New Zealand's new Prime Minister, John Key, criticized the UK's expanded Air Passenger Duty on passengers. He told Radio NZ that he had raised the matter of the tax with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and had pointed out to Brown that "it's not necessarily rational."
Titanium, named after the Titan deities of Greek mythology, works well for aircraft production because of its high strength to low weight ratio as well as its resistance to corrosion. About half of its global demand is driven by the aerospace industry. The metal is the ninth-most-abundant element in the Earth's crust, so there's plenty of it to go around, but the processes of extraction, reduction, melting and fabrication are not easy. The tools and technologies required to fashion titanium into high-performance aircraft parts are sophisticated, proprietary and expensive.
Air Canada and Jazz flew 3.9 billion combined RPMs in October, down 3.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 5.9% to 4.86 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.6 points to 80.2%.
Mexicana CEO Manuel Borja, who saw his company's takeover bid for rival Aeromexico rejected by Mexican authorities last year ( ATWOnline, Oct. 19), said he remains a "firm believer that the Mexican market should become consolidated." Speaking at last week's ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun, Borja said he was in favor of competition but only among airlines "that have differentiating points." He said Mexico needs "different models in the market.
Thales signed a contract with Aviation Training Centre of Tunisia for a second A320 full flight simulator to be combined with a Thales Formation System Trainer.
UK's revised Air Passenger Duty, under which passengers will be charged ascending fees based on distance traveled, continued to be criticized heavily around the world following its Nov. 24 unveiling. The scheme, effective Nov. 1, 2009, is designed to hold passengers accountable for the "environmental impact" of their travel ( ATWOnline, Nov. 25). "This is another cash grab by the [UK] Treasury, thinly disguised as an environmental measure," IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said.
British Airways will resume service to Jeddah (aboard a 767) and Riyadh (777) with five-times-weekly flights from London Heathrow beginning March 29. BA suspended the routes in March 2005. Ryanair will begin a daily London Gatwick-Dusseldorf Weeze service on Jan. 7. The new route switches from Stansted, where the LCC has reduced winter capacity 20% ( ATWOnline, Sept. 24). Shenzhen Airlines launched four-times-weekly Nanning-Singapore service.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is considering additional aircraft orders, possibly for 777s or the A350 XWB, while it is in talks with Boeing on compensation for the delay of its 787s. A potential new order is separate from discussions regarding replacement/interim lift for the delayed Dreamliners ( ATWOnline, Nov. 11), although part of an order could substitute the options and purchase rights the carrier has on an additional eight and 20 787s, respectively.
KLM appointed Air France KLM GM-Singapore Vincent Knoops as senior VP-corporate communications effective Dec. 1. American Airlines named Southwest Division MD-Line Maintenance Ken Durst as the carrier's new VP-line maintenance, succeeding the retiring Danny Martinez.
Virgin Blue announced an upgrade of its premium economy product designed to lure more passengers from Qantas. Launched in March, premium economy now will feature free meals, drinks (including alcohol) and seatback IFE ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25, 2007).
El Al reported a third-quarter net profit of $30.4 million, down 25.3% from $40.7 million in the year-ago period, a result President Haim Romano called "remarkably gratifying in light of the difficult business situation and the signs of international economic recession." The Tel Aviv-based airline said high fuel costs and "effects of exchange rates" owing to the dollar's weakness against the shekel during the quarter were the primary drivers of the profit decrease.
Icelandair Group reported a third-quarter net profit of ISK4.39 billion ($30.5 million), up 65% on a pro forma basis from ISK2.66 billion last year, but warned that "the future outlook is uncertain" because of the slowing global economy ( ATWOnline, June 30). Revenue rose 51% to ISK41.47 billion while expenses increased 53% to ISK35.28 billion owing in part to a 110% jump in fuel costs to ISK9.98 billion. EBITDA lifted 40% to ISK6.18 billion.
Virgin Atlantic Airways asked the European Commission to reject what the carrier called the "virtual merger between two of the world's biggest airlines" and yesterday submitted a document to competition authorities outlining its objection to the antitrust alliance between American Airlines and British Airways. The Commission opened its investigation into the tie-up, which also includes Iberia, in August ( ATWOnline, Sept. 1).
Lufthansa opted not to wait for a decision on a foreign partner for the restructured Alitalia and will be launching its own subsidiary at Milan Malpensa, called Lufthansa Italia, in February. Six former Germanwings A319s will comprise the venture, designed to take advantage of AZ's cutbacks in Lombardy. LH originally had planned to base Air Dolomiti E-195s at MXP but instead has decided to pursue its own Italian Air Operator Certificate ( ATWOnline, April 29).
Siem Reap Airways International, the Cambodian carrier blacklisted by the EU this month ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17), suspended domestic services on Nov. 22 and will suspend international flying on Dec. 1 as it works to "clarify" the EU ban. Siem Reap GM Lao Santi said the airline was forbidden to fly aircraft registered in Cambodia into the EU but that its flights "are entirely operated on a wet-lease basis, at and to international standards."
Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International, which suspended takeoffs Tuesday after antigovernment protesters stormed the airport ( ATWOnline, Nov. 26), was closed completely yesterday as the political crisis deepened and governments throughout the world warned citizens against traveling there. The protesters, calling themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy, claimed they had taken control of BKK and that airlines would have to seek their direct authorization to land.
Etihad Airways said it secured $210 million in financing covering the purchase of two new A340-600s. A 12-year, $102 million facility provided by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Europe will cover one aircraft while a 12-year, $110 million facility from Al Hilal Bank in Abu Dhabi will cover the other. EY took delivery of one -600 last month and will take the second in December.
Air France KLM remains interested in acquiring 20%-25% in the new Alitalia as well as the Austrian government's 41.6% stake in Austrian Airlines Group, Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta confirmed.
Despite the Chinese government's attempt to ease the burden on airlines by reducing landing fees 20% in March, 29 Chinese carriers had failed to pay about CNY4 billion ($585.1 million) combined to airports as of Sept. 30, according to the China Civil Airports Assn.
US FAA initiated the rollout of the NextGen satellite-based air traffic control system with the commissioning of the installation of 11 ADS-B ground stations in Florida. It hopes to have 794 nationwide ADS-B ground stations by 2013. "The next generation of air travel has arrived," Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell said. "ADS-B is the backbone of the future of air traffic control." The next "key milestones" for installations--Juneau, Louisville, the Gulf of Mexico and Philadelphia--are scheduled for completion by the end of 2010, Sturgell said.
Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. is pressing ahead with the type certification schedule for its Superjet 100 ahead of launching serial production next year. On Nov. 5, a specially chartered An-124-10 flight operated by Volga-Dnepr Airlines transported fuselage, wings and empennage to the Siberian Chaplygin aviation research center in Novosibirsk for assembly of a second prototype for full-scale static tests.
Air New Zealand last week announced that up to 200 long-haul cabin staff, recruitment, airline operations and technical operations planning and management employees will be laid off. "We have been working hard on a series of initiatives to minimize the need for redundancies," CEO Rob Fyfe said, mentioning pilot leave without pay, introducing part-time hours for cabin crew, leaving empty positions unfilled and freezing executive salaries, among others.
