Olympic Airlines Chairman Petros Papageorgiou resigned and will be replaced by Elias Karatzalis, an attorney and Olympic board member, according to a statement from the Greek Transport Ministry cited by Reuters. Papageorgiou was appointed in March 2004 but opted to leave because he opposed the Greek government's plans for Olympic, according to the report.
Copa Airlines exercised options for one 737-800 and three Embraer 190s, a transaction worth $180 million at list prices. The dash 800 brings Copa's 737NG order to eight firm with purchase rights for an additional nine. It will take delivery of the 155-seat 737 in October 2009. The three 190s bring to 15 the number of Copa's firm orders and it holds 15 options. The three 94-seat, GE CF32-10E-powered aircraft are Advanced Range versions and are scheduled for delivery in 2007 and 2008.
Singapore Airlines now offers interline e-tickets for connections to American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Varig, bringing to 17 the number of carriers with whom SIA has partnered for interline e-ticketing.
Austrian Airlines reduced frequencies from Vienna to Tehran from five to three weekly flights owing to lower demand attributed to the worsening political climate. Meanwhile, in order to be more competitive against carriers such as Emirates, Austrian plans to install intercontinental business class seats in several 737-800s for flights to the Middle East. Currently it operates one 737-800 outfitted with 16 C class and 142 Y seats for flights to Dubai.
US Airways announced that ACE Aviation Holdings Chairman, President and CEO Robert Milton resigned from the US board of directors, as previously announced ( ATWOnline, April 12). Also, US named MD-Revenue Management Brad Beakley as VP-reservations and inventory services and Tom Trenga as VP-revenue management.
British Airways announced a "radical shakeup" in its short-haul fare structure in an apparent attempt to stay competitive with LCCs such as Ryanair and easyJet. One-way fares for flights within the UK and Europe were reduced by up to 50% to more than 65 destinations. Prices start at £29 ($51.76) and BA will allow travelers to change their flights up to midnight on the day prior to departure for £30. "This is not a short-term gimmick but a long-term commitment to our millions of customers to offer irresistible low fares every day of the year.
Southwest Airlines managed to stave off rising unit costs and a 79.6% jump in fuel expenses to record a first-quarter profit of $61 million, up 3.4% over the $59 million earned in the three months ended March 31, 2005. The carrier also announced yesterday that it will exercise options for 79 737-700s for delivery from 2007 through 2012, bringing its firm orders to 140.
Air China will take 15 of the 80 737NGs purchased earlier this month by China ( ATWOnline, April 12), according to an airline spokesperson cited by press reports. The deal is worth approximately $982.8 million.
Connexion by Boeing said that an independent survey conducted by Burke Research on behalf of the broadand Internet provider showed that "83% of those surveyed said that the availability of Connexion by Boeing service will have an impact on future travel plans and their choice of airline carrier while 92% said they plan to use the service on a future flight and would recommend Connexion to others." The study included responses from more than 3,200 participants. Connexion currently is available on 10 airlines operating 180 routes daily.
Bmi will consolidate its operations at Manchester into Terminal 3 effective June 1. It currently operates its long-haul flights and a regional route to Toulouse out of Terminal 1.
Strong revenue performance helped to offset the rising cost of fuel in the first quarter at American Airlines as parent AMR Corp. trimmed its net loss for the three months ended March 31 to $92 million from a deficit of $162 million in the year-ago period.
Precision Conversions signed a deal with Cygnus Air of Spain for one 757-200 freighter conversion plus one option. The aircraft will enter the conversion process in July. Cygnus provides cargo services to Iberia with three DC-8s. Precision also will convert two 757s to freighters under an agreement with Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management. The contract calls for "multiple options" on future 757-200 conversions, Precision said. Operators for the aircraft were not disclosed.
American Eagle will operate six-times-weekly New York LaGuardia-Des Moines service from June 15 aboard an Embraer 135. The carrier flew 749.4 million RPMs in March, a 15.7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 9% to 1.01 billion ASMs and load factor improved 4.3 points to 74.1%.
Saudi Arabian Airlines reportedly plans to float 30% of its shares in an IPO later this year. According to the Arab Air Carriers Organization, the carrier submitted documents to Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority seeking to float 450 million shares. In March, the government approved Saudi Arabian's privatization as part of a series of economic reforms in the country ( ATWOnline, March 23).
Air Berlin may announce more details of its upcoming IPO tomorrow. It is expected that the carrier's stock could begin trading as early as May 5. According to German daily Boersen-Zeitung, a possible press meeting Friday will signal the start of the road show for the offering, which includes a visit by CEO Joachim Hunold to the US to attract interest from Wall Street in the German low-fare airline.
Swissport International signed a comprehensive five-year ground handling agreement with Air Malta covering its operations at 23 airports beginning this month. Swissport also agreed to assume WestJet's ground operations at Toronto Pearson effective immediately. Swissport already works with WestJet in Vancouver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Honolulu.
Southwest Airlines will launch new flights from Philadelphia to Columbus (thrice-daily) and Nashville (twice-daily) from July 2. It will add daily frequencies the same day from PHL to Providence (to six from five) and Orlando International (to seven from six) and from Chicago Midway to San Antonio (to two from one) and Portland, Ore. (to two from one). Frontier Airlines is increasing frequency and/or capacity from Denver, including the launch of a new service to Calgary on May 25 and the resumption of flights to Anchorage on May 6.
Japan Airlines, which has been subject to scrutiny following several safety-related issues, announced the establishment of a 622-sq.-m., ¥180 million ($1.5 million) Safety Development Center at Tokyo Haneda. The center will open April 24 and feature exhibits, items and documentation related to past incidents and accidents. Separately, JAL and Hainan Airlines will expand their codeshare agreement to include Hainan's daily flights from Beijing to Kunming and Xian.
Expenses surpassed revenues in a year in which Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines continued to absorb China Northern Airlines and Xinjiang Airlines, leading to an annual loss of CNY1.85 billion ($229.8 million) compared to a CNY155 million profit in 2004.
Iberia Cargo signed a contract to be handled by Worldwide Flight Services in Building 550 at London Heathrow, which WFS took over from United Airlines in 2005. WFS also acquired UA's third-party handling contracts. This marks the first time Iberia Cargo awarded a contract to WFS directly at Heathrow.
AirTran flew 1.21 billion RPMs in March, a 23.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 22.4% to 1.55 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.7 point to 78.1%. Austrian Airlines Group said March RPKs grew 12.2% to 1.8 billion. ASKs rose 11.4% to 2.4 billion, resulting in a 0.5-point gain in load factor to 72.0%.
