Airlines

AirCalin upgrades A330 cabins

New Caledonia carrier AirCalin reports work on the full cabin retrofit of its two Airbus A330s began Oct. 1. The aircraft will be successively grounded for one month in the HAECO hangars and workshops in Hong Kong. The first retrofitted aircraft will be put back into service on Nov. 7, while the second should be operational by Dec. 5. Both newly retrofitted aircraft will be in service for the airline's peak period. Passengers will find new seats, in-flight entertainment system, overall cabin ambiance, cabin crew uniforms and tableware. "Comfort, cutting-edge technology, design and...

Air New Zealand ups North American capacity

Air New Zealand will add approximately 5,000 return seats a month to North America as it further increases capacity to Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles from April 2013. The Vancouver to Auckland route, which has been operating for five years this November, will also see a significant boost in capacity with three return services per week in off peak periods (previously two). Air New Zealand will operate five times a week over peak demand times from mid-December to the end of February. The airline will operate daily return flights between Auckland and San Francisco. To date, the San...

WestJet reports record September load factor

WestJet has announced September 2012 traffic results with a record load factor of 79.1%. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 7.7% year over year, and capacity, measured in available seat miles (ASMs), grew 1.7% over the same period. The airline flew 4.6 million guests in the third quarter, which is a year-over-year increase of 9.7% or approximately 408,000 additional guests. "We reported a record load factor each month this quarter which has translated to our highest ever quarterly load factor,"said WestJet president Gregg Saretsky. "The record load factor exceeded our...

Emirates welcomes 25th Airbus A380 to fleet

Emirates took delivery of its 24th and 25th Airbus A380 and its 78th Boeing 777-300 on Oct. 1. The aircraft will be immediately engaged into service across Emirates network of 126 destinations in 74 countries; supporting Emirates planned expansion of its network and flights. The delivery of three wide-body aircraft in one day, a record for Emirates, required careful review and advance preparation within all operational units to ensure the availability of the required flight crew, cabin crew, engineers, and airport staff in time to ensure a smooth entry into service. "With its large capacity...

IATA revises 2012 forecast

IATA has revised it 2012 outlook, noting that the fall in airline profits from the $8.4 billion that the industry earned in 2011 will be cushioned by improved airline performance. Airlines are expected to earn $4.1 billion in 2012 (up $1.1 billion from the $3.0 billion forecast in June). The revision will still see the industry's net profit margins fall from the 1.4% realized in 2011 to 0.6% (up from the previously forecast 0.5%). In a first look at 2013, IATA sees global profits rising modestly to $7.5 billion, though this is a net margin of just 1.1%. Tony Tyler, IATA's director general and...

Fleet plan has AC poised for international growth

Air Canada unveiled details of a new fleet plan that provides for international growth at both the mainline carrier and its new low-cost leisure airline to be launched in 2013. AC will add two new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to the mainline carrier's wide-body fleet in order to pursue strategic growth opportunities for its international network. With the addition of these two aircraft, to be delivered in June and September 2013, Air Canada's Boeing 777 fleet will consist of 20 aircraft comprising the latest generation of 300ER and 200LR models. Air Canada currently operates 56 wide-body...

Make it transparent, travellers say

In its survey of summer travellers, Open Allies for Airfare Transparency found that 94% of Americans who recently used an online travel company (OTC) to book their travel this summer agreed that "all airline fee information should be available to travel agents and online travel web sites." The survey of 2,310 US adults aged 18 and older, was conducted online by market research firm, Harris Interactive. It found that 95% of Americans who used an OTC to book their summer travel agreed that "it would be easier to comparison shop if all airline fee information was available on online travel web...