Alaska Airlines said it now is using diesel-powered preconditioned air units in conjunction with ground-based electricity in place of onboard APUs at 19 gates at its Seattle hub. The ground units burn approximately 10 times less fuel than APUs and are expected to conserve more than 1.1 million gal. per year, saving $2.6 million at current prices. The carrier expects to have 14 more units in place at Anchorage, Portland, Ore., and San Francisco later this year. It also said it completed the retrofit of all eligible 737s with blended winglets in early June.
Singapore Airlines took delivery of its fifth A380 and 18th 777-300ER Saturday. The A380 will allow SIA to upgrade more Singapore-London Heathrow flights from 747-400 service beginning July 16. The fifth aircraft will be used Aug. 2-8 on flights to Beijing to meet Olympics demand.
Grandstar Cargo International Airlines, the Korean Air/Sinotrans joint venture airfreight carrier based in Tianjin, operated its inaugural flight Friday to Frankfurt using a 747-400 freighter. KE and the Chinese logistics firm first announced plans for the airline in 2006 and gained CAAC approval in July 2007. It is 51% owned by Sinotrans Air Transportation Development Co., 25% by KE, 13% by Hana Capital Co. and 11% by Shinhan Capital Co.
Survey of International Air Travelers, which has been conducted on international flights and at airport gates by the US Dept. of Commerce on a monthly basis for 25 years, is taking steps toward automating the process, and airlines can benefit from the move by placing a link on their websites that will appear when a passenger completes an international booking to or from the US. The link will take the passenger to a web portal set up by DOC's Office of Travel & Tourism Industries to conduct the surveys and collect the data.
ABX Air parent Air Transport Services Group said last week that it has received formal notice from DHL that the express delivery giant will remove 39 of ABX's 55 DC-9Fs dedicated to DHL US air lift over the next 12-18 months. DHL is negotiating with UPS on details of an agreement reached last month to transfer its US air lift from ABX and Astar Air Cargo to its rival ( ATWOnline, May 30).
Niki is in talks with Embraer and Bombardier about a regional jet order. "We are evaluating which smaller aircraft between 88 and 114 seats is ideal for us below the A320 family. The A318 is a not useful airplane, so we are studying what else is on the market. But nothing is concrete," President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline in Ibiza. The Austrian carrier would use smaller aircraft to increase frequencies on routes such as Zurich or Frankfurt. Lauda said high oil prices are forcing the airline to consider more cost-effective aircraft. Niki has hedged 35% of its fuel needs.
US FAA Assistant Administrator-Aviation Policy, Planning and Environment Dan Elwell will leave the agency to become US Aerospace Industries Assn. VP-civil aviation effective July. 7. Aer Lingus named Ryanair Director-Scheduled Revenue Sean Coyle as its new CFO. He will join EI on Aug. 11.
Struggling Wuhan-based East Star Airlines, which claimed it is in "financial crisis," last week was dealt a further blow by CAAC, which decided to suspend its right to fly to Guangzhou and Shenzhen from July 7. This makes the second time ESA has faced such a sanction. Flights to Shanghai were suspended by the regulator last month owing to the airline's inability to submit its "air transport funds" to CAAC in time.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace completed the purchase of SAS Group's remaining 28.7% shareholding in ST Aerospace Solutions (Europe) for €28.3 million ($44.4 million) following the exercise of a put option by SAS under a 2006 agreement between SAS and ST Aerospace ( ATWOnline, March 16, 2006). STA Solutions now becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of ST Aerospace. SAS sold an initial 67% shareholding in the unit, formerly known as SAS Component, in 2005.
Delta Air Lines will add fuel surcharges to SkyMiles award tickets effective Aug. 15 amounting to $25 on flights within the US and between the US and Canada and $50 on flights from the US and Canada to all international destinations. DL called it a "difficult but essential decision in the face of record-high fuel costs" and said it "hope[d] this is temporary."
Air France KLM flew 17.83 billion RPKs in May, up 6% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.8% to 22.48 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.2 point to 79.3%. Iberia flew 4.52 billion RPKs in May, up 6% year-over-year, against a 3.2% increase in ASKs to 5.68 billion. Load factor rose 2.1 points to 79.5%. Air Canada and Jazz flew 4.31 billion combined RPMs in May, up 4.5% year-over-year. Capacity rose 4% to 5.17 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 83.2%.
The European Parliament announced Friday that its members reached a compromise agreement with the Council Presidency on the inclusion of aviation, including airlines from outside the EU, in the body's emissions trading system beginning in 2012.
Icelandair will cut 20% of its workforce of 1,230 employees as a result of financial pressures brought on by rising fuel prices, it announced last week. The reduction of approximately 240 staff will occur in the fall. The airline also will reduce its winter flying schedule by 14% and suspend service during the winter to Berlin Tegel, Toronto and Minneapolis/St. Paul from Keflavik. Service to Paris Charles de Gaulle will be reduced while flights to New York JFK will increase.
AerCap Holdings said it closed a $100 million engine acquisition facility with a syndicate of US and German banks led by Citibank as global arranger. The facility, which has an availability period of 24 months expandable to an additional 36 months, provides AerCap with committed funding to acquire a broad range of spare engines.
Continental Airlines pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. announced an agreement with CO management that will reduce the number of layoffs due to recently announced capacity cuts ( ATWOnline, June 13). The union said the parties "resolv[ed] the need for staffing reductions by using a combination of voluntary programs" comprising an enhanced retirement window, company-offered leaves of absence and voluntary reduced flying. In addition, a systemwide change in schedule rules will reduce flight time and save 100-150 jobs.
Malaysia Airlines is prepared to "take the lead" in increasing fuel surcharges and perhaps raising fares by as much as 50% in order to negotiate a "frightening" economic environment, MD and CEO Idris Jala wrote in an open letter last week. "Change, and I mean drastic change, is absolutely vital for our survival. That, and a willingness to reinvent the way we operate, including through mergers and acquisitions," Jala said.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines pilots, whose leaders reached a tentative agreement on a joint contract last week with DL management ( ATWOnline, June 25), will enter into a period of "good faith" negotiations over details of seniority list integration and agreed to enter into binding arbitration by year end if differences still remain.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft announced that the first "relaunched" BAe 146QT (Quiet Trader) freighter was completed at Aerostar's Bacau facility in Romania and the -200 variant made a successful first flight on June 25. BAE Systems gave the go-ahead to relaunch the freighter conversion program for the 10/12-tonne quadjet in January 2007 and announced the following April that it had chosen Aerostar as its conversion partner.
Middle East Airlines took delivery of its first A330-200 directly purchased from Airbus. The Trent 700-powered aircraft is part of an order for four placed in 2006 that will replace MEA's three leased A330s.
ITA Software reached agreement with TAP Portugal for provision of its QPX airfare pricing and shopping system. Technology is expected to enhance the online experience and increase revenue.
Northwest Airlines will cancel its Detroit-Dusseldorf and Hartford-Amsterdam flights on Oct. 2 and suspend Minneapolis/St. Paul-Charles de Gaulle from Oct. 2 to March 28, 2009. It cited "high fuel costs and decreased demand" for the decision and warned that "selective frequency reductions and aircraft type changes may also be implemented on additional transatlantic flights, depending on oil prices and ongoing customer demand."
Emirates postponed the launch of its service to Los Angeles and San Francisco because of delays in the delivery of four 777-200LRs. It now will commence Dubai-LAX service on Oct. 1, one month later than planned, and has moved the start of SFO flights to Nov. 20 from Oct. 26. It said the delay was due to late delivery of galley equipment. In addition, it has shelved plans to launch service to Durban in December.
L-3 Security & Detection Systems said its VIS-HR high-resolution automated explosives detection system won STAC approval for compliance with European Union Commission Regulation No. 1448/2006--Standard 2.
