Royal Air Maroc placed firm orders for two ATR 42-600s and four ATR 72-600s with options for an additional two 72-600s. The aircraft will be operated by new regional subsidiary Royal Air Maroc Express, which will launch service this summer.
IATA said it welcomed the abolishment of the Dutch departure tax that was introduced last year ( ATWOnline, Oct. 20, 2008) (Oct. 20. 2008). The Dutch government last week decided to eliminate the tax when it implemented an economic stimulus package. "Abolishing the departure tax was the right decision for the Dutch economy," DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said. "It will provide an economic boost in this crisis. . .This is just the tip of the iceberg. Airlines saw $6.9 billion in crazy new taxation last year.
Air France will launch twice-daily London City-Nantes flights April 27 aboard F50s. Finnair will operate four-times-weekly Helsinki-Ljubljana seasonal service March 29-Oct. 23. Separately, it took delivery of its first of eight A330-300s. El Al will start six-times-weekly Tel Aviv-London Luton 767 flights on May 3. Lufthansa Cargo today will launch new weekly MD-11F Frankfurt-Hanoi service. It also will add a weekly Frankfurt-Hyderabad freighter flight on April 6.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. Friday endorsed the tentative five-year deal reached with SWA management earlier this year ( ATWOnline, Feb. 2) and sent the agreement to its more than 5,900 members for a ratification vote. "We believe this contract addresses the needs of our pilot group," SWAPA President Carl Kuwitzky said.
SAS took delivery of its first of 12 88-seat CRJ900s last week. All aircraft should be delivered by January 2010. The carrier also holds options for another 17. It told reporters in Copenhagen that talks to turn the options into firm orders will be held in September for possible deliveries starting in 2010. The 12 CRJ900s a part of a settlement with Bombardier and Goodrich over the Q400 landing gear incidents that led the airline to retire its 27 Q400s in October 2007 and have forced it to wet-lease aircraft to fill the gap.
Emirates said it will introduce an A380 on its Dubai routes to Bangkok (daily) and Toronto (thrice-weekly) on June 1. The aircraft will provide a capacity increase of about 30% on each route.
Gulf Air entered into a three-year fleet management program with SIA Engineering Co. covering the airline's Airbus fleet including A and C checks, fleet technical management, material management and engineering services, which will be performed at Gulf Air's base in Bahrain as well as in Singapore. According to the airline, the contract has a provision "for SIAEC to work with Gulf Air to insource the MRO services provided by SIAEC," which also will provide training to Gulf Air engineering staff.
US President Barack Obama's administration has not formed a position on the inclusion of US airlines in the EU's emissions trading scheme, State Dept. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs John Byerly said yesterday at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Aviation Symposium.
Pratt & Whitney announced yesterday that its PW4000-100 engine with the Advantage 70 upgrade completed its first test flight aboard an Air Comet A330-200 in Toulouse. The test program will continue through early April. The PW4000-100 is designed to deliver 70,000 lb. thrust for the A330 and will enter revenue service on the Air Comet -200 and an Air Caraibes A330-300 in the summer. Advantage 70 offers a 1% reduction in fuel consumption and increased durability, Pratt said.
Pratt & Whitney Canada expects turboprops to increase in popularity despite the industry downturn and is well positioned to work with Bombardier on the stretched version of its Q400, according to Senior Manager-Marketing Communications Pierre Boisseau.
Australian government will conduct an inquiry into security at the nation's airports amid allegations that it is well below recommended standards. Federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the inquiry will be independent of the Australian Federal Police, who are responsible for airport security, and initially will focus on the events surrounding the brutal killing of a man at Sydney Airport on March 22 in what appears to have been part of a feud between two biker gangs.
Airlines experienced their toughest month of the financial crisis yet in February, according to IATA, with passenger traffic dropping 10.1% year-over-year (a sharp fall from the 5.6% decline in January) and cargo demand down 22.1%, the third consecutive month that freight traffic plunged at least 22%.
Paris Air Show to take place June 15-21 will be well-attended despite the global financial downturn and will feature aviation industry players from around the world, including 2,000 international exhibitors, Chairman and CEO Louis Le Portz told reporters in Washington yesterday. "Concerning the major companies, everyone will be there," he said. The 48th edition of the world's largest international air show marks the 100th anniversary of the event, which started as the Airborne Locomotion Exhibition at the Grand-Palais in the center of Paris in 1909.
Virgin Blue grounded five 180-seat 737s and cancelled 28 daily flights from its schedule of 300. The moves affect 400 workers, who will be offered leave without pay, job sharing and shorter hour options. The Australian airline emphasized that it has not withdrawn from any destinations but only consolidated flights. CEO Brett Godfrey said in a statement that the reductions are a prudent interim capacity management plan necessitated by the continued and forecast deterioration in domestic demand.
The primary initiatives of "Core SAS," the restructuring plan unveiled last month to transform the airline following a heavy 2008 loss, should be completed by the end of April, SAS officials told ATWOnline this week in Copenhagen.
CAAC said it will disallow competition on 51 new domestic routes that Chinese airlines will add between March 29 and Oct. 24. The regulator said that each one of the new routes will be operated by only one Chinese carrier for three years. Industry analysts noted that the 51 routes are not particularly sought after and airlines would be reluctant to operate flights on them absent the protection against competition.
Lufthansa Systems said it will provide a package of aeronautical IT solutions to Meridiana under a five-year contract that also covers Eurofly. Solutions include Lido RouteManual navigation charts, the Lido FMS navigational database and the Lido OC flight planning solution.
B/E Aerospace received an FAA STC for installation of its Overhead Flight Crew Rest on British Airways' 777-200ERs, replacing the B/E Aerospace Overhead Attendants Rest. The OFCR order is valued at $15 million.
FedEx said that it will cancel 15 firm orders for 777Fs if a proposed US House of Representatives bill that calls for the delivery giant to be governed by the National Labor Relations Act rather than the Railway Labor Act becomes law.
US National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday that preliminary findings of its investigation into the Feb. 12 Colgan Air Q400 crash outside Buffalo reveal no pre-impact system failures or anomalies. The flight data recorder shows that the stall warning and protection system activated at an airspeed and angle of attack consistent with that expected for normal operations when the deice protection system is activated, the board said.
Shanghai Airlines reported a 2008 net loss of CNY1.25 billion ($182.8 million), nearly tripling a net deficit of CNY435.12 million in 2007, on an 8.6% lift in revenue to CNY13.37 billion.
ILFC said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it needs to find secured financing to continue meeting its obligations through the spring. The lessor is hampered by its parent company, American International Group, which was bailed out by the US government last year and had its credit rating downgraded. ILFC's access to credit has been curtailed and it now needs more money from AIG via the US government or funds from an outside lender.
Air France KLM yesterday announced that it completed the acquisition of a 25% stake in Alitalia through a reserved share subscription worth approximately €323 million ($439.1 million). Its partnership with the restructured Italian carrier was announced in January but required approval from competition authorities ( ATWOnline, Jan. 13). At that time, AZ said AF KLM would be entitled to nominate three of the 19 members of the board and two members of the executive committee.
