AirTran Airways will increase its Milwaukee operation and expand the number of flights by 43% in the summer schedule. It will launch service to Minneapolis-St. Paul (twice-daily from May 5), Branson (daily on May 11), St. Louis (twice-daily on May 21). Formerly seasonal flights to Los Angeles (twice-daily), Boston (twice-daily) and Tampa (daily) will become year-round and it will operate daily flights to Denver May 21-Sept. 8.
Southwest Airlines began testing onboard Wi-Fi Internet connectivity in conjunction with Row 44 yesterday, deploying the technology on one 737. It also is partnering with Yahoo! to offer an inflight homepage. Service will be free during the test period, which will last "the next few months" and include three more aircraft that SWA is in the process of equipping. US Federal Communications Commission has not given approval for permanent inflight use and SWA said it will wait to evaluate the trial period before deciding whether to move forward with fleetwide equipage.
SITA said Singapore Airlines launched its upgraded AirportHub solution utilizing a communications platform with enhanced bandwidth to support services on demand at remote locations. IBS said SriLankan Airlines selected its iFly Loyalty technology featuring a "rules engine" as well as program, tier, partner and member management capabilities.
American Airlines will begin transitioning to cashless cabins this summer on domestic and Canadian flights, accepting only major credit/debit cards for onboard purchases. It is using GuestLogix's technology platform featuring the company's Mobile Virtual Store point-of-sale handheld device.
Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its first MD-11 freighter. The used aircraft was purchased directly from Boeing and will serve Liege, Johannesburg, Lagos, Dubai, Hong Kong, Madras and Kinshasa. ET will take another MD-11F on lease in August. Its freighter fleet previously comprised two 757-200Fs and two 747Fs.
ATR received approval from London City Airport to operate the ATR 72-500 there following successful completion of steep-approach trials and noise tests. The aircraft joined the 42-300 and 42-500 in operation at LCY on Aer Arann flights to/from Isle of Man.
Air France KLM flew 16.11 billion RPKs in January, a 1.9% fall from the year-ago month. Capacity was down 1.2% to 21.03 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 0.5 point to 76.6%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 647.6 million RPMs in January, down 0.6% year-over-year. Capacity rose 5.4% to 827.3 million ASMs and load factor fell 4.8 points to 78.3%. Gol flew 2.32 billion system RPKs in January, down 10.2% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 10.7% to 3.37 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 68.9%.
Air China is evaluating the purchase of a 24% stake in Air China Cargo worth CNY718 million from Beijing Capital Airport Holding Co. CA Board Secretary Huang Bing noted a final decision on making the cargo company a wholly owned CA subsidiary "will depend on the specific situation of the cargo market at home and abroad." Last year the airline raised its stake in Air China Cargo to 76% from 51% through purchase of Gold Leaf Enterprise Holdings' stake in CA Cargo shareholder Langxing Co ( ATWOnline, Feb.
This year may not be a good one for regional airlines as mainline partners continue to cut capacity and seek contract concessions, analysts from Raymond James & Associates said at last week's Growth Airline Conference in New York. "Capacity is being reduced and organic growth opportunities are limited," analyst Duane Pfennigwerth said. "Future growth could come from consolidation or a move towards more high risk opportunities."
Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson said the manufacturer is "cautiously optimistic" regarding 2010 but is "prepared" to cut aircraft production rates if necessary.
Volga-Dnepr Group, parent of Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridgeCargo Airlines, increased revenue from its charter and scheduled air cargo services by 46% in 2008 to $1.4 billion. Cargo tonnage rose 25% year-over-year to 267,000 tonnes and FTKs jumped 32%.
Massive fuel hedging losses and falling revenue resulted in a 43% drop in fiscal third-quarter profit at Singapore Airlines Group, to S$337.2 million ($225.5 million) from the S$590 million earned in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2007.
Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee yesterday released its final report on last September's Aeroflot Nord 737-500 accident near Perm that killed all 88 onboard, finding that the pilot who "lost spatial orientation" had been drinking.
Greece's Marfin Investment Group said it is "ready to proceed to direct negotiations" with the government regarding its floundering effort to privatize Olympic Airlines and that it is willing to invest up to €200 million ($259.5 million) to acquire OA's three divisions. The government's tender failed to produce a satisfactory offer by last week's deadline ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5), at which point officials reached out to Greek investors seeking a bid.
Qatar Airways took delivery of its first of six 777-200LRs. Aircraft is its sixth 777 and 66th overall. It will operate QR's Doha-Houston Intercontinental service scheduled to launch March 30. Aircraft seats 42 passengers in business class and 217 in economy.
FedEx launched operations at its new Asia/Pacific air hub at Guangzhou Baiyun late last week. The $150 million, 82,000-sq.-ft. facility replaces the express operator's Subic Bay hub and is capable of processing 24,000 packages per hr. FedEx will operate 136 weekly flights into Guangzhou, which the company said is particularly well positioned to serve the high-tech electronics industry. The complex features its own ramp control tower, enabling FedEx to have direct control over aircraft movements. It also is equipped with a customs clearance facility dedicated to FedEx.
Bombardier granted option rights for 15 Q400s to Pinnacle Airlines subsidiary Colgan Air. Options are additional to Colgan's firm order for 15 Q400s placed last month ( ATWOnline, Jan. 16).
Russia's Federal Anti-monopoly Service is intent on abolishing overflight fees charged to foreign airlines, which traditionally benefit Aeroflot. FAS Director Igor Artemyev told reporters last week that his agency has prepared a relevant draft decree to be submitted for government approval shortly. Since the late 1970s, foreign operators have been paying pro-rate charges for transiting airspace over Siberia on routes between Europe or North America and Asia.
News from Travel Technology Update: The U.S. Travel Association (formerly Travel industry Association) unveiled new "accountability standards" on business meetings, events and incentive travel for companies receiving federal bailout funds. The standards are designed to convince Congress and the Obama administration that corporate America can police itself, despite widely publicized events labeled as wasteful corporate junkets held by bailout recipients. Key points of the standards are:
El Al will launch thrice-weekly Tel Aviv-Sao Paulo Guarulhos service on May 2 aboard a 777-200ER. Jetstar Airways launched flights from Perth to Adelaide (daily) and Cairns (thrice-weekly) and thrice-weekly Gold Coast-Cairns service aboard A320s.
SunExpress, the joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, reported a 33.8% year-over-year increase in 2008 revenue to €406.8 million ($526.2 million) on a 40.9% surge in passenger numbers to 4.2 million. Load factor rose 1.1 points to 77.6%. It said it was profitable but did not release financial figures. SunExpress operates 14 737-800s and three 757-200s and will take delivery this year of three -800s that will replace the leased 757s. It will fly 816 weekly frequencies to 87 destinations during the upcoming summer schedule.
Baltia Air Lines announced commencement of the FAA Air Carrier Certification process. It intends to launch New York JFK-St. Petersburg 747 flights and eventually plans to operate between major US markets and Eastern Europe.
Thomas Cook Group announced that it plans to acquire Lufthansa's 24.9% stake in its Condor Airlines subsidiary for €77.2 million ($99.9 million) under options granted in 2007. Condor transported just under 7 million passengers last year but suffered a 10% year-over-year decline in January, a source close to the airline told ATWOnline. Last fall, Thomas Cook pulled out of negotiations to combine Condor, TUI Travel's TUIfly and LH's Germanwings ( ATWOnline, Sept. 30, 2008).
Bandeirante operated by Brazil's Manaus Aerotaxi crashed in the Manacapuru River Saturday while on its way to the Amazon city of Coari, killing both pilots and 22 of the 26 passengers onboard. The aircraft, which first flew in 1981, was certified to carry a maximum of 19 passengers, according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network.
