US Airways will launch daily Charlotte-Rio de Janeiro Galeao service on Dec. 2. Route will be US's first to South America and will be operated by a 204-seat, two-class 767. Felix Airways launched flights from Sana'a to Sharjah and Djibouti.
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 12.2 billion RPKs in April, down 4.5% year-over-year. Capacity fell 1% to 16.14 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.8 points to 75.6%. United Airlines flew 9.39 billion consolidated RPMs in April, an 8.7% decline year-over-year. Capacity fell at the same rate to 11.75 billion ASMs, leaving load factor at 79.9%. China Southern Airlines flew 7.47 billion RPKs in April, up 2.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.1% to 9.78 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.6 points to 76.4%.
Jat Airways intends to change its name, Chairman Sasa Vlaisavljevic told Vecernje Novosti. Names under consideration are Air Serbia, Serbia Airlines and Serbia Airways, the newspaper reported.
Chinese carriers had failed to pay bills totaling about CNY1.87 billion ($273.6 million) combined to 32 airports as of Dec. 31, according to the China Civil Airports Assn. Domestic carriers blamed "financial difficulties" for the defaults, which comprise mainly landing, parking and security fees.
Russia's S7 Airlines will join oneworld next year, the 10-member group announced, adding 54 new destinations and eight new countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) to the alliance's network.
Astra Airlines of Greece acquired a second 99-seat BAe 146-300 from BAE Systems Asset Management. The Thessaloniki-based charter and ACMI carrier took its first of the type last July and will use the new aircraft to launch its first scheduled flight to Kiev.
Virgin Atlantic nearly doubled its pre-tax profit to £68.4 million ($108.7 million) for its fiscal year ended Feb. 28 from £34.8 million in the prior year. CEO Steve Ridgway said the company increased profitability despite "the toughest trading environment ever" because "with some of the lowest fares ever" it is "winning market share from our competitors." He added that "load factors remain resilient as travelers take advantage of these bargain fares." VS said fares are "at their lowest level in 25 years." The airline will celebrate its 25th anniversary on June 22.
The Star Alliance Chief Executive Board accepted Aegean Airlines' membership application yesterday, Star CEO Jaan Albrecht announced at a news conference in Athens. Aegean is the first Greek carrier to join an alliance and will add a network spanning 23 domestic and 24 international routes on 200 daily flights.
Jet Airways finished its fiscal year ended March 31 INR4.02 billion ($84.7 million) in the red compared to a INR2.53 million loss in 2007-08 and said a return to breakeven and profitability "requires exceptional efforts" considering the "sluggish demand" forecast for the coming year. The Indian carrier enjoyed a 23.4% increase in revenue to INR118 billion, but a year marked by plunging demand, overcapacity and the Mumbai terrorist attacks proved too great a burden on the bottom line ( ATWOnline, Jan. 19).
Malev Hungarian Airlines said Russia's Vneshekonombank, which took over the carrier in January ( ATWOnline, Feb. 12), has provided a €20 million ($28 million) loan that will enable it to add a third and fourth Q400 over the summer. Chairman Anatoly Ballo said Malev has revised its 2009 business plan, which now "includes important steps to offset the crisis that are sufficient to bring the airline into a stable operational position."
Hainan Airlines is expected to receive a CNY3 billion ($439 million) capital injection from the Hainan provincial government and its parent Hainan Airlines Group to facilitate fleet expansion and improve its debt ratio. The provincial government and HAG each will provide CNY1.5 billion to HNA. The money is intended to reduce the Haikou-based carrier's debt ratio to 81%. HNA plans to introduce 90 new aircraft in 2009-13. They will cost around CNY24.3 billion; the capital injection is aimed at broadening aircraft financing channels available to HNA, Guotai Junan Securities noted.
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair reported an 8.8% rise to 2.2 million passengers enplaned in April. Traffic increased 5.3% to 7.88 billion RPKs on a 1.1% lift in capacity to 9.54 billion ASKs, resulting in load factor heightening 3.2 points to 82.6%. The increase was mainly owing to the Easter holiday falling in April this year and fare stimulation, the airline group said. "The slump in demand for premium traffic continued unabated across the network and. .
Lufthansa Technik Sofia, the 80-20 joint venture between Lufthansa Technik and Bulgarian Aviation Group launched last year, recently opened a second maintenance line for Boeing and Airbus narrowbodies. First user of the facility was a Ural Airlines A320. Beginning in July the JV will add 737 maintenance to its portfolio.
Czech Airlines signed a seven-year global maintenance agreement with ATR valued at $14 million covering repair of LRUs on the 12 ATR aircraft in CSA's fleet. The accord marks the launch of ATR's new Door-2-Door service program in which the manufacturer is responsible for the entire supply chain management process.
EgyptAir plans to launch twice-weekly Cairo-Abuja flights June 1 using 737-800s. Bmibaby will introduce service to Grenoble from Nottingham East Midlands, Birmingham, Cardiff (all twice-weekly) and Manchester (weekly) for its 2009-10 winter schedule.
The regional airline industry continued to look forward to a stretched turboprop, but thus far neither ATR nor Bombardier has gone beyond informal consideration. "There's been substantial interest in a Q400X," Bombardier Commercial Aircraft VP Rod Williams said last week at the Regional Airline Assn. conference in Salt Lake City. "But we're not there yet. There's not a formal product program."
Austral Lineas Aereas signed an agreement Friday to purchase 20 E-190s. Embraer said the contract "will go into effect after fulfilling certain requirements and that should take place within two months." First delivery is slated for the first half of 2010. The aircraft will be the Advanced Range model that has a range of 2,400 nmi. (4,400 km.) and will feature a dual-class, 96-seat configuration.
The US House of Representatives last week passed an FAA reauthorization bill containing several controversial provisions championed by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), setting the stage for debate in the Senate on the long-stalled effort to renew FAA's legislative mandate and provide long-term funding for the agency.
British Airways reported a net loss of £358 million ($563.7 million) for its fiscal year ended March 31, reversed from a net profit of £726 million in its prior fiscal year, and said it will slash capacity 4% in the upcoming winter season and park up to 16 aircraft.
Sensis Corp. said the General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia selected its Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems and Wide Area Multilateration systems for King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah and King Fahad International in Dammam.
Bombardier Aerospace selected SAMCO Aircraft Maintenance as a recognized service facility for Dash 8/Q Series aircraft. SAMCO's facility is located at Maastricht and will provide service for aircraft based in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It will be able to perform C checks, heavy maintenance and aircraft modifications and upgrades.
US Senate last week confirmed former Air Line Pilots Assn. President Randy Babbitt, 62, as FAA administrator ( ATWOnline, March 30). The confirmation giving Babbitt a five-year term ends a period that lasted more than 19 months in which the agency was headed by acting administrators. "We heartily congratulate Administrator Babbitt on his confirmation and look forward to working with him. .
Hit hard by competition from high-speed rail, Shanghai-based Spring Airlines, the most profitable Chinese LCC, is abandoning plans to open a second base in Zhengzhou to the north and shifting its attention south to Sanya in Hainan Province.
Southwest Airlines announced the closure of the second tranche of its sale and leaseback deal with BOC Aviation, selling three 737-700s for $104 million ( ATWOnline, April 7). BOC immediately leased the aircraft back to SWA for 16 years.
