AirTran Airways reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract covering approximately 450 aircraft mechanics and inspectors represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. If ratified, the accord becomes effective Oct. 1.
Phuket Airlines requested a clarification from both the UK and France as to why it is banned, according to the Bangkok Post, which quoted a letter from Senior VP Kanin Phuvasiten to the French DGAC.
Mandala Airlines 737-200 PK-RIM crashed Monday seconds after taking off from Medan in Indonesia, killing 102 of the 117 aboard plus as many as 47 people in a marketplace where it came to rest. Passengers who survived the crash all appeared to have been seated in the rear of the aircraft. The accident occurred around 9:40 a.m. local time and the 737 went down just 500 m. from the end of the runway. Mandala was formed in 1969 and is run by a military foundation. It operates a 727-200, 13 737-200s and two 737-400s on domestic routes. The accident aircraft was built in 1981.
European Commission proposed to begin aviation negotiations with Australia, Chile and India, seeking "further opening of the respective air markets and enhanced regulatory cooperation." VP in Charge of Transport Jacques Barrot said Monday, "The single aviation market in the EU with open market access and high regulatory standards has created huge benefits for the EU aviation industry and consumers. I believe that this success can be repeated in our international relations."
Boeing named Jean Pritchard VP-Commercial Airplanes and commercial activities for Washington operations. Pritchard, 53, most recently served as director-commercial international programs for Asia and the Americas for five years.
China Airlines joined with Cargolux to take a 49% stake in Shanghai-based Yangtze River Express. The cargo carrier operates four 737-300QCs and transports cargo within China for UPS. According to a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, China Airlines will pay 312.5 million yuan ($38.6 million) for its 25% stake. Hainan Airlines has a 15% holding.
Air China reported a 25% fall in its first-half net profit to 591.3 million yuan ($72.5 million) owing to fuel prices. Revenue also was down at 16.94 billion yuan. The carrier did not provide the Hong Kong market with details.
News from Travel Technology Update:
The Star Alliance's request for information titled "Alternative Content Access Platform" was sent to new-entrant and traditional GDSs alike. The RFI, the first step in the alliance's quest to establish a unified approach to distribution, is "basically asking for GDS functionality at GNE pricing," according to a consultant who was asked to read it. "It's supposed to be an RFI, but it looks like a GDS spec," said the consultant, who asked not to be identified.
LAN simplified its fare structure to include seven fare categories. The new structure is "based on seven different characteristics [and] is much easier to understand," according to the airline.
Cyprus Airways intends to present a restructuring plan to the European Commission by next month. The government-controlled carrier, which was affected by the costs associated with the shutdown of its financially troubled Greek subsidiary Hellas Jet in May, posted a net loss of CYP20.4 million ($44.7 million) for the first half of 2005. The EC approved an emergency loan of $64 million in May but further aid is subject to completion of an EU-approved plan to return the carrier to commercial viability.
US Airways received interim approval from the bankruptcy court to sell and lease back five A330s, nine A319s and five A320s. If given final approval, the transactions will raise more than $120 million in liquidity. The court also approved a deal reached between US Airways and the US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. resolving nearly $2.7 billion in claims. Under terms of the agreement, the carrier will pay PBGC $13.5 million in cash in addition to giving it a $10 million note and 70% of the common stock being allocated to unsecured creditors.
Ryanair carried 3.26 million passengers in August, up 27% on the year-ago period. Load factor fell 1 point to 91%. The LCC noted that for the first month in its history it carried more passengers on its European network than British Airways did on its worldwide network, although this likely was owing to disruption of BA operations at London Heathrow last month (see next item). For the rolling 12 months ended Aug. 31, Ryanair's earned seats amounted to 30.97 million and load factor averaged 84%.
An-26B cargo aircraft operated by Galaxie dba Kavatshi Airlines crashed on approach to Isiro in the Democratic Republic of Congo Monday, killing all 11 passengers and crew onboard. According to Aviation Safety Network, which cited AFP and Radio Okapi, the aircraft struck a tree and crashed approximately 1.5 km. from the runway.
China gave the green light for China Airlines, EVA, Mandarin Airlines and Uni Airways to transit its airspace after Taiwan agreed about a month ago that the carriers could apply for permission. Overflying China will cut the airlines' fuel consumption significantly on flights to Europe. Taiwan continues to spurn Chinese invitations to open direct flights to the mainland.
European Commission confirmed that it decided to reduce the financial assistance granted to the new Athens International Airport because the airport violated some requirements. In total, some €12.8 million in financial aid is being removed. AIA, which started operating in March 2001, was co-financed with €250 million from the EU's Cohesion Fund. It is owned 55% by Greece and 40% by German construction group Hochtief.
Lufthansa Systems will provide its Future Airline Core Environment to Qatar Airways for reservation and passenger systems. In a statement, the companies said they viewed the selection "as the beginning of a strategic IT partnership that will expand into other areas of the airline as well," such as the development and implementation of software for Qatar's Integrated Operations Control Center. Initially, LHS will equip all 66 stations of the Doha-based carrier with its departure control system and Qatar will implement LHS's baggage reconciliation system.
American Airlines said August traffic rose 3.8% to 12.65 billion RPMs compared to the year-ago period on a 0.1% decline in capacity to 15.51 ASMs. As a result, load factor gained 3.1 points to 81.5%. Year-to-date through August, RPMs increased 6.8% to 94.2 billion, ASMs grew 1.4% to 119 billion and load factor rose 3.9 points to 79%. Passenger boardings climbed 5.4% to 8.7 million in August and 7.3% to 66.8 million for the first eight months. Southwest Airlines flew 5.7 billion RPMs in August, up 13.7 over August 2004.
Assn. of European Airlines members registered an overall traffic growth of 7% in July compared to the year-ago period. The South Atlantic market posted the highest growth with a 16% increase in traffic on 13.8% more capacity, whereas the larger Far East market recorded a 13% growth in RPKs on a capacity hike of 8.6%. Intra-European traffic rose 6.5%, with cross-border flows substantially stronger than domestic. The North Atlantic increase was just 2.2%. July passenger boardings were up 5% to 30.2 million and load factor gained 2.2 points to 81.1%.
Varig Engineering & Maintenance delivered the fifth and final A300B4 freighter to Express.Net. The aircraft were maintained nose-to-tail beginning in October. Work included inspection checks, several ADs, CPCP, TCAS installation, large structural repairs, painting, other mandatory services and some specific mods such as installation of armored cockpit doors.
European Commission published a staff working paper outlining two policy proposals for a tax on airline tickets to fund efforts to reduce poverty around the world in line with the Millennium Development Goals. Earlier this week, French President Jacques Chirac announced plans to implement the so-called "solidarity" tax next year ( ATWOnline, Aug. 30). The working paper analyzes two approaches: The Voluntary-Mandatory approach would involve voluntary participation of EU members in an international scheme introducing a mandatory levy for passengers at the national level.
Airlines in the Asia/Pacific region will invest an average of 2% of annual revenues in telecommunications and information technology this year compared with 1.9% for European airlines and just 1.4% for North American carriers, according to SITA's seventh annual "Airline IT Trends Survey" released yesterday.
Alteon Training and Aerolineas Argentinas opened their new joint training facility near Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires. The Buenos Aires Training Center has a 737-300/-500 simulator with plans to install a flat-panel 737 trainer by year end. It is Alteon's first location in South America.
AeroMobile, a joint venture of ARINC and Telenor, reached agreement with Boeing Commercial Airplanes to explore the feasibility of equipping new Boeing passenger aircraft with AeroMobile's inflight cellular solution. The agreement covers line-fit options for widebody and narrowbody aircraft starting with the 777.
Troubled Thai airline Phuket Air has been banned from French airspace, putting its longer-term expansion on hold. The carrier started services in 2001 and operates to eight domestic destinations including Phuket plus offering international charter and scheduled flights. International services are operated with four 747-200B/Cs and one 747-300 but these aircraft have been the subject of regulatory problems, with faults alleged in both the Netherlands and UK this year. The 747-300 is presently impounded in Seoul over alleged unpaid fees relating to maintenance.
