IATA reported that global international RPK growth in August slowed to 1.3% year-over-year from 1.9% in July and 5.4% in the first half of 2008. August load factor fell 1.8 points to 81%. "The slowdown has been so sudden that airlines can't adjust capacity quickly enough. While the drop in the oil price is welcome relief on the cost side, fuel remains 30% higher than a year ago," DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said, reiterating IATA's forecast of a $5.2 billion industry loss for the full year ( ATWOnline, Sept.
Turkish Airlines is expected to announce its long-awaited fleet order this month, President and CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline in Istanbul. Kotil declined to elaborate on the order's size or composition and confirmed only that it will be "big" and include both narrowbody and widebody aircraft ( ATWOnline, Sept. 5). "We intend to double our narrowbody fleet in the next ten years," he said. "We will have about 200 of them at Istanbul [Ataturk]. We will then be a good player."
Sun Country Airlines moved to become financially independent from parent company Petters Group Wordwide, which has become ensnared in a US federal criminal investigation that led to this week's abrupt resignation of Chairman and CEO Tom Petters. Petters Group offices and Petters' personal home were raided by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, which allege that the company head and certain associates were involved in a massive multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
Air One will suspend its recently launched five-times-weekly Milan Malpensa-Boston service from Oct. 6 until April 4, 2009. Brussels Airlines will add a fourth daily Brussels-Manchester on Oct. 26.
Six Hong Kong carriers, including Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair, will cut fuel surcharges on international and domestic routes by 10% and 15% respectively through October and November. Surcharges will be HK$832 ($106.97) on long-haul flights and HK$196 on short-haul. The decision, as well as cuts implemented by some foreign carriers, have put pressure on airlines from the Chinese mainland.
Gulf Air yesterday signed a deal with Bahrain Real Estate Investment to build a maintenance hangar at Bahrain International. Slated for completion in 2011, the facility will accommodate three widebodies.
Boeing announced successful completion of the "high blow" high-pressure test on the 787 static test airframe at its Everett factory Sunday. It is one of three static tests that must be cleared prior to first flight. During the high blow test, air pressure in the airframe increased to an internal pressure of 150% of the maximum level expected in service--14.9 lb. per sq. in. (1.05 kg. per cm.) gauge (psig).
Alitalia's rescue by Italian investment group CAI appears fully on track after the last of AZ's nine labor unions yesterday backed the €1 billion ($1.46 billion) plan to re-launch the troubled airline that is estimated to be losing €3 million daily.
Welcome Air of Innsbruck, one of Europe's few small independent regional carriers, recently took delivery of its fourth Do-328, a 328JET version. Aircraft originally was for Hainan Airlines. Welcome will launch a weekly Innsbruck-Weeze service for the upcoming winter schedule but will stop operating to Rotterdam and Antwerp because of "massive pressure" from Dutch LCC Transavia.com, Welcome owner Jakob Ringler told ATWOnline.
Frontier Airlines reported a $5.6 million net loss in August but posted its second consecutive monthly operating profit ($3.3 million). Net result included a $4.7 million loss on a sale-leaseback transaction, $1.8 million in professional fees, a $500,000 mark-to-market noncash loss on fuel hedging contracts and a $300,000 loss on early extinguishment of debt. It reported a $500,000 gain on a reversal of severance accrual. Net income excluding those items was $1.2 million.
Royal Jordanian carried 295,000 passengers in August, up 16% on the year-ago period. Load factor gained 1 point to 82%. It said fuel expense more than doubled to JOD33.5 million ($47 million), or 49% of total costs. Separately, RJ signed a parts pool program service contract extension with Embraer to include two E-175s. Five E-195s already were covered.
Discussions about a potential three-way merger among German charter/low-cost carriers Condor, TUIfly and Germanwings failed following Thomas Cook Group's decision to withdraw.
News from Travel Technology Update: Getting people to put "awesome" and "airline" into the same sentence these days is no easy feat. But JetBlue Airways managed it with its recent auction of flights and vacation packages on eBay. The idea came about when the carrier was thinking of ways to stimulate travel during the fall lull. "We were looking for something unique to get people thinking about travel," Don Uselmann, manager of business development, said. "We wanted a 'water cooler' story, something that people would talk about."
Japan Airlines yesterday said it is canceling cargo flights between Tokyo Narita and New York JFK from Oct. 1, part of a reduction in freighter services for the second half of its fiscal year ending March 31. "The airline is currently facing a tough environment, particularly in terms of its North American freighter business," JAL said. "Even though the price of fuel has stabilized, it has remained at a very high level.
SAS Group airlines flew 3.66 billion RPKs in August, down 0.7% year-over-year. Capacity rose 2.2% to 4.91 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.1 points to 74.4%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.51 billion RPKs, down 0.4%, against a 4.6% rise in ASKs to 3.41 billion. Load factor fell 3.7 points to 73.5%. Aer Lingus flew 1.68 billion RPKs in August, up 8.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 10.3% to 2.08 billion ASKs and load factor was down 1.2 points to 80.5%.
SmartLynx is the new name of LatCharter Airlines, which announced the change last week in conjunction with its 15th anniversary. President and CEO Gardar Forberg said the Riga-based carrier's "business has changed direction over the past couple of years and it was important that we developed a new branding that better identified with our business model and company spirit." The name, accompanied by a new orange and black logo, reflects that of another Icelandair Group subsidiary, Prague's Smart Wings.
Global Infrastructure Partners, a Connecticut-based investment fund, said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AIG-Financial Products' 50% interest in London City Airport. The transaction is expected to close in October.
Aeroflot posted a RUB2.25 billion ($90.1 million) first-half profit, its board of directors announced. The result represents a 29.7% drop from earnings of RUB3.2 billion in the year-ago semester. Revenue in the six months ended June 30 rose 39.4% to RUB42.98 billion while expenses were RUB41.11 billion. SU said fuel costs were 21.3% over budget.
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines members flew 52.4 billion RPKs in August, down 1.2% from the year-ago period, as traffic in the region continued to soften. Passenger boardings declined 3.7% to 12.3 million. Capacity continued to rise, however, with ASKs up 2.4% to 68.3 billion. As a result, load factor fell 2.8 points to 76.7%. AAPA international air cargo traffic was down 6% to 4.4 billion FTKs. For the first eight months of 2008, traffic rose 2.5% to 408.6 billion RPKs against a 3.6% climb in ASKs to 534.5 billion. Load factor dipped 0.9 points to 77.3%.
Boeing recorded orders for 24 aircraft last week, the largest weekly haul since July. Orders are for 11 737s, four 777s and nine 767s. The company listed all as unidentified, but ATWOnline understands that the nine 767s are the aircraft announced by ANA last week ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26). The 24 orders take the company's yearly total net of two cancellations to 610: 467 737s, two 747s, 11 767s, 52 777s and 78 787s.
Boeing said last week that AeroLogic selected its Maintenance Performance Toolbox and Airplane Health Management Web solution for its 777 freighter maintenance documentation platform. Technology is expected to streamline management of technical publications, training and customization of online maintenance manuals.
