China Southern Airlines launched twice-weekly 737 service between Haikou and Singapore and weekly Urumqi-Baku flights aboard a 757. Separately, UATP added China Southern as its newest UATP Merchant. It will accept all UATP corporate cards.
Malaysia Airlines named CB Richard Ellis Group of Los Angeles and its Malaysian partner CH Williams to assist with the sale of its portfolio of noncore assets as outlined in the Business Turnaround Plan released earlier this year ( ATWOnline, March 6). MAS's portfolio consists of space in 26 mixed residential and office buildings throughout the Asia/Pacific region, the UK and the Netherlands.
Austrian Airlines will add a third daily Vienna-Moscow Sheremeteyvo service, operating Monday-Thursday, from June 5. It launched thrice-weekly flights to Ekaterinburg in April, bringing its weekly Russian service to 52 flights. Separately, Austrian said its Internet bookings for the January-April period rose 62% over the year-ago period thanks to a more user-friendly website featuring more languages.
US Dept. of Transportation said US airlines employed 5.4% fewer workers in March than in the year-ago month, the 15th consecutive year-over-year decline in the number of full-time equivalent employees. The carriers employed approximately 405,000 in March. Network airlines reported a 7.4% drop, low-cost carriers fell 3% and Regionals decreased 1.9%.
Significant capacity reductions at Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, the disappearance of Independence Air and recent fuel-driven fare hikes gave US carriers their third consecutive month of double-digit year-over-year domestic yield growth in April.
Mesa Air Group's first go! aircraft, a CRJ200, arrived in Honolulu yesterday more than two weeks ahead of the inter-island startup's scheduled June 9 launch ( ATWOnline, March 24). The aircraft, acquired from defunct Independence Air, sported a livery featuring an ocean wave. "The arrival of this aircraft demonstrates our commitment to the launch," Mesa Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said. Go!
Lufthansa Flight Training subsidiary Aviation Quality Services is inspecting Dragonair for conformity with the IATA Operational Safety Audit. It is the 50th safety audit conducted by AQS out of a total of 150 IOSA audits, according to AQS. Lufthansa Systems also announced it will operate the global wide area network of LSG Sky Chefs and provide all WAN services for the catering company, connecting more than 140 LSG Sky Chefs sites worldwide.
Japan Airlines took delivery of the second 747-400BCF Sunday in Xiamen. JAL has orders for eight conversions and four options. The first dash 400BCF was redelivered to Cathay Pacific in December.
Chinese airlines posted a consolidated first-quarter loss of CNY1.34 billion ($166.9 million), according to a CAAC report cited yesterday by Xinhua. Revenues increased 21.5% over the year-ago quarter to CNY47.43 billion and expenses climbed 26.4% to CNY48.47 billion. China's airlines transported 35.13 million passengers, a rise of 20%, and 749,000 tons of cargo, an increase of 12.5%.
Flyglobespan will add seven Boeing aircraft, nearly doubling its current fleet of one 767 and nine 737s, with an eye toward expanding its long-haul services, according to press reports. The Edinburgh-based LCC will lease two more 767s, two 757s and three 737s. "We would like to be recognized as Scotland's national airline.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft said it covered the placement of an Avro RJ100 to FaroeJet of the Faroe Islands, two ATP freighters with MagicBird Airlines of the Netherlands and four Jetstream 41s with Yeti Airlines of Nepal.
Less than two weeks after establishing a foothold in China with the addition of Shanghai Airlines, Star Alliance yesterday solidified its presence with the addition of Air China, the country's most profitable carrier. Once the two airlines become full members, Star will have bases in both Shanghai and Beijing, giving it a leg up on rivals SkyTeam, which signed an MOU with Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines in 2004, and oneworld, which still is without a member based in mainland China and eventually may look to Shanghai's China Eastern Airlines.
Boeing said yesterday that it has completed 25% of the releases required for the 787 that allow purchases to be made, tools to be developed and parts to be built. All releases for the Dreamliner program are digital. "We have seen tremendous progress by our international partners and the Boeing team working on the detailed design of this airplane," said Mike Bair, VP and GM of the 787 program.
Northwest Airlines and the International Assn. of Machinists, representing approximately 5,600 equipment service and stock clerks, announced a tentative labor agreement Friday. The ESSC employees were one of two IAM groups to reject a previous agreement ( ATWOnline, March 8) that was accepted by customer service and reservation staff. "We were able to get the company to change some of their demands. Even with this movement, the committee is still disappointed.
CAE won contracts for flight simulators last week from Cathay Pacific, ATR and Ryanair valued at a combined C$48 million ($43 million. Cathay signed a contract for a 777-300ER FFS, an accompanying integrated procedures trainer and seven virtual maintenance trainers. It is the fifth simulator the airline has purchased from CAE since 1992. Regional aircraft manufacturer ATR awarded CAE a contract for an ATR 72-500 FFS as well as two Tropos visual systems and an upgrade to the visual system of an existing simulator.
Unison Industries was selected by Aircelle, a member of Safran Group, to build several systems for the PowerJet SaM 146 engine to be used for Sukhoi Civilian Aircraft's RRJ. Unison will deliver more than 1,000 sets to Aircelle worth more than $20 million over the duration of the 10-year agreement.
Air New Zealand contracted UK-based CTC Aviation to train 140 new cabin crew to be based at London Heathrow and support daily 747-400 Auckland-Hong Kong-LHR flights scheduled to launch Oct. 28. Separately, ANZ named Cam Wallace GM-New Zealand and Pacific Island sales replacing Roger Poulton, who will become GM-Americas based in Los Angeles.
World Air Holdings, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, will be delisted from the Nasdaq market today for failing to file necessary financial reports on time. World, which has been delisted in the past, plans an immediate appeal. It has yet to file its full-year 2005 or first-quarter 2006 earnings, saying that it is resolving issues related to its April 2005 acquisition of NAA.
A US Bankruptcy Court judge sided with Mesaba Airlines pilots and flight attendants last week, denying management the right to cancel existing labor contracts. The carrier, which operates as a Northwest Airlink partner, wants a 19.4% reduction in labor costs over the next six years to ensure financial viability. In February it filed documents with the court seeking approval to cancel its labor contracts with pilots, flight attendants and mechanics and cut 1,600 jobs.
Lauda Air took delivery of its seventh and final 737-800 earlier this month. The carrier this summer will operate a fleet of nine aircraft including two A320s and expects to transport around 1.6 million passengers this fiscal year and generate turnover of €250-€260 million, MD Thomas Surtisch told ATWOnline.
Ferrovial Group's £8.75 billion ($15.62 billion) takeover proposal for BAA plc received a chilly reception from BAA shareholders, with a total of 3.8 million shares representing just 0.3% of issued share capital being tendered as of May 18, the first day of the 810-pence-per-share offer ( ATWOnline, April 24). Ferrovial said it is extending the deadline to tender shares by one week to June 19.
China Airlines will launch services from Taipei to Osaka (five-times-weekly aboard A330-300s) and Sapporo (six-times-weekly aboard 737-800s) on July 1 and a twice-weekly Kaohsiung-Nagoya flight on July 2 aboard a dash 800.
