AJ Walter Aviation announced a partnership with Singapore-based Relaer Asia in engine leasing. Relaer will "assist AJW in the sourcing of engine assets, support negotiations with customers, manage the lease agreements and all of the logistic concerning the maintenance storage and supply of the assets."
China Eastern Airlines' negotiations with Singapore Airlines concerning the sale of a strategic stake in the mainland carrier are progressing well thanks to the support of the Chinese government, CEA President Li Fenghua revealed, although there is no fixed timetable to seal the deal. Li confirmed that SIA, or another investor, will hold no more than 25% of CEA in accordance with CAAC regulations on foreign ownership in China's airlines. He refused to give further details ( ATWOnline, May 11).
World Airways signed a one-year, $22.5 million deal to continue operating Toronto-Frankfurt MD-11 freighter flights for Air Canada, extending an agreement set to expire July 1.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines will be privatized, according to a government announcement cited by press reports. The move could happen as early as next month. The airline, which employs 4,800 people, is planning significant layoffs and projecting a BDT6.91 billion ($97.2 million) loss in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to Reuters.
Peace Air of Canada announced that it ceased operations last Friday. The regional carrier, in its fifth decade, served destinations in Alberta and British Columbia.
US Senate Commerce and Transportation Committee last week approved the FAA reauthorization bill proposed earlier in May by Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) ( ATWOnline, May 7).
MNG Technic signed an agreement with Turkmenistan Airlines to provide base maintenance services and hangar space for the carrier's 757, 737-300 and 717 fleets.
News from Travel Technology Update: There is little agreement among airlines on either side of the Atlantic on whether the European Commission's CRS Code of Conduct should be amended or abolished altogether. The airlines, along with GDS companies and organizations representing travel agencies and consumers, weighed in on the issue following a call for public consultation by the EC, which was closed on April 27.
AJ Walter Aviation received a five-year power-by-the-hour contract from Travel Service, the largest private airline company in the Czech Republic, covering its fleet of 737NGs. Nordam Group and Spirit AeroSystems reached agreement with Cathay Pacific Airways to provide overhaul services and spares support for Trent 800 thrust reversers.
Thales' TopSeries IFE system was selected by Japan Airlines for installation on the carrier's 787s, the first of which is slated to enter service next year.
SITA said it is working with Airports Authority of India to deploy an additional 17 VHF ground stations at the nation's airports, enabling Indian airlines and AAI to exchange real-time data with aircraft and allowing "increased safety and efficiency of operations." This will bring SITA's Aircom network in India to 23 stations.
US Dept. of Transportation granted final approval Friday for Virgin America to begin operations, ending a prolonged process in which the airline was forced to revise its certification application to ease concerns it would be under the influence of minority owner Virgin Group, a non-US citizen that has a 25% stake in the airline.
After several years of improved performance, British Airways Friday reported its first quarterly loss in two years as well as a 34.9% decline in consolidated net profit to £304 million ($600.8 million) for its fiscal year ended March 31, and admitted it has set aside £350 million to settle fines and claims relating to alleged price-fixing on long-haul passenger and cargo fuel surcharges.
SITA and China Southern Airlines reached an agreement under which the carrier will employ the IT service provider's integration platform to enhance its e-ticketing and global distribution capabilities. CZ CIO Hu Chenjie said SITA's solution can optimize the airline's IT capability and help it grow into one of the top carriers in Asia, noting the significance of SITA's worldwide GDS reach. CZ will link SITA's solution with the Chinese GDS monopoly run by Travelsky and other Chinese airlines.
Virgin Atlantic Airways said free Wi-Fi Internet connections will be available in all its Upper Class Clubhouse airport lounges by year end. Presently, free Wi-Fi service exists in lounges at London Heathrow, Gatwick, New York JFK, Washington Dulles and Hong Kong. The service is being extended to airport lounges in Tokyo, Boston, Newark, San Francisco and Johannesburg.
TAP Portugal plans to expand its African and Brazilian services this summer as it adds three former Austrian Airlines A330-200s to its fleet, CEO Fernando Pinto told ATWOnline in Copenhagen this week. A fourth aircraft may follow but no decision has been made ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12, 2006). Increased frequencies to Luanda, Brasilia and potential nonstop services to Maputo, Johannesburg and an eighth Brazilian destination are in the offing, Pinto said.
WestJet flew 936.5 million RPMs in April, up 23% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 16% to 1.13 billion ASMs and load factor rose 4.3 points to 82.8%.
Southwest Airlines signed a 10-year distribution agreement with Galileo, the second-largest GDS in the US, and will begin participating in the system later this year after technical work is completed.
KLM named Executive VP-Corporate Center Jan Ernst de Groot as one of three MDs effective July 5. Other MDs are new President and CEO Peter Hartman ( ATWOnline, Nov. 28) and CFO Frederic Gagey.
US FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, in a speech before this week's ICAO Colloquium on Aviation Emissions in Montreal, defended aviation's environmental record. "Frankly, there are some strange portraits of aviation today," she said. "Some see it as a rogue industry on the order of tobacco, as a greenhouse dragon that needs to be slain. . .Even people who made their fortune in the travel industry now want to place surcharges of hundreds of dollars on all flights on the theory that people just fly to fly.
