Kingfisher Airlines defaulted on rental payments for four A320s on lease from GECAS, which complained to India's Directorate General for Civil Aviation and is seeking to repossess the aircraft.
US regional airline industry may benefit from a new presidential administration, but the difficult operating and economic environment will continue to pose problems, speakers said yesterday at the SpeedNews Regional & Business Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference in Indian Wells, Calif. Regional Airline Assn. VP-Legislative Affairs Faye Malarkey said the body is hopeful that Barack Obama's incoming administration will be a catalyst for needed legislative relief.
Air Mauritius lost €13.4 million ($17.3 million) in the fiscal first half ended Sept. 30, reversed from a €2.5 million profit in the year-ago semester. Revenue rose 8.5% year-over-year to €216.1 million but the airline said it could not overcome a 17.5% increase in operating costs driven by a 49% surge in fuel expenses. It said it was able to reduce nonfuel costs through schedule and capacity adjustments. Passenger numbers fell 2.7% to 596,587 and load factor slipped 3 points to 75.3%.
Southwest Airlines yesterday released its spring schedule featuring eight-times-daily service from its newest destination, Minneapolis/St. Paul, to Chicago Midway beginning March 8. Schedule includes 70 new roundtrip flights and cancellation of 39 others. SWA also will begin daily Phoenix-Birmingham. Service will end on Albuquerque-Amarillo, Albuquerque-Tampa, El Paso-Lubbock and Kansas City-Tulsa. Air Algerie will launch twice-weekly Algiers-Beijing in February aboard an A330.
Singapore Airlines reported a S$323.8 million ($219.4 million) profit in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, a 32.6% decrease from the S$507.8 million earned in the year-ago period, as fuel costs took their toll. SIA said the global "financial turmoil" and "weak consumer confidence" have impacted demand, and while advance bookings in the current quarter "are holding up reasonably well," it sees "signs of weakness beyond that." Nevertheless, it said its "sound finances and low level of debt put it in a position of strength."
Changes in US aviation policy as President George Bush transitions to President-elect Barack Obama will develop as part of a "long process" during which future priorities of the Dept. of Transportation and FAA will be debated, former US Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta said yesterday.
SAS Group's third quarter, which was blackened by the August Spanair MD-82 accident in Madrid that claimed 154 lives, ended with a SEK2.01 billion ($260 million) net loss that represented a reversal from the year-ago period's SEK701 million profit and largely was due to a SEK1.96 billion goodwill impairment at the Spanish subsidiary.
Honeywell signed a 10-year contract with Kunpeng Airlines to provide MRO on E-190 components, avionics and lighting. Valued at $21 million, agreement covers more than 65 Honeywell parts. Kunpeng took delivery of its first 190 in September and expects 50 aircraft over the next four years. Separately, Honeywell will supply China Eastern Airlines with its 131-9A APU for 30 forthcoming A320s. Deal includes a 10-year maintenance agreement and covers additional A320 deliveries over the next three years. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Sensis Corp. said US FAA is this week discussing a deployment schedule for its runway status lights, for which the agency last month awarded it a $131 million, three-year contract for installation at 22 US airports. RWSL is a system of red lights embedded in runways that are triggered automatically by ASDE-X surveillance radar to warn pilots if it is unsafe to cross or enter a runway. "Takeoff hold" lights embedded in runway centerlines also warn pilots of aircraft already on a runway if it is unsafe for departure.
SITA won a five-year contract from Transaero to provide its passenger management system including reservations, ticketing, departure control service, revenue management and airfare technology.
Wataniya Airways is on track to launch its all-premium A320 flights in January and said it will have four aircraft operating next year and up to seven by the end of 2010 ( ATWOnline, July 8). The Kuwaiti carrier will lease three aircraft from ALAFCO, three from AerCap and one from ILFC, CEO George Cooper told Reuters. It has committed $250-$300 million for the leases. Qatar Airways also has plans to operate all-business-class service in the region.
ExpressJet Holdings finished what President and CEO Jim Ream called a third quarter "of transition" with a $4.8 million loss, narrowed from a $22.3 million deficit in the year-ago period.
JetBlue Airways will launch service to South America with a daily New York JFK-Orlando International-Bogota flight beginning Jan. 29 aboard an A320. Iberia will add fifth weekly flight from Madrid to Guatemala City and Panama City on Jan. 4 aboard an A340.
The dream of a direct routing across the Taiwan Strait is closer to reality following the signing of an agreement between Beijing's Assn. for Relations Across the Tawian Strait and Taipei's Strait Exchange Foundation. The deal, which will take effect in 40 days, will allow carriers to bypass Hong Kong airspace and reduce flight time, operating costs, fuel burn and emissions.
Volga-Dnepr Group announced a 75% year-over-year increase in sales for the first nine months of 2008, with revenue from its charter and scheduled cargo services reaching $1.27 billion. Freight carried jumped 51% to 210,000 tons while charter sales were up 80% to $882.9 million. AirBridge Cargo's scheduled flights brought in $344.1 million in revenue, up 68% from the first nine months of 2007. The group operates An-124-100s (10) and Il-76TDs (12 including two Il-76TD-90VDs) in charter services as Volga-Dnepr Airlines and 747Fs (seven) in scheduled flights as AirBridge.
Bmi will discontinue long-haul operations from Manchester next year and transfer the two A330s currently based at MAN to London Heathrow ( ATWOnline, Nov. 4). It will stop flying from MAN to Chicago O'Hare on Jan. 14 and to Las Vegas, Barbados and Antigua following the mid-April Easter holiday. "Long-haul services from Manchester have never performed to the levels that we had hoped and we see little prospect of change or improvements in their performance," bmi CEO Nigel Turner said.
SkyWest Inc., parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported third-quarter net income of $26.2 million, down 38.9% from $42.9 million in the year-ago period, as it contended with capacity cuts driven by airline partners reducing flight schedules. Midwest Airlines, for example, modified its agreement with SkyWest to reduce CRJ200s operated by the regional on Midwest Connect flights from 21 to 12.
Air Berlin partner LGW, which is based at Dortmund, will begin operating the first of 10 new 76-seat Q400s on Dusseldorf-Stuttgart on Nov. 10 and Dusseldorf-Sylt the following day. Q400s will replace all A319/A320 services on DUS-Hamburg from Dec. 7, DUS-Stuttgart from Dec. 10 and DUS Nuremberg from Dec. 28.
Sabre Airline Solutions opened a center in Bangalore to enhance customer service and expand support capacity. Scheduled to be fully operational by Jan. 1, facility is expected to complement Sabre's Montevideo customer care center.
International Aviation Club will feature Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey as its guest speaker at its monthly luncheon on Nov. 19 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington. Additional information is available at www.iacwashington.org.
UK Competition Commission concluded that airports operator BAA should be allowed to increase charges at London Stansted in the five-year period starting next April 1, albeit at a lower rate than it proposed. In its report to CAA, the Commission recommended an increase in the maximum level of charges at STN to £6.56 ($10.57) per passenger in 2009-10, 3.5% higher than projected 2008-09 charges of £6.34.
International Aero Engines won a $700 million deal from Sichuan Airlines for V2500 SelectOne engines to power 18 A320s slated for delivery in 2009-12. Contract also designates IAE as Sichuan's preferred engine supplier for future A320 family acquisitions. Sichuan launched the V2500 in China in 1995 and the engine has been selected for more than 180 additional A320s placed on firm order in East Asia, representing more than half the market share in China. The SelectOne build standard entered service last month with IndiGo ( ATWOnline, Nov.
Air China Cargo will add 747-400BCFs to its fleet, Boeing announced. Former CA passenger aircraft will undergo conversion at Taikoo Aircraft Engineering in Xiamen. CA Cargo currently operates three factory-built 747-400Fs, two leased -400Fs and three 747-200Fs. The -400BCF has positions for 30 pallets on the main deck. Conversion and delivery dates were not announced.
Air Arabia will open its Casablanca hub "early" next year and operate as Air Arabia Maroc to domestic destinations and "selected" cities in Europe and Africa, the Sharjah-based LCC announced this week. It reached a deal 12 months ago to assume control of Regional Air Lines and originally planned to operate out of Rabat ( ATWOnline, Nov. 9, 2007).
BOC Aviation, which said it anticipates "ongoing demand for leased aircraft from the A320 family at both full-service and low-cost airlines around the world," placed firm orders for 20 aircraft, Airbus announced at the Zhuhai Air Show. The Singapore-based lessor, a subsidiary of Bank of China, now has ordered 98 single-aisle aircraft from Airbus, of which 58 have been delivered.
