Hainan Airlines took its first CFM56-powered A319 on Sept. 23. The aircraft is configured for 134 passengers in single-class layout. It will be operated by Chang'an Airlines, a local branch of Hainan in Xi'an, Airbus said.
Boeing's aircraft assembly lines could be back in operation as early as Friday after the company and striking workers represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract covering approximately 19,000 employees in the Seattle area, Wichita and Portland, Ore.
British Airways announced that Group Treasurer and Head of Taxation Keith Williams will succeed John Rishton as CFO on Jan. 1 following Rishton's resignation to join Amsterdam-based retailer Ahold.
Alteon said it will place 787 simulator training locations in China, the UK and the US, "enhancing [its] commitment to provide a global training network for the new airplane." Facilities will be established at London Gatwick, in Seattle and at a site to be determined in China. The Boeing subsidiary said it aims to have six 787 locations up and running before the first Dreamliner delivers in 2008. It already reached agreement in cooperation with ANA to establish a center at Tokyo Haneda ( ATWOnline, Sept. 13).
Denim Air on Monday started flying for Voli Regionali from its base in northern Italy to Rome Ciampino, Denim Air CCO Raymond Vrijenhoek confirmed to ATWOnline at Routes in Copenhagen. The Italian startup is Denim Air's first client for its new ACMI Plus product, which offers full operational support to airlines including interlining, sales, distribution and marketing support in addition to the traditional ACMI service. "There is a high demand for this product offering, mainly from startup airlines," according to Vrijenhoek.
AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and MAS parent PMB took a historic first step toward rationalizing domestic capacity with the announcement in Kuala Lumpur Monday that the two carriers will cooperate to reduce domestic capacity between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15 to address "low travel demand" during the Ramadan period. "We hope that this is a start for greater cooperation which will mutually benefit MAS and AirAsia in reaching our respective objectives.
Independence Air will end regional jet service in five markets from its hub at Washington Dulles effective Oct. 31: Cleveland, Louisville, Indianapolis, New York JFK and Stewart International Airport outside New York. Frequency adjustments will be made in a number of other markets so as "to decrease the total number of CRJ departures systemwide." At the same time, the financially struggling airline said it will launch double-daily service to New York LaGuardia beginning Oct. 31 using A319s. Flights from Dulles depart at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. while LGA departures occur at 12:35 p.m.
Telair International said it successfully completed its FAA STC System Conformity Inspection for the first Main Deck Cargo Loading System installation of the 747-400SF passenger-to-freighter conversion. Cathay Pacific is the launch customer for the system with six firm and six option conversions. SriLankan Cargo opened an office at the cargo terminal in Abu Dhabi Airport.
Northwest Airlines' Regional partners Pinnacle and Mesaba will see their wings clipped as a result of the Major's shrinkage during its bankruptcy reorganization, notes JP Morgan's Jamie Baker. In a report released yesterday, Baker stated that Northwest "has significantly modified planned flying levels at its two Regional partners" that participate in the Northwest Airlink codeshare program.
Attempts to restart Malev's privatization process, which recently failed for a fifth time, could face an extended delay owing to political considerations. Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Transport Gabor Diossy told ATWOnline that with elections set for May 2006, "it is possible that the current government will not go further with the privatization process" until after the elections.
AirAsia Indonesian affiliate AWAIR made its international debut Friday when Flight QZ7602 touched down at Kuala Lumpur en route from Jakarta. The 737-300 carried 148 passengers.
Mesa Air Group Friday said it plans to set up an independent Hawaiian airline "in partnership with other financial investors," with service expected to commence in the first quarter of 2006.
Rockwell Collins signed an agreement with Showtime Arabia to provide programming content for its Tailwind 560 satellite television system, which makes its debut on new A330 and A340 aircraft belonging to Qatar Airways. Thales announced a new customer for its TopSeries I-4000 inflight entertainment system, Air Europa, which chose the system for four A330s.
Greek government gave Olympic Airlines temporary protection from creditors after an adverse European Commission ruling on state aid made the government's effort to privatize the carrier more difficult, Reuters said Friday. In an amendment to an education bill voted into law by parliament late Thursday, Olympic Airlines and Olympic Airways-Services were granted protection from creditors until Feb. 28. "It is imperative that the European Commission's decision be studied in depth. .
US and Mexico last week agreed to a new aviation bilateral that increases from two to three the number of passenger airlines from each country that can operate between the countries. Under the agreement, the carriers may fly between any US city and any of 14 Mexican cities. Also, any number of scheduled all-cargo carriers may fly between the countries under the new accord and three all-cargo carriers from each country may fly in each city-pair market.
Lufthansa will start a double-daily Munich-Brno service using a Cirrus Air Dornier 328 from Nov. 7. Aerosvit Airlines will start a twice-weekly service from Kiev to Birmingham using a 737 from Nov 1.
Insiders at Emirates confirmed to ATWOnline that Boeing has discussed with the airline a larger version of the 787-9, dubbed the dash 10, with a fuselage 6 m. longer than the 62-m.-long dash 9 variant. Seating 290 passengers in three-class configuration, the larger model would be essentially the same size as the 777-200 and has been high on Emirates' agenda for more than a year. It currently is in a "study phase." The carrier is understood to be close to making a selection between the 787 and A350, with an announcement expected at the Dubai Air Show in November.
Air Canada said it reached agreement with the Air Canada Pilots Assn. "on a process to resolve all issues relating" to the airline's acquisition of 777 and 787 aircraft. AC cancelled its order for up to 36 777s and 14 787s last spring after its pilots' union rejected a tentative agreement covering pay and work rules for the new fleets ( ATWOnline, June 22).
Moscow Domodedovo obtained certification from Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency to handle the A300 and ATR 42, opening the door for services by UTair, which plans to begin operating the ATR 42 from the airport this fall. Domodedovo said it successfully completed a four-month test of the GK-1 access control system and will begin installation of the voice-analysis system developed by Israel's Newsysco, which will be used in passenger security screening at all customs and border control locations.
EasyJet asked the UK government "to resist calls" from the CAA for a £1 ($1.79) levy per passenger to be imposed on all UK-originating international flights to fund its ATOL scheme to protect customers when tour operators fail. "We agree that consumers should be protected against the financial failure of airlines, but we disagree violently with the solution proposed by the CAA.
Citing "the strength of the combined networks of Air France and KLM" and its strategy of targeting "fast-growing markets in Latin America and Asia, as well as to oil and gas destinations," Air France said it is raising system capacity (ASKs) 6.4% in the 2005-06 winter schedule compared to the 2004-05 schedule, with intercontinental capacity up 8.6%.
