International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) has completed 65 lease transactions and took delivery of 10 new Boeing 737-800s during the first quarter. The transactions include extensions and placements from ILFC’s existing fleet for nearly 200 customers in more than 80 countries, ILFC said.
Gogo announced it has partnered with satellite equipment provider AeroSat to bring a Ku-satellite connectivity service to airlines, for a near-term solution before the Inmarsat Global Xpress Ka-satellite service becomes available.
Lufthansa (LH) on May 22 launched its first scheduled flight with all-new onboard products that include first-, business-, and economy-class seats as well as FlyNet, the first onboard broadband Internet access using a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or smartphone in every travel class.
Last November’s bankruptcy filing by American Airlines (AA) parent AMR Corp. has largely put the planned divestiture of regional affiliate American Eagle on hold, but Eagle president and CEO Dan Garton believes AMR will return to the issue quickly after it emerges from the Chapter 11 process.
Flybe Nordic, the joint venture between UK regional carrier Flybe (BE) and Finnair (AY), will take on about one-third of the Finnish flag-carrier’s European services to cut costs and improve its financial position.
SiteMinder receives $5 million in new funding TravelSky links with Pegasus Solutions for hotel content HP’s Cook: Why airlines need to get a grip on ‘Big Data’ OpenJaw launches retail platform with Russia’s S7 KwikChex reviews the review sites with five-tier system Lufthansa Systems strengthens its commercial portfolio World news briefing
The economic environment has not been kind to Europe over the last couple of years, and in 2011 Lufthansa Systems took steps to realign the company not only for significant cost reductions but for an equal amount of revenue growth as well. It reorganized into profit centers that are defined by the customer base. The commercial division has focused on tools that help airlines boost their own revenues, Stefan Auerbach, senior vices president of airline solutions, said.
EU has appealed to China to join global emission talks as tensions escalate over the country’s refusal to join the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS).
French airport operator Aéroports de Paris (ADP) has bought significant stakes in the Turkish airport operator TAV Airports and airport construction specialist TAV Construction.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. (MITAC) said it is confident the issues that forced it to delay the first flight of the MRJ, originally slated for the current quarter, are being resolved and will enable it to stick to a new schedule that calls for first flight to occur in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Frontier Airlines launched Bloomington, Ill., service to Denver (4X-weekly) and Orlando (3X-weekly, May 25). WestJet launched daily seasonal Vancouver-Whitehorse service. British Airways will launch 3X-weekly London Gatwick-Las Vegas Boeing 777 service Oct. 29. JetBlue launched seasonal daily Boston-Nantucket service, operating through Sept. 4.
Madrid-based Amadeus IT Group has secured a loan for €200 million ($255 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance research and development for a variety of IT projects for airlines, airports, hotels, and rail between 2012 and 2014.
The Qantas Group (QF) announced it will split the carrier’s international and domestic operations into two distinct businesses as part of its five-year transformation plan launched in August 2011.
Southwest Airlines (SWA) has reached a tentative agreement with Delta Air Lines (DL) and Boeing Capital Corp. to sublease all 88 AirTran (FL) Boeing 717 aircraft to DL, transitioning three aircraft per month over a three-year period beginning in the second half of 2013.
Southwest Airlines, the largest airline in the U.S. domestic market, in terms of passengers, has obviated a long-held truism with the recent addition of 737-800s to its fleet. (Beware: reading further will require summoning up your inner airline geek.)
Brazil’s Passaredo Linhas Aéreas took delivery of its first ATR 72-600 via an Air Lease Corp. (ALC) lease Tuesday, and also announced a contract with ATR to directly purchase 10 72-600s valued at more than $200 million at list prices.
Subdued representatives from SuperJet International (SJI) told reporters at the Regional Airline Assn. (RAA) annual convention in Minneapolis Tuesday that the recent crash of a Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100 has not significantly altered plans to manufacture and market the Russian-built regional aircraft.
Sweden’s Skyways Express (JZ) and subsidiary City Airline (CF) have stopped all flights and will file for bankruptcy, according to a statement on their website. CF was acquired by JZ last November.
Indian flag-carrier Air India’s (AI) long-haul flights on international routes continued to be crippled as the pilot strike enters the 15th day, overshadowing the carrier’s Boeing 787 delivery later this month.
Bogota-based AviancaTaca Holding (AV), parent of Avianca, TACA, Aerogal and Tampa Cargo, reported a first-quarter net profit of $34.9 million, up 47.3% compared to the year-ago quarter.
SR Technics named Andy Best head of Line Maintenance International, taking over from Antoine Gervais who becomes head of Operations Development. Line Maintenance International will now become an independent business unit. Vueling promoted director-quality and safety inflight Fernando Val to COO and director-revenue Julio Rodriquez to director-network planning, revenue management and distribution.
The FAA is proposing a $395,850 civil penalty against US Airways (US), of Tempe, Ariz., for allegedly violating US Dept. of Transportation hazardous materials regulations.
