LAN Airlines signed a contract for four 767-300s for delivery in 2012 plus two options, according to a Nov. 10 stock market filing cited by both Reuters and the Associated Press. Neither Boeing nor the carrier confirmed the order, which LAN said was worth approximately $636 million. It has 26 787s on order.
China Aviation Industry Corp. Group, the result of the merger of AVIC I and AVIC II, launched formally last week, VP Tan Ruisong told reporters, with registered capital of CNY64 billion ($9.36 billion).
Aegean Airlines reported net income for the first nine months of 2008 of €26.5 million ($34 million), down 21% from €33.4 million in the year-ago period, saying the results were "solid" given "unprecedented" oil prices earlier this year and "deteriorating economic conditions." The carrier did not provide quarterly results, but ATWOnline calculated that it posted a €21 million third-quarter profit on €205.5 million in revenue. Earnings were hurt by valuation losses on US dollar aircraft loans and fuel hedges.
Amadeus said Spanair completed migration to its Altea platform and is managing reservations, sales and inventory through its Customer Management Solution.
Air Pacific will cease twice-weekly Honolulu-Vancouver Nov. 28 owing to losses of FJD11.7 million ($6.5 million) over the past five years. It will continue to offer access to YVR via Los Angeles in partnership with Alaska Airlines. AirAsia will launch daily Kuala Lumpur-Tiruchirapalli Dec. 1 aboard A320s. KLM Cityhopper will launch thrice-daily Amsterdam-Liverpool on March 29 aboard an F70.
IBM reached a deal with TAM for technology services, including installation of IT infrastructure and associated help desk and field support. Contract is expected to improve the carrier's server as well as its check-in system and tickets and reservation software.
Air Arabia reported a AED214 million ($58.2 million) third-quarter profit, up 29.7% from the AED165 million earned in the year-ago period. The Sharjah-based LCC enjoyed a 69% year-over-year increase in revenue to AED625 million on a 34% rise in passengers to 978,794. Load factor was level at 87%. Nine-month profit of AED374 million was up 34% from AED280 million in the first three quarters of 2007. The airline celebrated its fifth anniversary two weeks ago.
Tunisair, SITA and Medsoft, a Tunisian IT company, have launched Aviation IT Services Africa, which will provide all information and computer technology services (both administrative and operational) to the airline over the next 10 years using adapted SITA solutions. The venture has launch capital of $3 million and will be held jointly by Tunisair (50%), SITA (49%) and Medsoft (1%). "This is the largest outsourcing deal SITA has ever signed with an airline," CEO Francesco Violante said at the recent Arab Air Carriers Org. meeting in Tunis.
American Airlines flew 10.51 billion system RPMs in October, an 8.8% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 7% to 13.3 billion ASMs and load factor was down 1.5 points to 79%. American Eagle flew 641.7 million RPMs, down 15.5%, against a 10.8% fall in ASMs to 921.3 million, dropping load factor 3.9 points to 69.6%. US Airways Group flew 4.89 consolidated RPMs in October, a 3.5% decrease year-over-year, against a 5% fall in ASMs to 6.02 billion. Load factor increased 1.3 points to 81.3%.
Ryanair said two cabin crew and eight passengers received medical attention "as a precaution" following a 737-800 overrun at Rome Ciampino yesterday morning. The LCC said the aircraft, on its way from Frankfurt Hahn, "suffered multiple bird strikes" and the left main landing gear "suffered substantial damage on landing." Photographs showed the left engine resting on the tarmac. There were 166 passengers onboard. Italy's ANSV said the aircraft "exited beyond the threshold" of CIA's 7,220-ft. runway.
News from Travel Technology Update: Farelogix said it is building an open-source front end for its FLX platform that will better meet the needs of travel management companies and enable airlines to merchandise their products more easily. Dubbed Project Hawkeye, it can be used as an off-the-shelf agent desktop or customized and extended to fit a particular customer's business, preferences or workflow needs.The application can be used separately from FLX when it is developed against a user's own travel source connections, Jim Davidson, chief executive officer of Farelogix, said.
Belgian government announced plans to cancel introduction of an airline passenger tax ( ATWOnline, Oct. 20). Assn. of European Airlines Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus said the decision "brings a note of sanity to the ticket tax debate."
Emirates blamed fuel prices for an 88% plunge in fiscal first-half profit to AED284 million ($77.3 million) from the AED2.36 billion earned in the six months ended Sept. 30, 2007. Chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said the semester "has been very tough for the airline industry" and that EK "has worked hard to manage the impact of high fuel prices on our unit costs while continuing to grow our business."
TAM suffered a BRL112.7 million ($52.2 million) loss in the third quarter, reversed from a BRL48.5 million profit in the year-ago period, despite a 40.5% surge in operating revenue to BRL2.9 billion. The Brazilian carrier's costs grew 36.2% to BRL2.73 billion but BRL301.5 million in financial charges, owing mainly to losses on fuel hedges, dragged its operating result into the red. Operating loss was BRL152.9 million compared to a BRL78.3 million profit last year. Passenger numbers rose 17% to 7.9 million as RPKs jumped 25.2% to 10.41 billion.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is discussing the acquisition of 12 aircraft with Airbus, Boeing and lessors to plug the gap in its fleet caused by delays to the 787, a VS spokesperson told The Independent. It has 15 787-9s on order and now is not expecting delivery until 2013. Separately, VS promoted GM-Continuing Airworthiness Steve Griffiths to director-engineering. He replaces Jeff Livings, who now is at Gulf Air.
WestJet reported third-quarter net income of C$54.7 million ($46 million), down 28.1% from C$76.1 million last year, saying it was hurt by high fuel costs and "the beginning of a more challenging environment for demand." Nevertheless, President and CEO Sean Durfy touted the Calgary-based carrier's continued capacity expansion, which included 20.1% growth in the third quarter, as "purposeful and profitable" at a time when many airlines are reducing capacity and losing money.
DHL yesterday pulled the plug on its five-year push to become the "third alternative" to UPS and FedEx in the US express shipping market, announcing that all domestic US services will cease early next year as it focuses exclusively on international operations to/from 15-20 US metropolitan areas. "The basic reason is that the US is a highly concentrated duopoly market and the reality is. . .UPS and FedEx's scale, market reach and brand awareness have made it impossible for us to make it economically viable," DHL Express CEO John Mullen told reporters in a conference call.
Indianapolis International Airport's new $1.1 billion passenger facility is scheduled to handle its first arrivals tonight and be fully operational Wednesday. New terminal is 1.2 million sq. ft. and includes 40 gates (two can accommodate the A380) and 96 check-in counter positions. Construction began in July 2005.
Austrian Airlines Group will run out of cash by mid-2009 at the latest if it is unable to find a new owner or secure funding from the Austrian government, which was asked by Lufthansa to take responsibility for a significant portion of AAG's debt in exchange for a German takeover ( ATWOnline, Oct. 28). Analysts from Austrian banks now predict a 20% chance of bankruptcy.
Aer Lingus employees at Dublin, Cork and Shannon represented by SIPTU voted "overwhelmingly" to take industrial action before Dec. 1 in response to EI's proposal to cut 1,245 full-time-equivalent positions ( ATWOnline, Oct. 7). Ireland Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey called on the two sides to restart talks, according to Irish media.
Yangtze River Express Airlines resumed four-times-weekly Shanghai-Los Angeles with a converted 747-400SF. It will take delivery of a third 747-400 freighter next year and said it intends to fly to other US destinations.
Having already sealed a codeshare deal giving it access to Canada, Southwest Airlines yesterday announced a partnership with Toluca-based Volaris that will give the world's largest LCC a foothold in Mexico for the first time.
Alma de Mexico suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy last Friday, citing the "crisis" in the industry and global economy. The Guadalajara-based LCC operated 19 CRJ200s and had two CRJ900 NextGens on order ( ATWOnline, Aug. 9, 2007). It said "historic" high fuel prices, low occupancy and the peso's fall against the US dollar were key factors in its demise.
Air France is charging €50 ($63.58) to passengers wishing to reserve economy seats with more legroom on certain transatlantic flights. Seat Plus will be available during online check-in from 30 hr. before departure on service between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Montreal and Toronto. AF said it will be extended across its long-haul network during the winter.
