Virgin Atlantic Airways plans to conduct a 747 biofuel test flight next year, parent Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said. At a recent appearance in Amsterdam and again yesterday during a speech in Boston, he said that Virgin will "early next year. . .fly one of our 747s without passengers with [an alternative fuel] we have developed." No other details were revealed. Virgin has said in the past that it is working with Boeing and GE to develop biofuels.
Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion announced that the airline reached an agreement with pilots over issues concerning the opening of EI's Belfast base and that "the threat of disruption of services this week has been lifted." Mannion had threatened to suspend noncompliant pilots beginning today ( ATWOnline, Oct. 11). EI said the base will open on time with "staff employed on local terms and conditions" and that the agreement with the Irish Air Line Pilots Assn.
Kitty Hawk Inc., which operates air cargo and ground handling services, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which operates 727-200 and 737-300 freighters, said it would continue to pay employee wages and benefits while it attempts to reorganize and secure interim financing. Kitty Hawk officials said the move was taken in "the best long-term interests" of employees, vendors and customers.
Cathay Pacific Airways will start a second-daily Hong Kong-San Francisco flight Oct. 18 aboard a 777-300ER. CX and Dragonair flew a combined 6.57 billion RPKs in September, up 5.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.6% to 8.32 billion ASKs and load factor was ahead 3.4 points to 79%.
Ancra International said Cargo Aircraft Management placed an order for its 757-200 Cargo Loading System. Installation is scheduled to take place during the ongoing Precision Conversions passenger-to-freighter modification at Flightstar in Florida.
Finnair said yesterday it has approved a new long-term plan that focuses on developing Europe-Asia services with a future goal of also boosting North America-Asia service by turning Helsinki Vantaa into a significant connecting hub. "We will take advantage of Helsinki's geographical location even more extensively," President and CEO Jukka Hienonen said. "In years to come, the airspace and terminal facilities of large European airports are likely to become increasingly congested while Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has plenty of room for construction and possibilities for development."
S7 Airlines said revenue through the year's first nine months rose 27% year-over-year to $845 million and full-year turnover will reach $1.17 billion compared to RUB24.97 billion ($1 billion) in 2006. The company expects full-year EBITDA of $57 million. Nine-month passenger numbers grew 10% year-over-year to 4.3 million, with RPKs up 5% to 10.42 billion and load factor ahead 3.6 points to 81.9%.
There was a guarded sigh of relief in Toulouse yesterday as Airbus handed over the first of 19 A380s to launch customer Singapore Airlines, and a clearly delighted SIA CEO Chew Choon Seng said, "better late than never."
AerCap announced that subsidiary AeroTurbine promoted Senior VP-Materials Michael King to the newly created position of president reporting to AeroTurbine CEO Nicolas Finazzo.
Japan Airlines said it will offer early retirement plans to 900 cabin staff who will have completed 15 years of service and will be at least 54 years old if managerial or 50 if nonmanagerial on March 31. JAL said it is working to cut yearly employment costs by ¥50 billion ($425 million) from FY06 by increasing productivity 10%, a hiring freeze and early retirement incentives. It said 630 ground staff employees holding middle management positions have accepted an early retirement package offered in August and will leave the carrier Nov. 30.
Ryanair said Friday it will appeal the decision of the TAR Lazio, a regional court in Rome, to uphold flight cuts at Rome Ciampino ( ATWOnline, Aug. 9). The LCC is accusing the Italian government of "unlawfully restricting the availability of low fares in the Rome market, a move that provides further illegal protection of Alitalia and restricts consumer choice."
AMC Airlines MD-82 was destroyed following an emergency landing in Istanbul last week, according to press reports. All 156 passengers and seven crew aboard the aircraft, which reportedly requested the landing owing to problems with the landing gear, escaped before fire consumed it. AMC is an Egyptian charter and ACMI carrier.
Delta Air Lines announced the sale of $1.4 billion in Pass Through Certificates, which were sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers. The funds generated will be used to refinance nearly $1 billion in existing debt currently secured by aircraft.
Porter Airlines will operate seasonal Toronto City Centre-Mont Tremblant service from Dec. 22 to March 31. Flights will be four-times-weekly Dec. 22-Jan. 6 and twice-weekly thereafter.
US airlines will convene for a meeting with Bush Administration officials Oct. 23-24 to discuss ways of reducing airspace congestion, with particular focus on the crowded New York market, the Dept. of Transportation announced.
Volga-Dnepr Airlines put its second next-generation Il-76TD-90VD freighter into operation last week, carrying a load of 32.5 tonnes from Gothenburg to Washington Dulles. The carrier will take delivery of three more, to be built by TAPO under an August order placed with MAK Ilyushin, in 2009-10.
Mexico's Federal Competition Commission last week rejected Mexicana's bid to acquire AeroMexico, ruling that a merger of the country's two largest airlines would be unfair to competitors and "unfavorable to consumers."
Kingfisher Airlines appears to have taken a significant step toward winning the right to begin long-haul flights next year, as Indian authorities have proposed that fleet size, rather than the age of the carrier, be the determining factor, The Economic Times reported from Bangalore. Previously, airlines had to operate domestically for five years before applying for overseas rights, and a move to reduce that to three years met with stiff opposition. Kingfisher launched in spring 2005 and hopes to fly long-haul next year.
Singapore Airlines today will take delivery of the first A380 at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse, where the carrier also will unveil the cabin interior. The Trent 900-powered aircraft is scheduled to depart for Singapore Tuesday and will begin operating on SIA's Sydney service with a special charity flight on Oct. 25-26.
Hamilton Sundstrand Power Systems signed a maintenance support agreement with Singapore Airlines that includes an asset management plan for its A380s, which will be equipped with the Pratt & Whitney Canada/Hamilton Sundstrand PW980 APU. Under the agreement, HSPS will perform MRO and provide spares support for up to 17 years.
Megadata Corp. said US Airways will use PASSUR FlightPerform live airspace analysis tools at US's Pittsburgh operations control center "for improved airspace utilization, fuel management and diversion management."
Messier Services insisted last week that it will be able to attract airlines to its new Americas landing gear and hydraulics MRO facility in Queretaro, Mexico, and parent Safran Group said it increasingly is focused on developing the Mexican market. At last week's opening ceremony in Queretaro ( ATWOnline, Oct. 12), Safran Senior VP-International Development Francois Courtot said the aerospace/defense firm has a "strong desire" to expand its Mexican presence.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines parent SkyWest Inc. announced plans to acquire 22 larger regional jets, replacing 23 30-seat Brasilia turboprops and four 50-seat CRJs that will be transitioned out of the fleet. Operating as a regional partner of United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, SkyWest said it has not selected a manufacturer for the new aircraft but will begin discussions with Bombardier and Embraer. It expects deliveries to begin in late 2008 and continue through 2009.
