Sabre Travel Network added United Airlines "economy plus" tickets to its MySabre and Turbo Sabre travel agency tools, allowing the purchase of such seats through its standard GDS desktop application.
Turkish Airlines defended the maintenance record of the 737-800 that crashed on approach to Amsterdam Schiphol on Feb. 25, while Dutch investigators focused on whether the aircraft's sudden drop into a field suggested possible engine trouble. THY said in a statement that the aircraft underwent a C check on Oct. 22, an A check on Feb. 19 and was taken out of service briefly on Feb. 23 when "the pilot reported a malfunction of the Master Caution Light. . .and the part was replaced."
Ryanair said Ireland's minister of finance repealed the €10 "tourist tax" at "small and peripheral airports" like Donegal and Sligo but left it in place at Dublin and Shannon. The LCC this month announced cuts in its service at both airports ( ATWOnline, Feb. 13).
Global Aero Logistics, parent of North American Airlines and World Airways, changed its name to Global Aviation Holdings. "We are focused on growing our commercial cargo and passenger business, and the new name and identity will better represent the leading role we play in the charter aviation transport industry," CEO Rob Binns said. NAA operates passenger charters aboard 757-200ER and 767-300ER aircraft while World flies both passenger and cargo charters aboard 747-400s, DC10-30s and MD-11s.
Frontier Airlines Holdings, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, said it posted a $27.9 million net loss in January and a $2.8 million operating profit. Net result would have been a $2.8 million loss excluding reorganization items and mark-to-market fuel hedge transactions. January reorganization costs reached $28.3 million. Mainline unit revenue rose 4.4% year-over-year while unit cost fell 20.1%. President and CEO Sean Menke said the company is "now focused on securing the necessary financing to facilitate our emergence from bankruptcy later this year."
A Turkish Airlines 737-800 carrying 127 passengers and seven crew en route from Istanbul Ataturk to Amsterdam Schiphol crashed into a field while on final approach a few hundred m. short of the runway threshold yesterday, killing at least nine people including the cockpit crew and a third pilot who may have been in training.
Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo dispatchers voted unanimously to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union announced. Atlas and Polar pilots elected to join IBT in December ( ATWOnline, Dec. 23, 2008).
Australia's SkyAirWorld suspended all operations, according to a statement cited by ABC News in which CEO David Charlton said the Brisbane-based carrier is committed to restructuring in the coming weeks and still plans to launch E-190 flights from Perth to Christmas Island and Cocos-Keeling Islands in April. SkyAirWorld also operates ERJ-145s and E-170s.
Austrian Airlines flew 1.16 billion RPKs in January, down 12.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 6.5% to 1.78 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 4.3 points to 65.4%.
Bombardier Aerospace confirmed that GoJet Airlines, a St. Louis-based regional operating as United Express, is the customer for six CRJ700 NextGen aircraft plus 10 options ordered in March 2008. The manufacturer said the firm aircraft are worth approximately $207 million at list prices.
A INR187 million charge "to settle a long pending dispute with an erstwhile investor" dragged India's SpiceJet to a INR180 million ($3.6 million) loss in the third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31 (year-ago result not provided), but the carrier remains focused on an international future. Excluding the charge, the New Delhi-based LCC posted an INR8 million profit. Operating revenue rose 16% year-over-year to INR4.72 billion on a 24% increase in average fare. Unit revenue climbed 11% to INR2.42 and passenger numbers were down 12%.
Vueling Airlines, which will join with Barcelona rival Clickair to create a "new" Vueling, reported an €8.5 million ($10.8 million) net profit last year, a welcome reversal from the €78.5 million lost in 2007, as it implemented a restructuring plan. Full-year revenue increased 21% year-over-year to €438.9 million as costs rose 8.1% to €469.7 million. Operating loss narrowed 57% from €71.7 million to €30.8 million in 2007.
Iberia will operate twice-weekly seasonal Madrid-Zagreb service from July 4 to Sept. 20 and thrice-weekly MAD-Dubrovnik flights from June 16 to Sept. 29 aboard A320s. Finnair will operate five-times-weekly seasonal Helsinki-Bergen service beginning May 22. Ryanair will launch daily London Gatwick-Marseille service March 30. Virgin Blue will launch daily service from Townsville to Canberra, Gold Coast, Rockhampton and Cairns, as well as a Canberra-Hobart flight, on April 6 aboard E-170s/-190s.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. named General Motors VP-Global Strategy and Operations Tony Cervone as senior VP-corporate communications and chief communications officer.
Air New Zealand is concerned that France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses released its 53-page interim report on the November A320 crash to the media before it was provided to the airline, in addition to the fact that ANZ has not been given access to either the CVR or the FDR. BEA said the A320's pilots, who worked for XL Airways, were conducting a low-speed test on approach to Perpignan when they lost control and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, killing seven ( ATWOnline, Feb. 25).
South Africa's Comair, which operates as a British Airways franchisee and as LCC kulula.com, reported a ZAR31.8 million ($3.2 million) profit in the fiscal half-year ended Dec. 31, down 46.6% from the ZAR59.5 million earned in the year-ago semester. The company said high oil prices in the fiscal first quarter were the main driver of the profit decrease. It currently operates 10 737-400s, nine 737-300s and six 737-200s across its two brands.
Cyprus Airways released a statement saying that its 2008 financial results "are expected to be improved compared to the comparatives for 2007," in which it posted a €1.2 million ($1.5 million) profit that was its first in several years. The board is scheduled to meet Feb. 27 to approve the 2008 accounts. Through the first six months of last year the airline was €7.2 million in the red compared to an €11.6 million deficit through the first half of 2007. Its six-month operating loss was €7.8 million, narrowed from €9.8 million the prior year.
AirTran Airways launched a buy-on-board food service called Sky Bites on 60 flights, with plans to expand it to the entire network starting next month. Individual items will cost $1-$4 and packages will be $4-$6. It is partnering with Kraft Foodservice on the program. Separately, it launched a daily Atlanta-Cancun service yesterday.
CAE reached deals with West Air Sweden, MyAir and Kuwait Airways to provide e-Learning training services. West Air will receive online recurrent training for pilots operating its CRJ200s, MyAir will employ CAE CRJ700 training courseware as part of its initial type rating under a three-year deal and KU pilots will gain access to CAE General Operating Subjects courseware including Cold Weather Operations, Dangerous Goods, ETOPS and TCAS II.
The airline industry parked 1,167 aircraft last year "making 2008 the worst year for cutbacks since 2001," according to Ascend. The total number of stored jets is approaching 2,300, representing more than 11% of the global air transport fleet of 20,293, and the number should rise significantly this year as "at least 400 more aircraft are scheduled to be cut during 2009," Ascend's Chris Seymour said.
Dragon Aviation Leasing took delivery of the first of 13 A320s on order. The aircraft, leased to Air France, is the Beijing-based lessor's first directly purchased Airbus type. Dragon is a joint venture of China Aviation Supplies Holding Co., AerCap and Calyon Airfinance.
Canada and Costa Rica signed an expanded air services agreement allowing carriers to operate their own aircraft or codeshare flights between any city-pairs.
