US Airways will return complimentary beverage service to the coach cabin on all mainline and US Airways Express flights beginning March 1. The airline has been charging for nonalcoholic beverages ($2 for soda/juice, $1 for coffee/tea) as part of its transition to a more a la carte business since last August ( ATWOnline, June 13, 2008).
Air France took delivery of its first 777F last week. AF, which placed the launch order for the new factory-built freighter in May 2005, progressively will replace its five 747-400ERFs and four 747-400BCFs with 777Fs. Based on the 777-200LR platform, the GE90-110B1L-powered 777F has an MTOW of 766,000 lb. (347,450 kg.). Range is 4,880 nm. (9,038 km.) with a full payload of 226,700 lb., according to Boeing. A total of 73 777Fs have been ordered by 12 customers.
Gulf Air signed an agreement to lease four 312-seat 777-300ERs from Jet Airways. Three aircraft will arrive next month and the fourth in May and will replace A340s. Gulf currently wet-leases two A300s from Jet.
Austrian LCC Niki was able to increase January passenger volume at its Vienna hub by 42.7% year-over-year, taking advantage of weakened Austrian Airlines Group. Against the current downturn, President Niki Lauda said Niki is targeting expansion. "We are not spending our time complaining about the crisis. . .People and companies are cutting expenses. With our low-cost tickets we are offering them just what they want, which enables us to keep growing," he said, adding that Niki is the only important airline at VIE planning a significant capacity increase.
GKN Aerospace said it completed "on schedule" production of the prototype composite spars for Airbus's A350 XWB wing box demonstrator. Under a work package announced last September, GKN has responsibility for development and supply of the composite spars and fixed trailing edge assemblies for the A350 wings.
CAAC plans to reduce every flight time by 3 min. and will control capacity increases for Chinese carriers in an effort to lift them out of their current financial difficulties. According to Vice Minister Wang Changshun, the 3-min. reduction can save airlines about CNY9 billion ($1.31 billion) annually. In addition, the regulator is committed to optimizing 36 air routes to shorten flight distance by a combined 2,800 km., which will cut costs further.
News from Travel Technology Update: Susan Black's assessment of the opportunities for travel start-ups to obtain outside investment is blunt: "It's dismal." Black, a travel industry veteran who serves as senior adviser for the industry at Chimney Rock Capital Partners, said venture capital and private equity firms that already have invested in travel start-ups are currently vetting their portfolios and "deciding who shall live and who shall die." The money hasn't completely dried up, but it most likely will go toward building on existing investments, Black said.
Royal Jordanian launched OnAir's inflight mobile service onboard A319 aircraft flying to Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and India. Technology allows passengers to use mobile phones and PDAs to make and receive calls and employ SMS and e-mail. Those with laptops fitted with GSM data cards can access the Internet.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved $376.5 million for a runway project designed to help alleviate delays at New York JFK. Work is scheduled to begin in June and be completed in 2011. It will include reconstructing and widening runway 13-31 and revamped taxiways. Runway 13-31 is 14,572 ft. long and handles about one-third of JFK's annual operations, including more than half of all departures.
Virgin Blue Holdings blamed a one-off charge associated with establishment of its V Australia subsidiary and its fuel hedges for a net loss of A$101.4 million ($65.3 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31 compared to a A$113.3 million profit in the year-ago semester.
B/E Aerospace won STC approval from US FAA to provide Japan Airlines with cabin interior retrofit installation on 777-200s. JCAB also validated the STC. Prototype installation was completed in December at JAL's Tokyo facility.
Air Dolomiti President and CEO Michael Kraus expects a stable ride through the current aviation downturn and intends to play a key role in supporting Lufthansa's new Milan Malpensa subsidiary by connecting the airport with regional destinations in the south or on certain islands. "Of course we also benefit from the weakness of Alitalia, but Italy offers a lot of opportunities for aviation thanks to its geography," Kraus said, adding that 92% of all intercontinental passengers from west of Milan and north of Pisa did not change aircraft to fly to their overseas destinations.
Mokulele Airlines scraped together a $300,000 payment to Republic Airways Holdings and prevented default on an $8 million loan, according to The Honolulu Advertiser. Last week, Republic CEO Bryan Bedford said he was prepared to assume control of the Hawaiian regional if the payment was not made ( ATWOnline, Feb. 19). Mokulele CEO Bill Boyer told the Advertiser that employees decided to defer paychecks for a week so the company could make the payment.
Aerolift An-12 freighter en route from Entebbe to Nikolaev, Ukraine, crashed Friday on takeoff from a refueling stop in Luxor, catching fire and killing all five crew onboard. Aerolift is a South African cargo carrier that operates a variety of services mostly to Middle Eastern and African destinations. It describes itself as a "dedicated specialist aviation contractor." It is unclear what services the crashed aircraft was providing. The Egyptian aviation ministry said the An-12 crashed about 700 m.
Time is running out for Austrian Airlines Group, which announced last week that it lost at least €131.5 million ($166.1 million) through 2008 and January 2009, or half of the total value of its shares. "The announcement of the loss was no surprise for us," AAG board member Peter Malanik said. But the company's ultimate survival depends on the closing of its takeover deal with Lufthansa, which must be completed by July in order for AAG to ensure its viability.
Air China is blaming its fuel hedges for its 2008 loss and plans to shift more attention to boosting ancillary revenue to help engineer a turnaround this year. The carrier reported a CNY6.8 billion ($993.2 million) noncash loss resulting from a Dec. 31 writedown in the value of its fuel hedges. It recorded cash losses of $5.9 million and $52.8 million on its fuel hedge contract in November and December respectively.
Turkish Airlines launched thrice-weekly Istanbul Ataturk-Nairobi service. Lufthansa will launch four-times-weekly Munich-Tel Aviv service on April 26 aboard a 221-seat A340-300.
IATA reported that December premium traffic fell 13.3% year-over-year and full-year numbers were down 2.8%. "This precipitous fall has been driven by the abrupt decline in business activity and international trade," IATA said. Premium revenue in December dropped an estimated 20%. Economy traffic was down 5.3%. European Low Fares Airline Assn. members carried 149.5 million passengers in 2008, a 15.7% increase from 2007. Load factor averaged 81.5%, 0.5 point lower than the prior year.
Australia's Rex Regional Express Holdings reported a net profit of A$10.5 million ($6.8 million) for its fiscal year first half ended Dec. 31, up 1.9% from net income of A$10.3 million in the year-ago period, on a 5.4% increase in revenue to A$135.8 million. Expenses rose 5.3% to A$121.4 million. Operating income was A$14.4 million, up 6.7% from A$13.5 million in the prior-year period. "This was accomplished by controlling nonfuel-related expenses and by an increased focus on efficient capacity and yield management," Rex said.
US National Transportation Safety Board Member Steven Chealander, who is leading the investigation into the recent Colgan Air Q400 crash, announced his resignation effective Feb. 28 and was named Airbus Americas VP-technical training.
Ryanair said it "welcomed" reports that the European Commission will not appeal the European Court of First Instance's annulment of the EC's ruling in the longstanding Ryanair/Charleroi state-aid case ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18, 2008) "The Commission simply got it wrong, as has been subsequently proven by the huge success of Charleroi Airport," Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said.
Thales and ACSS, a Thales and L-3 Communications joint venture, said Saudi Arabian Airlines selected its T3CAS integrated surveillance platform for installation on 42 firm and eight optional A320s. Expected to lower ownership costs, enhance power efficiency and reduce wiring and weight, the technology combines a traffic alert and collision avoidance system, terrain awareness warning system and Mode S transponder. ADS-B capabilities include ATSAW with ITP.
Air France Industries sold its stake in Hangxin Aviation Engineering Group to senior management and "cadre employees" at the Chinese component MRO organization. The share transfer agreement was initialed in December and signed on Feb. 19.
A nearly 50% year-over-year increase in revenue was not enough to save Norwegian from the damaging fluctuation in fuel prices last year as the LCC slid to a NOK7.6 million ($1.1 million) full-year loss from an NOK84.6 million profit in 2007.
