Aviapartner signed a contract with four Star Alliance members--Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and TAP Portugal--to provide full handling activities at Amsterdam Schiphol effective May 1. Value of the contract was not disclosed, but the Brussels-based ground handler said it is "one of the largest contracts" it has signed and covers more than 10,000 flights per year for three years. SAS Ground Services signed an agreement to provide ground handling for Asiana Airlines at London Heathrow beginning May 4.
US Air Transport Assn. on Friday criticized the Transportation Security Administration's plan to begin rolling out its Registered Traveler program this year, saying it "firmly believes that limited TSA resources should not be diverted from efficiently and effectively screening all passengers to a program that provides limited and questionable benefits for some customers.
Volito Aviation, through its wholly owned subsidiary Volito Aviation Leisure KB, placed an A320 with Donbassaero Airlines through April 2012. The aircraft is financed by PK AirFinance. Separately, Volito Aviation increased its facility with HSH Nordbank AG in Kiel to $250 million. The facility is secured by commercial jet aircraft on lease to various carriers worldwide.
Former Air Wisconsin Chairman and CEO Preston Wilbourne died April 20. He was 80. Wilbourne joined the airline as GM in 1965 shortly after it commenced operations. At the time, it operated a single de Havilland Dove. He rose through the ranks to become chairman and CEO, retiring in 1990. Etihad Airways announced a revamp of its commercial management team, which now will feature four regional GMs based in Abu Dhabi and five department managers.
Air Berlin, as expected, on Friday began the road show for its initial public offering that is expected to raise gross proceeds of €350 million ($431.8 million) with net proceeds to the low-fare airline of €290 million.
Sabre Holdings announced agreements with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. The latter signed a seven-year, full-content agreement with Sabre Travel Network to make all published fares and inventory available to Sabre subscribers, including published fares that the airline sells through any third-party distributor and through its reservation offices and website. In addition to the Sabre agreement, Delta also signed a new marketing agreement with Travelocity and a participation agreement with Travelocity's Site59 unit. Sabre signed a similar agreement with United good for five years.
Air New Zealand will raise fares on all domestic flights and outbound international flights by 10% on May 1. The carrier said rising fuel costs necessitated the change. "Fuel is now our number one cost," said CFO Rob McDonald. "We regret having to increase fares but the numbers are stark." The airline's annual fuel bill has more than doubled since 2004, jumping from NZ$480 million ($303.3 million) to NZ$1 billion. ANZ also announced a NZ$42 million upgrade to its domestic terminal facilities at Auckland International Airport.
Swiss International Air Lines boosted its fuel surcharge on long-haul flights to CHF106 ($83.29) in each direction from CHF93. European and domestic services will see a fuel surcharge of CHF32 each way. The revised surcharges will be levied on all tickets issued in Switzerland from April 25. Swiss last increased its fuel surcharges in September 2005.
Empire Aero Center of New York was awarded a contract to provide heavy maintenance on Transaero Airlines 747-200s. The first aircraft is slated to undergo C and D checks at the end of April. Contract value was not disclosed.
BAA for the third time advised its shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid from Ferrovial, which again offered £8.75 billion ($15.62 billion) for the UK airport management company. The BAA board said Friday that it will be writing to shareholders "within the next 14 days" to explain the reasons the offer was rejected and urged shareholders to "take no action" in respect to the offer. "The Ferrovial Consortium's offer cannot be taken seriously," BAA Chairman Marcus Agius said.
Dniproavia accused Lufthansa of influencing German aviation authorities to get the Ukrainian carrier's route authority to serve Frankfurt and Berlin cancelled in violation of a 2005 open skies agreement between the countries. According to an "open letter" from Dniproavia to the Dept. of Aviation of the Federal Republic of Germany and shareholders of Lufthansa Airlines, the German LBA, "on Lufthansa's advice," on March 8 prohibited the airline from flying to Germany and cancelled its flights to Berlin and Frankfurt. Dniproavia alleged LH's goal is to monopolize the markets.
MAT Macedonian Airlines took delivery of a CRJ900, Bombardier announced. The 86-seat aircraft will replace a 737 and an F100. MAT holds options for two additional CRJ900s.
Bmi leased a 767 to be operated on its service to Riyadh from April 22 and a new route to Jeddah scheduled to launch May 18. The aircraft will be configured with two classes and will feature Star Alliance livery.
Austrian Airlines Group unveiled a new fare concept for short- and medium-haul flights permitting passengers to combine different fares and booking classes on the same itinerary, booking economy for an outbound flight and business class for the return, for example. Austrian also restructured economy fares to narrow the range of prices and is offering a "red-ticket" fare with an "all-in" price ranging from €159 ($196.2) to €299 depending on destination. It introduced a new business class fare, Business Holiday, for leisure travel on routes with high tourist potential.
Venezuela's threat to restrict flights by US airlines into the country appears to have been successful, as the US FAA raised the nation's safety rating to Category 1, meaning it complies with ICAO standards. US aviation officials conducted a safety audit and inspections last month after the South American country agreed to postpone until April 25 its ban on all operations conducted by Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines and some American Airlines flights ( ATWOnline, March 31).
ARINC will unveil a new airport IT systems support program today at the annual conference of the American Assn. of Airport Executives. The program includes "integrated systems support, operations, maintenance support and technical staffing." Separately, ARINC said Sun Country Airlines signed a long-term extension of its datalink communications contract.
Aer Lingus said Friday it will add a fuel surcharge to flights to and from the US and Middle East of €35 ($43.20)/$40 each way effective May 15. It said it is the first time it has imposed a fuel surcharge on any of its routes and that the move is "regrettable but necessary." The airline said it is 51% hedged in 2006 and that fares on transatlantic flights fell nearly 5% last year while fuel costs increased by €33.1 million.
Wizz Air took delivery of a new IAE V2500-powered A320, which the low-fare airline plans to operate to Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia as part its expansion of Eastern European services. The aircraft is leased from ILFC. Wizz also plans to launch thrice-weekly flights on July 14 between Cork and Katowice, the first direct service on the route.
Air Canada said it welcomed "the successful conclusion of an Open Skies Agreement for Canada and the UK." AC said the deal will allow it to introduce "more flexible simplified pricing" and enable it to expand its popular multitrip flight passes. London Heathrow is the carrier's most important international gateway.
American Airlines and American Eagle announced yesterday a $25 million series of upgrades at their Boston Logan facilities. Improvements include the combining of mainline and Eagle gates and US Transportation Security Administration facilities, shifting Eagle departures from the Amelia Earhart General Aviation Terminal to AA's facilities in Terminal B, renovating retail space to include a 15,000-sq.-ft. food court and an increase in the number of concessions from 17 to 23, renovation of AA's 10,000-sq.-ft. Admirals Club and an increase in the number of self-service kiosks.
Significant improvement in operational performance and a 64.5% narrowing of the first-quarter loss to $66 million ($46 million excluding special items) from $186 million in the year-ago quarter left Continental Airlines executives in a confident mood yesterday. "Our plan is working," Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner said during a conference call with analysts and media. "It's a great time to grow our network," President Jeff Smisek said, adding, "Our customers clearly prefer us over the competition."
Galileo International announced the signing of a five-year, full-content enterprise agreement with US Airways. Inventory includes services operated by America West Airlines.
Latin American Airline Assn. (AITAL) has changed its name to ALTA (Asociacion Latinoamericana de Transport Aereo) to reflect its expanding role in representing all of the region's carriers, not simply those that fly internationally, according to Executive Director Alex de Gunten, who met with ATWOnline yesterday in Washington. ALTA's mission also is changing, he explained. In the past, the association was "very focused" on regulatory and governmental issues. These are still important, but ALTA is moving aggressively to help members with commercial concerns.
Iberia CEO Angel Mullor is resigning "in order to take on new personal and professional projects," the airline said yesterday. He joined IB in 1996 as MD and was elevated to CEO in 2001. "I have spent ten years in Iberia, much longer than I imagined when I came to handle the company's privatization. I depart with the satisfaction of having worked with a first-rank team of people and having achieved all the objectives we set in the three strategic plans established in this period," Mullor said.
Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, eked out a small but noteworthy profit of $2.8 million before special items in the historically challenging winter quarter, reversing an adjusted net loss of $41.7 million in the year-ago period.
