In the first such deal among the four major global distribution systems, Amadeus and Sabre Holdings announced they entered into an agreement that enables "Amadeus customers to complete bookings on an airline [through Sabre] in the unlikely event of that airline withdrawing from participation in Amadeus," and vice versa. The agreement only applies to airlines participating in both GDSs, so it would not affect a carrier such as Southwest Airlines, which currently participates in Sabre but not Amadeus.
Latin American Airline Assn. issued a statement Monday protesting "massive air transport fee increases" by the Jamaican government and warning that some members already are rethinking current and future operations. AITAL said Jamaica raised overflight fees by 180%, boosted communication fees and instituted a jet fuel storage and handling fee of 3.7 cents per gal. "We are outraged that a country so dependent on air travel and tourism would choose to raise costs so significantly with no justification," AITAL Executive Director Alex de Gunten said.
Air France-KLM said it posted a "further good performance both in terms of traffic and unit revenue" in February. Traffic increased 8.5% over the year-ago month to 13.93 billion RPKs on a 6.9% rise in capacity to 17.93 billion ASKs. Load factor improved 1.1 points to 77.7%. The group carried nearly 5 million passengers, up 5.1%. SAS Group carried 2.7 million passengers in February, up 11.4% compared to the same month last year. RPKs increased 8.5% and ASKs declined 2.3%, resulting in a load factor of 66.1%, up 6.6 points.
Phuket Air shareholders scrapped the airline and applied for a fresh license for a new carrier called Suvarnabhumi Airlines, according The Nation newspaper. The new airline will fly from Bangkok to Ranong, Buri Ram, Chiang Mai and Phuket with two 737s. Shareholders also filed to launch a second carrier called Holiday Airlines, which will operate to Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo using three 747s. Phuket Air had a troubled past, with technical problems grounding aircraft around the world.
Northwest Airlines' 7,677 customer service and reservations staff, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists, voted yesterday to ratify a concessionary contract with the airline, while 5,632 equipment service employees, also represented by IAM, rejected a similar agreement.
ARINC will provide comprehensive technical and maintenance support for check-in systems, flight information displays and additional IT systems at Dallas/Ft. Worth's new International Terminal D, which opened in July 2005.
Russian airlines reported a combined RUB2.2 billion ($78.7 million) drop in net profit in 2005, according to a statement from the Federal Air Transport Agency cited by Russian media. Revenues increased 10% to RUB180 billion against a 20% lift in costs. The number of passengers grew 3.9% to 35.1 million and passenger revenues rose 3.4%.
Goodrich named Segment President-Electronic Systems John Grisik its new executive VP-operational excellence and technology effective March 15. He will be succeeded by President-Sensor Systems Jerry Witowski, who will be succeeded in turn by President-Actuation Systems Brian Gora. Prism Group named Paul Leyh VP-sales consulting.
Republic Airways Holdings will set up a $21.4 million overnight maintenance facility and crew base at Pittsburgh International Airport to handle its growing fleet of Embraer 170s. Pennsylvania state officials, who said the new facility will generate some 140 jobs over the next three years, put together a $530,000 incentive package for Republic that includes tax credits and job training funds. The airline operates a fleet of 143 RJs, including 48 170s, as a Regional partner of United Airlines, US Airways, Delta Air Lines and American Connection.
Six Arab carriers signed an agreement in late January to form Arabesk Group, a consortium "designed to help members realize better commercial potential," according to Arab Air Carriers Organization Secretary General Abdul Wahab Teffaha. Initial members are EgyptAir, Gulf Air, Middle East Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Yemenia Yemen Airways. The group said Tunisair likely will join soon. Formation of the entity was discussed last summer ( ATWOnline, June 6, 2005).
News from Travel Technology Update: Worldspan chairman and chief executive Rakesh Gangwal anticipates that the GDS industry will undergo "major structural changes" in order to meet the needs of a still deeply troubled airline industry. "The airlines are hard pressed," he said during a conference call with investment analysts. "There is a rip-roaring need to change the whole model in how booking fees are established. We have to adapt to new realities, and it's not something we can do over the next three, four or five years. We've got to bring the booking fees down now."
Teledyne Controls said CSA Czech Airlines ordered its Wireless GroundLink quick access recorder for its A320 fleet. WQAR fully automates the recording and transmission of flight data.
JetBlue Airways flew 1.68 billion RPMs in February, a 25.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 25.1% to 2.02 billion ASMs and load factor fell 0.1 point to 83.4%. Alaska Airlines' February traffic increased 6.4% to 1.26 billion RPMs. Capacity rose 2.1% to 1.71 billion ASMs and load factor improved 3 points to 73.7%.
SkyEurope Airlines will add the first of two 737-700s on March 10 to its new base in Prague, from which it will launch service to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Milan Bergamo, Naples, Nice, Paris Orly and Rome Fiumicino from April. The carrier also finalized its first jet fuel hedging transaction, covering 90% of its demand between March and May. Hedge was made at a price equivalent to IPE Brent $60.50 per barrel. Separately, SkyEurope reported that it transported 145,425 passengers in February, up 71.9% over the year-ago month. Load factor rose 8.9 points to 75.1%.
European Regions Airline Assn. said it is proposing to the European Commission that instead of a tax on air transport to fund development aid, money should go to improving the air transport infrastructure in developing countries with "targeted and focused" spending. Thirteen countries agreed to impose the development tax on airline tickets last week ( ATWOnline, March 2).
EAE European Air Express became the newest carrier to complete an IATA Operational Safety Audit on March 6. On the same day, the German Regional started codeshare services with KLM between Munster/Osnabruck and Amsterdam. EAE operates a fleet of seven ATR 42-300s on six routes to eight destinations.
Australia and India entered into a more liberal air services agreement that will open the door for airlines from both countries to establish commercial partnerships and develop services. The new accord, announced on the eve of Australian Prime Minister John Howard's visit to India, provides for multiple designation of carriers, codesharing and service on more routes.
Qantas shelved plans to establish intra-Asia freight services through a Thai-based joint venture amid deepening concerns about rising fuel prices and the medium-term outlook for air cargo. Executive GM-Associated Businesses Grant Fenn said the airline has "put back indefinitely" the start of flights by 49%-held Thai Air Cargo.
Northwest Airlines' tentative agreement with its pilots ( ATWOnline, March 6), if ratified, likely will curtail growth opportunities for Pinnacle Airlines, Northwest's primary Regional partner, said JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker.
Lufthansa was forced to cancel about 56 domestic and European flights Friday morning owing to heavy snowfall across Germany. Flights were delayed by up to an hour. The airline said that all long-haul flights were expected to operate on time.
Midwest Airlines partnered with rival Northwest Airlines on a loyalty program initiative that will allow members to earn and redeem miles on each other's flights. Midwest members can redeem miles on KLM flights as well.
North American Airlines' damages owed to a pilot bringing an unlawful termination suit against the carrier were lowered from $12.6 million to $3.1 million by a California judge last week. The plaintiff has until March 13 to accept the reduction or face a retrial. Appeals are possible, and another hearing is scheduled for April 26 to assess additional fees.
British Airways flew 8.1 billion RPKs in February, up 3.6% on the year-ago month, against a 3% rise in capacity to 11.38 billion ASKs. Passenger load factor inched up 0.4 point to 71.2%. Southwest Airlines reported a 17.3% increase in February RPMs to 4.69 billion. Traffic climbed 8.5% to 6.85 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 5.2 points to 68.5%. Ryanair flew 2.6 million passengers in February, an improvement of 22%. Load factor declined 1 point compared to February 2005 to 78%.
SAS Cargo said it had its best-ever result last year as it reported a pre-tax profit of SEK68 million ($8.6 million), up from SEK14 million in 2004, on revenues of SEK3.3 billion, up 17%. EBIT jumped to SEK83 million from SEK35 million. Improvement was achieved in spite of a 5.4% decline in yield.
