Air New Zealand said March load factor rose 7 points to 79.5% on a 8.3% gain in traffic and a 1.3% fall in capacity. ANZ also said it will add a 15th leased 737 this year, a 16th in the first half of 2008, a 15th Q300 this month and a further five by December, replacing Saab 340As. Separately, it will add a fourth and fifth weekly Auckland-Adelaide flight beginning Oct. 29 aboard A320s.
Jet Airways completed its INR14.5 billion ($344 million) acquisition of Air Sahara ( ATWOnline, April 17) Friday with a INR4 billion payment for the remaining shares. Jet appointed a management team led by Garry Kingshott to manage Sahara's transition to a wholly owned subsidiary called JetLite.
A three-day US-India "aviation partnership summit" that kicks off today in New Delhi will focus on how FAA can help India cope with explosive air transport growth, as well as relations between the countries and future infrastructure development, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said.
Aer Lingus flew 1.12 billion RPKs in March, a 9.5% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity was up 12.9% to 1.48 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 2.3 points to 75.5%. Air Berlin transported 1.7 million passengers in March, up 13.6% from the year-ago month. Load factor rose 2.3 points to 74%.
European Commission announced Friday the postponement of its rule on limiting the size of carry-on baggage to May 2008, "as more time is needed to reassess the advantages and disadvantages [the rules] entail, notably regarding air security and passengers' comfort." Last fall it passed a series of security measures, one of which would limit the size of cabin baggage to 56x45x25 cm. ( ATWOnline, Sept. 29, 2006).
Northwest Airlines announced that Chairman Gary Wilson will step down from the board when the company emerges from bankruptcy later this spring, ending an 18-year association with the airline that began when Wilson and former Co-chairman Al Checchi led an investment group that carried out a leveraged buyout of NWA in 1989. Wilson had served as sole chairman since 1997. He will be succeeded by Roy Bostock, a board member since 2005.
WestJet pushed back its negotiating deadline with Travelport by two months to July 31 to agree to new contract terms on the delayed installation of the aiRES system that the carrier had planned to use to facilitate interlining with other airlines ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12). The Canadian LCC said in statement that it has "made progress" with Travelport as it "works toward an amended contract."
Aeroflot transported 604,500 passengers in March, up 23.4% from the year-ago month. Traffic grew 20.5% to 1.86 billion RPKs and load factor was 67.2%. Alitalia flew 3.04 billion RPKs in March, up 6.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity was static at 4.36 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 4.5 points to 69.8%. Mesa Air Group airlines flew 630.2 million RPMs in March, up 3.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.3% to 801.3 million ASMs and load factor climbed 0.9 point to 78.7%.
Japan Transocean Air, part of JAL Group, ordered 10 firm CFM56-3 Advanced Upgrade kits valued at approximately $15 million, plus 20 options. JTA currently operates five engines equipped with the Advanced Upgrade. CFM said the new order with the options, which began delivery in the first quarter, will enable the airline to upgrade the majority of its CFM56-3s by 2010.
Boeing Commercial Aviation Services said Air Pacific is the launch customer for its 737NG "landing gear overhaul and exchange program." The touch work will be done by members of the Boeing Service Center Repair Network. Boeing said it will allocate "a number" of 737NG landing gear shipsets to support future customers. Separately, BCAS said it signed Spirit AeroSystems, the former Boeing Wichita, to repair and overhaul nacelles for 777s and 737NGs as part of the Boeing Component Repair and Leasing Services Network Service Center program,
Japan Airlines repainted a 777-200ER in oneworld livery and began flying the aircraft this week on routes to Europe. It will unveil a 777-300 in oneworld livery for domestic routes on April 30. JAL joined the alliance this month ( ATWOnline, April 3).
International Registry of Mobile Assets, an outgrowth of the Cape Town Convention and Protocol, said it registered 18,000 objects (airframes, engines and helicopters) in its first year of existence through Feb. 28. Some 39,600 interests were registered against those objects. The Registry, which is "an essential part of the Cape Town architecture," is expected to grow as more countries ratify the Convention. To date, 16 nations have signed the treaty, which is intended to provide creditors involved in international financial transactions with greater security.
Lufthansa Technik reached agreement with Virgin America on a 10-year contract valued at more than $250 million to provide total material operations and line maintenance support for the San Francisco-based startup. Under the contract, LHT will establish central component and supplies depots at SFO and New York JFK and in the future will operate similar depots at other airports as VA's network grows.
American Eagle named Dave Campbell senior VP-technical operations and Cathy Jacobs VP-people dept. Campbell was VP-base maintenance at AA's Alliance Fort Worth and Kansas City bases and Jacobs was VP-employee relations.
Air France signed an LOI with the Costa Crociere cruise company that will increase the number of seats on AF flights reserved for Costa customers and provide for "long-term plans to guarantee greater flexibility in terms of bookings and flight availability for Costa guests." AF expects to transport 28,000 Costa customers during the next winter season.
PT Bhakti Investama, an Indonesian investment firm, acquired a 50% stake in Adam Air parent Adam Skyconnection Airlines, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reported. Price was not disclosed.
Goodrich Corp. yesterday unveiled Prime Solutions, a full-service nacelle system aftermarket MRO program that it said "will give airline customers the option of no longer having to invest in nacelle maintenance infrastructure."
Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect flew 403.8 million RPMs in March, up 8.1% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 6.3% to 494.1 million ASMs and load factor increased 1.4 points to 81.7%. Spanair flew 694 million RPKs in March, a 17.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 9.5% to 1.04 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 4.5 points to 66.6%. Pinnacle Airlines flew 386.8 million RPMs in March, up 8.5% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 9.2% to 508.3 million ASMs and load factor fell 0.5 point to 76.1%.
CSA Czech Airlines carried 1.1 million passengers in the first three months of 2007, up 5.2% from the year-ago quarter. More than 90% of those passengers flew CSA's scheduled services with the most popular destinations being Paris Charles de Gaulle, Moscow Sheremetyevo, Amsterdam, Madrid and Dublin. It took delivery of eight A320 family aircraft during the quarter, a ninth last week and will take its final new aircraft of 2007, an A319, this week.
Delta TechOps yesterday announced major deals with Pratt & Whitney and regional partner Mesa Air Group, plus tentative agreements with engine suppliers and parts makers. The contract with Mesa is a 12-year deal worth approximately $300 million to support Mesa's CF34s. Delta said its TechOps division now manages Mesa's entire engine fleet and will provide on-site program management at its Phoenix base. Mesa MRO Services Director Gary Appling said TechOps will furnish MRO, on-wing planning, engineering, ECTM, and reliability and engine shop planning.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines announced the launch of SAS.mobi, a version of its website available on mobile phones that offers check-in, flight status, timetables, loyalty program access and other features. The site was created by Adimo of Sweden.
Aeroflot yesterday said it posted a RUB7.9 billion ($306.3 million) profit in 2006, which would mark a 31% increase over 2005 earnings of RUB6.03 billion and was the company's second revision of its full-year performance. In late February it said it earned RUB6.98 billion ( ATWOnline, March 1) and it claimed a RUB7.3 billion profit in an April 10 statement.
Australian Communications and Media Authority yesterday approved an inflight cellular communication trial on one Qantas aircraft for up to 12 months and said it will consider "the potential for permanent regulatory arrangements for the service" once it collects and analyzes results from the evaluation program ( ATWOnline, Aug. 29, 2006). "The granting of permissions for the evaluation service is the culmination of many months of work aimed at facilitating an industry need," ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman said.
US FAA yesterday announced that Indonesia "does not comply with international safety standards set by ICAO" and lowered the country's safety rating to Category 2, ruling that it is "no longer overseeing the safety of its airlines in accordance with international standards." The US State Dept.
