Precision Conversions delivered a 757-200 converted freighter to Icelandair Cargo last week. Modification was performed at Flightstar Aircraft Services in Florida.
EVA Air will convert eight 747-400s to freighters, with the first conversion entering service next year, UDN News reported. They will replace the carrier's MD-11Fs. According to airline sources, EVA will convert one of its three outstanding 777-200LR orders to a dash 300ER and the balance to dash 200Fs. It had ordered the dash 200LRs to perform the Taipei-New York mission year round but found that the dash 300ER is achieving 3% lower fuel burn than guarantee, enabling it to operate the route.
Hawaiian Airlines flew 598.9 million RPMs in October, up 2.3% from the year-ago period. Capacity rose 7.1% to 692.8 million ASMs, dropping load factor 4.1 points to 86.4%. Copa Airlines flew 349.2 million RPMs in October, a 27.1% lift over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 22.1% to 461.8 million ASMs and load factor climbed 3 points to 75.6%.
Bombardier yesterday inaugurated a new £1.5 million ($2.9 million), 50,000-sq.-ft. repair and maintenance facility in Belfast that will serve Emirates, UPS, British Airways, bmi and Icelandair aircraft.
Eurocontrol's Maastricht Upper Area Control Center, which provides air traffic services in the upper airspace of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and northwestern Germany, was formally certified as compliant with European Community requirements for the provision of air navigation services. MUAC's certification represents "a unique example of a multi-States joint service and a precursor to Functional Airspace Blocks," Eurocontrol DG Víctor Aguado said.
Centavia, Serbia's first LCC, ceased operations after just a few months of service. Austria Press News Agency reported that Serbian authorities did not grant permits for Centavia to operate scheduled flights to Montenegro, Croatia, Switzerland and Germany, a major setback for the fledgling airline. The carrier said both of its BAe 146s have been returned to their lessor.
Pratt & Whitney signed a three-year agreement to provide its EcoPower engine wash services on Martinair's fleet of PW4000, CF6 and V2500 engines. The engine washing will take place at Amsterdam Schiphol and is projected to save the airline up to $2.3 million in annual fuel costs. "Earlier this year we completed an EcoPower engine wash pilot program that resulted in engine performance improvements, operating cost reductions and emission reductions," Martinair VP-Maintenance and Engineering Paul Horstink said.
British Airways yesterday moved to raise the premium-service bar with the rollout of a £100 million ($191.1 million) overhaul to its Club World business class cabin featuring "next generation" lie-flat beds, multiple channel video/on demand IFE and in-seat laptop storage bins and hookups.
Finnair Technical Services signed a three-year general terms maintenance agreement with KLM for performance of airframe checks on the Dutch carrier's 10 MD-11s.
TACV Cape Verde Airlines and Condor (formerly Thomas Cook Airlines) both appointed Aviareps subsidiary Airline Centre UK as general sales agent for the UK.
Czech Airlines, citing "the recent fall in oil prices," reduced its fuel surcharge on passenger tickets by $2 on European routes to $23 and by $7 on long-haul flights to North America to $60.
Embraer appointed David Balloff VP-external relations for the US. His primary role on behalf of the Brazilian manufacturer will be to serve as a liaison to the US Congress, Dept. of Transportation, FAA, National Transportation Safety Board and various industry groups located in Washington. Balloff previously served with FAA and NTSB and as an adviser to Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.) when he was chair of the House Aviation subcommittee.
Air France KLM flew 17.01 billion RPKs in October, a 5.6% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 6% to 20.91 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 0.3 point to 81.4%. Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz flew a combined 3.95 billion RPMs in October, a 4.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 3.8% to 5.03 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.6 point to 78.4%.
Vueling Airlines, which has positioned itself as a "new generation" carrier rather than an LCC, launched a Web-based frequent-flier program dubbed Punto. Members can earn points on both tickets and gift vouchers and use them to pay for Vueling flights.
Assn. of European Airlines expressed "strong disappointment" in the European Commission Transport Directorate's decision not to include a revision of the 1996 Ground Handling Directive as part of the Airport Package of planned regulatory measures governing airline-airport relationships. While main airports and trade organizations argue that they opened the market and lowered prices, Europe's major airlines believe the opposite.
Delta Air Lines announced plans to recall 1,000 flight attendants next year. During the "first few months" of 2007 it is scheduled to train up to 500 previously furloughed cabin staff. "It is great that our plan is working and we are able to continue to bring back Delta people," COO Jim Whitehurst said. The airline recalled 200 flight attendants in September ( ATWOnline, Sept. 12).
The European Commission will submit a proposal in the next several weeks to include airlines in the EU's existing emissions trading scheme, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said yesterday. The proposal thus disregards a July suggestion by the European Parliament to establish a separate trading system for airlines on a trial basis ( ATWOnline, July 6) that would prevent carriers from buying up surplus credits from power companies instead of reducing their own pollution.
Emirates said yesterday that it is investing $27 million to outfit its entire fleet with equipment from AeroMobile that will allow use of mobile phones in flight. The service will be launched onboard a 777 as early as January, the airline said. Calls will be linked to the ground using the Inmarsat satellite communications system already installed in all EK aircraft and will be billed to passengers' phone bills "as with any other roaming call," the carrier said.
EasyJet transported 2.9 million passengers in October, up 7.3% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 2.4 points to 83.2%. Separately, the carrier will reinstate its thrice-weekly Bristol-Pisa service on Jan. 18. The route originally was a summer-only service. Year-round service will become daily by the end of March.
SkyTeam carriers Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia and KLM have co-located their operations at Sao Paulo Guarulhos Terminal 1, which the alliance said is the first co-location in its network where the participating airlines operate equally. A common-use ticket office and joint purchasing of ground handling services also have been implemented. The alliance operates 75 weekly flights to and from GRU.
United Airlines flew 9.67 billion RPMs in October, up 2.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose at the same rate to 11.99 billion ASMs, leaving load factor at 80.6%. Lufthansa flew 9.87 billion RPKs in October, a 3.5% rise over the year-ago month. ASKs climbed 1.3% to 13.06 billion and load factor was up 1.6 points to 75.6%. Gol flew 1.33 billion RPKs in October, up 39.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 49.6% to 1.91 billion ASKs and load factor fell 4.9 points to 70%.
IATA warned that the return on the cost of capital is a major impediment to industry growth despite some headline-grabbing profits posted by a handful of carriers. Speaking at the Centre for Asia Pacific Airlines Outlook 2007 summit in Singapore, IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce said the industry's overall performance between 2001 and 2004 was an abysmal 3.3% compared to a benchmark of 7.2%. Asian airlines fared better with a 4.6% return, with US carriers at 2.5%. Not surprisingly, LCCs reported a strong 6.8% average.
The Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation urged Asian governments to speed liberalization of bilateral restrictions hindering air transport in the region. Speaking at Outlook 2007, CAPA's third annual regional airline summit in Singapore, Executive Chairman Peter Harbison told delegates that low-cost carriers represent only 5% of the market in the region, which has a population of roughly 3.5 billion, whereas 60 LCCs serve a population of 375 million in Europe and account for 20% of traffic.
