Skyservice Airlines, a charter and business aviation carrier based at Toronto Pearson, shut down yesterday and went into receivership. It said, "Recent changes in the Canadian vacation tour market combined with Skyservice Airlines' debt level have rendered the company unable to maintain profitable operations." Thomas Cook Canada filed the application for receivership, claiming that Skyservice owed C$8.6 million ($8.4 million) due March 30.
Air Canada and Asiana Airlines said they signed an MOU to create "a strategic partnership," building on their existing Star Alliance partnership and codeshare agreement. AC operates daily year-round nonstop service between Vancouver and Incheon with same-plane service from Toronto Pearson and codeshares on eight Asian routes operated by OZ. Asiana codeshares on seven routes operated by AC including YVR-ICN, as well as several domestic Canada routes. Canada and South Korea signed an open skies agreement in 2009.
Boeing will take an income tax charge of approximately $150 million on its first-quarter earnings statement owing to the recently passed health care reform legislation in the US, which no longer allows companies to claim a tax deduction related to prescription drug benefits for retirees. The tax increase does not take effect until 2013, but accounting standards dictate that the writedown must occur in the period when the legislation is passed, Boeing said.
Malaysia Airlines firmed a December MOU for 15 A330-300s and added two A330-200 freighters to the order, Airbus announced yesterday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 23, 2009). Passenger aircraft deliveries will begin in the first half of next year while the first freighter will join the MASkargo fleet later in 2011. MAS's A330s will seat 283 passengers across two classes. The freighters will be able to carry nearly 70 tonnes up to 3,200 nm., according to the manufacturer.
British Airways and Iberia failed to sign a definitive merger agreement by yesterday's self-imposed target date. A BA spokesperson told Dow Jones the delay "is due to technical issues that need to be resolved and we anticipate that the agreement will be signed in due course." The spokesperson added that those issues are not related to BA's pension fund deficit.
The ICAO High-Level Safety Conference in Montreal was the site of a "milestone agreement" among ICAO, FAA, the EC and IATA that the airline trade group called "the first step to creating a global information exchange to improve aviation safety."
TAM returned to profit in 2009, reporting a BRL435.7 million ($241.9 million) surplus under IFRS that compared to a BRL1.43 billion loss in 2008 fueled by nonoperating items.
Pratt & Whitney continues aggressively to push the PW1000G geared turbofan as a solution for re-engining the A320 and/or 737, but President David Hess acknowledged that talks with International Aero Engines partner Rolls-Royce about developing a variant of the GTF as a successor to the V2500 have been "tough" with no agreement in sight.
American Airlines and JetBlue Airways yesterday announced a slot swap agreement at New York area and Washington National airports as well as a limited interlining deal at JFK and Boston Logan, which will bolster both carriers' competitive positions in the face of Delta Air Lines' growing strength in New York.
European Commission sent a "reasoned opinion" to the Czech Republic and Greece for failing to implement EU legislation concerning aircraft safety checks at their airports. EC noted that the relevant directive establishes "EU-wide safety standards" covering aircraft inspections, possible measures for unsafe aircraft (including grounding) and standards for training and qualification of inspectors. Member states were required to implement the Directive by Oct. 20, 2008. Both countries have two months to comply with the request.
Aeroports de Montreal, which operates Trudeau International and Mirabel International, reported 2009 EBITDA of C$151.5 million ($149.9 million), a 12.5% decline from the C$173.1 million earned in 2008. It said it invested C$186.4 million in the two airports last year, down 20.6% from the prior year, concentrated largely on completing YUL's new transborder departures area and work on reconfiguring the road network in front of the terminal. Full-year revenue dropped 3% to C$351.4 million.
Dublin Airport's controversial new Terminal 2 will be managed by the Dublin Airport Authority, which will have to do so in line with operating cost targets set by the Commission for Aviation Regulation, Irish Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey announced. The decision effectively ends a competition to find an external company to operate T2, which is due to open toward the end of this year.
Fraport suffered a 20.1% decline in profit last year, reporting a €157.3 million ($212.8 million) surplus on a 6.1% fall in revenue to €1.97 billion. EBIT was down 19.2% to €290.4 million. Frankfurt Airport handled some 51 million passengers during the year, down 4.7%, while freight slipped 10.1% to 1.8 million tonnes. Aircraft movements decreased 4.7% to 463,111. "The best thing about last year's financial results is our outlook for 2010," Chairman Stefan Schulte said.
Ibaraki Airport, a new ¥22 billion ($234.7 million) facility located about 50 mi. north of Tokyo, opened on March 11 amid criticism that it is a waste of money and with just one airline tenant. Asiana Airlines began flying daily to Incheon, but no additional new service is scheduled until Skymark Airlines launches daily flights to/from Kobe later this month. It was designed to alleviate congestion at Haneda and Narita, both of which are expanding, and to attract low-cost carriers.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said its annual report monitoring the performance of the country's largest airports produced evidence that Sydney "has increased profits by permitting service quality to fall below that which the airlines reasonably expect." ACCC gathers data on SYD, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne Tullamarine and Perth "due to concerns that they might use their monopoly position. . .to increase profits at the expense of airlines and passengers."
Ground staff at the world's airports reduced the number of mishandled bags last year by 23.8%, resulting in savings of $460 million for airlines, according to SITA's "2010 Baggage Report" released in late March. SITA said that 2.2 billion passengers reported the mishandling of 25 million pieces of luggage in 2009, 7.8 million fewer bags than in 2008 and an improvement of more than 40% from 2007 numbers.
The protracted saga concerning a third runway at London Heathrow continued in late March as the High Court in London ruled that the UK government's policy supporting another runway "was untenable" because it was inconsistent with the Climate Change Act of 2008.
Global passenger traffic dropped 2.7% to 4.4 billion in 2009, according to Airports Council International, which said that a "return to growth activity by year end" helped mitigate the damage caused by "steep declines" in the first quarter. The number of international passengers was down 4.2% to 1.8 billion and total aircraft movements fell 5.5% to 63.9 million. Freight plunged 8.2% to 71.3 million tonnes.
When Turkish Airlines launched an advertising campaign last year featuring Hollywood actor Kevin Costner praising its operation and customer service under the tagline "Feel Like a Star," it was clear that it had taken the next step in a strategy that has seen it rise to the top of the charts of fast-growing network carriers.
