ATR is opening a new office in Sydney to serve customers in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands. Since January 2005 it has booked orders for 86 turboprops from Asia/Pacific carriers.
Singapore Airlines selected the Trent 700 to power the fleet of 19 leased A330-300s it will operate from early 2009 while waiting for delivery of its A380s and A350s ( ATWOnline, July 24). The deal includes a TotalCare services agreement.
Turkish Technic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkish Airlines founded last May as a profit center, is moving ahead with a new heavy maintenance facility, dubbed HABOM, at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul.
Lufthansa generates half of its transatlantic sales from US-based customers, new VP-Americas Jens Bischof told reporters in Washington Friday, a fact that makes the airline particularly supportive of an EU-US open skies treaty. The negotiations are "a very long and tough process," he said. "But it has to happen--better sooner than later. The strong airlines will benefit and the weaker will struggle. The weakest will not survive, which is needed to get rid of excess capacity.
LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador will join oneworld, the alliance announced last week. LAN Airlines of Chile became a full member in June 2000 along with LAN Express and LAN Peru. LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador will become affiliate members "as soon as the necessary joining technicalities can be completed," which the alliance said would be "as early as possible" next year. Japan Airlines, Malev Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian also will join in 2007.
Hit hard by the August terrorist scare and subsequent security measures, British Airways took a slight step backward after three consecutive quarters of rising profits, posting net earnings of £168 million ($320.5 million) in the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, down 1.8% from a £171 million profit in the year-ago quarter.
Thai Airways yesterday took delivery of the first of six 777-200ERs it is adding to its fleet this year and in 2007. It will take delivery of three more this year and two in 2007.
Saab Aerotech will provide Romania's Carpatair with spares support for Saab 340 and Saab 2000 aircraft under a five-year contract valued at $20 million. Carpatair operates a fleet of 14 Saab aircraft and two F100s. Separately, Saab Aerotech expanded its existing component services agreement covering Air Baltic's F50s to a complete component support agreement with a value of SEK70 million ($9.6 million).
AerCap Holdings, the Netherlands-based aircraft lessor, yesterday submitted a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed US initial public offering of 26.1 million ordinary shares. It said the shares will be offered at $22-$24 each. "The securities to be offered in the proposed IPO will include shares to be issued and sold by AerCap as well as shares to be sold by shareholders of AerCap," the company said in statement, adding that the shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AER.
In a significant departure from the LCC one-plane-fits-all strategy, Australia's Virgin Blue yesterday ordered three Embraer 170s and 11 190s plus six options. The aircraft will replace 737-800s on some thinner routes while adding frequency at off-peak times on others. The carrier said they will be used to expand domestic and regional markets. The airline, which currently operates a fleet of 53 737s, is Embraer's first customer in Australia.
Aer Lingus intends to add 26 long-haul flights per week following delivery of two new A330s in May and June that will boost its long-haul fleet to nine aircraft. "The arrival of two new long-haul aircraft next year marks the first phase of the long-haul expansion plan and gives Aer Lingus the opportunity to develop its presence in the US market," CEO Dermot Mannion said in a statement. The Irish carrier, which is the target of a hostile takeover by Ryanair, currently serves four destinations in the US and one in the Middle East.
AirCell yesterday received a US Federal Communications Commission frequency license that the company said will enable it "to provide exclusive broadband connectivity to US airlines and business aircraft beginning in early 2008." AirCell President and CEO Jack Blumenstein said, "Receiving this exclusive air-to-ground broadband license is a historic event in the airborne telecommunications industry. In just over a year, the flying public will have the ability to use their own Wi-Fi-enabled laptops and PDAs to communicate just like they do on the ground."
Delta Connection carrier Comair yesterday asked a US Bankruptcy Court to allow it to impose pay concessions if it fails to reach agreement with its 1,500 pilots on cost cuts. The bankrupt Regional is seeking $15.8 million in annual savings from pilots.
FedEx Express, the delivery giant's airline unit, yesterday signed an agreement to acquire its Indian service provider, Prakash Air Freight, for $30 million in cash. PAFEX has 384 offices in India and serves nearly 4,400 destinations. It has been FedEx's service provider there since 2002, providing domestic logistics and courier delivery support for the US express company's airline operations in India. The deal is subject to regulatory approval by India's government.
Insisting that his carrier has "a number of weapons to choose from," Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told reporters and analysts at the company's Dallas headquarters this week that a 15% increase in year-end earnings remains a goal for both 2006 and 2007.
Austrian Airlines said yesterday that it will cut its long-haul fleet from 16 to 10 aircraft, resulting in route eliminations and likely job reductions. The carrier's supervisory board on Nov. 1 approved a proposal to eliminate four A330-200s in 2007. With the sale of two remaining A340-300s slated to be completed next year, the long-haul fleet will consist of four 777-200ERs and six 767-300ERs by no later than the end of 2007.
IATA reported 4.7% increase in international passenger traffic for September, below the 5.9% average rate of monthly growth for the year to date, "continuing the downward trend in growth that began in May," the organization said. Passenger load factor for the month was 76.9%, slightly above last year. International airfreight traffic rose 4.9%, up from a 4.7% gain in August but below the 5.2% growth for the first nine months of 2006.
Alaska Airlines named Bob Bernicchi MD-maintenance engineering. He has been director of MD-80 and 737-200 fleet engineering since joining the airline in 2005. He previously spent 21 years at United Airlines, where he served as chief engineer of narrowbody aircraft.
Continental Airlines in February will begin to introduce 37-seat Q200s on Continental Connection flights operated by CommutAir from Cleveland. The 16 turboprops will replace 19-seat Beech 1900s currently in service. The aircraft transition is expected to be completed in spring 2008.
Germanwings updated its fleet delivery schedule, saying it will add five new A319s next year and seven A320 family aircraft in 2007. It currently operates 24 A320 family aircraft. It projects it will carry 10 million passengers in 2008.
Eos Airlines, which operates premium-class service between New York JFK and London, secured $75 million in capital investment funding that will be used to expand its fleet in 2007. Currently, Eos operates three 757-200s configured with 48 fully horizontal flat bed seats and features curbside access for "fast track" check-in for passengers. Company officials said it is maintaining load factors in excess of 65%.
TAM said late Tuesday that it placed a firm order for four 777-300ERs, the first Boeing jets it has ever purchased, and will take delivery of the aircraft in mid-2008. Additionally, Brazil's largest airline reported that it more than doubled its third-quarter net profit to BRL212.7 million ($99.2 million) from BRL93.3 million in the year-ago quarter on a 34.8% jump in revenues to BRL2.08 billion.
