EasyJet raised its full-year profit guidance following a strong final month. The UK LCC now expects pre-tax profit growth for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 to be slightly ahead of the forecasted 40%-50%, putting year-end earnings in the £115-£124 million ($216.6-$233.5 million) range, up from £82.6 million in the previous year. Full-year revenues rose 20.6% to £1.62 billion on an 11.5% lift in passengers to 32.9 million. EasyJet will announce preliminary full-year results on Nov. 14.
The EU and US reached an interim agreement on the transmission of PNR data on Friday. The deal, which replaces the 2004 accord and is valid until July 2007, comes one week after a deadline set by the European Court of Justice, which voided the original arrangement. Officials said earlier last week that little separated the two sides ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3).
ARINC and SITA released a detailed set of standards and specifications last week that the companies say will "enable the adoption of efficient, XML-based business-to-business messaging" for airlines. The standards define a new messaging approach, Type X, that makes use of XML and Web Services technology to complement existing industry Type B messaging.
EC last week adopted regulations on a range of new security measures to be introduced at all airports in the 25 member states. The move follows last month's approval of revised carry-on baggage and security checkpoint standards by the EU's Regulatory Committee on Aviation Security and limits the quantity of liquid passengers may carry to 100 ml. per container among other previously announced provisions ( ATWOnline, Sept. 29).
US Bankruptcy Court denied a preliminary injunction request by Hawaiian Airlines to restrain Mesa Air Group from entering the island market with its new carrier go!.
Airbus denied widespread reports that CEO Christian Streiff tendered his resignation to EADS co-CEOs Tom Enders and Louis Gallois last week, and French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin yesterday backed Streiff in televised comments. European media reported that Streiff, who has been on the job just three months, clashed with Enders and Gallois over the Power8 restructuring plan announced earlier last week that aims to slash Airbus overhead costs by 30% ( ATWOnline, Oct. 6).
Irish Minister of Transport Martin Cullen formally came out in opposition to Ryanair's proposed takeover of Aer Lingus Friday, a day after Ryanair launched an unsolicited bid priced at €2.80 per share, valuing the newly privatized flag carrier at €1.48 billion ($1.88 billion) ( ATWOnline, Oct. 6). Shares in EI closed at €2.98 Friday, suggesting the market expects Ryanair to raise its bid or another suitor to emerge.
Rolls-Royce Friday suspended work for a year on the Trent 900 engine that is slated to power more than 65 A380s on firm order by seven airlines. Meanwhile, the first monetary penalty resulting from the latest delay to the A380 program was revealed. The engine-maker said no immediate layoffs are planned. It said it will continue talks with Airbus to determine the full impact of the additional year's delay to the A380 program announced last week ( ATWOnline, Oct.
Southwest Airlines flew 5.2 billion RPMs in September, up 9.8% on the year-ago month. Capacity increased 10.1% to 7.73 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 0.2 point to 67.2%. JetBlue Airways flew 1.64 billion RPMs in September, an 8.2% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 15.8% to 2.26 billion ASMs and load factor fell 5.1 points to 72.6%. AirTran Airways flew 949.9 million RPMs in September, an 11.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity surged 28.6% to 1.54 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 9.4 points to 61.8%.
Swiss European Air Lines, the Regional subsidiary of Swiss International Air Lines, and the Swiss Pilots Assn. opened discussions on a new labor agreement at the carrier's invitation. Both parties agreed not to comment further on the details of the talks. Flight operations were interrupted last week when SPA pilots staged a two-day strike, forcing the cancellation of 142 flights.
Smiths Detection said it was awarded a $10 million contract to supply a comprehensive integrated security system for Thai Airways at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Smiths is partnering with EMC Group Public Co., a Thai electrical and mechanical engineering contractor.
Aer Lingus's life as a publicly traded company got off to a surprisingly rocky start with archrival Ryanair announcing yesterday the launch of a hostile €1.48 billion ($1.88 billion) bid for the Irish flag carrier. The LCC confirmed it already has acquired more than 16% of the issued share capital of Aer Lingus Group, which listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges Monday at €2.20 per share. Ryanair will pay €2.80 per share in cash for the remaining shares if it is able to acquire at least a majority of them.
SR Technics reached a five-year deal with Cathay Pacific Airways for the remaining 18 CFM56-5Cs in CX's fleet. The companies already had a contract covering 49 engines of the same type powering A340-300s running until 2013. SRT will provide MRO on the engines out of its Zurich service center.
Boeing said it delivered 100 commercial aircraft in the third quarter, a significant increase over the 62 delivered in the third quarter of 2005 when production was compromised by a 27-day assembly workers' strike. Deliveries comprised 81 737NGs, three 747s, three 767s and 13 777s. Year-to-date deliveries total 295 compared to 217 in the year-ago period. The vast majority (223) were 737NGs, followed by five 717s (including three under operating lease), 11 747s, nine 767s and 47 777s.
Lufthansa Technik signed a five-year Total Technical Support contract with Nigerian startup Arik Air covering two 737-300s, three CRJ200s and three CRJ900s. Arik plans to launch Oct 17, flying from its Lagos base to 10 domestic and three international destinations. It plans to start intercontinental service next spring. Lufthansa CityLine will provide line maintenance and engineering services on the Regional aircraft.
Airbus CEO Christian Streiff admitted that the manufacturer now is up to a whole decade behind rival Boeing, while parent EADS co-CEO Tom Enders conceded that it no longer may be feasible to pursue the A350 XWB program. The revelations came yesterday as Airbus continued to deal with the fallout from Tuesday's announcement that the A380 will be delayed an additional year and the company will undergo a radical restructuring dubbed "Power8" aimed at slashing overhead costs by 30% ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4).
Northwest Airlines yesterday set the stage for post-bankruptcy operations and the launch of its Compass regional subsidiary with orders for 36 CRJ900s and 36 Embraer 175s, plus an undisclosed number of options, which the carrier said will allow it "to pursue growth opportunities in important markets, including in the Heartland of the US, and provide Northwest with improved aircraft economics."
Southwest Airlines launched its Washington Dulles service yesterday. The carrier will use two gates on the B Concourse and operate 12 daily flights to Chicago Midway (seven), Orlando International (two), Tampa (two) and Las Vegas (one). It will base 40 employees at IAD.
Air France announced a reduction of its fuel surcharge following a 30-day stretch during which oil prices remained below $65 per barrel. Effective on tickets issued from today, the surcharge will drop €7 ($8.90) on long-haul flights, €2 on medium-haul flights and €1 on domestic flights.
Rolls-Royce announced that Monarch Airlines selected the Trent 1000 to power its order for six firm 787s scheduled for delivery from 2010 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21). The deal includes four purchase rights and a lifetime TotalCare service agreement and is worth $1 billion at list prices.
Silverjet, a UK startup that will offer business-class service between London Luton and Newark, announced the acquisition of charter carrier Flyjet and aircraft lessor Skylease, for which it will pay a combined £4-£5.5 million ($7.5-$10.4 million) over three years depending on its performance. Flyjet provides an AOC and an operating license while Skylease offers immediate use of a 767-200. It also leases two 757-200s to tour operators through Flyjet.
Ryanair will launch 10 new routes from its Nottingham East Midlands base to Alghero, Bratislava, Granada, Inverness, Knock, Krakow, Milan, Pisa, Santiago and Valencia from February, bringing its total routes from the airport to 27. It will base three additional 737-800s at NEMA and expects to carry 1.8 million passengers there in 2007. Transaero started a twice-weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Amritsar service aboard 767-200/300s.
Details of FL Group's plan to spin off Icelandair ( ATWOnline, Feb. 13) were revealed yesterday by Glitnir, an Icelandic bank that will underwrite an offering of 51% of the carrier. The sale is expected to net FL Group ISK26 billion ($364.1 million). Icelandair Group, which employs 2,700, will be listed on the Iceland Stock Exchange by the end of 2006, Glitnir said, with a public share offering to occur prior to the listing. It said the enterprise value of Icelandair Group is ISK43 billion.
PrivatAir of Switzerland will take delivery of a 767-300ER in December and reconfigure it as a 56-seat luxury charter aircraft. It will be placed into service in April, replacing a 28-seat BBJ.
Russia will increase air traffic control fees to foreign carriers next year, the head of the Federal Air Navigation Service told Russian media yesterday. "We would like to establish fair tariffs," Alexander Neradko said, adding that the body has yet to consult with IATA. "We are not expecting the prices for tickets to go up more than RUB60-70 ($2.20-$2.60)," he said, adding that domestic carriers face a 90% increase in charges effective Nov. 1 that also will not have a significant effect on ticket prices. He told reporters that a 747 currently is charged $87 per 100 km.
