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Thursday March 23, 2006

Royal Jordanian announced, as expected, a firm order yesterday for seven Embraer 195s. Aircraft will be powered by GE CF34-10s and laid out in a 100-seat, two-class configuration. According to an industry source, RJ also took options on an additional eight 195s. The Amman-based carrier will take delivery of three of the aircraft in the final quarter of this year, two in 2007 and two in early 2008. It is purchasing four, while three will be on operating leases from GE Commercial Aviation Services. The airline said its choice fits its strategy to develop Amman as a regional hub and its impending entry into the oneworld alliance. GE valued engines for the four aircraft ordered directly from Embraer at $40 million.

"Embraer's E-Jets family offers a flexibility that enables a rapid adaptation to a market that is constantly evolving, as is the case in the Middle East. Royal Jordanian's decision confirms that, once again in its deep and successful history, it is demonstrating true leadership in the market that it serves," President and CEO Samer Majali said, noting the surge in widebody orders among regional flag carriers.

The airline told ATWOnline it considered putting IFE in the aircraft owing to the high service requirements of its customers, but decided to forego the added cost and weight because of the shorter sector lengths planned. The 195s will be deployed on routes to the Middle East and Africa and into nearby Europe. RJ will be the first carrier in the region to operate the 195 on international routes.

by Cathy Buyck

Lufthansa named Stephan Gemkow CFO effective June 1. He is a member of Lufthansa Cargo's executive board and is responsible for finance and human resources. His term will last three years. Predecessor Karl-Ludwig Kley resigned earlier this month to take a position at Merck (ATWOnline, March 14). Deutsche Lufthansa Senior VP-Corporate Finance Roland Busch will succeed Gemkow at Lufthansa Cargo.

European Regional airlines reported a 6.3% increase in scheduled traffic in 2005, according to the European Regions Airline Assn. Average passenger load factor was 61.5%, the highest year-end figure since ERA began collecting data in 1987, a result of "continued prudence among operators in increasing capacity." A high of 67.3% was reached in July.

Saudi government approved the privatization of Saudi Arabian Airlines Tuesday, according to a statement from the Supreme Economic Council cited by local press reports.

Frankfurt-Hahn Airport began construction of a new cargo terminal on a 15,600-sq.-m. lot near Ramp 4. The Bucher Group is the principal investor, having contributed €6 million to the facility that will include 16 loading gates and refrigerated compartments. It will be able to handle 80,000-100,000 tons of cargo per year and is scheduled to begin operations this fall.

Swiss International Air Lines, which joins Star Alliance next month, will codeshare with Star member SAS between Switzerland and Scandinavia as well as with Blue1 from Zurich to Helsinki. Swiss-Spanair cooperation will be offered between Zurich and Barcelona and Madrid. Codesharing will be initiated with Croatia Airlines between Zurich and Zagreb and with Darwin Airline on the Bern-London City sector. The codesharing is set to begin March 26, at which time agreements with Malev, Finnair and Qantas will be terminated.

Norwegian Air Service will commence thrice-weekly flights from Oslo to Tallinn and Vilnius from May 2.

Middle East Airlines will increase its Beirut-London Heathrow frequency from five-times-weekly to daily from June 2.

Finnair will boost Asian service earlier than planned to five flights a week to Hong Kong and six to Osaka between July and October.

Separately, Finnair and Pulkovo signed a codeshare agreement for joint flights between Helsinki and St. Petersburg from March 26

Air Canada Jazz will begin daily nonstop service to Yellowknife from Edmonton on July 3 and from Calgary on July 4. It will launch daily nonstop service Aug. 1 on the following new routes: Edmonton-Victoria, Calgary-Comox, Edmonton-Kelowna and Winnipeg-London, Ont.

Gulf Air and Saudi Arabian Airlines are adding Bahrain-Al Madinah and Muscat-Dammam to their codeshare arrangement. The new weekly service to Al Madinah will commence March 26. The twice-weekly Muscat-Dammam service came into effect March 3 and is operated by Gulf Air as an extension of its existing Kathmandu-Muscat route.

China Airlines will launch thrice-weekly Taipei-Abu Dhabi-Vienna service from April 25 aboard an A330-300. Flights to Vienna currently are direct. It also will add two frequencies to its thrice-weekly Seattle route from April 26 using A340-300s. Three of the five flights will continue to Houston.

Aeroflot and Air Baltic announced a codeshare deal covering Moscow-Riga services. Aeroflot operates five weekly flights and Air Baltic flies six-times-weekly.

Separately, Aeroflot named Sergei Belov director of its new St. Petersburg branch.

GA Telesis was awarded a servicing contract to manage and remarket more than 50 aircraft including 747-200s, 757-200s, 737-200s, 727-200Fs, MD-82s, DC-9-30s, DC-10-30s and Super 27Fs on behalf of Aviation Refinancing Transaction. The five-year contract also includes 70 spare engines.

AMC Airlines of Egypt took delivery of the first of four 737-800s Tuesday. Aircraft are being acquired through GE Commercial Aviation Services.

US Transportation Security Administration said that Los Angeles-based J.H. World Express "does not meet security standards and will have its indirect air carrier certification revoked for shipments on passenger aircraft." The company will be able to reapply for certification in 90 days.