AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings posted 2006 net income of $15.5 million, nearly double the $8.1 million it earned in 2005, despite a fourth-quarter net loss of $3.3 million, reversed from a $369,000 profit in the year-ago quarter. "The year 2006 was very challenging with our average fuel prices again rising over 20% for the third year in a row," Chairman and CEO Joe Leonard said. Speaking of the fourth-quarter loss, President and COO Bob Fornaro added, "While we were profitable in November and December, these profits were insufficient to offset our losses in October."
Arab multilateral agreement to liberalize air transport, which was adopted by the Arab Civil Aviation Commission at a ministerial level, will enter into force Feb. 18 following expected ratification by Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine and Lebanon, the Arab Air Carriers Organization is reporting. UAE is the most recent ratifier of the accord, which already has been signed by Tunisia, Somalia, Bahrain, Sudan, Iraq, Oman and Egypt.
Two Air Nostrum aircraft were forced to make emergency landings at Barcelona last week with landing gear problems. Two of 40 passengers aboard a CRJ200 were injured while arriving from Valladolid, the Iberia Regional franchise partner said. A Q300 with 23 passengers coming from Pamplona also made an emergency landing after having problems with its nose gear.
Emirates and Boeing are working to try and reduce the weight of the 747-8 Intercontinental so the airline can operate Dubai-Los Angeles with 400 passengers (a 50-ton payload) year round. "We need another 500 miles and we are not there yet," EK President Tim Clark said, indicating he wants more capacity than is available aboard the 777-200LR. "We think we can fill 400 seats a day."
Mesa Air Group's first fiscal quarter earnings fell 38% year-over-year to $8 million on a 7.4% increase in operating revenue to $347.6 million. Operating expenses were up nearly 10% from the year-ago quarter to $328.4 million owing to adverse weather, fuel and maintenance. Operating income was down 30% to $19 million. Mesa Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said he expects to see "steady improvements, quarter by quarter.
Air France KLM is actively pursuing its co-location strategy, opening a joint office last week in Brussels from where a single management team will oversee operations in Belgium and Luxembourg. A joint office is scheduled to open this week in Israel while the possibility of implementing a similar structure in Germany and Great Britain is being studied. "We are committed to move ahead with this co-location/joint management strategy unless there are some legal and practical restraints," KLM Senior VP and Area Manager-Benelux Bram Graber told ATWOnline.
Wizz Air announced it will expand its operations from Katowice with the launch of a daily service to London Stansted on May 29, thrice-weekly service to Malmo starting in July and a thrice-weekly flight to Brussels Charleroi beginning Oct. 2. Bmi will launch twice-daily London Heathrow-Jersey flights on March 25. The carrier, which in 2005 introduced a single-class cabin and paid-for catering on most of its short-haul network from LHR, said it will offer a full-service operation on the new link.
ANA announced that the South Pier of Tokyo Haneda's Terminal 2 will open Feb. 15, "completing the final phase of construction at the terminal occupied almost exclusively by ANA." Currently, 70% of ANA flights are served through attached gates and this will rise to 90% with the addition of the new pier. The South Pier will add approximately 11,000 sq. m. of space including a Starbucks, a Relaxation Corner with massage chairs and a Business Support area equipped with computers, printers and photocopiers.
DHL said it will invest an additional $35 million in its Hong Kong operation to increase ground handling capabilities in the growing market, lifting its total investment in the city to $645 million, which includes a $400 million investment in Air Hong Kong made in conjunction with Cathay Pacific Airways.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group reported a full-year 2006 net loss of $52.6 million, widened from a loss of $5.9 million in 2005, citing charges stemming from Alaska's ongoing transition to an all-737 fleet and voluntary severance programs related to new labor contracts. Excluding the impact of special charges, 2006 net income would have been $137.7 million, more than double the $55 million earned the year before. The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $11.6 million, narrowed from $33 million in the year-ago quarter.
US Airways Chairman and CEO Doug Parker's bold vision of a combined US/Delta Air Lines collided with the cold reality of Washington politics this week, providing a preview of the legal battles the proposed merger faces even if US can convince reluctant DL executives and creditors to back it. US lawmakers questioning Parker during a Senate Commerce and Transportation Committee hearing Wednesday ( ATWOnline, Jan.
Silverjet, the London Luton-based all-business-class carrier ( ATWOnline, Oct. 6, 2006), launched operations yesterday with its maiden flight to Newark. It said sales "are comfortably ahead of management's expectations." It will start a second daily LTN-EWR flight in July and is "investigating further long-haul route opportunities."
Adam Air 737-400's flight data recorder was detected yesterday by USNS Mary Sears, an oceanographic survey ship assisting in the search for debris from the aircraft that disappeared off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Jan. 1 with 102 aboard ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12). The US embassy in Jakarta said the ship located signals "on the same frequency of the black boxes associated with the missing airplane."
Boeing has been forced to drop its plans for a wireless IFE system on the 787 after it was found that regulatory issues would preclude the system's being activated over certain countries. Problems also were encountered with bandwidth limitations in some areas as well as weight. The silver lining is that the change will save 150 lb. In October Boeing acknowledged some problems with the 787's weight and delivery schedule ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26, 2006), forcing it to raise R&D spending to support suppliers.
ATR booked firm orders from 13 airlines for seven ATR 42-500s and 56 72-500s along with 25 options in 2006. Ten carriers are new ATR customers, which CEO Filippo Bagnato said confirmed that "a new wave of regional low-cost airlines are adopting turboprops in Europe and Asian markets." He said ATR also was seeing, as predicted, an increasing demand for its product in South America and Africa. Last year's orders included a previously unreported seven aircraft plus five options from Brazilian company TRIP Linhas Aereas, signed in December. African carriers committed to 12 new aircraft.
Air Transport World, sister publication to ATWOnline, named ANA as its Airline of the Year for 2007 and Horizon Air as its Regional Airline of the Year. Tokyo-based ANA is being recognized for its exemplary safety record, superb passenger service product, operational excellence, IT innovation and strong earnings performance. In choosing Seattle-based Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, the editors cited its strong brand and product identity in its local markets, technical leadership, friendly passenger service and profitability.
Airbus appears to be moving toward adopting a solid composite barrel for its A350 XWB after receiving mixed feedback on its plan to use composite panels on an aluminum frame. According to industry analysts, trade studies are underway in Toulouse for the change. Last fall ATWOnline revealed that Airbus was swapping to a composite structure ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25, 2006) and that the aircraft's EIS would slip to 2014.
Emirates will launch six-times-weekly Dubai-Sao Paulo service on Oct. 1, which it said will be the first-ever nonstop service between the Middle East and South America. It will operate the route with the first of its 10 ordered 777-200LRs ( ATWOnline, Nov. 21, 2005). Aircraft will seat 266 across three classes.
Expressing "deep regret" that it has been unable to reach an agreement with cabin staff represented by the Transport & General Workers Union, British Airways yesterday said it has cancelled all passenger flights out of London Heathrow and all domestic and European flights out of Gatwick scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday, when T&G plans the first of three walkouts ( ATWOnline, Jan. 25).
ANA will launch a 36-seat, all-business-class 737-700ER on the Tokyo Narita-Mumbai route Sept. 1, a move that underscores a focus on premium traffic that is a highlight of the corporate plan unveiled yesterday in Tokyo. The plan focuses on frequency, yield, capacity decreases and more daily services to China, which will see ANA's first 737-700 BusinessJet enter Nagoya-Guangzhou service on March 1. That aircraft is configured with Club ANA and Premium Economy seats. A320s also are part of the China ramp-up with the introduction of 20 business class seats.
An F100 operated by Regional, Air France's wholly owned subsidiary, overshot the runway while taking off at Pau Pyrenees Airport en route to Paris Charles de Gaulle yesterday morning. All 50 passengers and four crewmembers evacuated uninjured, but the aircraft hit a vehicle on a nearby road, killing one person and injuring another, AF confirmed. The French DGAC said that based on initial reports, the pilot was forced to execute an emergency landing after one of the plane's engines ingested several birds.
Qantas confirmed to ATWOnline that it is considering an equity stake in Vietnam's Pacific Airlines, which is relaunching as a low-cost carrier with fares as low as $1. Pacific is majority owned by Vietnam's Ministry of Finance, which wants to sell 30% to a foreign airline. Pacific was positioned as a "value airline" with fares 25% below Vietnam Airlines, but the success of LCC competitors like AirAsia has prompted a rethink.
Korean Air said yesterday that it posted a 2006 net profit of KRW344.7 billion ($363.7 million), a 72% increase over the KRW200.4 billion earned in 2005, the Associated Press reported from Seoul. Sales climbed 6.5% to a company-record KRW8.08 trillion and operating profit rose 15% to KRW497.4 billion. "Despite high oil prices, demand for travel to foreign countries increased," KE said in a regulatory filing cited by AP. Foreign exchange gains also were a factor in the result.
Air Arabia applied to UAE economic and regulatory authorities for approval to launch an IPO this quarter, becoming the first airline in the Gulf region to go public, according to the Arab Air Carriers Organization. SHUAA Capital of Dubai was appointed financial adviser.
