Focus Aviation, on behalf of Continental Airlines, arranged the sale of a third MD-82 to Khors Aircompany of Ukraine. Like the first two aircraft, this one will be put through a maintenance check by MNG in Turkey prior to delivery.
Boeing named Ahmed Jazzar to the new position of president of Boeing-Saudi Arabia. Jazzar joins Boeing after having spent 30 years with Saudi Arabian Airlines, where he retired as VP of its Technical Services Division.
Sweden plans to impose a tax on airline tickets of SEK50-SEK100 ($6.50-$13) from May next year as part of efforts to help the environment, the government said Tuesday. According Reuters, airlines have protested the tax but the government said it is a necessary step as part of tax increases worth SEK3.6 billion to encourage more environmentally friendly energy use. "It is appropriate to introduce a system of taxing air traffic without unnecessary delay," it added.
Turkish Airlines said it decided to buy five A340s it currently is leasing for a total $175 million. The carrier said in a statement that it will finance the purchases from its own resources. The lease periods are scheduled to expire between April 2006 and April 2011.
Star Alliance chose UK-based Zero Octa as the preferred vendor for revenue recovery and protection services. Ten member carriers--Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Asiana Airlines, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, United Airlines, US Airways and Varig--will be using Zero Octa.
US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Kantathi Suphamongkhon signed an open-skies aviation agreement in Washington yesterday. The accord, which was finalized earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Sept. 14), lifts restrictions on the number of passenger services that may be operated between the countries but has a five-year phase-in period for pricing and some beyond-country services.
Austrian Airlines Group raised its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights from €37 ($45) to €52 per leg and its surcharge for short-haul flights from €9 to €12 per leg. The new charges take effect from Sept. 26.
Aer Lingus, KfW IPEX-Bank and Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank closed structured debt financings for two A320s, jointly arranged with Babcock & Brown.
News from Travel Technology Update: Cendant Travel Distribution Services is in the implementation phase of its next-generation passenger services system, dubbed airRES. WestJet, Canada's answer to Southwest Airlines, will be the launch customer. The new system will replace WestJet's current reservations, scheduling and check-in systems, provided by Navitaire.
Island Air began charging a flat fee--$10 or $20 depending on the ticket purchased--for changes made to a ticket as long as the route is unchanged. Changes will be accepted regardless of ticket class as long as a seat is available, and passengers will not be charged any fare differential but only the administrative fee. Ticketed passengers willing to stand by for an earlier or later flight for their scheduled departure date may do so without incurring the fee, but passengers who want to make a confirmed change to their flight time must pay the fee.
Bryan T. LaBrecque was named president and COO of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest Inc. LaBrecque most recently served as senior VP-operations for ASA, which was purchased by SkyWest from Delta Air Lines and continues to operate as a Delta Connection carrier. US Transportation Security Administration named Robert Jamison deputy administrator. He has been deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration for the past three years.
Olympic Airlines will appeal to the European Court of Justice to overturn the European Commission's recent ruling that the carrier must repay to the Greek government up to €700 million ($859 million) in illegal state aid, Transport Minister Mihalis Liapis confirmed. Liapis also said negotiations to sell Olympic are in a "delicate but ongoing phase."
Forecast International added its voice to the chorus of those who see demand for regional jets migrating to larger versions. "Demand for 50-seat jets is cooling," according to its recent study, "The World Market for Regional Transport Aircraft." The firm predicted that relaxation of scope clauses, competition and continuing financial pressures will increase demand for RJs with more than 50 seats.
India's aggressive airport infrastructure program suffered a setback with Singapore Changi pulling out of a joint venture for Delhi Airport reconstruction because of what insiders term a severe performance penalty of up to $80 million. Changi was part of the Baharti-DLF Universal consortium for the project, and Baharti announced last week that it will not be able to proceed without Changi. It also stated that it had been confident of "building a world class airport and meeting all the terms of the tender."
American Airlines said it made a $74 million contribution to its defined benefit pension plans, raising its total contributions in 2005 to $287 million. AA said its plans are funded at 80%, the best in the industry. United Airlines and US Airways terminated their plans in bankruptcy, while Delta Air Lines and Northwest may do the same during their reorganizations.
Japan Airlines announced a number of new codeshare agreements. It will expand its agreement with Cathay Pacific between Japan and Hong Kong to include a daily roundtrip between HK and Fukuoka beginning Oct. 3 that will be operated by Cathay. The flight is routed via Taipei but JAL passengers can travel only between Fukuoka and Hong Kong. Also, JAL and Korean Air will expand their codeshare to include KAL's twice-daily flights between Fukuoka and Seoul. The deal becomes effective Oct. 3, subject to government approval.
Successful airlines around the world consistently teach five lessons, said Conor McCarthy speaking at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam. McCarthy, MD of the Plane Consult consultancy, a veteran of Aer Lingus and Ryanair and a co-founder of AirAsia, said the primary rule is that the human factors in both internal company makeup and customer relations that make airlines successful are "absolutely identical regardless of where you go around the world. Don't listen to the argument, 'Oh, it's different here.'"
Lufthansa jumped its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights to €52 ($63.80) per leg from €37 and its surcharge for domestic and intra-European flights to €12 from €9. The increases are in response to the surge in oil prices caused by Hurricane Katrina. LH noted that owing to its "forward-looking fuel-hedging policy and its modern, fuel-efficient fleet, it is in a relatively good position compared to its competitors."
The US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which stands to inherit the underfunded pension plans of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines if the two default in bankruptcy, said yesterday that the carriers "have a legal obligation" to continue funding their plans.
Navitaire, which owns the Open Skies reservation system popular with many LCCs, said it acquired "key assets" of Forte Solutions including all of its airline customer contracts. Financial terms were not disclosed. Forte's hosted operations management software, known as the Geneva system, is a platform for airline operations and crew management planning, tracking and compliance requirements. Twenty-five Forte employees have joined Navitaire as part of the deal.
AirCell began a flight demonstration program of its inflight broadband system. Targeted for commercial deployment in 2007, the system "will enable airline passengers to use their own laptops, PDAs and mobile phones in a fully integrated wireless cabin over a broadband air-to-ground link." US FAA has yet to approve the use of personal communication devices on commercial aircraft.
Drager Aerospace will supply passenger service units on the 787 under a long-term contract with Boeing, the German company announced. It will deliver the first units in October 2007 and will construct a production facility in Seattle to assemble the PSUs, which contain reading lights, loudspeakers, message indicator lights, oxygen masks and other equipment.
Varig would eliminate 1,500 jobs, or around 13% of its workforce, and the Rubem Berta Foundation would give up majority control of the airline under the company's bankruptcy reorganization plan presented in court earlier this week in Brazil. The Foundation, which represents current and retired employees, owns 56% of Varig. In the past it blocked restructuring efforts that would have resulted in a reduction in its stake.
European regulators aim to stem the rising tide of low-cost competition with a slew of new laws and regulations designed to prop up tottering legacy carriers, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary charged yesterday. Delivering the keynote address at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam, O'Leary pointed to the new passenger rights legislation, the proposed world development tax, restrictions on route development aid from regional airports, emissions trading for airlines and illegal state aid to carriers such as Alitalia as examples of how the EU is trying to hurt competition.
