FedEx Express yesterday said it will build a $150 million Asia/Pacific hub at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport to replace its existing hub in Subic Bay, Philippines.
The International Air Carrier Assn. reiterated its calls to EU finance ministers to abort the idea of levying a development tax on airline tickets, an item once again on the agenda of the forthcoming ministerial meeting. The member airlines of IACA believe discussions on a development tax cannot be isolated from other burdens facing the aviation sector and argue that the cumulative effect of soaring kerosene costs, environmental pressures and a development tax would be unbearable for many carriers.
SAS introduced the United Airlines Corporate Solutions system in North America. It provides a single integrated system for collecting and analyzing data, generating contract terms, tracking usage and monitoring performance goals. InteliSys Aviation Systems signed a multiyear contract with Calgary-based Regional 1 Airlines Ltd. to provide its amelia reservation system. The carrier will use the system to manage its reservation sales and distribution.
LAN Airlines flew 1.27 billion RPKs in June, up 18.7% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 14.5% to 1.82 billion ASKs and load factor was up 2.5 points to 69.5%. For the six months ended June 30, RPKs rose 18.4% to 8.42 billion, ASKs increased 15.1% to 11.6 billion and load factor gained 2.1 points to 72.5%.
Air Berlin announced a passenger increase of 16% to 6.1 million for the first six months of 2005. The highest gains were seen in Vienna (33.6%), Dusseldorf (28%), Zurich (25%) and Palma de Mallorca (24.6%). "Because of our success in the first six months of this year, we are confident of reaching our target of flying 13.7 million passengers by the end of 2005," CEO Joachim Hunold said in a statement. The carrier also said turnover for the period climbed 23% to €564 million ($688 million).
Air New Zealand rolled out its first refitted 747-400 that features lie-flat beds, digital inflight entertainment at every seat and a new class of travel for the NZ market called Pacific Premium Economy. The refit is part of a NZ$160 million ($109.5 million) fleet upgrade for its eight 747s. The first routes to feature the product will be Los Angeles-Auckland and San Francisco-Auckland. ANZ's lie-flat beds, which are 6 ft. 7.5 in. long, are the longest available in business class today, ANZ said.
Qantas low-cost joint venture Jetstar Asia pulled out of alliance talks with another operator, Valuair, raising further questions about its future in the intra-Asia market.
JetBlue Airways is bringing its low-fare flights to Newark this fall. Beginning in October, the airline will launch daily service from Newark to Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Tampa and Ft. Myers. On Nov. 17 it will begin daily flights between Newark and San Juan. America West Airlines plans to begin new service between Phoenix and four Hawaiian islands as well as from Las Vegas to Kahului. From Dec. 16, the carrier will begin one daily flight between Phoenix and both Honolulu and Kahului.
Alaska Airlines pilots overwhelmingly rejected a five-year tentative agreement reached in May ( ATWOnline, May 30) that would have superseded the current two-year deal now in effect. According to the Air Line Pilots Assn., more than 95% of eligible pilots participated, with 88.9% voting against the agreement. At the beginning of May, a two-year accord that resulted from an arbitrator's ruling took effect that reduced the pilots' pay by 21%-34%.
SkyEurope is planning an IPO listing on the Vienna Stock Exchange. According to Austrian media, the low-cost airline wants to offer 30%-49% of its shares by late August or early September.
AirAsia will introduce a fuel surcharge on its domestic and regional flights. From July 15, an RM5 ($1.32) surcharge per sector will be implemented on all flights in peninsular Malaysia, an RM10 surcharge per sector on flights to East Malaysia and an RM25 surcharge per sector on flights to Macau, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
ANA announced that it will sell its 27.6% share in Nippon Cargo Airlines to fellow major shareholder global logistics company Nippon Yusen Kaisha, which also holds 27.6% of the carrier. ANA said it is selling its stake because it wishes to pursue a different strategy in the cargo market in the future than does NYK. NCA will become a consolidated subsidiary of NYK. A date for the sale has not been set, but the companies expect it to take place by the end of August.
Embraer opened a 32,300-sq.-ft. service center for maintenance, repair and overhaul of its aircraft at its Gaviao Peixoto site 230 mi. from its headquarters in Sao Jose dos Campos.
Qantas said it will add Queenstown to its year-round route network with Saturday service from Sydney beginning Oct. 1. The airline currently operates flights to Queenstown from Sydney and Brisbane during the ski season.
Finnair will launch services from Helsinki to Krakow by spring. The airline said it will use its new Embraer 170s, the first of which will arrive in September, on the route.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 5.25 billion RPKs in June, up 11.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 11% to 6.56 billion ASKs and load factor was up 0.4 point to 80.1%. For the six months ended June 30, RPKs rose 16.1% to 26.83 billion, ASKs increased 12.2% to 39.53 billion and load factor jumped 2 points to 78.1%.
Global ePoint received an order from Thomas Cook Airlines UK to expand its current Cockpit Door Surveillance System to include digital video recording. Global ePoint subsidiary AirWorks will begin installation of the systems on the carrier's A330s this summer. Thomas Cook has been flying the AirWorks CDSS since early 2003 on its fleet of 17 757s, six A320s and two A330s. Separately, Global ePoint introduced an enhanced version of its AirWorks electronic flight bag that features full digital video recording and a CDSS integrated into a dual-redundant server.
Japan Airlines will expand telephone, Internet and ticket delivery systems in Japan. From October, the carrier will introduce International Ticket Assist Service through which customers can make a telephone call when changing itineraries and arrange to receive new tickets by mail or courier. The service also will include an international ticket refund desk through which refunds can be requested by telephone and credited directly to customers' bank accounts. JAL introduced a similar service for domestic ticket support in March.
Emirates began construction on a new 6,000-sq.-m. jet engine test facility at a site near Dubai. The facility, which was designed in cooperation with General Electric International, is due for completion in January 2007. Once finished, it will house a 13-m. cross-section jet engine test cell and an APU test cell and will be capable of testing engines of up to 150,000 lb. thrust, including Rolls-Royce Trent 500s/700s/800s, GP700s and GE90-115Bs. TAT Industries finalized its acquisition of Sabena Technics following a share transfer agreement signed last week.
Air Berlin will start its own mobile-phone service called Air Berlin Mobile by December. Users can earn bonus miles. The service will be offered via travel agencies.
Fischer Advanced Composite Components, which as a supplier to Aviation Partners Boeing has a 95% market share of 737 winglet production, is studying the possibility of developing winglets for the MD-80.
