Aer Lingus will report half-year profits of just under €20 million ($25.7 million), up 27% from the €15.5 million earned in the first six months of 2005, according to Irish press reports. It is forecasting a full-year profit of €92.5 million, an increase of 7.8% from the €85.8 million earned in 2005. It reportedly attributed the first-half growth partly to a 12% increase in passengers on European routes.
UPS pilots, represented by the Independent Pilots Assn., ratified an eight-year labor agreement covering 2,775 captains, first officers and flight engineers. The 2,623 members voting approved the deal 56.5% to 43.5%. The vote ended nearly four years of negotiations. "From the beginning of the process our pilots wanted a comprehensive contract and the union wanted a contract that could keep pace with the global expansion of UPS," IPA President Tom Nicholson said.
US and Kuwait announced the signing of an open skies agreement yesterday in Kuwait City. Kuwait Airways has served the US since 1978 and United Airlines is planning to launch a thrice-weekly Washington Dulles-KWI service later this year.
Southwest Airlines promoted Senior VP-Ground Operations Greg Wells to senior VP-operations effective Sept. 1. VP-Station Operations Chris Wahlenmaier will add Wells' former title and Senior Director-Ground Operations Stations Teresa Laraba will become VP-Ground Operations, sharing duties with Wahlenmaier. Lufthansa Cargo Charter appointed Monika Houck head of global sales and customer relations.
Air Dolomiti will test a new business model and begin feeding Lufthansa's Munich hub with daily morning flights from 16 Italian destinations. According to Financial Times Deutschland, the Verona-based LH subsidiary must change its operations completely in order to fly from each destination in the morning. CEO Michael Kraus said the new model will raise operational costs 10%-15% but LH will benefit from more Italian business travelers. Kraus also said it could be possible to change Air Dolomiti's fleet to 100-seat jets.
Ryanair concluded a deal with OnAir to outfit its fleet of more than 200 737s with OnAir's onboard mobile communications solution. Subject to regulatory approval, Ryanair passengers will be able to call and send and receive text and e-mail messages using their mobile phones and PDAs. The carrier will receive a commission from OnAir on revenues generated by passengers.
EADS committed Tuesday to investing €2 billion ($2.56 billion) in India over the next 15 years, funding that will go toward providing engineering and IT services and include the establishment of a massive Airbus training, maintenance and spare parts operation. Specifically, the Airbus parent will open the EADS Technology Centre India in the 2007 second quarter. Housed in the facility will be Engineering Centre Airbus India, a 100%-owned subsidiary of Airbus that will be the biggest component of EADS' Indian investment.
Aerolineas Argentinas aircraft will sport the logo of the country's new Estrategia Marca Pais branding campaign implemented by the national tourism office and foreign affairs ministry. A 747-400 was the first aircraft to be emblazoned with the logo, which also will be featured at airports AR serves.
Hong Kong Express Airways said it received approval to fly to Chengdu, Nanning, Wuhan, Jinan and Yantai, bringing to 11 the number of cities it will serve on the Chinese mainland. CEO Andrew Tse said the new destinations are part of an expansion strategy that will see it gain access to "top tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai in the not-too-distant future." HKE flew 13,899 passengers in July aboard 377 flights.
AD Aerospace was contracted by British Airways to provide video security systems protecting baggage from theft and tampering during loading and unloading. The systems monitor the baggage hold.
Boeing yesterday named Nagpur in central India as the location of a new MRO facility intended to address growing demand for maintenance services in India. The manufacturer's commitment to invest up to $100 million in the facility was part of Air India's order for 68 aircraft ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12), which was finalized in January.
US National Transportation Safety Board issued "urgent" recommendations upon conclusion of its investigation into the uncontained CF6-80A failure in June on an American Airlines 767 parked at Los Angeles International Airport ( ATWOnline, June 15).
EADS neither confirmed nor denied reports that Vneshtorgbank, a state-owned Russian bank, has acquired a 4.5%-5% stake in Airbus's parent company. Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported yesterday that Vneshtorgbank purchased $1 billion worth of EADS shares.
MAXjet Airways will launch twice-weekly Las Vegas-London Stansted service Nov. 2. The all-business-class carrier currently operates scheduled services out of New York JFK and Washington Dulles. Earlier this month, MAXjet said it had reached "an agreement in principle" to add its fourth and fifth 767s early next year. It will introduce its third aircraft next month and said it is considering expanding into Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Embraer announced the closure of a $500 million syndicated standby facility with BNP Paribas, which the manufacturer said will reduce its debt costs. The facility comprises a $250 million trade finance credit facility and a $250 million revolver credit facility.
JetBlue Airways named System Chief Pilot Scott Green, an A320 captain, VP-flight operations effective Oct. 1. Germanwings named Thomas Winkelmann MD effective Sept 1. He formerly was VP-the Americas for Lufthansa. AerCap Group named GECAS CFO Keith Helming as its new CFO. Helming succeeds Heinrich Loechteken, who will assume the new position of chief investment officer.
CAAC announced it will double fuel surcharges on domestic flights under 800 km. to CNY60 ($7.50) per passenger and raise surcharges on flights of more than 800 km. to CNY100 from CNY60. The changes are effective Sept. 1, according to press reports
Gate Gourmet won a three-year contract to provide catering and logistics services to GB Airways. GG also signed a deal with Jetstar Airways to supply catering services on its long-haul routes beginning in November. It already supplies Jetstar's domestic routes.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines removed five of its 13 aircraft from service because it cannot afford maintenance and is cutting international flights as a result, Deputy GM Khan Mosharraf Hossain was quoted as saying by Reuters. The aircraft--two DC-10s, one A310 and two F28s--were sent abroad for service. Biman will cut frequencies on routes to Europe and Asia. It ended its New York JFK service last month. It is projecting a BDT6.91 billion ($96.3 million) loss for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. It owes BDT12 billion to Bangladesh Petroleum Corp., Reuters reported.
Midwest Air Group flew a consolidated 388.6 million RPMs in July, an 18.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 14.4% to 463.3 million ASMs and load factor rose 2.9 points to 83.9%. Yield grew an estimated 8.6% to 14.1 cents and passenger RASM was up an estimated 12.5% to 11.9 cents.
FedEx Express and pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. announced a tentative four-year labor agreement reached with the help of the National Mediation Board, which intervened in October 2005. The parties have been negotiating since 2004 and said the deal "is subject to review and finalization of contract language." Details of the agreement were not released.
Air Canada named Senior Director Daniel Shurz VP-network planning. He succeeds Benjamin Smith, new president and CEO of Air Canada Vacations. Also, Senior Director-Strategic Marketing Charlie McKee was named VP-marketing.
Qantas announced yesterday that it will partner with Telstra, Panasonic Avionics Corp. and AeroMobile to develop technology enabling passengers to use their cellphones or PDAs in flight. AeroMobile is a joint venture between ARINC and Telenor. New systems will be tested over three months on a 767 operating domestic routes. "This evaluation is the first step toward building a product which will support our customers' business and communication needs into the future," Qantas Group GM-Customer Product and Services Lesley Grant said. "The service will be simple to use.
