Airbus announced aircraft MOUs with Turkish Airlines and Paramount Airways Friday, concluding a reasonably successful Paris Air Show week with firm orders for 58 aircraft worth nearly $6.4 billion and MOUs for an additional 69 planes worth $6.5 billion. THY signed its MOU for five A330-300s and two A330-200s (increased takeoff weight version) for delivery starting in August 2010. Its Airbus fleet currently comprises 46 A320 family aircraft, five A310s, seven A330s and nine A340s. It said its commitment also includes three options.
Aegean Airlines will launch daily Athens-Istanbul Ataturk on Sept. 9 aboard an A320. JetBlue Airways launched thrice-weekly Boston-Santo Domingo service aboard an A320. Flights will be daily during the winter season. Qatar Airways will start four-times-weekly flights from Doha to Amritsar (Oct. 11) and Goa (Oct. 25). Thrice-weekly service to Melbourne begins Dec. 6, becoming daily early next year. Flydubai will launch service to Aleppo, its fifth destination, on July 13, after taking delivery of a third 737-800.
Boeing is expected to start slow-speed taxi tests of its first 787 on June 25, according to factory insiders. There had been some suggestions that the first fight would be around that date but the company now may opt for the morning of June 27 or 28. The second 787, ZA002, already is in ANA livery, has started its APU and is expected to be in the air shortly after ZA001.
Lufthansa's forecast of a "distinctly positive" full-year operating profit is in jeopardy, it said Friday, and it now is focused on "avert[ing] an operating loss in the current financial year." Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline two weeks ago that the company expected a 10% drop in passengers and a 20% fall in revenue this year ( ATWOnline, June 10). It reported a €256 million first-quarter net loss and a €44 million deficit on the operating level.
Assn. of European Airlines released winter schedule (November-March) performance data indicating a slight improvement in baggage handling to 13 missing pieces per 1,000 passengers compared to 15.5 in the 2007-08 winter. Passenger numbers fell 6% year-over-year and flights dropped 9%, AEA noted. Of the 26 members reporting baggage data, Turkish Airlines performed the best at 4.5 missing bags per 1,000 passengers, followed by Air Malta (4.6) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (4.9). Iberia fared worst at 19.2, followed by Air France (18.9) and TAP Portugal (17.3).
Qatar Airways allegedly is considering plans to cancel the entirety of its Boeing order owing to repeated 787 delays, according to Dow Jones. It has orders for 60 787s including options and 24 777s including freighters and options. "The writing is in the wall for Boeing and they don't care. They're too busy having lunches and dinners," CEO Akbar Al Baker told the news service, adding that QR's issues have "gone way beyond" compensation. "Boeing doesn't realize how much they're hurting their customers' plans.
Air France KLM last week launched a convertible bond issue for pricing on June 23 designed to raise €575-€661 million ($801.8-$921.7 million), which it will use to fund fleet expansion and extend debt maturity. AF already has an outstanding €450 million convertible bond issue that matures in 2020. Citi recently indicated in an investment research report seen by ATWOnline that Europe's three largest flag carriers may have to raise new capital over the next 1-2 years due to heavy capital expenditure commitments and poor operating cash flow in the near term.
AeroLogic, the joint venture between DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo, officially launched operations Friday. The first of eight 777-200Fs was delivered last month and it plans to operate four of the type by year end. It said it expects 5% annual growth over the medium term on routes between Europe and Asia. Maiden commercial flight is scheduled for June 29 on a Leipzig-Bahrain-New Delhi-Singapore routing, to be followed by a Leipzig-Tashkent-Hong Kong flight.
Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance and AirAsia X signed a contract covering component support for its fleet of A330-300s. The Malaysian carrier ordered 25 of the type and has taken delivery of two. The remainder will enter service between now and 2013.
Austrian Airlines offered to reduce the size of its fleet in order to win approval from the European Commission for its acquisition by Lufthansa ( ATWOnline, June 12), state holding company OIAG CEO Peter Michaelis told Format magazine. In comments cited by Reuters, Michaelis said LH also offered to cut frequencies. "In [Austrian's] case, [the offer] is about the demand to cut AUA in size because of the state aid. In Lufthansa's case, [the offer] is about the antitrust conditions," he said.
Air Mauritius Group reported a loss of €85.5 million ($119.2 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, a reversal from the €17 million surplus posted in the prior year. A €50.8 million charge related to the unwinding of 40% of its fuel hedges and an actual €49.7 million hedging loss were key drivers of the result. Revenue rose 0.2% to €448.6 million on a 9% fall in passenger numbers to 1.2 million.
Air India said Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav has "requested" all executives at the GM level and above to "voluntarily forego" their salaries and incentive payments in July. Last week the company said it would defer employee checks by two weeks until July 15 ( ATWOnline, June 17).
Honeywell Aerospace was selected by Gulf Air to provide 15 131-9A APUs for Gulf's A320s scheduled for delivery from this year through 2012. The contract is valued at more than $8 million and covers maintenance through 2022.
Continental Airlines 777 landed safely at Newark yesterday morning after Capt. Craig Lennel, 60, died during the flight from Brussels. CO said the pilot "apparently [died] of natural causes," according to CNN, and the first officer and a reserve officer took the controls. The Associated Press reported that the 247 passengers onboard were not told of the pilot's death, although several passengers, including a doctor, approached the cockpit after the crew asked for the help of any medical professionals onboard.
While consolidation and alliance membership present a viable option for many airlines trying to negotiate the industry downturn, Emirates continues to prefer its independence, President Tim Clark emphasized to ATWOnline. Speaking at the recent IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Clark said that neither entry into an alliance nor a merger with Etihad Airways, about which there has been considerable press speculation, is in the cards.
Enders: GE not likely to be part of A350 program McNerney: 'My nerve' to launch new aircraft programs 'spectacularly strong' Wizz Air signs MOU to buy 50 A320s Bombardier signs 17 new CSeries supplier contracts, promises on time EIS in 2013 European Investment Bank gives Safran €300 million 'cleaner aircraft engine' R&D loan
US Airways named Northwest Airlines Assistant Treasurer Keith Bush as VP-financial planning and analysis and promoted MD-Technology Delivery Todd Christy to VP-business technology.
Aviation Capital Group and Egyptian Civil Aviation Finance Holding formally established Civil Aviation Finance and Operating Leases (CIAF-Leasing) at this week's Paris Air Show. The new lessor will concentrate primarily on new and younger narrowbody aircraft to be operated by customers in North Africa and the Middle East, CIAF Holding Chairman and CEO Medhat Hassanein confirmed to ATWOnline. He said he is targeting a portfolio of about 50 narrowbodies within five years, with some of the aircraft placed with EgyptAir. Operations are expected to begin in the 2009 fourth quarter.
WestJet and the WestJet Pilots Assn. announced the ratification of a four-year labor agreement effective July 1 with 89% of those voting approving the deal. WJPA Chairman Dave DeVeaux said the contract provides for "fair and market-driven pay scales" and maintains the pilots' position as stakeholders in the LCC.
Comair, a regional subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, will close its maintenance base at Orlando International on Sept. 7 and eliminate 81 jobs, according to a "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification" filed with the state of Florida and cited by the Orlando Business Journal. Comair said "unprecedented financial challenges due to difficult economic times" prompted the decision. Some employees will be eligible for employment elsewhere within the airline.
The British Airline Pilots Assn. announced a tentative "pay and productivity package" it said would deliver permanent annual savings to British Airways of £26 million ($42.5 million) beginning Oct. 1. The deal, which it said "will help BA get through the current economic downturn whilst, for the first time, giving pilots the mechanism to take a real share in the wealth they will help to create," remains subject to membership ratification. Some 95% of BA's 3,200 pilots are BALPA members.
Porter Airlines will begin serving Boston from Toronto City Centre on Sept. 14 with up to three daily nonstop roundtrips. Boston is the third US destination for the Canadian carrier, which currently offers service to Chicago Midway and Newark.
Flybe will wet-lease four Q400s to the re-launched Olympic Airlines from August 2009 until September 2010. Aircraft will be operated by Flybe staff and fly under its AOC. Chairman and CEO Jim French said, "Over the past 18 months or so, Flybe has been offered literally dozens of opportunities to start up or support startups globally, all of which, until this one, we have declined.
