Malaysia Airlines subsidiaries MASwings and Firefly each took delivery of a new ATR 72-500 that will replace an F50. It is MASwings' first ATR 72 and Firefly's second.
Turkish Airlines appears to be developing the financial muscle required to be a leader in European consolidation as it reported a first-half profit of $208 million, a figure it said represented a 219% increase from the year-ago semester.
European Commission opened its investigation into whether the transatlantic joint business agreement between American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia for flights violates European antitrust regulations. The trio applied two weeks ago for worldwide antitrust immunity from the US Dept. of Transportation together with oneworld partners Royal Jordanian and Finnair ( ATWOnline, Aug. 15). An EC spokesperson said the probe is not the result of competitors' complaints and was launched under the regulator's own initiative.
Lufthansa Systems won a four-year deal with Tirana International for its ELWIS cargo handling solution. Part of LS's AdvancedCargo Suite, ELWIS integrates wireless technology using wireless PCs, handheld devices and forklift-mounted terminals and offers real-time tracking and tracing over shipment lifecycle.
LAST YEAR WAS A BUMPER YEAR FOR airports around the world as they posted their fifth consecutive year of traffic increases, reaching a passenger throughput of 4.9 billion. This was up 6.5% on 2006, and the rate also surpassed the 4.9% increase recorded between 2005 and 2006 (see Table 1). Since the industry bottomed in 2002, passenger traffic has grown at an average annual rate of 5.7%, bringing 1 billion new passengers into airports, an increase of 32% over the five years.
Frustrated by its inability to process travel agency sales through IATA's billing and settlement plans, V Australia launched its own travel agent payment and settlement system. IATA barred the carrier from using the BSPs until it acquires its own operating certificate.
Aer Arann selected Paul Schutz to succeed Garry Cullen as CEO on Jan. 1. AerCap Holdings promoted Michael King to CEO of its AeroTurbine subsidiary and Aengus Kelly to CEO of AerCap Inc. and announced that Ray Valeika has joined AerCap Inc.'s board. Air Canada elevated Claude Morin to VP-global sales, Lise-Marie Turpin to GM-Air Canada Cargo and Bill Bredt to executive VP & COO-Jazz. AirNet Systems tapped Fred L. DeLeeuw as CFO. BAA Cleveland appointed Tina LaForte VP-concessions redevelopment.
Bratislava's M.R. Stefanik Airport saw its traffic soar 46% in 2007 to 2 million passengers and is one of the fastest-growing privately owned airports in the world, according to an analysis by Arthur D. Little. Passenger traffic grew at a compound annual rate of 38% between 2000 and 2007, and in the first six months of 2008 nearly 1 million passengers used BTS. "The enormous boom was conditioned by substantial growth of air transport in the Slovak Republic, where individual air carriers have subsequently settled.
AS US LEGACY CARRIERS COME TO grips with soaring fuel costs, the pain is trickling--in some cases pouring--down onto their regional partners. This reversal of fortune comes after more than a decade of impressive growth that saw regionals assume an ever-expanding role in the nation's air transportation network, deploying hundreds of 50-seat regional jets (and smaller numbers of 70/90-seaters) to markets for which slower but more fuel efficient turboprops would not have been practical and to replace and complement mainline jet service in existing city-pairs.
US airline executives may be feeling a bit of whiplash. Just a year ago, the second quarter was celebrated as the first reporting period in nearly five years that ended with no US carrier in bankruptcy protection, and all of the nation's 10 largest airlines were in the black with cumulative net income of more than $5 billion. A year later, dramatically rising fuel costs coupled with a weak US economy led to the 10 carriers posting a cumulative net loss of $5.8 billion in the 2008 quarter, results that stamped out any remaining enthusiasm about the "recovery" of 2007.
THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY, PARTICULARLY in the deregulated US market, is defined by fierce competition among carriers. Airline executives plotting strategy must be fully aware of competitors' latest fares, route choices and service offerings in order best to determine the direction their own carrier should take. But a serious competitor has emerged in recent years that may be far more difficult to counter than a rival airline: Business aviation.
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." JetBlue decided to auction off 218 flight packages--roundtrips for one or two people to specific destinations on specific dates--and six vacation products for weekend trips in September and early October.
UPBEAT WAS THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE EMIRATES Airline President Tim Clark, cabin crew and passengers alike onboard the carrier's inaugural A380 flight from Dubai to New York on Aug. 1. Clark was all smiles that the first A380 was a tonne lighter than expected, onboard staff were beaming with pride in their new product offering--much of which they had helped design or implement--and passengers were lyrical about the host of new features including showers in first class and a bar area for business and first class customers.
WITH AN ULTIMATE GOAL OF more than 12% saving in fuel and a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the imperative for air traffic control reform has taken on a new urgency. Yet significant gains remain elusive save for a few locations around the globe that share something in common: A new model of cooperation between air navigation service providers and the commercial user community.
Indira Gandhi International Airport, which was awarded to a private consortium two years ago amid much hope and fanfare, has been pilloried by airlines and passengers alike. After the consortium took over, it was widely expected that radical changes would be forthcoming to address the problems of congestion and poor terminal facilities that plague most of the country's state-administered airports. But progress has been slow in a market that has seen some of the fastest air traffic growth in the world during the period.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and enjoying an enviable reputation as one of the fastest-growing airports in Europe. Last year it handled more than 5.5 million passengers--an increase of 11% over 2006. And it passed another significant milestone in June when it handled its 50 millionth passenger since it was opened officially on July 1, 1933.
American Airlines asked the US Dept. of Transportation for permission to delay the start of its Chicago O'Hare-Beijing service from April 9, 2009, to April 4, 2010.
Ryanair said it welcomed the decision of the Hamburg Court to uphold its injunction against Vtours.de, which it described as "a screenscraper/ticket-tout website which was previously selling Ryanair tickets, with inflated hidden markups, to German consumers." Ryanair's aggressive stance against screenscrapers has drawn the attention of the European Commission ( ATWOnline, Aug. 27).
XL Airways will suspend flights from London Gatwick to the Caribbean (it serves Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Barbados and Grenada) on Nov. 3, citing fuel costs, the economic downturn and the routes' falling popularity as reasons for the decision. XL Leisure Group's UK scheduled and charter airline said it will focus instead on more profitable long-haul services to Florida and its short- and medium-haul network. XL currently uses 767-300s on its Caribbean routes, which were due to be replaced in autumn with two new A330s.
Aeroflot's board last week decided to open a branch in Krasnoyarsk, where it will base a Tu-154 and add up to seven aircraft in the fourth quarter. It said the decision was based on "KrasAir's difficulties to continue its operations and to meet the considerable demand in this region." KrasAir is one of the largest constituents of the debt-ridden, five-airline AiRUnion alliance, which recently suffered from operational difficulties and groundings and last week was promised 24,000 tonnes of fuel by the Russian government through Sept.
SkyEurope Airlines suffered a €16.8 million ($24.8 million) loss in the fiscal third quarter ended June 30, widened from a €5.1 million deficit in the year-ago quarter, as high fuel prices offset the company's continuing efforts to cut costs and streamline its operation.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating an Aug. 28 incident in which a Transaero 747-400 and a Delta Air Lines 737-800 "came within zero ft. vertical and 1 min. lateral separation at an altitude of 33,000 ft. about 179 mi. north of San Juan, Puerto Rico." It added that the Transaero 747 "descended 200-300 ft." after receiving a TCAS alert. The DL aircraft was en route from New York JFK to Port of Spain.
Lufthansa is competing with Air France KLM to be a strategic partner with a reorganized Alitalia, whose board declared bankruptcy last Friday, the head of a key investor group told La Repubblica Friday. Roberto Colaninno, who reportedly leads the consortium of 16 Italians organized by Intesa Sanpaolo and prepared to invest €1 billion ($1.48 billion) in the carrier, said, "We are negotiating with both, and they're going at the same speed. .
