Turkish Airlines, which has been touting its fast pace of expansion as contrasting to the lack of capacity increases by many airlines around the world, posted impressive growth numbers again in March. It transported 6.16 million passengers for the month, up 25.5% from the year-ago month. RPKs climbed 35% to 10.17 million against a 26.9% lift in capacity to 14.46 million ASKs. Load factor lifted 4.2 points to 70.3%. The carrier reported a $369.5 million profit in 2009 ( ATWOnline, April 7).
China Eastern Airlines signed a letter of intent Friday in Shanghai to join SkyTeam, a move industry analysts said would allow it to establish a closer relationship with China Southern Airlines and better position it to compete against Air China. CEA is expected to sign a formal alliance agreement with SkyTeam in June setting its official entry into the airline grouping for mid-2011. Its decision to join SkyTeam is a disappointment to Star Alliance and oneworld, both of which had been wooing CEA, seen as a valuable partner owing to its 50% market share at its Shanghai base.
Fewer than two years after Southwest Airlines called WestJet "the perfect fit" for a codeshare partnership that promised to expand its reach outside the US, the Dallas-based LCC said Friday it will "terminate" the relationship with its Canadian counterpart before the agreement ever gets implemented.
Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance signed a one-year deal with Pegasus Airlines for maintenance of nine CFM56-7Bs on a turnkey basis.
Lufthansa Cargo said it no longer transports dogs or cats intended for use in animal experiments, a policy it implemented April 1. A self-imposed embargo for the transport of apes, whales and dolphins has been enforced by Lufthansa Cargo for "many years," it said, adding that "on principle" it does not transport any captured wild animals.
Gol and Delta Air Lines reached a codeshare agreement under which DL will place its code on more than 45 Gol flights from Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Registered frequent flyers from both airlines will be able to earn miles in both Gol's Smiles and Delta's SkyMiles programs on eligible flights. Alaska Airlines will launch daily Portland-Honolulu service Sept. 20 aboard a 737-800. Bulgaria Air will start twice-weekly Sofia-Skopje service in June, increasing to thrice-weekly in July.
Saudi Arabia will begin construction of its own flight academy at Thumamah near Riyadh. The Saudi Aviation Flight Academy is being developed in cooperation with the Saudi Aviation Club and the Saudi Binladin Group, according to the Arab Air Carrier Org. It said the academy will aim to have the capacity is to train up to 200 cadets to international standards. Campus facilities will include all training, residential housing, recreational and administrative offices.
ANA President and CEO Shinichiro Ito questioned whether public aid for bankrupt Japan Airlines distorts Japan's competitive environment. Testifying before a government committee, Ito said JAL's turnaround program is progressing "haphazardly," according to a Nikkei report. JAL is receiving around ¥900 billion ($9.6 billion) in government support to ensure its survival as it navigates through a court-monitored bankruptcy restructuring.
AirBridgeCargo Airlines said it took delivery of its sixth 747-400 freighter this week. The Volga-Dnepr scheduled service subsidiary, which now operates nine 747Fs, said the latest -400F is being leased from Air France. ABC earlier this month added its fifth -400F, saying the fleet expansion was necessitated by the delay in delivery of its first new 747-8F that was due to join its fleet this year
UPS, considered a harbinger of global economic performance, said its adjusted first-quarter earnings per share to be announced later this month will be up 37% year-over-year owing to a stronger revenue environment than anticipated, and the express delivery giant considerably heightened its outlook for the remainder of the year.
AirBaltic next month will start evaluating an order for up to 30 new narrowbodies to replace its current fleet comprising 10 737-500s, eight 737-300s and two 757-200s, VP Corporate Communications Janis Vanags confirmed to this website.
Airlines cancelling or delaying flights at EU airports as a result of airborne ash from the Icelandic volcano are required to "provide assistance and care" to stranded passengers including "meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation [and] telephone calls," the European Commission appeared to say yesterday in a statement.
Volcanic ash from a Wednesday eruption in Iceland drifted over much of western and northern Europe, rendering airspace unfit for aircraft and forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights. At London Heathrow alone, 399 departures and 412 arrivals were cancelled Thursday, and UK airspace was expected to remain closed through all of Friday. Flybe said that all 71 of its aircraft were grounded by midday Thursday and Ryanair confirmed it cancelled more than 600 flights, approximately 40% of its scheduled services.
Patni Computer Systems won a contract from the US Air Transport Assn. to develop, implement and maintain the "next generation" of the ATA Aviation Marketplace over the next year, ready for hosting by "early 2011." It is the first upgrade for the aviation parts sourcing resource since its redevelopment nearly 10 years ago.
Lufthansa introduced a mobile-friendly version of its MySkyStatus social networking tool, which automatically sends flight status updates to users' Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as through personalized e-mails. IBS Software Services said Japanese regional carrier Amakusa Airlines implemented its passenger reservation system iFly Res for integrated reservations, ticketing and departure control aplications.
Curtiss-Wright said it was selected by Boeing to manufacture leading-edge rotary actuators for the 747-8, with deliveries beginning in January 2011 and extending through December 2012.
Etihad Airways said passenger numbers for the first quarter increased 11% year-over-year with a 5% rise in premium traffic. Load factor was 75%, up 2 points. RPKs climbed 25.4% to an undisclosed figure, growth it attributed to the "continued expansion" of its route network, addition of 10 aircraft to its fleet and "aggressive sales and marketing" of its services. ASKs lifted 22%. "Our 2010 performance is already showing positive results, with all major indicators showing strong improvements on January and February of last year," CEO James Hogan said.
ILFC announced yesterday it will sell a portfolio of 53 aircraft with a book value of $2.3 billion to Macquarie Aerospace for $1.99 billion. Completion of the sale is slated to occur over the remainder of the year, subject to closing conditions. The sale will raise the average age of ILFC's fleet of approximately 1,000 jet aircraft from 7.4 years to 7.6 years, it said. According to Standard & Poor's, "This is the first sale of a large aircraft portfolio since the global financial and economic crisis began in late 2008.
Blue1 is increasing the frequency of its Helsinki-London Heathrow service from daily to twice-daily from April 26. Turkish Airlines will launch thrice-weekly Istanbul-Sochi service from May 25.
Finnair signed a five-year deal with Champ Cargosystems to transition to automated cargo operations. It will implement the Cargospot Airline, Handling and Revenue modules to interface with global messaging solution GCCS as well as install Web booking, distribution and tracking solution CargoWEB as an ASP service.
Cathay Pacific Airways captain and first officer are being lauded after successfully overcoming apparent erratic power surges in the A330 they were operating and landing at an unusually high speed at Hong Kong International Tuesday afternoon. Problems started for the crew of CX Flight 780 en route to HKG from Surabaya when the aircraft, with 309 passengers and 14 crew aboard, was on descent about 20 min. from Hong Kong. Its two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines began to behave erratically with significant variations in thrust. When the A330 touched down at 239 kt.--109 kt.
US National Mediation Board told American Airlines to resume negotiations with its ground workers and flight attendants while NMB considers requests from the unions representing the labor groups to be released from federally mediated talks to begin 30-day countdowns toward possible strikes
US Sens. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) joined a growing chorus of lawmakers taking on Spirit Airlines, introducing legislation to prohibit air carriers operating in the US from charging fees for carryon baggage.
Bombardier Aerospace announced that Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayas signed a follow-on firm order for three CRJ900 NextGen regional jets and has taken options on an additional six. The Montevideo-based airline already operates seven of the type from an order announced in July 2007. Based on the list price for the aircraft, Bombardier valued the order at approximately $120 million, rising to $370 million should all six options be exercised.
