EgyptAir is looking for ways to increase its capital by 20% by year end to finance fleet expansion. According to the Arab Air Carriers Organization, the airline intends to add another 12 aircraft by 2016, a mix of short- and long-haul types. It ordered six 737-800s plus six options in 2005 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 10, 2005) and plans to take delivery of all 12 by 2010, increasing its fleet to 52 aircraft.
Air New Zealand said it will replace 15 standard economy seats with eight premium economy seats in the main cabin of its eight 747s by the end of October. It also is near completion of the first stage of its two-stage cabin upgrade on its five 767s. By July it will finish replacing carpets, seat covers and curtains. Later in the year it will refurbish the galleys and lavs and add more IFE screens. ANZ leases two additional 767s and will not upgrade those aircraft, which are scheduled to leave the fleet in October 2006 and August 2007.
Delta Air Lines asked Wednesday for a four-month extension to the exclusivity period for filing its reorganization plan. The period is set to expire on July 11. The airline said in its filing submitted to the US Bankruptcy Court in New York that the extension to Sept. 9 is required to address pension plan obligations, retiree benefit issues and its business model, "among other things."
British Airways announced changes to its baggage policy on mainline services, including allowances for hand, checked and excess baggage that will be phased in over the next five months. BA will not, at least yet, start charging for checked luggage as do LCC peers like FlyBE and Ryanair ( ATWOnline, Jan. 26). "We have created new policies which are easier to understand and will reduce queuing time at airports," BA Commercial Director Martin George said.
The tentative open skies agreement negotiated last year between the US and EU was dealt a potentially fatal blow Wednesday when the US House of Representatives voted to delay by a year a DOT rulemaking that is seen as key to winning European support for the air service agreement, while Air France-KLM Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta said he does not believe European policymakers will find the rulemaking palatable in the wake of recent changes by DOT.
Finnair said a €100 million bond issued Wednesday and directed at Finnish institutional investors was fully subscribed. It matures in 2012. "With this emitted bond we wanted to expand our financing flexibility. Our fleet investment program is over €1 billion for the years 2006-2015," CFO Lasse Heinonen said.
Republic Airways Holdings promoted Tim Dooley to VP-financial planning & analysis. Alaska Airlines named Chris Glaeser VP-safety. He comes from Northwest Airlines, where he was director-flight safety, quality assurance and industry affairs.
SITA signed an agreement with Athens International Airport to distribute and sell its AirportConnect CUTE, AirportConnect Kiosk, BagManager and BagMessage IT applications in Greece. This is the third agreement of its kind since SITA announced plans in February to establish a global network of Indirect Channel partners to provide its IT solutions to medium-size and small airports that handle 5 million passengers or fewer per year ( ATWOnline, Feb. 3).
Gol flew 1.17 billion RPKs in May, a 55.9% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 53.8% to 1.6 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1 point to 73%.
US Homeland Security Dept. said airlines are withholding $14.5 million per year from the Transportation Security Administration, according to press reports. The money is supposed to come from the $2.50 charge levied to passengers for each leg of a flight. TSA said it plans to audit airlines to ensure it receives the money.
China and Taiwan continued to relax air transport restrictions with the decision to allow more direct flights during holiday periods and cargo charters for the first time, Reuters reported. Flights operated between the countries during the Chinese New Year proved popular and led to calls for increased service ( ATWOnline, Feb. 9). Passenger flights could take place as early as October's Mid-Autumn Festival, Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu said.
AAR Aircraft Component Services-New York recently received repair authorization certification from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China.
Austrian Airlines is investing €40 million ($50.3 million) in a new business class product on its long-haul fleet, including lie-flat seats and Connexion by Boeing Internet service. From this summer it will begin refurbishing its fleet of three 777-200s and six 767-300ERs.
Air China intends to raise CNY8 billion ($996.3 million) through the sale of 2.7 billion shares on the Shanghai stock exchange later this year, an airline official told reporters yesterday. The offering constitutes 28.62% of its existing share capital, the Associated Press reported. The carrier, which already has shares traded in Hong Kong, is awaiting approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. China International Capital Corp., CITIC Securities and Galaxy Securities reportedly will be the underwriters.
Hawaiian Airlines flew 555.1 million RPMs in May, a 1.6% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.1% to 639.4 million ASMs, lifting load factor 1.4 points to 86.8%. SkyWest, parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, said its airlines flew a combined 1.36 billion RPMs in May, a 117.6% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 100.6% to 1.71 billion ASMs and load factor increased 6.2 points to 79.6%.
Malaysia Airlines said 4,200 employees applied to participate in its Mutual Separation Scheme, a buyout program offered to more than 18,000 staff as part of its Business Turnaround Plan ( ATWOnline, March 6). MAS will see an additional 1,171 employees retire this year. "Based on the profile of the applicants, we are looking at achieving our objective [MYR300 million ($81.3 million) in savings] in August this year by releasing around 3,000 employees in the higher salary bracket," MD and CEO Idris Jala said.
Lufthansa Cargo will take over sales and marketing of Air Madrid's freight capacity and handling effective Sept. 1. The agreement calls for LHC to open five new handling stations in Latin America.
WestJet said its executive VP-finance and CFO position, vacated this week with the departure of Alexander Campbell ( ATWOnline, March 9), will be filled jointly on an interim basis by VP-Controller Janice Paget (internal) and VP-Finance & Corporate Services Derek Payne (external). The carrier is continuing its search for a permanent successor.
Lufthansa flew 9.74 billion RPKs in May, a 2.2% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.4% to 13.06 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.6 point to 74.5%. Iberia flew 4.33 billion RPKs in May, an 8.1% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 6% to 5.68 billion ASKs and load factor increased 1.5 points to 76.2%. Copa Airlines flew 309.5 million RPMs in May, a 31.3% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 22.6% to 418.4 million ASMs and load factor jumped 4.9 points to 74%.
Goodrich Corp. was selected by Hawaiian Airlines to perform heavy maintenance checks, interior standardizations, painting and ETOPS modifications and other work on four 767-300s prior to their entry into service later this year.
Airbus has made 10 flights totaling 30 hr. with an A320 equipped with winglets and plans additional flights in July with an A320 equipped with a second winglet design. Senior VP-A320 Mario Heinen said no decisions have been made. "This is a research program still," he said. "We are collecting data." He added that customers such as JetBlue Airways, which provided one of its A320s for the test flights ( ATWOnline, Feb.
Embraer consolidated its offices in France into a single location near Paris Charles de Gaulle. The new office provides customer support, administration, information technology and spare parts sales for Embraer operators in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Only one day after SAS Braathens CEO Petter Jansen resigned ( ATWOnline, June 13), the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Okokrim) said it filed charges against the airline for illegal computer access and misuse of business secrets.
Aerosim Technologies said UPS extended a contract for Web-based FMS training for MD-11 pilots. The extension covers a two-year term following an initial term of three years.
