Alitalia said "improvement in business activities compared to the previous year" allows it to forecast sales of €4.7 billion ($6.16 billion) in 2007, leading to an 8% rise in annual EBITDAR. AZ has not released its full-year 2006 results.
Cathay Pacific Airways increased freighter service to Europe to 36 weekly flights from 25. Flights to Frankfurt via Dubai operate 11-times-weekly, up from six. The remaining six additions will operate on the Hong Kong-Dubai-Manchester-Amsterdam-Dubai-Hong Kong route. Amsterdam is a new CX freighter destination. SAS Scandinavian Airlines will discontinue its Copenhagen-Shanghai Pudong service from April 8 and focus its Chinese service on Beijing, which it will serve with 10 flights per week by September.
Indonesia National Transportation Safety Bureau investigator Marjono Siswo Suwarno, who is leading the inquiry into last week's Garuda Indonesia 737-400 crash in Yogyakarta, said Friday that the initial evidence does not support the flight captain's contention that a sudden "downdraft" as the aircraft was attempting to land caused the accident ( ATWOnline, March 9). "There was no downdraft at the point of landing," Marjono told reporters.
Amadeus reported that total bookings grew 5.5% last year to 499.5 million while online bookings jumped 25.5% and represented 16.2% of total air bookings. The GDS claimed it had a 31% share of travel agency bookings in 2006, up 1.74 points over 2005. Total revenue grew 10.9% to €2.68 billion. It migrated four airlines to its Altea customer management solution, bringing to 29 the number of carriers using Altea.
CSA Czech Airlines released its full-year results Friday, confirming last week's report of a CZK397 million ($18.5 million) loss ( ATWOnline, March 9), narrowed from a CZK496 million deficit in 2005. Revenues rose 5.9% to CZK23.48 billion and expenses fell 1.5% to CZK23.59 billion. CSA said it achieved cost reductions by "centralizing its purchasing and by re-bidding tenders for outsourced services," such as switching insurance brokers and ground handlers at foreign airports.
Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo parent Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings posted net income of $59.8 million for 2006, down 19.1% from $73.9 million earned in the prior year, on an 8.6% decrease in revenue to $1.48 billion. But the company reported a 66.2% fourth-quarter profit gain to $45.7 million and projects strong growth going forward, pointing to 12 747-8 freighters it has on order and a partnership deal with DHL that will see the express cargo giant take a stake in Polar ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17, 2006).
Difficulties at Airbus "dominated" EADS' full-year results, the European aerospace giant said Friday when it reported a 94% plunge in net earnings to €99 million ($130.3 million), compared to a €1.68 billion profit in 2005, owing to a €572 million operating loss at its commercial aircraft subsidiary.
SkyWest Airlines parent SkyWest Inc. announced a plan to repurchase 5 million shares of outstanding common stock, saying it is "a good use of financial resources and. . .will further the advancement of certain corporate objectives." The company reported a 29.9% rise in 2006 net income to $145.8 million ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8).
Gulf Air named former Galileo International executive John Matthews manager-global distribution system strategies and former Alitalia Commercial Web Development Manager Nicola Simionato e-commerce manager.
Continental Airlines flew 6.48 billion RPMs in February, up 7.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 6.2% to 8.42 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1 point to 77%. Domestic RPMs climbed 5.8% to 3.19 billion against a 6.2% lift in ASMs to 3.96 billion, dropping load factor 0.3 point to 80.7%. International RPMs grew 11.1% to 2.56 billion, ASMs were ahead 7% to 3.5 billion and load factor rose 2.7 points to 73.2%.
Record levels of passenger and cargo traffic are straining airport capacity, a problem that must be addressed in US FAA's reauthorization program, Airports Council International-North America President Gregory Principato testified before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation last week. US airports need to be able to provide the appropriate facilities, including new runways, to accommodate demand, he said. FAA's current fee structure expires Sept. 30 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 15).
Citing strict cost control and increased revenues mainly from customers outside Lufthansa Group, Lufthansa Technik Group reported net income of €153.1 million ($167.6 million) in 2006, a healthy 17.7% increase compared to the €127.6 million earned in 2005. Revenues rose 9.4% to €3.4 billion, with revenues from group airlines ahead 5.1% to €1.4 billion, representing 40% of total sales. Revenues generated from external customers grew 12.5% and represented 60% of sales, up from 58.3% in 2005.
Lufthansa Group, as projected in last month's earnings preview, posted record net income of €803 million ($1.05 billion) for 2006, a 77.3% increase over net income of €453 million in 2005, on a 9.9% lift in revenue to €19.85 billion, its highest-ever annual total.
Southwest Airlines is expecting 7%-8% capacity growth this year as it takes delivery of "at least" 37 737s, CEO Gary Kelly said yesterday as the LCC unveiled a series of new routes and frequency increases. New services include daily Fort Lauderdale-Providence and Houston Hobby-San Diego starting June 4, five-times-daily Denver-Oakland from June 17 and daily Baltimore/Washington-Oklahoma City beginning Aug. 4.
IATA DG Giovanni Bisignani opened this week's World Cargo Symposium in Mexico City by pointing to "concerns" raised by cargo operators' heavy investment in Asia, including imbalanced trade flows, overcapacity and China's lack of standardized business practices. He noted that rapid growth in China and surrounding markets is driving air cargo's strong expansion rate, expected to average 6% annually over the next 20 years, but said, "Asia is exporting more than it is importing. . .So the planes are full leaving Asia but half empty coming in.
CSA Czech Airlines reported a 2006 net loss of CZK397 million ($18.5 million), lower than the forecast CZK493 million loss and narrowed from a CZK496 million deficit in 2005, the Associated Press reported. CSA expects to return to the black in 2007 with a CZK42 million profit. Separately, the airline said it will lease an A310 to Air India for one year.
The pilot of the Garuda Indonesia 737-400 that crashed in Yogyakarta said a major, unexpected downdraft caused the accident, according to the president of the Garuda Pilots Assn.
Finnair yesterday made the first firm commitment for the new A350 XWB powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB, signing a contract for 11 of the type along with a flexible mix of seven A330s and A340-300s.
Australian Transport Minister Mark Vaile conceded that some Qantas jobs may head offshore if the carrier's sale to Airline Partners Australia goes through following the receipt of government approval Tuesday. He also told viewers of the National Nine network that the government would not "micromanage" the new owners. Meanwhile, controversy over the government's refusal to extract job guarantees from APA continued ( ATWOnline, March 7).
Boeing said yesterday it reached agreement with express cargo operator DHL on an order for six 767-300ER freighters valued at $894 million. It chose GE CF6-80C2B7Fs valued at more than $120 million to power the aircraft. DHL Express CEO John Mullen said the aircraft will be delivered beginning in 2009 and likely will be dedicated to US routes. A DHL spokesperson said it is undecided which of the company's affiliated contract carriers will operate the freighters.
Caribbean Star Airlines negotiated a merger agreement with LIAT, an Antigua-based carrier that has been in business for 50 years. The airlines announced their intentions in October ( ATWOnline, Oct. 12, 2006). Stanford Financial Group, which owns Caribbean Star, will lend $55 million to LIAT's shareholder governments (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) intended to liquidate the airline's liabilities and provide working capital.
The restructuring of its long-haul network, lack of fuel hedges and other "extraordinary effects" created an environment in which "it proved impossible to achieve a positive result," according to Austrian Airlines Group CEO Alfred Oetsch, whose company reported a widened net loss of €49.1 million ($64.5 million) for 2006 compared to a €29.6 million deficit in 2005.
CIT Aerospace placed a $200 million engine order for GEnx-1B64s to power three 787s and CF6-80E1s to power four A330s. The lessor will take delivery of the aircraft in 2008-13.
