Iberia will place its code on Malev Hungarian Airlines' thrice-weekly Malaga-Budapest service beginning May 2. It also will codeshare with charter carrier Iberworld on four-times-weekly Madrid-Cancun service from May 1.
US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said Friday it has assumed responsibility for the pensions of nearly 4,000 employees and retirees of Aloha Airlines, which emerged from bankruptcy in February, two months after it received US District Court permission to cancel its defined-benefit pension plans to which it owed $155 million ( ATWOnline, Dec. 19, 2005). PBGC said the three plans are 55% funded, with $190 million in assets covering $345 million in benefit promises.
IATA said international passenger traffic increased 5.9% in the first quarter but fell 5.7% in March compared to the year-ago month. It attributed the decline to the fact that Easter was in April this year rather than in March. Three-month load factor was 74.4% and March load factor was 75.5%. Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines member carriers reported a 3.7% increase in March passengers to 11 million. RPKs grew 4.1% while capacity lifted just 2.3%, improving load factor 1.3 points to 74.4%.
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Executive Chairman Peter Harbison said the volatile price of fuel is emerging as a serious threat to consumer demand for travel. Speaking at the opening of the second annual Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Aviation & Tourism Investor Summit in Mumbai, he warned, "The growing oil price crisis sees the express train of demand growth coming into a lake of treacle as consumer demand slows while fares rise.
Malev Hungarian Airlines reported a loss of HUF1.3 billion ($6.1 million) for its fiscal year, a HUF3.6 billion improvement over a loss of HUF4.9 billion in 2004.
GE Commercial Aviation Service President and CEO Henry Hubschman Friday cited a "disconnect" between air traffic and capacity growth, with the former expected to rise at a rate of 4.5% annually compared to an average increase in the number of aircraft seats of 5.5% over the next five years. Speaking to the Aero Club of Washington, Hubschman said, "I would argue that the [aircraft] orders are too large. We wish they would moderate a bit, but we don't control that."
Amadeus signed a partnership with DOB Systems, a provider of market intelligence solutions to the airline industry, under which DOB products will be integrated into the Amadeus offering in order to deliver a portfolio of data analysis solutions.
Lufthansa Technik launched Total Material Operations support service offering integrated supply of components, spare parts and consumables for airline networks.
Comair's request to cancel its labor contract with 1,100 flight attendants was rejected Wednesday by the US Bankruptcy Court, which ordered the carrier to resume negotiations with cabin staff represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Cincinnati-based Regional, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, is seeking $8.9 million in annual concessions.
China Eastern Airlines reported a loss of CNY955.1 million ($119.1 million) in the first quarter, according to press reports. The total was more than double its full-year 2005 loss of CNY467.3 million ( ATWOnline, April 11). Revenue climbed 55.8% to CNY7.48 billion. The carrier said it expects to incur losses in the current quarter as well.
The European Commission appears to be fed up with the Greek government's attitude toward its flag carrier and a European Court of Justice ruling regarding the recovery of illegal state aid to Olympic Airways.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is set to purchase six A330s and four 777s, according to Director-Marketing and Sales Mahmoodur Rahman, who was quoted in Gulf News. The Bangladesh Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism reportedly recommended a combination of Boeing and Airbus aircraft to augment an aging fleet comprising five DC-10-30s, four A310-300s and four F28s.
Boeing announced last week that its Phantom Works Advanced Air Traffic Management unit signed a two-year, €615,000 ($762,000) contract with Air Traffic Alliance--the European consortium that includes Eurocontrol, EADS, Airbus and Thales--to assist in development of the Single European Sky ATM Research program.
Gol received authorization from Brazil's National Agency of Civil Aviation to operate 21 weekly flights to Santiago. The Brazilian LCC said it is beginning preparations for 737-800 flights to the Chilean capital, which would become its seventh international destination.
ATA Airlines appointed John Kelly as VP-maintenance and engineering. He most recently was MD-line maintenance operations at Northwest Airlines' Detroit hub. US Airways named Andrea Rader director-corporate communications. Rader, who comes from Wal-Mart, worked for American Airlines for 14 years.
Delta Air Lines is expanding its self-service check-in kiosks to international services, equipping more than 1,000 kiosks at US airports with passport readers. The carrier said all US kiosks will be upgraded by year end to handle international check-ins. Self-service check-ins for domestic Delta flights rose 10% last year, with 28 million passengers using the machines to obtain boarding passes.
Iberia is investing €30 million ($37.12 million) to remodel passenger cabins on all of its A319s, A320s and A321s. It plans to complete the refurbishment of nearly 90 aircraft by the end of 2007.
Lufthansa joined the host of airlines raising their fuel surcharges, announcing yesterday that surcharges on long-haul flights will increase to €62 ($76.70) from €52 effective May 5. Surcharge on German and intra-European routes will remain at €12 per segment.
Air Canada Technical Services will provide component MRO and support for JetBlue's A320 fleet under a 10-year, $200 million contract. It is "the largest component maintenance contract for ACTS," according to the company, and represents two-thirds of the total component maintenance demand for the aircraft. Work will be performed at the ACTS Montreal components facility. Separately, JetBlue signed an agreement to implement the latest Septimo version of TRAX.
Amadeus said Danish LCC Sterling is pioneering the Amadeus Ticketless Access product, "a technology solution [providing LCCs with] comprehensive access for the first time to sales through travel agents and corporate customers." According to the GDS provider, Amadeus Ticketless Access "enables up-to-the-minute fare and flight information from ticketless carriers to be displayed alongside those of full-service airlines" through GDSs.
SkyTeam is offering a new service, SkyTeam Global Meetings, designed to streamline the process of arranging travel for large-scale international meetings and events. Organizers will be able to coordinate all travel needs across all 10 member carriers through one point of contact. The program has its own website and will feature discounts and special incentives for participants.
Northern Air Cargo will become the first North American carrier to implement TopAir, a flight operations system marketed to small and mid-sized airlines by Avient Solutions.
Precision Conversions signed with Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management for two 757-200 cargo conversions. The work is scheduled to be completed by year end and will be done at Flightstar Aircraft Services in Jacksonville. Operating customers for the aircraft were not disclosed.
Air France Industries, the MRO arm of Air France, and Engine Alliance, the GE-P&W joint venture producing the GP7000 for the A380, signed an Industrial Cooperation Agreement under which AFI will open an MRO center in Paris for the engine. The AFI facility "will work as a part of the Engine Alliance MRO network," according to a statement from GE. AF, which chose the GP7000 to power its A380s, will start with partial GP7000 service capability next year when the engine enters service and ramp up to overhaul capability as the fleet grows.
