British Airways will launch service from London Gatwick to Port of Spain (thrice-weekly via Barbados aboard 777s), Dresden (daily aboard 737s) and Sarajevo (thrice-weekly aboard 737s) from March. At the same time, it will suspend flights from LGW to Athens, Kiev, Newcastle and Riga. BA reached a codeshare agreement with Caribbean Airlines, which will place its code on BA flights to Port of Spain, Barbados and Antigua. Separately, BA flew 9.58 billion RPKs in October, a 1.1% increase over the year-ago month.
Air India started construction on a INR500 million ($11.1 million) maintenance base at Thiruvananthapuram Airport. The 15 acres of land was transferred to the carrier by the Kerala government free of charge. Construction is scheduled to be completed in mid-2008. The base will service primarily 737-800s operated by Air India Express.
Frontier Airlines flew 669.3 million RPMs in October, a 15.4% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 14.1% to 920.9 million ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 72.7%. Separately, Frontier named Dennis Crabtree VP-safety and security.
Airbus will boost production of A320 family aircraft to 36 per month from the current 30 over the next two years, Reuters reported. It had intended to produce 34 per month by the second quarter of 2008.
American Airlines said it has equipped more than 365 self-service kiosks with passport readers to allow international self-service check-in, with more to come.
Gol 737-800/ExcelAire Legacy 600 accident investigators released a report last week indicating that the Legacy pilots, who have been detained at a Rio de Janeiro hotel since the September collision ( ATWOnline, Oct. 10), attempted to contact Brasilia air traffic control 19 times in the 8 min. prior to the crash without success. The report was translated from Portuguese by Newsday and indicates that ATC and the aircraft lost contact with each other repeatedly during the 54 min.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority, in a move that likely will have more of a symbolic effect than a practical one, yesterday announced it will stop regulating long-haul fares after 30 years "because of greater competition in the airline market." CAA said that in recent years it has focused on "a very small subset of fares on a shrinking number of mainly long-haul routes...paid by what the CAA perceived to be 'captive' passengers," such as those working for a small business or traveling due to an emergency.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 6.02 billion RPKs in October, a 9.1% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.8% to 7.58 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 3.1 points to 79.4%.
Lufthansa Technik is offering an Oil Smell Detection Service to eliminate unconfirmed engine or APU removals following oil smells in the cabin. The tool, for which a patent is pending, allows rapid on-wing diagnosis and spares a carrier the associated costs of removing an intact engine. "Every engine dismantled costs the operator at least $350,000 in expenses for C check, transport, capital cost and minor shop visit.
WestJet will operate seasonal Halifax-Tampa service weekly from March 13 to May 1. It also will add frequencies from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Nassau Jan. 8-April 28. WestJet flew 826.3 million RPMs in October, up 24% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 22% to 1.1 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.4 points to 74.9%.
Norwegian is taking SAS Braathens back to court, this time in an attempt to secure financial damages, according to press reports. Braathens was acquitted in a September criminal trial of illegally accessing Norwegian's reservations system ( ATWOnline, June 14) but paid a NOK400,000 ($62,300) fine for misusing confidential business information. Norwegian now wants a civil court to award further damages.
The Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines slammed aviation service providers, highlighting a lack of transparency and excessive pricing for their services. AAPA DG Andrew Herdman told delegates and media at the organization's Assembly of Presidents in Osaka that aviation service providers should "adopt transparent, fair and reasonable user charges in accordance with ICAO principles."
Air Transport Assn. promoted Director-Government Affairs Marc Gonzales to VP-congressional affairs. President and CEO James May said Gonzales "has made great contributions in shaping public policy."
British Airways yielded to union concerns over its effort to raise the normal retirement age to 65 from 55 for aircrew and 60 for ground staff as part of a series of concessions required to tackle the £2.1 billion deficit in the New Airways Pension Scheme ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16). "The airline has now included the option of a normal retirement age of 60 in return for increased contribution rates," BA said.
Alitalia flew 3.4 billion RPKs in October, up 2.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.7% to 4.51 billion ASKs and load factor improved 0.7 point 75.3%.
Vueling Airlines expects to lose €7.1 million ($9.1 million) this year but to post profits of €24.2 million in 2007 and €36.2 million in 2008, according to a regulatory filing and IPO prospectus cited by press reports.
Finnair Technical Services and LOT Polish Airlines signed an agreement for the overhaul of eight ATR 72 landing gear sets on aircraft operated by the carrier's EuroLOT subsidiary.
Regional Express Holdings, which operates as Rex, posted a A$5.7 million profit in the first fiscal quarter, up 46% from the year-ago period, and raised its FY forecast to a 20% year-over-year increase in net profit. First-quarter passenger numbers grew 20%, load factor rose 3 points to 68% and passenger revenue surged 22.3%. Costs climbed 8.5%.
TAP Maintenance & Engineering is working to become a significant third-party player in South America following its acquisition of VEM-Varig Engineering and Maintenance earlier this year ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4). TAP, which led the consortium that purchased the Brazilian company, invested €20 million in the recently renamed VEM Maintenance & Engineering, in which it holds a 51.1% stake.
Lufthansa Systems said Asiana Airlines selected the Lido Operations Center and Lido Briefing solutions in a five-year deal to support its flight planning processes. The agreement extends the existing cooperation between Asiana and LHS covering revenue accounting and MRO management.
Net income for the 17 member airlines of the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines plummeted 69% to $1.2 billion for the 2005-06 fiscal year against an increase of 11.3%, 2.3 points above the global average, in operating revenue to $68.1 billion. Meanwhile, operating costs surged 15.9%, 7 points above the global average. The main culprit was fuel costs, which jumped 43% to $18.8 billion.
US Airways' bid to acquire bankrupt Delta Air Lines raises questions about the future of the regional airlines that have service agreements with the mainline carriers and compete on a number of routes.
Iberia flew 4.65 billion RPKs in October, a 4.4% rise from the year-ago month. ASKs climbed 1.4% to 5.63 billion, lifting load factor 2.3 points to an October-record 82.6%.
