Chicago Midway's privatization plan collapsed after a group of private investors failed to raise the funds needed to secure a $2.52 billion long-term lease for the facility. City officials said Monday that Midway Investment and Development Corp., the group that made the successful bid on the 99-year lease, was unable to raise the required financing. The consortium included Vancouver Airport Services, Citi Infrastructure Investors and John Hancock Life Insurance ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2008).
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras, the Campinas-based startup, expects to be operating in the black by year end and is flying at more than 70% capacity this month. It posted a 67% load factor in March, founder David Neeleman told Bloomberg News, and currently flies nine E-190s/195s. "People can afford to fly," Neeleman said. "They just have not been in the habit of doing it because fares have been so high in the past and service hasn't existed."
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol must lower tariffs that took effect April 1 by €3.5 million ($4.5 million), Dutch competition authority NMa ruled yesterday. Schiphol Group incorrectly passed several nonaviation costs--including the costs of building a sound barrier around one runway, of training baggage handling employees and of an accountancy control--to airlines when setting landing and handling fees, NMa said. Under rules introduced in 2006, airport fees must reflect the actual cost of operations, be nondiscriminatory and reasonable.
Jamaica Defense Force counterterrorism unit stormed a CanJet 737 that had been hijacked on the ground for more than 8 hr. at Montego Bay by a lone gunman early yesterday morning, arresting the perpetrator and freeing six hostages. The ordeal began at around 10 p.m. Sunday night when "a young man armed with a gun. . .forced his way through security checkpoints" and boarded the 737, which was on a stopover en route to Santa Clara, Cuba, from Halifax, according to CanJet. The perpetrator demanded to be taken to Cuba.
Austrian Airlines Group flew 1.24 billion RPKs in March, an 18.1% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 14.3% to 1.72 billion ASKs and load factor was down 3.3 points to 72.1%. Pinnacle Airlines flew 407.1 million RPMs in March, up 0.5% year-over-year, against a 6.4% increase in capacity to 550.4 million ASMs. Load factor dropped 4.3 points to 74%. SkyEurope Airlines transported 307,540 passengers last month, down 39% year-over-year. Load factor rose 2.7 points to 73.6%.
US Environmental Protection Agency last Friday issued a proposed ruling that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases "contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare." The ruling, which had been expected, sets the stage for the agency to regulate and even restrict CO2 emissions under the Clean Air Act. The proposed finding now moves to a public comment period. In addition to CO2, EPA identified five other gases--Methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride--that it said are contributing to global warming.
Swiss International Air Lines CEO Christoph Franz confirmed to ATWOnline yesterday that passenger numbers in first and business class dropped at a double-digit rate during the past several months, leading the airline to park one A340-300 until summer. "This is equivalent to a 6% drop in long-haul capacity that we originally planned for the summer of 2009," Chief Network and Distribution Officer Harry Hohmeister said. If the downturn continues, Franz said LX conceivably could ground more aircraft. "But then you ruin your network," he conceded.
Ultra announced that its Controls business, based in the UK, delivered its 1,000th aircraft active noise cancellation system. The system was delivered to Bombardier's Toronto facility as standard equipment for its Q400 production line.
China Southern Airlines subsidiary Xiamen Airlines posted a net profit of CNY210 million ($30.7 million) in 2008, its 22nd consecutive year in the black despite the collective loss suffered by Chinese carriers last year. Xiamen did not disclose its revenue or expense figures but cited the "effective cost control" facilitated by its all-Boeing fleet and "proper capacity adjustments" for the result.
Allegiant Air parent Allegiant Travel Co. reported first-quarter net income of $28.3 million, nearly three times the $9.7 million earned in the year-ago period, citing rising load factors and an increase in ancillary revenue. "We held our own in a challenging revenue environment, more than offsetting fare weakness with increased load factors," CFO and MD-Planning Andrew Levy said.
The European Commission confirmed yesterday that it has opened antitrust investigations against four Star Alliance members and three oneworld carriers regarding concerns that their current or planned agreements to coordinate commercial, marketing and operational activities on transatlantic routes might breach EU rules.
Honeywell said Wizz Air selected a safety and navigational avionics suite and the 131-9A APU for installation on 70 new Wizz Air Hungary A320s, with a long-term service agreement on the APU.
Czech government selected Air France KLM and the Unimex/Travel Service consortium to proceed to the second round of bidding for a 91.5% stake in CSA Czech Airlines ( ATWOnline, March 24). Aeroflot and Odien, a private investor firm, were rejected. AF KLM issued a statement confirming its selection but provided no further details.
News from Travel Technology Update: Bill Me Later likes to keep it simple, for both consumers and merchants. The company can approve U.S. residents for deferred payment in a matter of seconds, with just the address, the last four digits of a customer's Social Security number and a birthdate. For merchants, Bill Me Later provides a guaranteed payment: Bill Me Later takes the risk of consumer defaults, although John Reistrup, vice president of travel marketing, said that rarely happens. "We've been pretty conservative," he said.
Macquarie AirFinance closed the purchase of two CFM56-5B3/P-powered A321-200s from Aercap. Aircraft are on lease to Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia through 2015.
AirAsia X will increase five-times-weekly Kuala Lumpur-London Stansted service to daily on July 1. Jetstar Pacific will add a fourth daily Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang flight and a second-daily Hanoi-Da Nang frequency and will increase four-times-weekly Hanoi-Can Tho service to daily on June 1.
Sensis said Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International now is operating with Sensis Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X, a runway incursion detection and alerting system. Fifteen of the 35 airports to receive the technology through FAA's ASDE-X program are operational, the company added.
Singapore Airlines suffered another record passenger decline in March, a 23% year-over-year plunge to 1.3 million. RPKs fell 21.8% to 6.27 billion against a 9% cut in capacity to 9.03 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 11.4 points to 69.4%. Loads fell in all regions, with the deepest reduction (18 points) on European routes. China Southern Airlines flew 7.29 billion RPKs in March, up 4.8% year-over-year. Capacity climbed 3.3% to 9.65 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.1 points to 75.6%.
European Low Fares Airline Assn. urged UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling to remove the Air Passenger Duty or at the very least scrap the proposed increases due to take effect in November 2009 and November 2010 ( ATWOnline, Nov. 27, 2008). ELFAA member airlines carry more than one-third of all passengers departing UK airports.
Air Berlin may face a pilots strike as 82.2% of voting Vereinigung Cockpit members voted to approve a walkout. The union board must confirm the move. Talks broke down after AB said the union's proposals would result in an additional €30 million ($39.6 million) in personnel costs per year.
IATA expanded its agreement with the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee to include safety provisions aimed at reducing accidents in Russia and the CIS. IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani, speaking last week at a press conference in Moscow, warned that "Russia's safety record is well below international standards" ( ATWOnline, Feb. 20). He noted that Russian airlines have an accident rate of one per 155,000 flights, "far worse than the global average of one accident for every 1.2 million flights.
Austrian Airlines Group confirmed to ATWOnline that it will stay afloat until it is taken over by Lufthansa. AAG Executive Board member and CCO Andreas Bierwirth told shareholders at a meeting last week that €90 million ($118.8 million) is still available from the €200 million in aid granted by the Austrian government and that the amount will be sufficient until LH's acquisition of the struggling carrier is approved ( ATWOnline, March 20).
