Austrian Airlines Group announced the flotation of 57.1 million new bearer shares. Subscription period begins today and ends Sept. 8. New shares will be issued with full subscription rights of the existing shareholders, and those shares not allocated to existing shareholders will be allocated to Mohamed bin Iassa Al-Jaber in an amount corresponding to 20% of the company's shares after taking into consideration the subscription rights exercised by existing shareholders, AAG said.
Airlines on both sides of the Taiwan Strait carried 95,765 passengers across the strait with an average load factor of 87% over the seven weeks ended Aug. 18, according to Taiwanese authorities. Taiwan Civil Aviation Chief Li Long Wen told media last week that cross-strait routes are among the few profitable services operated by Taiwanese carriers.
Spanish investigators are backing away from blaming an engine fire for last week's Spanair MD-82 crash following emergence of a video of the failed takeoff that shows no signs of fire until after the aircraft, which elevated only a few meters off the ground, crashed back down on the runway.
Unite said yesterday that a strike by baggage handlers and check-in staff at London Stansted, Gatwick and Manchester planned for Aug. 25 has been "suspended" following a new pay offer from Swissport. It said a ballot of union members will begin "shortly" ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18).
Aggressive fuel hedging, a more favorable exchange rate, a booming domestic economy and tight fiscal management enabled Qantas to defy nearly every trend affecting the global airline industry and post a massive 44.1% increase in net profit to $A970 million ($845.1 million) for the fiscal year ended June 30, QF's new chairman, Leigh Clifford, attributed the result to "a strong revenue environment, which was supported by major investments in customer service and product. . .and sustained efforts to improve efficiency."
ITA Software announced that LOT Polish Airlines extended application of its QPX airfare pricing and shopping system, launching a weekend airfare search capability on LOT's website featuring flexible booking capabilities and advanced travel and cost options.
Pratt & Whitney said the PW1000G (formerly the Geared Turbofan) demonstrator engine finished the first phase of flight testing on the company's 747SP flying testbed. The engine completed 12 flights and ran approximately 43 hr., with tests focused on performance and operability, according to the company. VP-Next Generation Product Family Bob Saia said it performed "flawlessly" and "met all of our pre-flight performance targets."
Russian airline alliance AiRUnion is facing significant financial troubles and having trouble paying its bills, to the point where aircraft at Moscow Domodedovo, which controls fuel distribution, are not being fueled on time.
Lazard has been hired by Air France KLM to advise it on a possible acquisition of Austrian Airlines, a Lazard spokesperson told Thomson Financial. Companies interested in purchasing state holding company OIAG's 42.75% stake in OS have until Aug. 24 to announce their intentions ( ATWOnline, Aug. 15).
Gate Gourmet finalized its acquisition of Inflight Logistic Services, a Sydney-based company offering services such as menu/service design, logistics and supply chain management, onboard point-of-sale solutions and cash management processes. ILS also supplies cabin cleaning and manages personal media players for inflight entertainment. Major customers include Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue and Rex Regional Express. ILS recently won a long-term contract to handle Jetstar Airways' domestic catering beginning Nov. 12.
Malaysia Airlines and GMR Hyderabad International Airport signed an MOU this week to establish an MRO company at Rajiv Gandhi International capable of handling "all types of aircraft," including the A380. Financial details, ownership structure and timetable for launch were not disclosed.
American Airlines will launch five-times-weekly Chicago O'Hare-Montego Bay on Jan. 31 aboard a 757. AirTran Airways will launch service to Columbus from Atlanta (twice-daily), Orlando International (daily) and Fort Myers (daily) on Nov. 6 and daily MCO-Harrisburg on Nov. 20.
SAS Group airlines flew 4.16 billion RPKs in July, up 2.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.9% to 5.27 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.7 points to 78.9%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.62 billion RPKs, up 1%, against a 4.1% increase in ASKs to 3.25 billion. Load factor fell 2.5 points to 80.8%. Austrian Airlines flew 1.93 billion RPKs in July, down 2.9% year-over-year, against a 3.3% decline in capacity to 2.42 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.3 point to 79.6%.
Spanish authorities continued to search for the cause of Wednesday's Spanair MD-82 crash on takeoff from Madrid Barajas that killed at least 153 passengers and crew as the carrier insisted that a malfunctioning air intake probe that delayed the scheduled takeoff by 1 hr. had no relevance to the investigation.
Indian government has pulled back on plans to float 15% of Air India, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said this week in New Delhi. "The ministry is not actively looking at it," he told reporters. Instead, parent National Aviation Co. of India will seek INR10-INR15 billion ($228.3-$342.5 million) in funds from the government, including loans.
Airgo Airlines, a startup cargo carrier based in Athens, acquired an ATP Freighter on long-term sublease from West Air Sweden, which will provide maintenance and support, BAE Systems announced.
Sabre Airline Solutions reached agreement with Air One to launch Sabre's Mobile Check-In solution featuring advanced check-in capabilities across multiple touch points. Technology is part of its SabreSonic customer sales and service solution and integrates with other SabreSonic self-service options including Web and kiosk check-in. Sabre also announced that Kuwaiti startup Wataniya Airways selected its SabreSonic sales and service system featuring mobile technology aimed at expediting the check-in process.
Hainan Airlines said it expects its net profit for the first half of 2008 to "achieve a growth of over 50%" from the CNY189.7 million ($27.6 million) reported in the year-ago semester. It cited the "continuous appreciation" of the yuan and the "prosperous development of the domestic aviation industry" for the result. It is scheduled to release its first-half figures on Aug. 30.
BAA might have to sell three of its seven UK airports--two in London and either Edinburgh or Glasgow International--in order to address competition problems arising from their common ownership, the UK Competition Commission said yesterday in its provisional report into the market for the supply of airport services in the UK. The Commission also concluded that there are competition problems arising from the planning system, aspects of government policy and the system of regulation.
Air New Zealand and key partners aim to demonstrate commercial aviation's potential to reduce carbon emissions by millions of tonnes annually with a Sept. 12 test flight between Auckland and San Francisco.
"We are a fragile industry and we are in crisis; wait and see is no longer an option," was yesterday's assessment from IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani, who was addressing the Australian National Aviation Press Club in Sydney.
