Kuala Lumpur-Singapore service is set to see a major price war erupt after the Malaysian government decided to abandon its protection of the route and several others well ahead of the originally scheduled January 2009 date.
Midwest Air Group, parent of Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect, fell to a $3.9 million loss in the third quarter, reversed from a $1.7 million profit in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed 20.2% to $202.6 million but costs were up 24.1% to $208.7 million, leaving the company at an operating loss of $6.1 million compared to the $427,000 profit earned in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2006. Group airlines flew 1.31 billion RPMs, up 25.1%, against a 23.7% increase in capacity to 1.66 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 79%.
Frontier Airlines Holdings reported net income for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 of $17.3 million, improved over a net profit of $509,000 in the year-ago quarter, on a 19.4% increase in revenue to $372 million. Expenses rose 13.3% to $350.4 million and operating income was $22.8 million, a more than fivefold increase over $4 million last year.
Singapore Airlines' second A380 service, a return flight from Sydney ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26), was delayed more than 2 hr. Friday when the Australian city was hit by severe thunderstorms and heavy rain.
Panama City-Bay County International Airport, the first US greenfield commercial airport project this century, will break ground on Nov. 1 in Florida. The airport will be built on 1,300 of the 4,000 acres donated by St. Joe Co., which will develop nearby commercial and industrial projects. It is expected to open in late 2009 or early 2010 with an 8,400-ft. primary runway and a 5,000-ft. crosswind runway, a 100,000-sq.-ft., seven gate terminal and aviation support facilities. The main runway can be extended to 12,000 ft. at a later date and a third 9,000-ft.
Sabena Flight Academy and GMR Group signed an MOU to create a joint venture aviation training academy at New Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad by January 2009. The academy will offer "complete training packages for aviation-related activities" covering pilot and cabin crew training, engineers, technicians and aviation consultants. Training for airport operations staff such as passenger and ramp services agents also will be provided.
Lufthansa Systems said Singapore Airlines will be using flight planning and dispatch solution Lido Operations Center for its first scheduled A380 flights (see story above) between Singapore and Sydney this week.
Caribbean transport ministers signed the San Juan Accord this week in Puerto Rico, committing to "liberalize air transport services and harmonize aviation safety and security measures" with the ultimate goal of creating "an umbrella policy for air transport" and "a single regional airspace." A forum of tourism and air transport ministers will be convened no later than Feb. 15 to discuss security and other issues pertaining to liberalization of civil aviation in the region.
EasyJet propelled itself into the top spot among Europe's low-cost carriers and consolidated its presence at London Gatwick through the purchase of GB Airways from Bland Group for £103.5 million ($212.1 million) in cash. The deal does not include GB's four London Heathrow slots. This is easyJet's second major airline acquisition; it acquired British Airways' low-fare subsidiary Go Fly in May 2002.
JetWorks Leasing on behalf of a group of institutional investors arranged the sale of a 747-400 on lease to United Airlines to Top Flight Holdings, a company controlled by Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management.
ATWOnline's "Self-Service Travel: The New Reality" webcast yesterday featured industry experts saying that passenger self-service technology is spreading rapidly and that airlines need to offer a range of options to capture the broadest array of passengers.
Oct. 25--The boarding was like no other--almost every passenger had a camera in order to document almost every aspect of the A380's first commercial flight.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air Group parent Alaska Air Group reported third-quarter net income of $85.8 million, reversed from a net loss of $17.4 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 6.3% rise in revenue to $995.1 million.
US Airways reported net income of $177 million, a turnaround from a net loss of $78 million in the year-ago quarter, and said "capacity constraint" will allow for continued profitability despite rising fuel prices. Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said it marked a "momentous change in the industry" for US carriers to earn profits despite per-barrel crude oil prices rising above $80. "This is a big deal," he told analysts and reporters yesterday. "We are happy to see our industry acting rationally" by taking a conservative approach regarding capacity growth.
Lufthansa Group released its full third-quarter and nine-month figures yesterday, confirming a €586 million ($834.7 million) profit that represented a 78.1% increase over the year-ago period (before the integration of Swiss International Air Lines), and promised that it wants to "consolidate and extend our leadership in the industry." Third-quarter revenue rose 17.7% to €6.28 billion and operating profit was up 25.3% to €586 million.
Noel Forgeard, the embattled former EADS co-CEO who sold €2.5 million ($3.5 million) worth of stock options in March 2006 three months before Airbus announced A380 delays, denied in interviews with European newspapers this week that he and other EADS and Airbus executives committed insider trading ( ATWOnline, Oct. 9), claiming that Hamburg plant managers kept A380 production problems to themselves.
Royal Jordanian is returning its two Q400s to Bombardier and converting orders for two E-195s into the smaller 175, CEO Samer Majali confirmed to ATWOnline at the Arab Air Carriers Organization AGM in Damascus. RJ placed an order for seven E-195s in March 2006, with five being delivered so far.
Aeroflot Cargo said it will decide by year end whether to purchase up to 10 777 freighters, according to statements from the board cited in Russian press reports. Delivery would be scheduled for 2012-15. SU Cargo currently operates four DC-10s but launched an MD-11 conversion program two months ago ( ATWOnline Aug. 27).
Air Transat will increase economy class average seat pitch to 32 in. from the current 30 in. across its fleet beginning next May. As a result, the number of seats on its A310s will drop to 249 from 259 while its A330s will carry 342, down from 362. The number of Club class seats remains unchanged in both aircraft: 20 on the A310s and 21 on the A330s.
Virgin Blue added another element to its New World Carrier strategy with the introduction of a premium economy product. It will install three rows of 2x2 seats set at 34-35-in. pitch into its 50-strong fleet of 737-800s and Embraer regional jets.
Lufthansa yesterday reported a nine-month net profit of €1.58 billion, implying third-quarter net earnings of €586 million that represent a 78.1% improvement over a year-ago profit of €329 million as calculated by ATWOnline.
Etihad Airways will issue an RFP next year for an aircraft order "of a good size," CEO James Hogan revealed to ATWOnline at the Arab Air Carriers Organization AGM in Damascus. The order will be for both short- and long-haul types and will be for "at least 20-25 aircraft," he said without revealing further details. "The order will cover in part the recycle needs of our current fleet and in part incremental requirements," he noted. Hogan added that it is premature to conclude if Etihad will move toward an all-Airbus fleet.
