Austrian Airlines Group reported a €16.4 million ($20.5 million) net loss in the third quarter, reversed from a €29.2 million profit in the year-ago period, but said it is "confident" that its delayed privatization "can be finished in a positive way." CEO Alfred Oetsch confirmed that "measures which would have to be implemented in case of a [privatization] failure will not be initiated yet because the chance for a successful privatization is still there and cutbacks could have counterproductive effects." State holding company OIAG was due to announce a buyer for its 42.75% s
S7 Airlines confirmed that Nov. 17 will be the last day it operates any Russian-built aircraft. It said its Oct. 26-March 28 winter schedule includes 69 destinations and will feature the Dec. 23 launch of Moscow Domodedovo-Bangkok service aboard a 767-300ER. It said it will cut flights to "some" Russian cities whose airports have not been cleared to handle foreign-built aircraft. S7 flew 11.65 billion RPKs through the first nine months of 2008, up 11.6% from the year-ago period. Passenger numbers climbed 12.6% to 4.8 million and load factor fell 1.8 points to 80.3%.
Product Development Co. announced that AMECO Beijing successfully deployed Arbortext, PTC's product information delivery software "for the timely and accurate update" of its MRO-related manuals.
Qantas and British Airways both admitted to violating Australian competition laws relating to air cargo fuel surcharges in 2002-06 and reached agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to pay fines of A$20 million ($12.2 million) and A$5 million respectively. "Qantas apologizes unreservedly for the conduct of the employees involved," CEO Geoff Dixon said. BA said it "has a longstanding competition compliance policy and it is highly regrettable that this policy was not adhered to in relation to fuel surcharges on the carriage of cargo."
BAA was forced to pay £7.34 million ($11.5 million) in rebates to airlines after failing to meet UK CAA's required performance standards at London Heathrow (£4.08 million) and Gatwick (£3.26 million) in the April-September period, the aviation authority confirmed. CAA called on both airports to explain why targets were missed and to present plans and timetables for meeting those targets in the future.
Qatar Airways is interested in a possible bid for Olympic Airways, Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis revealed. "What I can say is that Qatar Airways is on the list of investors who have expressed interest in Olympic," he said in a statement cited by Bloomberg News. Deadline for nonbinding bids is the end of the month and no other potential bidders were named.
Lufthansa Technik yesterday opened a new MRO center at Sofia. The joint venture between LHT (80%) and Bulgarian Aviation Group (20%) will offer maintenance and heavy checks on both Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies. The company invested €20 million in renovation of a 6,000-sq.-m., two-bay hangar and will employ 350. It will look to secure third-party work from European, Middle Eastern and North African carriers.
CAE said JetBlue Airways signed a five-year contract for CAE True Airport, a subscription-based service that keeps visual databases current with rapidly changing airport environments.
Air China suffered a net loss of CNY1.9 billion ($276.5 million) in the September quarter owing to weak domestic market demand and fuel hedge writedowns, a big reversal from the CNY2.2 billion profit in the year-ago quarter.
Lufthansa Group had a €149 million ($186.5 million) net profit in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, a steep 74.6% decline from the €586 million achieved in the year-ago period, and said it has lowered its full-year operating profit target to "around" €1.1 billion.
TAV Airports Holding was awarded 20-year contracts to operate two new airports in the Republic of Macedonia: Alexander the Great International in Skopje and St. Paul the Apostle International in Ohrid. It also received the construction contract for Shtip's New Cargo Airport.
Delta Air Lines named John "Ned" Walker senior VP and chief communications officer. Walker joins DL from Continental Airlines, where he spent 21 years, most recently serving as senior VP-corporate communications.
Aer Lingus will add nine new routes from Ireland to the UK and Europe in its 2009 summer schedule: Dublin to Catania, Sofia and Newcastle; Cork to Lanzarote, Lisbon and Rennes; Belfast International to Milan, Munich and Lanzarote. EI also will increase frequencies on 17 existing routes. JetBlue Airways will begin daily Orlando International-Bogota service on Jan. 29. Its first route to South America will be operated with an A320. It also will launch weekly Boston-St. Maarten on Feb. 14 aboard an A320 and increase frequencies from BOS to Aruba and Cancun beginning Feb. 12.
Emirates President Tim Clark expressed confidence that his airline will post a profit in the current financial year ending March 31, "but maybe we won't be as profitable as we might like," he said at last week's Arab Air Carriers Org. annual general meeting in Tunis.
VEM Maintenance & Engineering said it completed the first phase of its contract with Air Transat, delivering the first of four A310s in line for C checks.
Assn. of European Airlines said its 31 member carriers transported 31.4 million passengers in September, down 4.8% year-over-year. RPKs fell 1.1% to 68.47 billion against a 2.3% rise in capacity to 89.35 billion ASKs. Load factor dropped 2.6 points to 76.6%. Alaska Airlines flew 1.43 billion RPMs in September, up 0.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 5% to 1.89 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4 points to 75.8%.
Jet Airways reported a INR3.85 billion ($71.5 million) loss in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, reversed from a INR283 million profit in the year-ago period, as the grave conditions that forced it into an alliance with rival Kingfisher Airlines and prompted Jet's failed attempt to cut 1,900 jobs wreaked havoc on its P&L.
Austrian state holding company OIAG, which owns 42.75% of the troubled flag carrier, delayed Austrian Airlines Group's privatization until year end in order to attract better offers.
Bmi and Brussels Airlines, which each have Lufthansa as a shareholder, signed a codeshare agreement effective last Sunday that will see bmi add its code to SN flights from Brussels to Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle. SN will add its code to bmi flights from Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford and Nottingham East Midlands. According to bmi Deputy CEO Tim Bye, the agreement is not a result of LH's recent investment in SN ( ATWOnline, Sept. 25). "We were not brought together by a common shareholder," he told ATWOnline.
Arab Air Carriers Org. elected Saudi Arabian Airlines CEO Khalid Abdullah Almolhem as its new president, succeeding current Tunisair President and CEO Nabil Chettaoui.
Russian Finance Ministry is "ready" to issue RUB30 billion ($1.1 billion) in loans to airlines to cover fuel purchases, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told RIA Novosti. He also revealed that in the next couple of weeks the government will propose six-month deferments of payment of taxes and duties on foreign-made aircraft, engines and training equipment. Meanwhile, KrasAir, a former member of the failed AiRUnion alliance, cancelled all flights to/from its Krasnoyarsk hub and is operating only Moscow Domodedovo-Norilsk service, a spokesperson told Itar-Tass.
GE Aviation this month held a dedication event for its 91,440-sq.-m. composites factory in Batesville, Miss. Officially known as the GE Batesville Composites Operation, the facility will produce the fan platforms and fan case for the GEnx.
Gol and Condor Airlines reached an interline agreement allowing Condor passengers to purchase tickets from Condor destinations Recife and Salvador to Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Maceio, Natal, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Hawaiian Airlines reached lease agreements with AWAS that will add two more A330-200s to its fleet in the first half of 2011. The carrier already has six A330-200s and six A350 XWB-800s on order, plus purchase rights for six of each ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5). Hawaiian also announced a separate agreement with AWAS to extend leases on two 767-300ERs to 2011. The newly leased A330s will replace those 767s.
