British Airways begins weekly London Gatwick-St. Kitts on Jan. 10. In addition, it will increase service from London Heathrow to Dubai (to 20-times-weekly from 14 on March 29) and Johannesburg (to 19-times-weekly from 14 on May 1). Atlanta and Toulouse flights will transfer to LHR from LGW on March 29. Shanghai Airlines launched service from Shanghai Hongqiao to Seoul Gimpo aboard a 757 and Tokyo Haneda aboard a 767-300ER. SkyEurope Airlines launched twice-weekly Prague-Bari.
AirAsia majority shareholder Tune Air, which holds 30.9% of the LCC, said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia that it is "considering" privatizing the airline at an indicative price of approximately MYR1.35 ($0.39) per share, according to press reports. AirAsia has 2.36 billion shares outstanding, according to its website. Separately, the carrier this week retired the final 737-300 used on its Malaysian network. It now operates A320s on those routes. The company has 175 firm A320s on order plus 50 options and currently operates 42 in Malaysia, seven in Thailand and one in Indonesia.
The US Dept. of Transportation announced its intention yesterday to move forward with its controversial plan to conduct slot auctions at New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark as part of an $89 million capacity improvement plan over vehement objections from airlines and airports that are challenging the legality of the action (see next item), and also said it will impose a new limit on hourly operations at LGA.
Airline and airport organizations blasted the US Dept. of Transportation's final rule requiring FAA to conduct slot auctions at New York LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports to reduce delays, with the Air Transport Assn. saying the decision left it with "no choice but to pursue [a] court challenge" to prevent an auction. In a statement, ATA President and CEO James May said the DOT decision (see story above) "patently defies the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office, as well as the will of Congress," and "will result in a lengthy and costly legal challenge."
S7 Airlines took delivery of its first of three 767-300ERs and its fourth 737-800. The 767 was leased from AWAS and will begin flying this month from Moscow Domodedovo to Novosibirsk and Yerevan, the carrier said. Subsequent 767s will replace A310s on flights to Bangkok and Vladivostok. Aircraft will seat 222 in economy and 18 in business class. The 737 was leased from ILFC.
The ARJ21 is in final preparations for its inaugural test flight, which is expected to take place by the end of next month at the latest, according to Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Chairman Zhang Qingwei. The 90-seat ARJ21-700 rolled out last December, but owing to "key suppliers' failure to specify conditions for system tests," its maiden flight, originally scheduled for March, was delayed ( ATWOnline, April 1).
London Luton plans to invest £2 million ($3.5 million) in improvements including upgrades of bus stops, the main terminal roundabout, drop-off zone facilities and a short-term car park. Work began this month and is expected to be completed next spring. Luton currently serves 10 million passengers per year.
Yeti Airlines said in an English language confirmation of Wednesday morning's Twin Otter accident that killed 18 of 19 onboard that "the entire [Lukla] airport region was suddenly covered with fog right after [the] other two aircraft (of Yeti) had landed successfully." Capt. Surendra Kunwar was the only survivor ( ATWOnline, Oct. 9). Aircraft was on its way from Kathmandu.
Republic Airways Holdings is considering a move into the Hawaii inter-island market to operate 70-seat E-170s in partnership with Mokulele Airlines. An internal memo dated Oct. 1 and obtained by The Honolulu Advertiser said Republic subsidiary Shuttle America "has a potential opportunity for a new codeshare agreement with additional flying beginning on or before Nov. 15, 2008. . .
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said competing with Lufthansa and Air France KLM for a minority stake in Alitalia "is certainly possible if the CAI investor group restructuring really succeeds," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported ( ATWOnline, Sept. 30). He also reiterated that BA still is "observing the development of bmi very carefully and we are interested in any acquisition that strengthens our position at Heathrow" ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7).
Engine Alliance GP7200 had a "flawless" entry into service on Emirates' first A380, according to EA President Jim Moravecek. EK was the launch customer for the new powerplant developed jointly by GE and Pratt & Whitney and derived from the GE90 and PW4000 engine families ( ATWOnline, July 17). "Since entering revenue service on the first Emirates A380 on Aug. 1, we've experienced no engine related issues that could have caused a disruption for Emirates," EA Product Support Director Ed Bendernagel said.
SEPLA, representing Iberia pilots, and the British Airline Pilots Assn., representing British Airways pilots, said yesterday at a joint news conference in Madrid that they support a BA/IB merger. Union leaders said the combination would generate more than $560 million in combined cost savings and revenue enhancements annually. Last month the respective unions signed a bilateral agreement in anticipation of the proposed merger in which they pledged to work together.
Air France will abandon its daily London Heathrow-Los Angeles International service launched when the EU-US open skies agreement came into force on March 30 and opened LHR to flights to/from the US to all EU and US carriers.
Delta Air Lines will offer 180-deg. lie-flat business class seats on 767-400 flights from both Atlanta and New York JFK to London Heathrow beginning next summer. DL operates twice-daily JFK-LHR service and will add an additional flight on the route to be co-operated with Air France in summer 2009. It flies daily ATL-LHR.
Airbus booked 31 new orders in September and delivered 34 aircraft. Its 2008 gross order total now stands at 785. The manufacturer said deliveries during the month were mostly A320 family aircraft that went to Afriqiyah Airways, Air China, AirAsia, Avianca, British Airways, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, CIT Leasing (for Juneyao Airlines and Qatar Airways), CSA Czech Airlines, easyJet, GECAS (for Aeroflot, East Star Airlines and Juneyao), GoAir, ILFC (for Shenzhen Airlines), IndiGo, JetBlue Airways, LAN Airlines, TAM, Turkish Airlines and US Airways.
Qantas A330-300 turbulence incident that injured 71 of 313 passengers and crew Tuesday likely was caused by a computer malfunction, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said ( ATWOnline, Oct. 7). The aircraft, on its way to Perth from Singapore before diverting to Learmonth, suffered "some irregularity" with its elevator control system that caused the dramatic altitude change, according to ATSB Director-Aviation Safety Investigation Julian Walsh. The A330 climbed some 300 ft. and then nosedived.
Network carriers based in the US that cut fall and winter capacity as a result of soaring fuel prices may have insulated themselves somewhat from the steepening global economic downturn, United Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Glenn Tilton told ATWOnline.
A Yeti Airlines Twin Otter en route from Kathmandu to Lukla yesterday crashed on landing and caught fire, killing all 16 passengers and two of three crewmembers. According to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network, "visibility was reported as poor." The flight captain was the sole survivor. The Twin Otter's first flight was in 1980, ASN said. Lukla has a single 1,600-ft. runway at an elevation of 9,380 ft.
Lufthansa Flight Training announced the opening of its Munich training center. Expected to have a staff of 24, the facility initially will accommodate E-190, A320 and A330/A340 simulators. CAE said it will add a CRJ200 FFS to support the CRJ200/900 FFS currently installed at its Madrid training center. Simulator is slated to enter service early next year.
Aegean Airlines will launch new service from Athens to Paris Charles de Gaulle (daily from Nov. 12, becoming twice-daily in March) and Dusseldorf (five-times-weekly from Oct. 26). A third daily ATH-London Stansted will start Dec. 15. Aegean will take delivery of two new A320s by year end, the ninth and 10th to enter the fleet this year. It plans to have 27 new A320/321s in service by 2010. Separately, it promoted Director-European Sales and Operations Giovanni Matassa to commercial director.
KLM took official receipt of a new cost-saving aircraft painting system using environmentally sustainable, chromate-free paint. The system, developed by KLM Engineering & Maintenance and German manufacturer Mankiewicz, claims to use 15% less paint and allows the degreasing of the aircraft before repainting to be performed with only soap and water. Previously this required 800 litres of aggressive, flammable solvent. Paint retains gloss and color longer, dries faster and application process takes two fewer days, KLM said.
Olympic Airlines cancelled more than 100 flights yesterday as members of Greece's largest union GSEE staged a 24-hr. strike in protest of the government's plan to privatize the carrier ( ATWOnline, Oct. 1). Nearly all modes of transport were affected.
Virgin Atlantic Airways posted a pre-tax profit of £72 million ($125.9 million) in the fiscal first half ended Aug. 31, up 67.4% from the £43 million reported in the year-ago semester. Revenue climbed 15% to £1.37 billion and passenger numbers were up 3% to 3 million. Premium traffic rose 6% year-over-year. Separately, VS this week launched a website "showing why passengers will lose out" if antitrust immunity for American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia is approved ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15).
