined 0.6% and international surged 17.3%. Capacity fell 0.7% to 12.06 billion ASMs on a 7.3% drop in domestic ASMs and a 17.1% climb in international. System load factor rose 3.9 points to 81.5%--domestic was up 5.6 points to 82.8% and international 0.1 point to 78.6%. Alitalia flew 3.26 billion RPKs in April, down 0.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.7% to 4.3 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.2 point to 75.6%.
