American Airlines flew 10.92 billion system RPMs in January, a 0.2% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity dipped 1.5% to 14.26 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.3 points to 76.6%. American Eagle flew 635.4 million RPMs, a 4% decrease, while capacity fell 5.3% to 972.9 million ASMs. Load factor was up 0.9 point to 65.3%. Delta Air Lines flew 9.08 billion system RPMs in January, 2.5% more than in the year-ago month. Capacity rose just 0.2% to 12.04 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 1.7 points to 75.4%.
Northwest Airlines will launch twice-daily Minneapolis/St. Paul-Dubuque on June 20 aboard a Mesaba Airlines Saab 340B. Qatar Airways will add a fourth daily Doha-London Heathrow flight on March 30.
Air New Zealand said Friday that an attempted hijacking that morning aboard an Eagle Air Jetstream 32 operated by Air National was a "one-off" but "has naturally given us cause to conduct a thorough review of our safety and security systems and processes on regional domestic flights." According to widespread reports, a 33-year-old Somali woman who was a passenger on the Blenheim-Christchurch flight rushed the cockpit (the flight deck reportedly is separated from the cabin by a curtain) with a knife, threatening to blow up the aircraft. She cut the two pilots before being subdued.
Jazz, which provides regional service for Air Canada, reported net income of C$150.7 million (C$149.5 million) for 2007, up 7.6% over a C$140 million profit in 2006, on an 8.3% lift in revenue to C$1.5 billion. Expenses increased 8.5% to C$1.38 billion and operating income of C$153.2 million was up 6.5% from C$143.8 million in the previous year.
SITA will help Chhatrapati Shivaji International transition to Common Use Self Service kiosks and Common Use Terminal Equipment check-in systems under a five-year deal announced Friday with Mumbai International. Features include standardized self-service, systems management and targeted gate and check-in counter allocations.
Boeing is upbeat on its progress with what it terms "second-generation" biofuels and believes regular commercial services could be operating within five years.
Spirit Airlines announced an increase in checked-bag fees to $20 from $10 per piece if checked at the airport and to $10 from $5 if reserved on its website, effective Feb. 20. One carryon item is permitted free of charge.
Dutch government is facing parallel lawsuits challenging its plan to levy a new environmental ticket tax on all passengers departing from domestic airports ( ATWOnline, Oct. 2, 2007). The tax, which comes into effect July 1, amounts to €11.25 ($16.59) per passenger for EU destinations (with some exceptions) inside 2,500 km. and €45 for other flights.
CAE reached agreement with the Indian government to become the managing partner of its flight school, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi. It also entered into a JV with the Airport Authority of India to develop the Rajiv Gandhi National Flying Training Institute. IGRUA management activities include aircraft and runway maintenance, flying operations and air traffic control practices. JV calls for RGNFTI ownership to be shared between CAE and AAI and includes flying and maintenance activities. CAE will provide training curriculum, courseware and training methodologies.
Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy predicted yesterday that the world's airlines will require 24,300 new aircraft worth $2.6 trillion between now and 2026 in order to support retirements and annual passenger traffic growth of 4.9% per year. Approximately 900 of the new aircraft will be freighters, valued at $200 billion.
Republic Airways Holdings continued its record of strong performance in 2007, reporting net income of $82.8 million, a 4.1% increase over the previous year's $79.5 million. ATW's Regional Airline of the Year, which operates subsidiaries Republic Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines and Shuttle America, reported a 13.1% rise in operating revenue to $1.29 billion and a 14.2% lift in expenses to $1.06 billion. Operating income climbed 8.3% to $230.3 million from $212.6 million.
Air France KLM flew 16.43 billion RPKs in January, a 2% increase on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.4% to 21.3 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.8 points to 77.1%. Continental Airlines reported an estimated 9%-10% year-over-year increase in consolidated RASM in January. It flew 7.22 billion consolidated RPMs, up 2.9% on the year-ago month, against a 2.1% rise in ASMs to 9.4 billion. Load factor lifted 0.5 point to 76.8%.
Boeing said India-based TAL Manufacturing Solutions agreed to produce structural components for the 787. Work involves constructing floor beams with advanced titanium and composite material technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Lufthansa Systems said Silverjet selected its Lido Operations Center flight planning application. Contract comprises Lido eFlightBag, Lido RouteManual, Lido FMS and Lido Takeoff Performance Analysis. Resource management requirements will be met by NetLine/Ops for operations control processes and NetLine/Crew for aspects of crew management.
Air Canada reported net income of C$429 million ($426.3 million) for 2007, significantly turned around from a net loss of C$74 million in 2006, crediting "an unrelenting focus on cost reduction" and the strength of the Canadian dollar for the strong result.
Lufthansa Technik AG is investing €50 million ($73.2 million) to extend its engine maintenance business in Hamburg. The new 15,000-sq.-m. facility will start operations early next year and should increase annual engine maintenance from 320 units to 400.
Aegean Airlines will launch flights from Athens to London Stansted (twice-daily from May 15 aboard A321s), Tirana (daily from May 2 aboard RJ100s), Limnos (four-times-weekly from March 30, becoming daily May 1) and Kefalonia (four-times-weekly from May 1, becoming six-times-weekly in July and daily in August). The carrier expects to take delivery of 10 A320s/A321s this year and to replace its 15 737s with Airbus narrowbodies by June 2009. Clickair will commence daily Bilbao-London Gatwick March 30 aboard an A320.
JJH Capital, owned by Air Europa and Globalia President Juan Jose Hidalgo, signed a firm order for six E-195s plus six purchase rights worth $237 million at list prices. The order was listed as unidentified on Embraer's fourth-quarter 2007 books. Scheduled to begin delivering in May, the aircraft will be placed with Universal Airlines, a startup that will fly both domestically and in Europe. It will be the first to fly the E-195 with 122 seats.
EasyJet reported revenue of £418 million ($820.1 million) in the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, up 14.1% from the year-ago period, it said in a mid-semester management update released yesterday as it maintained its full-year guidance of a 20% increase in pre-tax earnings.
US FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell's nomination to a five-year term to lead the agency is in doubt following yesterday's contentious confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce and Transportation Committee and a procedural tactic initiated by two senators that prevents the chamber from voting on the matter. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez, both New Jersey Democrats, announced following the hearing that they are placing a "hold" on the nomination. Under Senate rules, each senator has the right to block voting on a nomination or legislation.
Air France KLM will have to wait until at least Feb. 20 to conclude negotiations with Alitalia following an Italian court's decision to hold a hearing that day on Air One's challenge to the exclusive discussions ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5). AZ Chairman Maurizio Prato said AF KLM had intended to begin meeting with AZ unions starting Feb. 15, according to Reuters. Doubts about the sale's progress already had risen with the recent resignation of Prime Minister and AF KLM supporter Romano Prodi.
Armavia will be the first non-Russian carrier to take delivery of the Superjet 100, Transport Minister Igor Levitin said yesterday, according to press reports from Yerevan. Aeroflot will be the first airline to fly the new regional jet ( ATWOnline, Sept. 12, 2007). Armavia signed a $50 million contract for two aircraft and will take delivery this year, Levitin said.
United Airlines flew 8.73 billion system RPMs in January, a 5.3% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity declined 3.4% to 11.41 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.5 points to 76.5%. British Airways flew 8.61 billion RPKs in January, down 1.6% from the year-ago month, as capacity fell 0.6% to 12.45 billion ASKs. Load factor dropped 0.7 point to 69.2%. Southwest Airlines flew 5.49 billion RPMs in January, up 5.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.3% to 8.55 billion ASMs and load factor improved 0.4 point to 64.2%.
Boeing will decide in the next couple of months whether to ramp up 737NG production, Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson said. The narrowbodies were built at a monthly rate of 27.5 in 2007. Carson, speaking yesterday at an investors conference, said he soon will review a company analysis on 737 production in recent months to assess both Boeing's own production capabilities and market demand. "It feels like there might be. .
Air China said it will move into Beijing Capital Airport's new Terminal 3 next month. The 1-million-sq.-m. project includes a 3,800-m. runway and will help the airport double passenger capacity by 2015.
