Spanair will increase its Barcelona service for the summer 2007 schedule to include twice-daily flights to Jerez, Almeria and Munich and daily services to Frankfurt and Algiers. Air Berlin will launch twice-weekly Berlin Tegel-St. Petersburg service from Dec. 18. Adria Airways increased its four-times-weekly Ljubljana-Warsaw service to five.
BAE Systems shareholders, as expected, voted in favor of management's plan to sell its 20% holding in Airbus to EADS for €2.75 billion ($3.52 billion), making EADS the sole stakeholder, while lawmakers and labor unions warned Airbus that they may challenge the "Power8" restructuring plans outlined Tuesday to deliver €2.1 billion in cost reductions and drive €5 billion in cumulative cash savings by 2010 ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4).
Delta Air Lines named Kenneth Khoury executive VP and general counsel. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings named Adam Kokas VP, general counsel and secretary effective Oct. 9.
Turkish Airlines 737-400 hijacking ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4) came under increased scrutiny yesterday as it became clear the hijacker acted alone and was able to penetrate the flight deck despite possessing no weapons, a striking security breach given the institution of post-9/11 measures such as hardened cockpit doors and the restriction of passenger access to cockpits.
Ryanair Holdings said it hedged its fuel requirements for January-March 2007 at a rate equivalent to $73 per barrel of Brent crude. The LCC hedged most of its requirements to the end of 2006 at $74 a barrel. Separately, Ryanair transported 3.5 million passengers in September, up 14.5% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 1 point to 86%.
Travel Service of the Czech Republic placed an order for two firm 737-900ERs plus two purchase rights, Boeing announced this week. The order is valued at $150 million at list prices and deliveries to the Prague-based carrier will commence in the fourth quarter of 2009. Travel Service operates a fleet of 10 737s including seven dash 800s, offering scheduled services through its Smart Wings brand and charter services to more than 230 destinations.
The ExcelAire Legacy 600 pilots in control of the aircraft when it clipped a Gol 737-800 last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3) have been ordered to remain in Brazil but have not been arrested while authorities investigate the cause of the accident that killed 155 people, according to press reports.
Air France-KLM merger could deliver up to €1 billion ($1.27 billion) in savings to the airlines by 2009, double the initially anticipated cost benefit of €500 million, Air France KLM Vice Chairman and KLM President and CEO Leo van Wijk told Dutch magazine Zakenreis. Since the 2004 merger, the carriers have realized savings of €660 million, he noted. He also revealed that he is considering relinquishing his titles at KLM when his contract expires in May 2007 in order to take a strategic role in the merged company.
British Airways yesterday cut its forecasted growth in full-year revenue to 5%-6% from 6%-7% as a result of the increased security measures that followed the August terrorist threat.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines said yesterday it avoided a strike by Swedish cabin staff after reaching a deal with the local HTF union, which represents most of the airline's flight attendants. Meantime, Reuters reported that Danish cabin staff have threatened to strike and that negotiations on a new work agreement will continue into next week.
Continental Airlines estimated its consolidated September RASM increased 4%-5% over the year-ago month as it reported a 7.2% year-over-year rise in August unit revenues. It flew 6.9 billion consolidated RPMs in September, up 11.5%. Capacity grew 9.9% to 8.83 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.2 points to 78.2%. Domestic RPMs climbed 10% to 3.3 billion against a 7.1% hike in ASMs to 4.06 billion, lifting load factor 2.1 points to 81.2%. International traffic was up 11.6% to 2.81 billion RPMs, capacity rose 11.2% to 3.72 billion ASMs and load factor increased 0.3 point to 75.7%.
Bombardier reached a low point in asset management last January when it realized it had 107 parked 50-seat CRJs, VP-Asset Management Rod Sheridan said at the 13th annual Valuation Conference organized by Commercial Aviation Media in Washington this week.
Austrian Airlines Group plans to reduce its workforce by 350, including 80 pilots, and lease out two A340-300s and three F70s after several weeks of talks with the Betriebsrat union concerning the introduction of more flexible work rules did not produce a deal. "Now it is time to react," CEO Alfred Oetsch said at a news conference yesterday. "We plan to do this without layoffs, but I cannot rule that out." Savings as a result of the move should reach double-digit million euros.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol confirmed it will not increase airline and passenger charges effective April 1 "in order to strengthen its competitive position in respect to the other European airports." However, it intends to introduce changes to takeoff and landing charges to further discourage the noisiest "marginally compliant aircraft" from using the airport. These will come into force on Nov. 1, 2007, at the earliest.
SES Americom, a satellite communications company, said it received a $70 million payment from Boeing relating to the cancellation of Connexion by Boeing inflight internet service ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18).
Alpha Airports Group, the UK-based retail and catering services provider, will form a JV with Pantaloon Retail, part of Future Group of India, to explore opportunities at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi airports. Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji is expected to issue its request for proposals shortly.
Airbus President and CEO Christian Streiff revealed yesterday in Paris that A380 launch customer Singapore Airlines will not receive its first by year end 2006, as had been stated last June ( ATWOnline, June 14).
Turkish Airlines 737-400 en route from Tirana to Istanbul Ataturk was hijacked yesterday by a lone Turkish national who forced the pilots to land in Brindisi, where he surrendered to authorities and released all 107 passengers and six crew unharmed. The aircraft was undamaged.
JetBlue Airways yesterday launched daily Washington Dulles-West Palm Beach service aboard an A320. Blue1 introduced twice-weekly Helsinki-Brussels service Monday aboard an MD90. Allegiant Air announced new MD-80 services from Orlando Sanford to Fayetteville (thrice-weekly from Nov. 7), Kinston (twice-weekly from Nov. 10), Shreveport (twice-weekly from Nov. 15), Chattanooga (four-times-weekly from Oct. 31), Huntington (twice-weekly from Nov. 3) and Greenville-Spartanburg (four-times-weekly from Nov. 14).
VEM, acquired from Varig by a TAP Portugal-led consortium last year ( ATWOnline, Jan. 16), changed its name to VEM Maintenance & Engineering. The change reflects the company's alignment with TAP Maintenance & Engineering.
Yes, indeed, Airbus and EADS have jointly completed the full review of the A380 programme. And, of course, we studied the Airbus' overall situation in depth.
Mesaba Airlines employees said they have a plan that will save the bankrupt carrier. The Mesaba Labor Coalition, representing pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, is proposing a concessions package it believes will cut labor costs by 15% over the next three years.
Germanwings will increase Cologne-Munich service from four to five flights daily from Nov. 6. Finnair will boost its Helsinki-Tokyo service from two to four weekly flights from Dec. 1 and will use A340-300s to operate the added flights. Kenya Airways will launch two weekly flights from Nairobi to Cotonou via Brazzaville from Oct. 26. Qatar Airways will increase winter-season frequencies from Doha to Frankfurt to 10-times-weekly from nine, Munich to daily from five-times-weekly, Shanghai to five-times-weekly and Abu Dhabi to five-times-daily).
