SkyEurope Airlines announced the conversion of purchase rights for five blended winglet-equipped 737-700s into firm orders, a deal valued at $295 million at list prices. It now has 26 -700s on order through lease or direct purchase.
N3 Engine Overhaul Services, the Lufthansa Technik/Rolls-Royce joint venture, received EASA approval yesterday to perform maintenance on Trent 500s. It expects approval this summer to perform maintenance on Trent 700 and 900 engines, the latter of which will power A380s.
Lufthansa flew 9.59 billion RPKs in March, up 9.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.9% to 12.23 billion ASKs and load factor increased 4 points to 77.1%. Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 6.78 billion RPKs in March, up 6.5% from the year-ago month, against a 1.5% lift in capacity to 8.5 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 3.7 points to 79.7%. Germanwings flew 602,602 passengers in March, up 7.4% on the year-ago month. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 83.3%.
Alitalia's new owner will have to spend €3 billion ($4.03 billion) in order to revive the foundering airline, Italian Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi said in a television interview cited by widespread press reports. Half that total would be required to buy AZ and the other half to get it running, he said.
Yemenia Yemen Airways is establishing an independent MRO business unit and has selected Lufthansa Consulting as a strategic adviser for the project, the Arab Air Carriers Organization revealed. The process is expected to be completed within six months.
UPS and the Shanghai Airport Authority formally signed a lease agreement yesterday enabling the parcel delivery giant to establish a long-planned air hub at Pudong International Airport. UPS has been touting the Shanghai hub for some time and yesterday's signing ceremony, attended by US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, set the parameters for its construction. The new hub will be built on 1 million sq. ft. of land, with "rapid expansion" likely to follow, the company said in a statement. The hub's sorting capacity is projected to reach 17,000 pieces per hr. by 2012.
Jet Airways and Air Sahara signed an acquisition agreement yesterday, with Jet agreeing to pay INR14.5 billion ($338.2 million) in a deal that will give it control of about half the Indian domestic market ( ATWOnline, April 12). The purchase price is 32.4% below what the carriers originally agreed to early last year and which Jet ultimately deemed too high. Jet said it will unveil details of the merger plan next week.
Messier-Dowty yesterday announced the delivery of the first production nose landing gear for the 787 to Wichita, where it will be installed. M-D expects to deliver the first production main gear later this month.
Advocates for "Passenger Bill of Rights" legislation in the US said this week they have organized a large and growing group of supporters and are getting positive feedback from members of Congress as they push for passage of legislation that would regulate airline operations during ground delays.
Societe de Promotion d'une Compagnie Aerienne Regionale is the name of a new consortium of West African banks and private investors that intends to fund and launch a multinational airline by December. The carrier, which has yet to be named, will be a replacement for defunct Air Afrique and will operate flights from West and Central Africa to Europe, the US and East Asia as well as intra-continental services. SPCAR is headed by Ecobank Chairman and former Togolese government minister Gervais Djondo. It said it conducted a feasibility study with Alan Stratford and Assoc.
Having altered commercial aviation in Europe with its low-fare, no-frills service and brazen style, Ryanair appears prepared to make its mark on the newly opened skies over the Atlantic.
The struggle for control of Qantas took a new twist yesterday with Airline Partners Australia's announcement that it will lower the threshold for its takeover bid to 70% of shares tendered from 90% and is extending its A$11.1 billion ($9.16 billion) offer by two weeks to May 4.
Virgin America this week asked the US Dept. of Transportation to reconsider its ruling that CEO Fred Reid must have his employment with the airline terminated within 90 days of receipt of its certification.
Iberia filed a €2 million ($2.7 million) lawsuit against Ryanair over a Barcelona marketing stunt last fall in which the Irish LCC offered free tickets to people willing to carry signs through the city expressing their preference for Ryanair over IB, according to press reports. Ryanair said the suit was IB's "latest tactic to contribute to protect its dominance in the Spanish market" and that it expects to transport 9 million passengers to and from Spain this year.
Rolls-Royce said Guggenheim Aviation Partners selected the Trent 700 to power up to six A330-200 freighters in a deal worth approximately $200 million at list prices. Deliveries will begin in 2010. It is Rolls' first order for the recently launched aircraft type.
Nok Air announced a codeshare and branding partnership with regional carrier SGA Airlines under which Nok passengers will have access to SGA's Cessna 208B Grand Caravan flights from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, Pai and Phrae and from Bangkok to Hua Hin. SGA aircraft will be repainted in Nok colors.
Skybus Airlines, which expects to launch service later this spring, yesterday unveiled an A319 displaying the logo and slogan for the Columbus-based Nationwide insurance company as part of its livery. The carrier said it is "believed to be" the only US airline currently selling ad space on aircraft exteriors. It also is making interior advertising available and said Nationwide will be featured on tray tables, overhead bins and restroom doors. "Our goal is to provide outrageously low fares to our passengers," Skybus CEO Bill Diffendorfer said.
Chinese airlines remain interested in aligning with global alliances despite the difficulties associated with joining up or integrating. With Air China and Shanghai Airlines committed to Star Alliance and China Southern Airlines set to join SkyTeam, speculation has turned toward oneworld and Hainan Airlines, which recently opened a new Beijing-Osaka service in cooperation with Japan Airlines. Hainan parent HNA Group told China Business that it established a working group in January to start preparing the carrier to join an alliance.
Continental Airlines contributed an additional $30 million in cash to its defined benefit pension plans, bringing its year-to-date contribution to $136 million. It expects to put in $320 million this year. Air Canada said that an arbitrator awarded approximately 6,000 flight attendants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees a 2% wage increase effective July 2006, another 1.75% increase effective in July 2007 and an additional 1.75% in July 2008.
Saudi Arabian Airlines confirmed that it will privatize its cargo unit by year end. The airline is inviting expressions of interest this week in a maximum 49% share of its cargo unit, the Arab Air Carriers Organization said. Saudi Arabian has outlined its intention to privatize its individual business units separately, including the catering, ground handling and technical units, in addition to pilot training and cargo.
SAS Group carriers flew 3.36 billion RPKs in March, up 5.7% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3% to 4.7 billion ASKs and load factor climbed 1.8 points to 71.4%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.34 billion RPKs, up 0.2%, against a 1.6% decline in ASKs to 3.13 billion. Load factor rose 1.3 points to 74.8%. LAN Airlines flew 2.01 billion RPKs in March, up 30.7% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 25.4% to 2.64 billion ASKs and load factor gained 3 points to 76.1%.
US Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a leading advocate for legislation that would establish a federal "Passenger Bill of Rights," told Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May during a Senate hearing yesterday that he was "living in a dream world" and blasted airlines that have not "lived up" to voluntary customer service rules they claimed to adopt in 1999 after 4,000 passengers were stranded on Northwest Airlines' aircraft for up to 8 hr. during a Detroit snowstorm.
