News from Travel Technology Update: In the U.S., the same people who navigate the nation's air transport system without a second thought are sometimes clueless when it comes to rail travel, particularly if they live outside the Northeast, California's Capitol Corridor or other areas where rail commutes are commonplace. So in designing the latest incarnation of its Web site, Amtrak put a lot of thought into answering questions raised by the uninitiated. It offers a primer for first-timers.
DHL yesterday opened an expanded facility in Denpasar's cargo terminal, consolidating its sales, service, warehousing and administration functions under one roof and extending cut-off times for shipments.
Thai Airways no longer will go forward with the planned launch of LCC Royal Orchid Airlines ( ATWOnline, May 4), saying the new carrier is not necessary after the government ruled that all commercial air traffic must use Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Royal Orchid was slated to be based at Don Muang.
Reports from Russia are suggesting that the braking system failed on the S7 Airlines A310-300 that skidded on a wet runway after landing at Irkutsk International Airport at approximately 7:50 a.m. local time Sunday morning. At least 119 passengers and five crew were killed when the aircraft broke through a 6-ft. concrete barrier and crashed into a series of one-story garages, with some reports raising the death toll to 131. At least 20 passengers are in serious condition. There were 195 passengers and eight crew aboard the aircraft, which was arriving from Moscow Domodedovo.
Southwest Airlines will launch four-times-daily Baltimore/Washington International-Detroit Metro flights from Sept. 14. Separately, Southwest flew 6.15 billion RPMs in June, a 13.2% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 7.3% to 7.65 billion ASMs and load factor increased 4.2 points to 80.4%. JetBlue Airways will expand its Syracuse service with a daily flight to Orlando starting July 20 and a fourth daily flight to New York JFK beginning Nov. 1.
ACE Aviation Holdings announced the sale of an additional 2.75 million shares of US Airways Group stock in June and July "through a series of transactions on the open stock market" that netted proceeds of $137.9 million. Air Canada's parent said it has earned $205.5 million from the sale of shares in its Star Alliance partner from an initial investment of $75 million in September 2005. ACE still holds 500,000 shares.
China's General Administration of Civil Aviation said Friday that Chinese carriers lost more than CNY3 billion ($374.7 million) in the first six months of 2006 owing to rising fuel prices, according to press reports. Passenger numbers climbed 17.9% to 74.3 million and freight increased 11.4% to 1.6 million tonnes.
Assn. of European Airlines blasted last week's resounding European Parliament endorsement of fuel taxes on domestic and intra-EU flights and other measures aimed at reducing aircraft emissions ( ATWOnline, July 6).
Outgoing US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said the US government must push forward with its proposal to allow increased involvement in US airlines by foreign investors even though Congress has shown little appetite for change. Giving his farewell address to the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington last week, Mineta said foreign investment in US transportation infrastructure, including airports and airlines, will be critical to the future health of the aviation industry and the overall US economy.
Brazilian bankruptcy court last week postponed both a new auction for Varig scheduled for July 12 and a meeting of creditors that was to consider a $500 million bid from VarigLog, the Associated Press reported. Judge Luiz Robert Ayoub apparently reversed his own decision of July 3 when he said VarigLog's bid was ready for review and that higher bids would be accepted at the new auction ( ATWOnline, July 3).
Airbus's shareholder committee officially confirmed Christian Streiff as president and CEO Friday as the aircraft manufacturer began to move forward following last month's A380 program setback and its politically contentious fallout, which led to the resignation of former CEO Gustav Humbert ( ATWOnline, July 3).
Boeing sold another 25 737s last week to unidentified customers in addition to the 10 ordered by Ryanair ( ATWOnline, July 6). One of the 25 is a BBJ. The company has sold 480 aircraft this year net of seven cancellations, comprising 374 737s, 11 747s, four 767s, 22 777s and 69 787s.
EasyJet issued new full-year profit guidance Friday, forecasting that its pre-tax earnings will increase 40%-50% rather than the 10%-15% originally predicted. It reported a net profit of £59 million ($108.3 million) for the year ended Sept. 30, 2005, based on International Financial Reporting Standards. The new guidance comes after unit revenue rose 17% in the third quarter. In June, passenger numbers climbed 15.6% over the year-ago month to 3 million and load factor increased 2 points to 87.6%.
Lufthansa chose SAS Ground Services Finland Oy for its ground handling services at Helsinki Vantaa. The three-year agreement goes into effect Aug. 15. LH operates eight flights per day from the airport.
AWAS and Viva Macau signed a deal for the lease of a 767-200ER and a 767-300. Viva Macau plans to launch its low-fare, long-haul services in the third quarter.
Iberia said a strike called by the SEPLA pilots union, scheduled to start today and last through July 16, will force the cancellation of 200 daily flights and affect more than 200,000 passengers during the week. The pilots announced the strike last month in response to Iberia's plans to participate in a new low-cost airline based in Barcelona ( ATWOnline, June 22).
Tunisair announced that its 2005 net profit improved 43% year-over-year to $29.6 million and that it is planning a $2.6 million capital increase to $60.5 million. It generated $676 million in operating revenues over the 12-month period, representing a 7% increase. Operating expenses also rose 7% to just under $664 million.
Northwest Airlines flew 7 billion consolidated RPMs in June, an 8.8% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 11.1% to 7.88 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.3 points to 88.9%. Domestic traffic fell 8.1% to 3.81 billion RPMs against an 11.5% decline in capacity to 4.36 billion ASMs, raising load factor 3.2 points to 87.4%. International RPMs decreased 8.6% to 2.71 billion, capacity was down 8.7% to 2.91 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.1 point to 93.1%.
China Southern Airlines confirmed it will take 50 A320s as its allocation from the Chinese government's order of 150 A320 family aircraft booked in December, which enabled Airbus to pip Boeing in the order stakes ( ATWOnline, Dec. 6, 2005). The third carrier to announce its allotment, China Southern's order is valued at $3.3 billion. It will take delivery in 2009 and 2010.
PrivatAir hopes to unveil another airline client for its all-business-class operations this summer. The Swiss company, which flies for Lufthansa, KLM and Swiss International Air Lines in addition to operating Airbus's corporate shuttle, said interest in its services is growing. "We are talking to several carriers, because the others [airlines] see that it is a success," CEO Greg Thomas told ATWOnline.
Cargolux is selling two CF6-80C2B1F-powered 747-400Fs. Cabot Aviation is the marketing agent. Formal commitments are required by Dec. 31, with delivery expected in the second half of 2009. The carrier placed an order for 10 firm 747-8Fs plus 10 options in November.
Emirates signed a $261 million financing agreement with the US Export-Import Bank for two 777-300ERs scheduled for delivery in August and October. The 12-year financing, arranged by Citigroup, combines an Ex-Im loan with commercial funding and carries a weighted average cost of funds of 0.66% over three-month LIBOR, the carrier said. It currently operates 37 777s and has 38 dash 300ERs on order.
