Agreement of Facilitation of Aerial Transport in Central America was adopted by the governments of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua and "will facilitate the transport of people between the participating countries because it reduces procedures and optimizes travel time," ALTA Executive Director Alex de Gunten said. The organization said the so-called CA-4 creates a "unified regulatory body and domestic Central American market."
Singapore Airlines yesterday took delivery of the first of six A330-300s on lease from AWAS. Aircraft is powered by Trent 700s, will seat 285 passengers in two classes and will be used initially on flights to Australia and Japan. Remaining aircraft will be delivered this year.
Baboo reported an 87% year-over-year increase in 2008 revenue to CHF56 million ($49.1 million) on a 75% rise in passenger numbers to 295,000. The Geneva-based carrier took delivery of three E-190s this year, increasing its fleet from two (Q400s) to five aircraft, and added seven destinations to bring its scheduled network to 18.
ILFC announced the following lease agreements: One used 737-800 to Vision Airlines for five years, delivery in March; three used A319-100s to WindJet (two for six years each delivered in December, one for 6.5 years with delivery this month); one used 767-306ER to Flyglobespan for five years, delivery in February; two used A330-200s to Atlasjet for five years each, delivery in April; two used A320-200s to Ural Airlines for six years each, delivery in May; two used 737-300s to Belavia for five years each, delivery in May and June; one used 737-300 to Boliviana for five years, delivered in
National Transportation Safety Board said an examination of the right engine of the US Airways A320-200 that ditched safely in New York City's Hudson River last week "revealed evidence of soft body impact damage." Three variable guide vanes were fractured and two missing altogether along with the CFM56-5B4/P's electronic control unit. "Numerous internal components. . .were significantly damaged," NTSB said, and "what appears to be organic material" was found in the engine and on the wings and fuselage.
Swiss International Air Lines presented its new first class product yesterday in Zurich, part of a CHF1 billion ($876.6 million) rollover of its 25-strong widebody fleet that will include replacement of nine A330-200s with the same number of -300s.
Emirates will increase service from Dubai to Riyadh (Feb. 1, six-times-weekly to daily), Amman (Feb. 2, 10-times-weekly to 12-times-weekly) and Jeddah (Feb. 3, six-times-weekly to daily).
ANA announced a number of cutbacks on its international network, citing the current economic downturn. On Feb. 12 it will suspend five-times-weekly Osaka Kansai-Dalian service and a twice-weekly Dalian-Shenyang flight. Daily Tokyo Narita-Mumbai service will be reduced to thrice-weekly on Feb. 2 and thrice-daily NRT-Shanghai will become twice-daily on Feb. 5. Alaska Airlines will launch twice-daily Portland, Ore.-Long Beach service on Feb. 8 and will operate a second daily Anchorage-Chicago O'Hare flight June 7-Aug. 22.
CSA Czech Airlines should be privatized this year following a Monday decision by the government to sell 91.5% of the national carrier by September. The sale reportedly is expected to generate up to CZK5 billion ($238.7 million) and will consist of a two-round tender.
China took another step in its effort to manufacture a large commercial passenger aircraft with AVIC's launch of its commercial engine company in Shanghai on Jan. 18. AVIC President Lin Zuoming said the new venture is expected to be responsible for producing engines for a domestically produced150-seat commercial aircraft dubbed the "trunk liner" ( ATWOnline, Nov. 5, 2008).
Rockwell Collins won a deal with Hainan Airlines to provide communication, navigation and surveillance avionics for 13 A320s. Products include RC's MultiScan Hazard Detection System, GLU-920 MMR, ADF-900, DME-900, HFS-900D Data Radio, CPL-920D Coupling Unit, VHF-920 transceiver and VOR-900 receiver. Deliveries will begin in 2010.
SR Technics won a five-year extension on its contract with Air Caraibes Atlantique to provide MRO services for two A330-200s and two A330-300s. Valued at more than CHF100 million ($89.1 million), the contract covers technical fleet management, base and line maintenance and component services. SRT recently opened a line station in Cayenne and will continue to support operations at Paris Orly.
Jetstar Airways revealed that its first 787-8 will not be delivered until the latter half of 2010. The Qantas Group subsidiary was expecting the first aircraft in the second quarter of 2010 after the most recent delay in the 787 schedule was announced last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22, 2008). A Jetstar spokesperson told The Australian yesterday that "it's obviously all predicated around the timing of first flight and how the program rolls from there.
Air France KLM warned that its operating result in the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31 "likely" will be negative, although it said the full-year result "should remain positive." "The deterioration in the economic environment during the third quarter has led to a slight weakening in passenger unit revenues and a strong decline in cargo revenue," AF KLM said yesterday, adding that unit costs "were not able to benefit from lower oil prices because of the negative effect of the oil hedges."
Japan Airlines plans to cut 2,140 jobs from its International unit by April 2011 and eliminate 1,640 of those positions altogether, while the remainder will be transferred elsewhere in the company, a spokesperson told Bloomberg News. The unit currently employs 16,240 and the move is part of an effort to reduce labor costs by an additional $109 million. JAL said there will be no layoffs and that the job cuts will come through attrition.
Singapore and the Czech Republic signed an open skies agreement on Jan. 19. There currently are no direct services between the countries. Singapore has concluded open skies agreements with more than 30 countries, including 16 in the EU.
The US Airways A320 that ditched safely in New York City's Hudson River following a bird strike last week previously had suffered a compressor stall on one of its engines, investigators said. A US National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson told reporters Monday that maintenance records of the nearly-10-year-old aircraft revealed the stall occurred on Jan. 13. The pilot on that flight will be interviewed by investigators.
London City, Budapest and Chicago Midway operators are among the first-round bidders for London Gatwick, which is set to be sold by BAA ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22, 2008), Reuters confirmed. LCY operator Global Infrastructure Partners, Budapest operator Hochtief and the MDW consortium of Citi Infrastructure Investors, Vancouver Airport Services and John Hancock Life Insurance will bid, the latter as Lysander Gatwick Investment Group, spokespeople told the news service.
Turkish Technic reached an MRO agreement with Istanbul-based Onur Air to provide C checks on A300-600s. Work is slated for completion early next month.
Ukraine International Airlines said it "exceeded its projected targets" in 2008 and will report a full-year profit for the eighth consecutive year when it releases audited financial figures in April. It said passenger numbers rose 16.5% year-over-year to 1.7 million on an 18.5% lift in RPKs to 3.2 billion. Load factor climbed 3 points to 74.8%. It operates 17 737s.
Air China and Shanghai Airlines joined China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines in announcing that they expect to report losses for 2008. Both CA and SAL cited "the decline in market demand" that was exacerbated by the impact of May's Sichuan earthquakes, stricter security measures surrounding the Beijing Olympics, the global financial crisis and "much higher fuel expenses" until the recent fall in oil prices. The resulting fuel hedge losses then became a culprit ( ATWOnline, Jan. 16).
Qantas retired the last of its six 747-300s. The airline operated the aircraft mainly on regional international and domestic transcontinental routes in recent years. QF was forced to retain the -300s for longer than desired because of the late delivery of its A380s. The aircraft have been replaced by A330s.
Singapore Airlines will launch A380 service to Paris Charles de Gaulle on June 1. The daily flight will replace the existing 10-times-weekly 777-300ER service. The SIA A380 is configured with 471 seats. CDG is the carrier's fourth A380 destination after London Heathrow (twice-daily), Sydney and Tokyo Narita (each daily). It has six A380s in service and a further 13 on order. The CDG route will follow the delivery of the seventh and eighth aircraft.
Lufthansa flight attendants represented by the Independent Flight Attendant Org. are threatening industrial action in the coming weeks over a pay dispute, Reuters reported. The union left negotiations Friday and is demanding a 15% increase in pay and benefits for some 16,000 employees. LH has offered 10%.
