Ultra Electronics Airport Systems will supply and install a range of its latest airport information systems at Minneapolis-St. Paul, including UltraCuse, UltraSeats, UltraSelfService, UltraFIDS, UltraResource (resource allocation) and UltraDB (airport operational database). ARINC certified the compact IER 918 CUSS check-in kiosk for operation with ARINC's enhanced SelfServ CUSS kiosk platform.
US Transportation Security Administration announced that 22 US carriers have 30 days to arrange payment of a combined $219 million in back security fees, Bloomberg News reported. Money owed is to cover the January 2005-March 2007 period, TSA said. Airlines owing the most are Southwest ($54 million), American ($40 million), Delta ($32 million) and US Airways ($18 million), Bloomberg said. Air Transport Assn. told the news service that it intends to challenge the order and will go through the courts if necessary.
Correction: ATWOnline reported that Airbus was set to announce the adoption of an all-composite fuselage barrel for the A350 XWB at next week's Paris Air Show. This report was based on very recent conversations with multiple sources, whose accuracy and insights heretofore we have had no reason to question. However, based on subsequent information received from Airbus, we accept that this report was inaccurate and that Airbus does not intend to adopt an all-composite barrel for the A350. ATWOnline regrets the error.
Vodafone Spain and Spanair signed a partnership agreement launching a "two-dimensional code system that will enable passengers to receive their boarding card on their mobile phone and proceed directly to security and boarding."
EU transport ministers issued a joint statement Friday saying that any airline operating flights to or within the EU must participate in the European emissions trading scheme, which European carriers have warned would hit bottom lines hard and the US government and IATA have said would be in violation of international aviation agreements ( ATW, February).
Continental Airlines estimated that May consolidated RASM fell 0.5%-1.5% year-over-year, although mainline unit revenue is estimated to have risen up to 1%. CO flew 8.14 billion consolidated RPMs during the month, up 6.4% from the year-ago month, as domestic traffic rose 8.9% and international grew 7.3%. Capacity climbed 5.8% to 9.98 billion ASMs on a 8.2% domestic rise and a 6.2% international increase. Consolidated load factor was up 0.5 point to 81.5%.
Domodedovo Airlines reported a RUB495.6 million ($19.2 million) net loss in 2006, nearly double its deficit in the prior year, Russia's AK&M reported. Revenues rose 27.4% to RUB7.6 billion. Domodedovo operates 15 IL-62s and five IL-96-300s.
Ryanair's plans to launch inflight mobile phones in cooperation with OnAir ( ATWOnline, Aug. 31, 2006) have been delayed by four months as regulatory approval has taken longer than expected, the Irish Independent confirmed. The system has approval from relevant Irish authorties, but a handful of other countries, mainly in Scandinavia, have yet to agree. CEO Michael O'Leary last week conceded that the new system will not be running until November at the earliest.
Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil said the carrier is investing heavily in growth as it prepares to join Star Alliance next year. "We are adding about 20 new aircraft this year and will reach a fleet size of 100 by the end of 2007," he told ATWOnline. New aircraft and onboard product upgrades are part of THY's effort to upgrade its image. It also will increase its advertising spend considerably. Kotil said it has budgeted $50 million for advertising this year and $70 million in 2008.
Lufthansa Flight Training this week commissioned one of the first certified Mechtronix FFS X NZFT (nonzero flight time) 737NG simulators at its Berlin training center. The simulator, LFT's first Level B, will be 75%-90% dedicated to TUIfly, according to Manager-Communications Patrick Meschenmoser, who said LFT's decision to acquire the device, which has a bit less capability than a Level D, is in line with the evolution toward more targeted training solutions.
Ryanair is launching an effort to generate revenue through inflight advertising on seatbacks and overhead luggage bins. It signed a contract with Inviseo Media to sell seatback advertising on five aircraft and a deal with Fourth Edition to sell ads on overhead bins. "Passengers will benefit. . .because these revenues will help keep our fares the lowest in Europe," COO and Deputy CEO Michael Cawley said.
British Airways adopted Amadeus Flex Pricer, which provides customers booking connecting flights with the ability to see prices across a seven-day calendar and price comparisons across the airline's range of cabins and services. BA signed a three-year deal following a six-month trial that resulted in a 50% increase in the number of connecting journeys booked on its website, Amadeus said.
Finnair Cargo said yesterday that it is reorganizing its operations by separating its cargo terminal and cargo company business functions from each other as part of an effort to increase capacity at Helsinki Vantaa. "We need a great deal more space for the needs of our growing Asian traffic," MD Antero Lahtinen said. "Cargo's local terminal operations and, on the other hand, the global airfreight operations and competition environment differ from each other greatly."
AirAsia signed an MOU with GSA Leisure Cargo for the management of cargo operations on regional routes originating in Kuala Lumpur. AirAsia projects the deal will generate MYR1 million ($292,575) in revenue per month.
Oneworld's seven member carriers enjoyed a 10% increase in revenues from alliance fares and sales activities to $675 million last year, two-thirds of which was classified as money the airlines earned thanks to their membership, the alliance said. Revenue from corporate sales climbed nearly 66% while approximately 8 million passengers--one in every 30--transferred between member carrier flights. Revenue generated from those transfers rose 5% to around $2 billion, or 3.5% of members' total passenger turnover. Savings generated by joint procurement totaled nearly $300 million.
EasyJet said it expects unit revenue to decline 5%-10% in the second fiscal semester ending Sept. 30 as it continues "to offer low fares throughout the summer to ensure great deals for our customers and high load factors." It is forecasting a 5% decline in nonfuel CASK, allowing it to maintain its forecast of a 40%-50% year-over-year increase in pre-tax profit. It transported 3.3 million passengers in May, up 13.8% from the year-ago month, as load factor dipped 0.3 point to 83.6%.
SITA was selected by TAM to provide a comprehensive IP-based telephony architecture and LAN environment across 92 global sites under a five-year, $6.6 million contract.
TAP Portugal's acquisition of PGA Portugalia Airlines ( ATWOnline, Nov. 8, 2006) has been cleared by the country's competition authority, AdC, which last month imposed seven conditions on the merger, including a limitation of frequencies between Lisbon and Porto in order to open the route to competing carriers. TAP paid approximately €140 million for PGA following several years of on-again-off-again negotiations and said it aims to integrate the two airlines fully by the end of September.
Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulov stressed again this week that SU wants to win the Italian government's auction to buy Alitalia and that he has no plans to drop out of the bidding. "Of course we want to have AZ. But this is a very tough process," he said ( ATWOnline, June 4). He said Aeroflot has the experience necessary to rebuild Alitalia as a result of its own restructuring. He also said it is becoming more important for the Russian airline to invest in Europe.
Inclusion of aviation into the EU emissions trading scheme as outlined in the European Commission's December proposal would reduce collective airline profits by €9.5-€40.5 billion ($12.83-$54.71 billion) during the 2011-22 period, according to a study by Ernst & Young and York Aviation conducted on behalf of a group of aviation organizations including the Assn. of European Airlines.
Delta Air Lines flew 10.08 billion system RPMs in May, up 5.9% from the year-ago month, as domestic traffic rose 2.9% and international climbed 12.8%. Capacity was up 0.6% to 12.48 billion ASMs on a 4.8% domestic decline and a 13.1% international increase. Load factor grew 4.1 points to 80.8%, climbing 6.1 points to 81.9% domestically and dipping 0.2 point to 78.5% internationally.
British Airways flew 9.3 billion RPKs in May, a 2.1% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity dipped 0.1% to 12.7 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.5 points to 73.3%. Southwest Airlines flew 6.27 billion RPMs in May, up 5.2% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 9.2% to 8.47 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 2.8 points to 74%.
Northwest Airlines announced the following executive changes: Executive VP-International, Alliances & Information Technology and Chairman-NWA Cargo Phil Haan resigned effective July 31; Executive VP and CFO Neal Cohen was named executive VP-strategy and international and CEO-regional airlines; Senior VP-Finance and Controller Dave Davis will succeed Cohen; CIO Theresa Wise was promoted to senior VP and CIO. TAP Portugal CEO Fernando Pinto was named chairman of the IATA board of governors yesterday at the AGM.
