Airline Business articles from June 2005

Airline Business archives from June 2005

Canadians look abroad.(Air Canada, WestJet Airlines Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... David Knibb seattle Air Canada and WestJet are both slowing their domestic growth but are looking for opportunities abroad. The international signals from Air Canada are unmistakable -- in the same month that it placed an order worth up to...

In brief.(airline ticket tax to pay for security)
June 1, 2005... Congress blocks tax hike A move by the Bush Administration to more than double the airline ticket tax to pay for security has been blocked by a key congressional panel. Although the step could be reversed, house appropriators who set the...

Expansive Latin carriers to float shares.(Aerolineas Argentinas S.A.)
June 1, 2005... Significantly, Aerolineas has never sold shares before and less than 1% of TAM's shares are publicly traded. Spain's Marsans group, the travel giant that holds 98% of Aerolineas, has several reasons for floating the airline. First, by...

As good as it gets.(airlines)
June 1, 2005... There is a general mood that, after the pain of the past few years, the industry is now well placed for the upturn. Without wishing to dent reviving industry optimism, it is worth asking whether that upturn is, in fact, going to materialise and...

Asia's unpredictable outlook.(airline market)
June 1, 2005... The effects of rising fuel prices stormed their way into the Chinese airline market in 2004 leading to mixed results from the major carriers, which are warning that this year's earnings will also be unpredictable. Japan's majors are reporting...

Gulf carriers in upbeat mood.(markets)
June 1, 2005... Key Middle Eastern carriers are looking to access the capital markets after reporting relatively robust results for 2004. Gulf Air and Royal Jordanian returned to the black and Emirates turned in a record profit. Speaking at the Emirates annual...

...and enters the low-fares fray.(Air India, Air India Express)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Air India kicked off an international expansion at the end of April with the launch of its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express. The new airline's fleet initially comprises three leased Boeing 737-800s in all-economy class layouts. In its...

Cities fight airports over land.
June 1, 2005... An unexpected side effect of airport privatisation has spawned a growing dispute between Australian cities and private airport operators over the apparent immunity airports enjoy from local land use controls. Sydney is urging other Australian...

Australia deliberates over open skies.(Qantas Airways Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Such a deal with Singapore could have a dramatic effect on Australian aviation by opening transpacific routes to the US mainland. Qantas now dominates these routes, with only modest non-stop competition from United Airlines. Under open skies,...

Hainan Airlines plans share offering.(securities)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... China's fast-growing Hainan Airlines is planning a new domestic share offering aimed at bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars to help it expand further. Hainan, which is now the fourth-largest airline group in China, told the Shanghai...

Air India edges toward fleet renewal...(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Many hurdles will need to be overcome before a firm deal can be placed, and it is anyone's guess as to when, and even if, government approval will ultimately be granted. The airline's board originally selected the Airbus A340-300 for its fleet...

India revives carrier sell-offs.
June 1, 2005... After failed sell-off attempts in 2001, the boards of Air India and Indian Airlines have given in-principle approval for proposed partial privatisations to raise cash for expansion. Both carriers say they would like to see partial sell-offs...

In brief.
June 1, 2005... Macau start-ups planned Two new airlines are hoping to launch services from the former Portuguese island of Macau, provided agreement can be reached for Air Macau to give its blessing. Air Macau, which has a monopoly licence on scheduled...

ANA assists ailing carriers.(All Nippon Airways Company Ltd., Skynet Asia Airways)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Skynet Asia Airways (SNA) is the latest domestic carrier to secure assistance from ANA to help turn its operations around. ANA will take a minority stake as part of the aid deal. After several years of work to establish itself, SNA launched...

Bidders line up for Varig.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Varig's main shareholder, the Ruben Berta Foundation (FRB), has expressed strong support for equity bids by TAP Portugal and Pestana, the Portuguese tourism group, as talks continue behind closed doors over which of five bidders will be picked...

Virgin Blue wins fares war.(Virgin Blue Airlines)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Lobbying by Virgin Blue and consumer groups has convinced the Australian government to clarify advertising laws to require prominent display of a price that includes all taxes and surcharges. Australian airlines switched to component pricing...

Aer Lingus appoints Mannion to replace Walsh.(Dermot Mannion joins Aer Lingus Group PLC and replace Willie Walsh )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Aer Lingus has completed its search for a chief executive to replace Willie Walsh by appointing Emirates president of group support services Dermot Mannion. Mannion, 47, who is an Irish national, will take up his position in August. Chairman...

In brief.(airlines)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Japan Airlines (JAL) chairman Isao Kaneko has retired from the carrier's board, just two months after he resigned as chief executive to be replaced by Toshiyuki Shinmachi. JAL says that its board has approved the appointment of Kaneko as a...

Cohen returns to Northwest as Han leaves.(Neal Cohen joins as finance chief of Northwest Airlines Corp. as Bernard Han quits)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Ex-US Airways finance chief Neal Cohen has been drafted in to replace Bernard Han as chief financial officer at Northwest Airlines. Han's surprise resignation came less than three years after he rejoined the carrier from America West Airlines....

Varig shuffles senior ranks.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Henrique Neves has replaced Carlos Luiz Martins as executive president of Varig as the Brazilian carrier shuffles its senior ranks ahead of a restructuring. In moves designed to broaden its ties to business and government, it has also installed...

Webster to exit easyJet.(Ray Webster quits Easyjet Airline PLC)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... EasyJet chief executive Ray Webster is to leave the UK low-cost carrier, while founding chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the largest single shareholder, returns as a non-executive director. The airline says that New Zealander Webster, who was...

Capacity crisis.(air traffic )
June 1, 2005... Air transport is nothing if not cyclical. No sooner has the traffic returned than it is time, once again, to fret about whether the infrastructure can handle the demand. Memories from the last peak of heaving airports and mounting air traffic...

UK confident of route funding.(route development funds)
June 1, 2005... The UK is looking to set up route development funds (RDFs) for air services in Wales, as well as regions in the north-west and north-east of England in time for the summer 2006 season. The government is confident that the start-up funds will...

Brussels says yes to Cyprus Airways aid.(finance)
June 1, 2005... The European Commission (EC) has decided to authorise rescue aid for Cyprus Airways, giving the nod to a C[pounds sterling]30 million ($65 million) loan guarantee for the next six months while the government restructures the carrier. The EC...

COHOR hits back at easyJet over slots.
June 1, 2005... EasyJet has long complained that it is not getting enough slots to set up an alternative to Air France at the southern Parisian airport. In May, easyJet chief operating officer Ed Winter told French airports that the carrier's failure to obtain...

Iceland's overseas push.
June 1, 2005... FL Group, the newly rebranded parent of Icelandair and 12 other travel-related subsidiaries, is close to sealing its first new-aircraft lease deal after ordering 10 Boeing 737-800s and exercising five options for the type. Named Icelease, the...

In brief.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Monarch sells more pitch Monarch Scheduled managing director Tim Jeans says that the carrier's internet-based extra seat-pitch option has been "the best ancillary revenue driver straight out of the blocks that I've ever seen". Passengers can...

In brief.(TUI UK, British Airways)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... TUI aims for common brand Alex Hunter, chief commercial officer of scheduled business at TUI's UK low-cost carrier Thomsonfly, says the leisure group is moving towards a pan-European brand but that "it is not going to happen overnight." Sister...

Court orders Olympic to repay aid.(Olympic Airlines)
June 1, 2005... The ruling comes as Greece tries to push through a privatisation of Olympic Airlines, which was formed in 2003 when the government effectively split off the airline operations to the newly named carrier, leaving the original Olympic Airways...

SkyEurope gears up for expansion.(markets)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Slovakian low-cost carrier SkyEurope has signalled its expansion intentions with an order for 16 Boeing 737-700s and 16 options in a move the airline says will make it the same size as neighbouring Austrian Airlines is today by 2009. Of the 16...

Growingpains.
June 1, 2005... Australian aviation has not been this stable for five years. The last calm spell was early in 2000 before two low-cost start-ups -- Virgin Blue and Impulse -- destroyed a cosy duopoly between Ansett and Qantas. In the air wars that followed,...

Events diary.(Calendar)
June 1, 2005... June 1-2 ACI/IATA Airport Service Excellence Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Contact?Luc Tousignant Tel +1 514 874 0202 x3454 website www.iata.org 2 FFP Regional Loyalty Forum Miami Beach, Florida Contact Airline Information Tel +1 305 586 1520 website...

No more science fiction.
June 1, 2005... Having read "The green view on aviation" (Airline Business, page 82 March 2005), it is an ironic coincidence that the author, Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party Dr Caroline Lucas, not only shares her name with Star Wars...

Airline Strategy Awards 2005.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... 17 July London, UK With the shortlist now being drawn up for this year's Airline Strategy Awards, the next diary date will be the gala dinner itself, taking place in London on Sunday 17 July. Invitations will soon be sent out to a select...

Airline IT Summit 2005.(Information technology)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... 23-24 June Brussels, Belgium Well over 200 senior airline and industry IT executives are again expected to attend this year's Airline IT Summit, jointly hosted by SITA and Airline Business. The summit has become a key forum for discussion...

Highlights.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Routes 2005 25-27 September Copenhagen, Denmark For the first event of its second decade of existence, Routes is travelling to Denmark. During its first decade the event has established itself as a firm diary fixture for airline network...

In brief.
June 1, 2005... SIA's Chinese cargo unit Singapore Airlines subsidiary SIA Cargo has agreed to form a joint venture cargo airline in China with Dahlia Investments, a subsidiary of Singapore government investment arm Temasek Holdings, and Chinese state-owned...

EU proposes poverty tax.
June 1, 2005... However, it is far from clear who will join the scheme, which was proposed by France and Germany. Belgium has indicated that it would sign up, while a handful of other member states have suggested they would look at a voluntary payment by...

Sabre to buy lastminute.com.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Reflecting increased economic confidence, merger and acquisition activity is on the rise in the travel technology sector, with Sabre making an unsolicited [pounds sterling]606.million ($1.1.billion) bid for the UK's lastminute.com, which...

Pensions battleground.
June 1, 2005... The US legacy carriers are finding themselves forced to distinguish between forces they can manage and those that are beyond their control. They have conceded that fuel is uncontrollable, even for carriers that can afford fuel hedging...

Summergrowth.(airlines)
June 1, 2005... Frequencies and capacity on the North Atlantic are up again this summer, marking a second year of growth after two years of pull-backs, but the nature of the expansion appears considerably different from 2004. There is less new hub-to-hub...

Commonmeasures.
June 1, 2005... In the past when it came to the issue of airport performance benchmarking, airlines and airports agreed to disagree. It was an interesting debate, but one that was a sideshow in the greater scheme of things. The industry crisis changed all...

China'scrossroads.(China. General Administration of Civil Aviation`s forecasts)
June 1, 2005... The surge in civil aviation in china is putting the current airport infrastructure under increasing strain. But while some are struggling to keep pace today, the country has embarked on a centrally planned building frenzy to meet anticipated...

Japan adds runways to tackle Asia's congestion problems.
June 1, 2005... Asia's airport congestion problems are largely confined to Japan, where 568-seat Boeing 747-400Ds regularly operate on domestic routes out of Tokyo's Haneda. There have been major developments in recent years, however, with a second runway now...

Concreteplans.
June 1, 2005... There have been warnings for more than a year that US airports are on the verge of the near-terminal congestion that pushed the industry into crisis back in 2000. Ken Mead, inspector general at the Department of Transportation (DoT) and a...

Capacitycrunch.(Airports Traffic Management)
June 1, 2005... Europe has long fretted over the need to squeeze more capacity out of its congested air transport infrastructure. In the past that has tended to focus on the bottlenecks of a fragmented air traffic service, but attention seems to have turned to...

Airports.(traffic races)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... As traffic races back to pre-2001 levels, the prospect of congestion, particularly in the crowded airports of Europe and the USA, looms once again. Meanwhile, unprecedented growth in China heralds a boom in airport construction and performance...

Svitsuccess.(Aerosvit airlines)
June 1, 2005... When communism collapsed in the early 1990s air travel in the Ukraine virtually ceased to exist. Connections with Western Europe ceased altogether until the formation of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) with financial and technical input...