US Airways and Qatar Airways announced a codeshare agreement covering QR flights between Doha and London Gatwick, Madrid, Manchester, Milan Malpensa, Stockholm Arlanda, Zurich and Athens, Dubai and Kuwait City. QR will place its code on US flights from LGW, London Heathrow, Frankfurt, MAD, MAN, MXP, ARN, ZRH, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Munich, Rome Fiumicino and ATH. Deal is subject to government approvals.
Aircraft Leasing and Management arranged the sale of one BAe 146-300 to Star Peru on behalf of Flybe, which has replaced its 146 fleet with E-195s. ALM is remarketing the remainder of the Flybe 146 fleet.
Lufthansa increased the number of deactivated aircraft from 20 to 24 last month in response to falling demand, a source close to management told ATWOnline. LH Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber previously had said that parked aircraft will vary in size between the CRJ200 and the A300-600, with those two types being the most common. LH Cargo has removed four MD-11Fs from service ( ATWOnline, March 12). The 24 parked aircraft represent approximately 10% of Lufthansa's capacity.
Ryanair will open a base at Pescara in July, using one aircraft to support seven routes including four new ones. It will be the LCC's 32nd base overall and eighth in Italy. New service will be to Cagliari, Treviso (both twice-weekly), Eindhoven (thrice-weekly) and Bergamo (four-times-weekly).
Emirates will allow its flight attendants to take "purely voluntary" unpaid leave of 1-6 months beginning in May. "In anticipation of our growing fleet, Emirates' recruitment efforts over the past 12 months have been highly successful in meeting our operational requirements," an EK spokesperson was quoted as saying. "Combined with a sharp drop in cabin crew attrition, we now find ourselves in a position to be more flexible as an employer."
Singapore Airlines said it signed "in principle agreements" with unions representing ground staff, cabin crew and administrative employees to shorten the work month by one day and "cannot rule out further measures to contain costs if the downturn worsens" ( ATWOnline, Feb. 18). SIA still is discussing the measure with pilots and hopes to implement the scheme across the company on May 1.
US House of Representatives Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) yesterday urged the Dept. of Transportation to review whether Virgin America still meets the requirements of US airline ownership and control laws, echoing earlier allegations by Alaska Airlines that VX now is wholly owned by the UK's Virgin Group.
Qantas unveiled a streamlined ownership structure for Singapore-based Jetstar Asia and Valuair designed to provide a growth platform in line with its pan-Asian strategy. Under the structure, Qantas Group and Singapore-based Westbrook Investments acquired all shares in Orangestar Investment Holdings, the previous ownership holding structure, via a new holding company, Newstar Investment Holdings. Financial terms were not disclosed. Westbrook, wholly owned by Choo Teck Wong, will hold 51% of Newstar, Choo is a longtime partner of QF and will be Newstar's chairman.
Jin Air, Korean Air's short-haul subsidiary, will launch its international service in October with flights to Bangkok and Macau, CEO Kim Jae Kun told reporters in Seoul. It currently operates four 737-800s and plans to add three destinations and one aircraft this year. According to The Korea Times, Kim said the carrier reported KRW10 billion ($7.3 million) in sales this year and is aiming for KRW90 billion in 2009, with breakeven targeted for 2010 ( ATWOnline, June 17, 2008).
Air China yesterday revealed in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it has purchased Beijing Capital Airport Holding Co.'s 24% stake in Air China Cargo for CNY718 million ($105 million), completing a process started last year that has seen its share of its cargo unit rise from 51% to 100% ( ATWOnline, Feb. 11).
SkyTeam expects to announce at least one and perhaps several new members this year and is talking with Malaysia Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, with China Eastern Airlines and China Airlines also in the picture, Chairman Leo van Wijk told Luchtvaartnieuws. The alliance currently has 11 full members and three associate members, one of which, Copa Airlines, "informally" has indicated its intention to leave. Former partner Continental Airlines is trading SkyTeam for Star Alliance in October and Copa likely will follow suit.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Wideroe and Blue1 signed a 10-year agreement to adopt the full Amadeus Altea Customer Management platform to manage global sales and reservations, inventory and departure control processes. Amadeus will implement the new technology platform "through a phased migration process" starting next year. Altea is the heart of the common IT platform adopted by Star Alliance a few years ago.
Boeing received an order for five 737s from an unidentified customer during the week ended March 31, bringing its gross orders for 2009 to 28 aircraft and its net to -4. It has had commitments for 32 787s canceled. The company delivered 121 aircraft in the first quarter, comprising 91 737s, four 747s, three 767s and 23 777s. It delivered 115 in the first three months of 2008.
Air Jamaica expects to complete its privatization by the end of June. The Jamaican government appointed a privatization committee and has asked International Finance Corp., a private-sector arm of World Bank Group, to serve as adviser ( ATWOnline, May 7,2008). A mid-April meeting is scheduled with an "international airline group" that has indicated it plans to bid on the state-owned airline, which has been losing an estimated $150 million annually.
Qatar Airways will install Mobile OnAir's inflight Internet and SMS services on its 22 A320 family aircraft as well as "several" yet-to-be delivered planes under an agreement announced yesterday. QR does not intend to offer telephone calls.
US airlines may be able to return to profit this year despite the recession owning to fortuitous decisions made in the first half of last year in response to high oil prices, according to AirTran Airways CFO Arne Haak and United Airlines Senior VP-Planning Kevin Knight.
Spring Airlines expects to nearly double its net profit to CNY40 million ($5.8 million) this year and is planning a rapid fleet expansion despite shrinking domestic demand and the global economic downturn. Launched in July 2005, Spring is one of the most profitable privately run carriers in China and reported net earnings of CNY21 million last year. It maintained a load factor of 95% as it established travel agencies to attract passengers.
Air Arabia plans to launch its Casablanca-based subsidiary by late April or early May and hopes to be operating some 25 aircraft to at least 60 destinations in Europe and Africa within five years, CEO Adel Ali told reporters in comments cited by Reuters ( ATWOnline, Nov. 13, 2008). Separately, the LCC said that Airbus ranked it first on its list of airlines with the highest A320 operational reliability in 2008 at 99.8%. Air Arabia currently operates 16 A320s and plans to add two more this year.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker told Abu Dhabi's The National yesterday that the carrier will announce an aircraft order at the upcoming Paris Air Show. He also said QR is targeting 20% year-over-year passenger growth to 14.4 million, according to Reuters ( ATWOnline, March 13).
Industry representatives at the fourth Aviation & Environment Conference in Geneva committed to playing their role in mitigating climate change and urged ICAO "to redouble its efforts" to present a unified, global emissions reduction policy at December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
SR Technics Group yesterday confirmed that it intends to close its line maintenance base at Dublin ( ATWOnline, Feb. 13), which employs 1,135. Six hundred will be laid off Friday, with a further 100 made redundant later in the month. "All remaining activities are expected to be wound down or transferred to other providers" by Aug. 31, SRT said.
UAE General Civil Aviation Authority signed an air services MOU with the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority permitting 15 weekly scheduled passenger flights and four weekly cargo frequencies between Abu Dhabi and Iraq, 21 weekly passenger and four weekly cargo flights to/from Dubai, eight passenger and four cargo flights to/from Sharjah and three passenger flights to/from Ras Al Khaimah, according to the Arab Air Carriers Org.
Transaero launched daily Moscow Domodedovo-Kazan service aboard a 737. Finnair will operate twice-weekly Helsinki-Krakow service April 2-Oct. 4 aboard an A319.
SkyTeam will introduce a centralized managing entity based in Amsterdam that will handle marketing, sales, airport synergies and transfer product, cargo, advertising and branding, alliance operations, finance, corporate communications and administration. It will be headed by MD Marie-Joseph Male, an Air France executive, and will be in place before year end. "In SkyTeam, we have always prided ourselves on our collaborative nature.
