Flybe announced that it will open a base at London Gatwick, its 14th, and launch 18-times-weekly flights to Dusseldorf on June 22. Flybe is the third-largest slot holder at LGW but has not based any aircraft there. It plans to operate "nearly" 500 weekly flights from the airport during the summer schedule. It recently opened a new lounge at LGW's South Terminal. The carrier said the move "reaffirms its ability to grow even in challenging economic times and that it also has "big plans to grow further in Germany."
Indonesian court jailed Garuda Indonesia Capt. Marwoto Komar, 45, the pilot who was in command of a 737-400 that crashed in Yogyakarta two years ago, killing 21.
Star Alliance said it plans to move current London Heathrow Terminal 2 tenants Austrian Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and TAP Portugal to T1 this summer. At that point, the 21 Star members serving LHR will remain split between T1 and T3.
American Airlines flew 10.32 billion system RPMs in March, down 10.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 5.6% to 13.04 billion ASMs and load factor slipped 4.8 points to 79.2%. American Eagle flew 643.1 million RPMs, down 6.1%, against a 4.2% decline in ASMs to 894.2 million, lowering load factor 1.5 points to 71.9%. US Airways Group said March consolidated passenger RASM fell an estimated 17%-19% year-over-year, although total RASM dropped 13%-15% including ancillary revenue.
Aeroflot said last week that new CEO Vitaly Savelyev, named to replace the ousted Valery Okulov, will assume the position Friday ( ATWOnline, March 31). It also said an efficiency program implemented last summer will be worth $161 million in reduced costs this year and more than $400 million by the end of 2010. In addition, it announced establishment of a separate, Moscow-based charter division that will operate mostly Il-96s.
JetBlue Airways and Aer Lingus said bookings during the first year of their partnership exceeded targets by 50% and that JetBlue was able to connect more than 80 passengers a day from Ireland. The deal allows customers in both the US and Ireland to book a single connecting fare on EI's website and provides for baggage transfer. It originally involved connections between Dublin and Shannon, New York JFK and 25 JetBlue onward destinations but now includes flights via Boston as well. EI CEO Dermot Mannion said the companies will "continue to grow and develop new opportunities."
Qantas agreed to contribute an additional A$66 million ($46.7 million) over the next three years into the defined benefit divisions of the Qantas Superannuation Plan, in addition to current contributions, in response to the turmoil in the financial markets that has hit pension funds hard around the globe. It said the plan has assets of around A$5 billion and remains "in a strong financial position despite the challenging economic environment."
Airbus reported an order for 10 A320s on March 31 from Ireland's Aircraft Purchase Fleet, which combined with Korean Air's commitment for six A330-200s brought the manufacturer's order book for the month to 16 aircraft and it's year-to-date total net of cancellations to eight. It also has sold two A380s to KE and four A321s to Turkish Airlines this year but has seen orders for 14 A320 family aircraft cancelled ( ATWOnline, March 2).
European Commission revealed last week that 27 European aircraft have been equipped to allow the use of standard mobile telephones onboard since the EC created the regulatory framework for such a service last year ( ATWOnline, April 8, 2008) and that it expects the number of aircraft to double by the end of 2009. Ryanair, TAP Portugal and bmi currently offer the service through either OnAir or AeroMobile, and technical trials are underway at other carriers, the EC said.
EU and Mongolia signed a horizontal aviation agreement designed to "restore legal certainty regarding bilateral air services agreements" between Mongolia and 12 EU member nations. It will remove nationality restrictions in the existing air services agreements, allowing any EU airline to operate between Mongolia and any of the 12 nations in which it is established.
Air France KLM and Gol signed an agreement Friday linking their respective loyalty programs and establishing a codeshare arrangement under which AF will add its code to Gol flights between Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and 13 Brazilian cities by mid-year. A similar deal is being prepared between Gol and KLM. The European carriers operate 21 weekly flights to Sao Paulo Guarulhos and 14 to Rio de Janeiro Galeao.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian told employees in a memo last week that "it is prudent for us to restructure and reduce the size of our executive team" and announced that five management officials will leave the company June 1, the Associated Press reported. The departing executives are Senior VP-International Laura Liu, Northwest Airlines Senior VP-Customer Service Crystal Knotek, NWA VP-Chief Accounting Officer Anna Schafer, Minneapolis/St. Paul VP-Corporate Affairs Tammy Lee Stanoch and MSP Senior VP-Customer Service Todd Anderson.
Austrian Airlines Group announced a one-year agreement with flight crew at both Austrian Airlines and Tyrolean Airways that includes reduced work time and deferred compensation and constitutes an important step in its effort to cut costs by €225 million ($300 million). OS's executive board, the Inflight Works Council, the vida union and the aviation section of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce signed the deal. AAG already had reached an agreement with ground employees ( ATWOnline, March 12).
Discover the World Marketing was chosen by Condor Airlines for representation in Canada, becoming the 33rd airline represented by Discover the World Marketing.
US National Transportation Safety Board reported that US scheduled airlines operated for a second consecutive year in 2008 with no fatal accidents. In preliminary numbers released last week, NTSB said Part 121 scheduled carriers had an accident rate of 0.189 per 100,000 departures last year. That translated to 28 accidents, identical to 2007. None of the accidents in either year resulted in fatalities. Part 135 regional airline operations resulted in seven accidents in 2008, none of which were fatal, up from three nonfatal accidents in 2007.
Rolls-Royce signed a long-term TotalCare engine service agreement worth more than $350 million with Mexicana Group, covering 25 BR715-powered 717-200s operated by its low-cost subsidiary MexicanaClick.
Following the dramatic slowdown in demand during the second half of 2008, the Chinese airline industry experienced double-digit domestic growth in January and February that is being credited to Beijing's economic stimulation policies. Chinese carriers transported 34.5 million domestic passengers in the first two months of 2009, up 15.3% over the year-ago period. Boardings on domestic routes climbed 21.3% to 16.3 million in January and 17% to 16 million in February, according to CAAC.
British Airways last week maintained its guidance for an operating loss of approximately £150 million ($218.7 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31 and said the deficit will be deepened by £75 million in severance costs.
AirAsia plans to borrow MYR3 billion ($832 million) in 2010 to buy 24 aircraft, Investor Relations Head Mohshin Aziz told Bloomberg News last week. He added that the financing is in addition to the MYR2 billion it lined up to finance 14 A320 deliveries in 2009 and 2010. Separately, CEO Tony Fernandes said Chengdu and Xi'an will be added to AirAsia's network later this year, bringing the number of routes it operates to China to 10.
British Airways announced it will sell 11 of its 15 757s for cargo conversion, with the aircraft leaving the mainline fleet between 2010 and 2012. The four 757s operated by BA's transatlantic OpenSkies subsidiary will remain. The departing aircraft will be replaced by A320 family aircraft. "Replacing the Boeing 757s will give us both environmental and cost benefits," BA Director-Strategy and Business Units Robert Boyle said.
Bombardier Aerospace's EBIT soared 62.8% to $896 million for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31 from $563 million in the prior fiscal year on a 3.1% rise in annual revenues to $10 billion. However, the improvement was overshadowed by an announcement yesterday that the company "is revising downward all of its business and regional jet production rates" and will cut approximately 3,000 jobs by year end. Of these, 1,831 will come from the ranks of unionized workers; 725 contract workers and 444 nonunion and management employees also will be laid off.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines expected to return to service by late yesterday all 60 CRJ200s grounded for safety inspections, a spokesperson told ATWOnline. ASA, which operates as a Delta Connection carrier, voluntarily pulled the 50-seat aircraft on Tuesday after an internal audit raised questions about whether engine maintenance was in compliance with manufacturer recommendations ( ATWOnline, April 2).
Continental Airlines provided further evidence of the collapse in US air travel demand, reporting late Wednesday that March consolidated revenue per ASM plunged an estimated 19.5%-20.5% year-over-year while mainline unit revenue fell 18.5%-19.5%. In February, consolidated unit revenue was down 11.5% and mainline dropped 10%. CO flew 7.48 consolidated RPMs in March, down 9.7%, against a 6.4% fall in capacity to 9.43 billion ASMs. Load factor was down 2.9 points to 79.4% and passenger numbers declined 10.2% to 5.5 million.
First two Sukhoi Superjet 100s have been flown to the MM Gromov Flight Research Institute outside Moscow for flight certification testing ( ATWOnline, March 5). "The stability and control testing show good results," Sukhoi Civil Aircraft President Viktor Subbotin said. "The overall test program, including static tests at the Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute, eliminated redesign risks."
