Japan Airlines parent JAL Group applied to the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to increase fuel surcharges on all international passenger tickets from Oct. 1. The proposed new surcharges will rise from ¥1,300 ($11.20) to ¥2,000 on a Seoul-Tokyo ticket, from ¥11,500 to ¥17,100 on a Japan-Brazil ticket and from ¥8,000 to ¥13,600 on flights from Japan to Europe and North America.
Saudi Arabian government initiated the privatization process for flag carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines by formally offering a stake of up to 49% in the company's catering and affiliated inflight sales units. The carrier submitted its plan to the government earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Aug. 4).
AirBridge Cargo signed an interline agreement with Continental Airlines and appointed general sales agent partners in the US as it prepares to launch 747F flights to the US next year. ABC said CO will provide "an important link into its network, notably for the movement of oil and gas equipment from Texas to Sakhalin Island off the coast of Russia." ABC, the scheduled services arm of heavy freight specialist Volga-Dnepr, operates two IL-76 freighters weekly from its Krasnoyarsk hub to Sakhalin.
Air China, Cathay Pacific Airways, China National Aviation Co. and CITIC Pacific shareholders approved the proposed realignment that would establish cross-shareholdings between Air China and Cathay and make Dragonair a CX subsidiary. The long-anticipated deal, announced in June ( ATWOnline, June 12), must receive regulatory approval. Air China Chairman Li Jiaxiang said the realignment will "create a potent new force in the airline industry."
TFC GmbH Kaufer was chosen by CSA Czech Airlines to supply an A320 cabin training simulator. It is scheduled for delivery to CSA's Prague training center in September 2007.
Alaska Airlines will begin San Francisco-San Diego service with four daily weekday flights and a reduced weekend schedule on Oct. 29. It also will add nine weekly flights from Los Angeles and SFO to Mexican resort destinations for its winter timetable. Separately, the carrier extended its Northern Bites $5 meal option, currently available on Mexican services, to nearly all flights longer than 3 hr. Also, Alaska flew 1.75 billion RPMs in July, up 7.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 6.6% and load factor increased 0.6 point to a July-record 82.8%.
Great Wall Airlines, the joint venture cargo startup in which Singapore Airlines holds a 25% stake, suspended operations Friday after the US government imposed sanctions against its majority stakeholder for allegedly conspiring to supply Iran with missile components. The US Treasury Dept. last week froze all US-related assets of Great Wall Industry Corp., the Shanghai-based firm that owns 51% of Great Wall Airlines, saying it is one of four Chinese companies providing military support to Iran.
Singapore Airlines flew 7.76 billion RPKs in July, a 5.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 2.3% to 9.56 billion ASKs, raising load factor 2.5 points to 81.2%. Horizon Air flew 249 million RPMs in July, up 4.8% over the year-ago month, against a 2.9% rise in capacity to 318.8 million ASMs. Load factor rose 1.4 points to 78.1%. Finnair said July RPKs increased 15.6% over the year-ago month, with capacity rising 10.5% and load factor improving 3.6 points to 82.4%.
BAA believes London Heathrow would struggle to accommodate an influx of US airlines following the signing of open aviation area agreement between the US and EU, The Times reported. According to a BAA internal briefing acquired by the newspaper, demand already exceeds supply at LHR for slots as well as apron and terminal capacity and the airport would be unable to cope with another increase in demand for new services. A BAA spokesperson said the airport operator expects carriers to attempt mass migration from London Gatwick to LHR if and when an OAA deal is reached.
Assn. of European Airlines members posted a 99% completion rate on short/medium-haul flights in the second quarter with an 81.1% ontime performance, down 2.2 points from the year-ago period, according to data supplied by 26 of the 31 member carriers. Long-haul flights were completed 99.7% of the time with 72.7% punctuality, down 4.2 points. Baggage irregularities rose to 13.3 missing bags per 1,000 passengers from 11.9 in the second quarter of 2005. The reporting carriers flew approximately 93 million passengers during the quarter on 980,000 flights.
Worldspan announced finalization of multiyear full-content distribution agreements with Air Moldova, Aegean Airlines, AeroSvit Airlines, Air Burkina, Arkia Israel Airlines, Aurigny Air Services, dba, Eos Airlines, Transaero Airlines and VLM Airlines.
American Airlines launched a website, www.flytochinaonaa.com, on which passengers and businesses can learn about and register support for the carrier's application to operate nonstop service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing beginning in March. Following Northwest Airlines' announcement last week that it applied to operate Detroit-Shanghai service, there now are four carriers competing for the award of one transpacific route ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21).
News from Travel Technology Update: Amadeus went to court to seek injunctive relief from American Airlines and Northwest Airlines, saying the two carriers will breach the non-discrimination provisions of their Participating Carrier Agreements if they go ahead with their "preferred channel" programs on Sept. 1.
Avion Group said it formed a joint venture with Australasian airline group Advent Air Ltd. calling for Avion subsidiaries Star Airlines of France and Star Europe of Germany to provide up to four A320s to Advent Air subsidiary Skywest, a Perth-based Regional. Skywest will operate the aircraft from November to April, which is its peak season and Avion's low season.
Lufthansa Systems signed a contract with Virgin Atlantic Airways to provide the UK carrier with its ProfitLine/Price IT pricing solution. Separately, Lufthansa said it has developed a new "corporate sound" that will be played for customers holding on the phone and on radio and TV ads, as well as when passengers board aircraft.
EasyJet issued a statement encouraging travelers to limit themselves to one piece of checked luggage in order to "speed up the handling of baggage at airports and minimize inconvenience to passengers." A second piece of checked luggage will cost £5 ($9.50) online and £10 at the airport effective with bookings made from Sept. 1. Total weight must not exceed 20 kg. Passengers will continue to be charged £5 per kg. above the limit.
Qantas nearly doubled its fuel surcharge on flights to the UK to A$185 ($141.70) effective Aug. 31. The surcharge on flights to the US jumps from A$98 to A$145, while short-haul sectors lift to A$65 from A$56. It will eliminate its per-sector charge and introduce a new four-tier system based on distance traveled.
ICAO Council in a special meeting Friday called on the organization's Aviation Security Panel to give "highest priority" to dealing with the threat raised by the recently thwarted terrorist plot in the UK when it meets next month. "In a unanimous decision, the Council agreed that the Panel should fully assess the danger associated with liquid explosives and report as quickly as possible on practical and sustainable recommendations to further improve the security of civil aviation," Council President Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez said.
Aircastle Investment Holdings said Friday that one of its subsidiaries agreed to acquire six 737-700s leased to Danish LCC Sterling Airlines from affiliates of AP Moeller-Maersk Group for an estimated $165 million. Four of the acquisitions were completed Aug. 17 and Aircastle expects to finalize the remaining two by Aug. 31.
Delta Air Lines said Friday that new security regulations have resulted in an approximately 20% increase in checked baggage on the mainline and a "negligible increase" aboard Delta Shuttle. The carrier has increased staffing to handle the additional workload and said that baggage operations "have returned to normal."
Austrian Airlines Group flew 2.46 billion RPKs in July, a 4.9% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity declined 2.5% to 3.08 billion ASKs and load factor fell 2 points to 79.9%.
Aer Lingus will provide passengers on flights originating in the US with a free 0.5-liter bottle of water. The move is in response to new US security requirements prohibiting passengers from carrying liquids onto flights.
US President George Bush, as expected, signed comprehensive pension reform legislation into law yesterday, completing a system overhaul that is expected to save the defined retirement programs of airlines and other companies ( ATWOnline, Aug. 7). The new law gives US carriers that have frozen their plans, such as Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, 17 years from 2008 to fund their plans fully. Others get 10 years.
Boeing pulled the plug on its Connexion by Boeing onboard Internet venture yesterday, bringing an end to a program that was hyped heavily when it was launched in 2000 but never generated much interest from airlines or passengers.
