Air Transport World

Briefs from the May 7, 2014 issue of ATW’s MRO Digest

Singapore’s SIA Engineering Group posted a profit of S$265.7 million ($212.7 million) for the financial year ended March 31, down 1.6% from a profit of S$270.1 million for the previous financial year.

Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) will subcontract component repairs to Garuda Maintenance Facility (GFM) AeroAsia.

Xiamen Airlines has selected Boeing’s Airplane Health Management (AHM) system to enhance efficiency in maintenance and engineering.

Romania’s Aerostar posted an 8% increase in revenue.

StandardAero will support West Atlantic Cargo Airlines’ CFM International CF34 engines on Bombardier CRJ200s.

Lufthansa Group is looking to grow its presence in the China market, but will prioritize increasing frequency to key cities before adding new city destinations.

Emirates Airline is reportedly in the advanced stages of upgrading its top premium classes on its Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s to include bedrooms and room service, as Gulf carriers continue to raise the stakes in luxury.

Abu Dhabi International Airport’s new Midfield Terminal Complex (MTC) is on track to open July 17, 2017, CEO Tony Douglas confirmed to ATW during a visit to the construction site this week.

WestJet reported a first-quarter net profit of C$89.3 million ($81.4 million), down 2% from net income of C$91.1 million in the prior-year period, when the Canadian airline posted its highest-ever March quarter earnings.

Russia’s Aeroflot has reported first-quarter net-income of RUB3.03 billion ($84.5 million), up 5.1% compared to the year-ago period.

Emirates SkyCargo began operations at Dubai World Central’s (DWC) Al Maktoum International Airport last week.

FAA has announced that the University of Alaska’s unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test site—the second of six—is now operational.

The Airbus A350 XWB (MSN 2) is undergoing more extreme weather testing at the McKinley Climatic Lab at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

The 10 largest US scheduled passenger airlines reported a full-year net income of $11.7 billion in 2013, vastly outpacing the $201 million in net income the carriers reported for 2012.

The Lufthansa supervisory board has approved an updated distribution of responsibilities within the executive board. Most changes became effective May 1.

Airline Routes

Royal Brunei Airlines has ordered seven Airbus A320neos, plus three options, under the latest phase of its fleet modernization program.

Air India is set to join the Star Alliance in July following three years of delays.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways will offer an ultra-premium, two-person “Residence” class—at a cost of $20,000 one-way—along with first-class “Apartments” on its Airbus A380s.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways—which recently announced luxury innovations on its Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 aircraft—will launch A380 service to London Heathrow and Boeing 787-9 service to Düsseldorf from December.

Southwest Airlines decided to move away from Sabre Corp. as its reservations system provider and has entered into a contract with the Amadeus IT Group.

Spring Airlines is planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to raise funds for fleet expansion.

Abu-Dhabi based Etihad Airways, which has a 29.21% stake in oneworld partner airberlin, remains optimistic the German-based carrier’s restructuring program will be successful.

Former US House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee chairman Jim Oberstar has died.