Ryanair, easyJet and other carriers comprising the Stansted Airlines Consultative Committee said BAA's planned expansion of London Stansted is based on "wildly inflated" forecasts of future traffic levels and called on Ferrovial Group, the new BAA owner, to reject current proposals for upgrades. The airline committee said plans to spend £4.5 billion ($8.3 billion) to expand facilities and lay down a second runway are "excessive" and will create a "costly, gold-plated" airport that will impose high user fees on carriers.
Swiss International Air Lines and the Aeropers pilots union have been unable to conclude a new labor agreement after 17 months of negotiations. Aeropers declared on Friday, the day the existing deal expired, that talks have failed and that a strike is possible if the carrier changes portions of the current contract. Swiss expects its Airbus pilots to work an average maximum of 19 days per month, take six rather than 7.5 weeks of vacation per year and make reasonable concessions on overall remuneration.
Air Canada announced the addition of three new routes to the US: Twice-weekly flights to Las Vegas starting Sept. 7 from Edmonton with A319s and Winnipeg with CRJ705s and daily seasonal Calgary-Palm Springs flights starting Dec. 15. AC also launched daily Toronto-Shanghai Pudong service aboard an A340-300, daily Montreal-Mexico City flights on an A319 and daily Embraer 190 service between Toronto and Abbotsford.
Irish High Court on Monday overturned a 2005 decision by the Commission for Aviation Regulation that imposed strict slot allocation rules on Dublin Airport. CAR had designated Dublin a "full coordination" airport, meaning its slots could be administered tightly to control congestion. Airlines, particularly Ryanair, objected to the designation since it gave them little say in the allocation of takeoff and landing slots. The High Court ruled that CAR had overstepped its bounds and failed to meet the standards of EU regulations governing airport designations.
SAS Cargo will secure 100 tons of space per week on thrice-weekly 747-200F flights from Copenhagen to Beijing and Shanghai operated by Air China. The deal also allows Air China to purchase capacity on SAS flights to China.
AirTran Airways will add 2,500 jobs in Georgia over the next five years. It currently employs more than 5,200 in the state out of its total workforce of 7,700. It plans to add more than 80 737s to its fleet during the period along with new routes out of Atlanta. It currently operates 230 daily flights from Georgia, where it also serves Savannah.
VarigLog's $485-$500 million bid for Varig was declared fit to be considered by the airline's creditors, but a Rio de Janeiro bankruptcy court said there likely will be another auction July 11 just in case anyone wants to offer more, Reuters reported. VarigLog, the former freight and logistics arm of the bankrupt carrier, stepped forward last week after a bid by an employee-led consortium failed ( ATWOnline, June 28).
Air Caledonie took delivery an ATR 42-500, the first of an order for three ATR aircraft that also includes two 72-500s. It was signed last fall ( ATWOnline, Sept. 5, 2005). The airline will take delivery of the ATR 72-500s at the end of 2006 and in 2007, replacing three ATR 42-320s.
IATA reported 7% growth in worldwide airline passenger traffic in May compared to the year-ago month. May cargo traffic increased 5.1%. IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said "strong economies" are driving demand and "helping the global airline industry to offset some of the sharp increases in jet fuel prices." ICAO is forecasting worldwide airline scheduled passenger traffic growth of 6.1% for 2006, 5.8% for 2007 and 5.6% for 2008.
JetBlue Airways launched service Friday from Pittsburgh to New York JFK (four-times-daily) and Boston (twice-daily) aboard Embraer 190s. It also started thrice-daily Boston-Buffalo flights aboard 190s and daily flights from Burbank to Orlando International and Las Vegas aboard A320s. Zoom Airlines of Canada launched weekly flights from Vancouver and Calgary to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Last year the long-haul LCC began serving CDG from Toronto and Montreal. Zoom operates four 767-300ERs.
Aeromedic Innovations signed a three-year agreement with British Airways for the provision and servicing of onboard first aid kits as well as medical supplies for BA's Occupational Health Units. The deal complements an existing BA contract held by Aeromedic covering supply and maintenance of BA's onboard medical kits.
Number of passengers willing to pay premium fares has dropped by half over the past five years, giving business aviation a major boost, according to a study by The Velocity Group. The number of higher-yield trips fell from 18% of overall travel pre-9/11 to 9% in 2005. "The decline in higher-yield airline travel since our last survey has been dramatic," said Gerald Bernstein, a partner with Velocity. "Despite a rise in total airline passenger trips, the number of higher-yield trips declined from almost 81 million to 41 million since 2000.
SAS Cargo established an independent legal entity called Spirit Air Cargo Handling Group to operate cargo handling at 12 airport terminals in Scandinavia. "The independence will make it easier for the terminals to create their own profile in the Scandinavian market for cargo handling [and] improve the terminals' opportunities to maintain and increase the amount of customers," SAS Cargo President and CEO Kenneth Marx said. The new company commenced operations on July 1.
A US Bankruptcy Court last week gave Northwest Airlines permission to terminate its labor contract with 9,300 flight attendants and replace it with a tentative concessions agreement reached between the airline and union leaders in March.
Sabre Airline Solutions said Austrian Airlines chose its Rocade Crew Management System to plan and track crew scheduling across its operation. Sabre also will provide professional services and ongoing support during the implementation and for a period of at least five years.
Cimber Air added its eighth and ninth CRJ200s. The aircraft, leased directly from Bombardier, will stay in the fleet indefinitely. One will operate Cimber's new Copenhagen-Norrkoping route and the other will be marketed for charter services.
Alteon Training will place 787 "training suites" in Australia, India and Singapore, adding to previously announced locations in Seattle, Tokyo, London Gatwick and China, the Boeing subsidiary said last week. The suites include full flight and flat-panel simulators, desktop simulation systems and door trainers. Thales will supply the suites, which will be in place by summer 2008.
Embattled EADS Co-CEO Noel Forgeard and Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert resigned Sunday under pressure from EADS shareholders Lagardere Group, DaimlerChrysler and the French government ( ATWOnline, June 29).
Delta Air Lines reported a $16 million net loss in May and a net profit of $8 million excluding reorganization items compared to a $140 million loss in the year-ago month. Consolidated unit revenue rose 18.5% year-over-year to 10.77 cents. Mainline CASM increased 5.5% to 10.11 cents but dropped 2.7% to 6.95 cents excluding fuel. "Despite a 35% increase in fuel prices year over year, May's results represent our second consecutive month of profitability, excluding the impact of reorganization items," VP and CFO Edward Bastian said.
Spanair unveiled a four-year Expansion Plan Friday that it said "affirms that the company is the only alternative in Spanish air transport and emphasizes its contribution to the social and economic developments in Catalonia." The carrier said that by 2010 it intends to transport 15 million passengers per year--a 50% increase--grow its market share to 27% from 22% and bring its fleet to 80 aircraft from the current 64. It will focus on Barcelona International, which it intends to use as a domestic and European hub, targeting 60% growth and 5.5 million passengers annually.
Japan Airlines said Friday it plans to sell 700 million new shares in an effort to raise as much as $1.94 billion for aircraft purchases and debt reduction. It said the sale will take place next month and it is leaving open the option of selling another 50 million shares. "We're going to use the funds for expansion," CFO Yuichiro Kito said at a Tokyo news conference. "Rather than waiting for a turnaround in business, we decided to take action." JAL will determine an offer price for the share sale by July 21.
Gol entered into an agreement for $50 million in long-term financing from International Finance Corp., the private sector arm of World Bank Group. The IFC financing is intended to support the LCC's investment in spare parts inventory and working capital requirements.
Embraer 195 received certification from the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil, paving the way for delivery of the first aircraft to launch customer FlyBE later this summer. Certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency is expected to follow shortly. The aircraft, which can be configured for 108-118 seats, is the largest member of Embraer's 170/190 family. In addition to FlyBE's order for 14, Royal Jordanian and Swiss International Air Lines have placed firm orders.
The UK Office of Fair Trading confirmed Friday that it is initiating a study into whether or not the UK airports market in its current form works well for consumers. OFT announced in late May that it was considering a market study of UK airports ( ATWOnline, May 26). Since then it has consulted the Civil Aviation Authority and held meetings with relevant parts of the government, including the Dept. for Transport.
