28/01/06 - Aviation news (em inglês)

[AeroEntusiasta]

( By ULRICH HOPPE - 28.01.2006 )

UAL (United) received confirmation on its Plan of Reorganization from Bankruptcy Court, and plans to emerge from Chapter 11 in early February with $3b in exit financing from JPMorgan, Citigroup and GE Capital. It plans to issue 125m shares, to be valued at about $15 each according to Calyon Securities, on NASDAQ under symbol "UAUA."

AIR EUROPA, Spain finalized order for 10 253-pax A350-800s with GEnx engines for 2010-2012, and optioned two; it also agreed to lease three more A350s from GECAS. Air Europa was first airline to commit to A350 in Dec. 2004.

HAINAN AIRLINES, China ordered four 737NGs. CASC signed LOI in 4Q05 to order 70 for delivery in 2006-'08 to Air China, China Southern, China Eastern, Shanghai, Xiamen, Shandong, Hainan, and Shenzhen (SPNWS, Nov. 25).

SUNROCK AIRCRAFT canceled the two 737-700s it had on order. It purchased 10 new aircraft in past from Boeing.

IZMIR AIRLINES, Turkey leased three ex-Independence Air A319s (2404/2414/2452) with V2500s from ILFC for five years for 1Q06 delivery for startup of operations in mid-2006. It expects fleet to grow to five aircraft by end of 2006.

WESTJET, AB leased two new 737-700s (30712/30713) from ILFC for eight years for delivery in March/April 2007.

AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS agreed to lease six 108-pax 737-500s from GECAS in 2006 to replace 737-200s.

NORWEGIAN AIR SHUTTLE purchased ex-euroAtlantic 737-300 (24213) from Bavaria Intl. Aircraft Leasing, Germany.

ROYAL JORDANIAN leased/took delivery of new A320 (2649) with CFM56s (lessor undisclosed) as part of plan to add four A320s and two A321s (SPNWS, Dec. 2, 2005). It is leasing two (2598/2692) from ACG; first was delivered.

AEGEAN AIRLINES, Athens, Greece leased ex-Air Atlantic Icelandic 737-400 (24124) from CIT Aerospace.

AIRCRAFT 24247 LLC (Automatic), FL purchased ex-United Airlines 737-300 (24247) from Vx Capital, CA.

ADAMAIR, Indonesia leased ex-Air Atlanta Icelandic 737-400 (23980) from CIT Aerospace.

EUROPEAN AVIATION, UK parted out two A300s (050; built in 1977/062; built in 1978).

SKY KING, Sacramento, CA purchased ex-United 727-200 (21909) from Elegaire for part out.

RBS AVIATION CAPITAL, Ireland has agreements to lease two new A320s each to ANA and VUELING, Spain.

BATAVIA AIR, Indonesia leased new A319 (2648) with V2500s from AerCap; it plans to lease a second in 2006.

RBS AVIATION CAPITAL purchased two A320s from THY, and eight 737-800s/three A320s from QANTAS, all for leaseback. It also financed two 777s for EMIRATES, four 737s for RYANAIR and 10 E190s for AIR CANADA.

AIR MADRID, Spain says it plans to acquire three A320s by March 27 to launch regional routes and expand its domestic route structure. It currently operates one A340-300, one A330-300, three A330-200s and one A310-300.

RPM AVIATION, CA purchased ex-WestJet 737-200A (20670) from Apollo Aviation, FL. UAM parted it out.

UPS purchased ex-Varig MD-11 (48541) with PW4462s from Central Air Leasing; Focus Aviation arranged.

TRANSCARIBBEAN AIRWAYS, Netherlands Antilles plans May 2006 startup of St. Maarten/Curacao-US routes with four leased A319s (TBA). It plans within three years to operate fleet of 22 A319s, A320s, A330s and A340s.

MACAU ASIA EXPRESS is being formed by Air Macau and ST-CNAC (Shun Tak Holdings and China National Aviation Co.) with $30m in capital for startup of LCC operations to China and Asia in 4Q06; aircraft type is TBD.

MORGAN STANLEY received three bids for AWAS from BABCOCK & BROWN, TERRA FIRMA, UK and partnership between CERBERUS, NY/MACQUARIE, Australia, which is expected to win. Morgan Stanley bought AWAS in 2000.



Airlines, Financials & Start-Ups

SWISS is now 100% owned by Lufthansa and Almea Foundation (through Air Trust) after squeeze-out procedure to buy remaining publicly held shares was completed. SWISS shares are to be delisted from SWX on January 27.

DELTA reportedly plans by April to cut 800-1,000 maintenance jobs under previously announced plan to outsource some maintenance, including heavy checks to AVBORNE, FL (MD-88/MD-90) and AIR CANADA TECHNICAL SERVICES (757/767). Under plan, it also intends to close 109,000 sq ft, ex-Eastern hangar at Hartsfield-Jackson.

NORTHWEST says Chairman of Seabury Group testified in Bankruptcy Court that airline needs to reduce debt $4.2b-$4.4b, increase liquidity by $1.25b, and obtain competitive labor costs to achieve necessary profitability to survive.

ALOHA has agreement with PBGC (details undisclosed) regarding defined benefit pension plans after Bankruptcy Court upheld decision to allow airline to terminate plans; no date is set for Aloha's emergence from Chapter 11.

DELTA (Chapter 11) closed $300m letter of credit facility with MERRILL LYNCH to allow it to utilize up to $300m in cash that would normally be held in reserve by Delta's Visa/Mastercard processor under their amended agreement.

FEDEX EXPRESS agreed to purchase 50% of FedEx-DTW Intl. Priority express joint venture and domestic express network from DTW GROUP, China for $400m. FedEx will own 100% of the JV and employ 6,000 workers in China.

WHITCRAFT, Eastford, CT purchased ALDEN O. SHERMAN CO (aircraft engine components), Norwalk, CT.

AVION GROUP, Iceland (Air Atlanta parent) agreed to purchase the assets of defunct AERO FLIGHT, Germany to help facilitate plan to establish an AOC in Germany by end of March to operate two A320s in the region by mid-'06.

KIPCO ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY (Kamco), Kuwait made IPO of 350m shares at 103 fils each for 70% of

KUWAIT NATIONAL AIRLINES COMPANY, a startup airline being formed (launch date/aircraft types TBA) in Kuwait.

IATA added Virgin Nigeria as new member. It has 265 member airlines accounting for 94% of intl. scheduled traffic.

CIT CAPITAL FINANCE (aerospace/rail) earned $129.9m in 2005 vs $87m in 2004. It had portfolio of 215 aircraft (10 off-lease) at end '05, plus 66 aircraft on order: 19 for delivery in 2006; 23 for 2007; 19 for 2008; and five thereafter.

GE AVIATION FINANCIAL SERVICES had $764m net income on $3.5b revenues in 2005 vs $520m on $3.2b in 2004. GECAS owns >1,400 aircraft on lease to >200 airlines in 60 countries; it also manages nearly 300 aircraft.

GATX AIR lost $109.2m on $133.6m revenues in 2005 vs $9.8m profit on $118.7m in 2004. It had portfolio of 150 owned (two off-lease)/68 managed aircraft at end '05, plus four A320s on order for 2006 (1), 2007 (2) and 2009 (1).

LOCKHEED MARTIN had $1.8b net income on $37.2b revenues in 2005 vs $1.3b on $35.5b in 2004.

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE earned $1.7b on $10.5b revenues in 2005 vs $1.5b on $9.7b in 2004.

HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND (UTC) earned $675m on $4.4b revenues in 2005 vs $583m on $3.9b in 2004.

ROCKWELL COLLINS had $104m net profit on $881m sales in first quarter ended Dec. 31 vs $90m on $763m.





MRO & Production

BOEING has completed 90% of design for 215-pax 737-900ER; it plans to begin final assembly in 1H06 and will build two aircraft for 5-month flight test program. Lion Air, which has ordered 30, is to take delivery of first in 1H07.

VOLVO AERO has agreement with GE to increase stake in GEnx by supplying fan module and HPT in addition to low pressure booster spool, fan hub frame and turbine rear frame. It estimates new work at SEK6b over 30 years.

SHANGHAI SR AIRCRAFT TECHNICS, China is being formed by SR Technics and Shanghai FASCO to provide line maintenance, technical training, technical consulting and other services at Shanghai Intl. Airport starting in April 2006.

SITA was selected by TransCaribbean Airways (TCA), Netherlands Antilles to supply a suite of IT applications (reservations, online booking, AIRCOM, and flight operations), worth $6m. TCA plans startup with four A319s.

AEROTECHNIC INDUSTRIES, Morocco is being formed by Royal Air Maroc at Marrakech-Menara to provide maintenance and repair of A320s and 737s. It plans to invest MAD70m to build 11,000 sq m, 2-bay hangar at airport.

PRATT & WHITNEY and SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AVIATION opened $12m, 67,500 sq ft maintenance hangar at Victorville being leased from Southern California Logistics Airport; it is expected to service about 20 aircraft in 2006.

PRATT & WHITNEY has MOU with Airbus to offer the 18,000-24,000 lb thrust PW6000 for the A318 Elite (ACJ).

AIRBUS NORTH AMERICA plans January 30 to break ground on Mobile (AL) Engineering Center to open in 2007.

AERMAC SERVICES, Malaysia has MOU with AirAsia to look at possibility of providing 737/A320 maintenance.

SR TECHNICS has 3-year Vietnam Airlines contract for CFM56 maintenance/repair (15 shop visits) for 10 A320s.

MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE placed ratings for BOEING, BOEING CAPITAL and MCDONNELL DOUGLAS under review for possible upgrade, due to, it says, the favorable demand trends in aerospace and defense sectors.

THALES has LAN contract to supply TopSeries IFE system for 18 767s, plus options for three 767s/four A340s.

CONSORCIO AEROMEXICO is to be new name for Cintra following sale of Mexicana to Grupo Posadas in 4Q05.

CHINA EASTERN took delivery of first of 15 A330-300s with Trent 700s on order to replace its 13 A300-600s.

BOEING is offering signals intelligence (SIGINT) variant of US Navy P-8A MMA, which is based on 737-700.

ACI AVIATION CONSULTING completed aircraft valuation project for FAA on about 800 aircraft in CRAF program.

SUAL, Russia plans by end of 2007 to launch Û75m aircraft aluminum plate plant at Kamensk-Uralsky facility.

TELEDYNE CONTROLS received Design Organization Approval from EASA for its office in London, UK.

SAS DENMARK pilots ended 3-day strike, and resumed negotiations with SAS on a new contract.

ROCKWELL COLLINS has 10-year PSA Airlines contract for avionics maintenance for 35 CRJ200s and 14 CRJ700s.

BAE SYSTEMS REGIONAL AIRCRAFT has $30m in contracts from Lufthansa Regional Group to provide JetSpares support services for 18 Lufthansa CityLine RJ85s, 14 Eurowings BAe 146s, and five Air Dolomiti BAe 146s. BAE says 190 BAe 146s/Avros are now covered under JetSpares program, representing about 50% of in-service fleet.

UK CAA set vortex wake separation requirements for the A380: an additional minute (added to current regulations) for departures; 10 nm for final approach and 15 nm for all other phases of flight; and 1,500 ft vertical separation.

MURRAY AIR CERTIFICATIONS (MAC), MI was retained by Virgin America, CA as FAA certification consultant; it recently completed preparation of airline's operating manuals. Virgin America plans 2006 startup with A319s/A320s.

AVIATION PARTNERS BOEING has orders for blended winglets from China Airlines for 11 737-800s for retrofit at the airline's facility in Taipei in 2006, and from TAAG Angola for four new 737-700s for delivery in July-Dec. 2006.

LMI AEROSPACE, MO file registration with SEC for proposed public offering of 2.9m shares. It fabricates, machines and finishes formed, close tolerance aluminum and specialty alloy components and sheet metal products for aircraft.

SITA GROUP plans July 2006 to consolidate communications services business (SITA SC), IT systems, solutions and services business (SITA INC) and its Group Services into single organization. It had $642m revenues in 2004.

AIM COMPOSITES, UK and CHAMELEON PRODUCTS, UK teamed to develop and market Chameleon Process, a water transfer technology to apply decorative finishes to interior furnishings. AIM will produce process in Alfreton, UK.

ANAC (Akzo Nobel), The Netherlands developed Airbus-approved coatings system for A380 that uses extra layer between primer and topcoat to enable selective chemical removal of the topcoat only in preparation for repainting; it expects system to cut aircraft downtime during maintenance by up to 40% by avoiding need to strip to bare metal.

AEROSIM TECHNOLOGIES, MN has Japan Airlines order for dual flight management system trainer for 737-800.



Profit & Loss

ALASKA AIR GROUP reported net losses of $33m in 4Q05 (vs $45m loss in 4Q04) and $5.9m in 2005 (vs $15.3m

loss in 2004); revenues totaled $730.6m in 4Q05 (vs $656.3m) and $3b in 2005 (vs $2.7b). ALASKA AIRLINES

lost $10.8m on $2.4b in 2005 vs $85.4m loss on $2.2b in 2004; its aircraft utilization fell 1.8% to 10.8 hours per day.

AIRTRAN reported net loss of $.4m in 4Q05 (vs $1.1m profit in 4Q04) and net profit of $2.7m in 2005 (vs $12.3m in

2004), its 7th consecutive profitable year; revenues totaled $408m in 4Q05 (vs $279.4m) and $1.4b in '05 (vs $1b).

KOREAN AIR had $32.3m net income in 4Q05 vs $206.3m in 4Q04; revenues rose 6.1% to $2.06b.

MIDWEST AIR GROUP (Midwest/Skyway) lost $64.9m on $523m revenues in '05 vs $43.1m loss on $415m in '04.

JET AIRWAYS, India had $13.5m net profit on $332.7m revenues in quarter ended December 31 vs $29.6m on

$281.4m a year ago; it had $49.9m net profit on $924.7m in April-December '05 vs $59.2m on $731m a year ago.

UPS had $3.9b net income on $42.6b revenues in '05 vs $3.3b on $36.6b in '04; intl. package volume rose 17.2%.

GE AVIATION reported profits of $752m in 4Q05 (vs $709m in 4Q04) and $2.6b in 2005 (vs $2.2b in '04); revenues

totaled $3.3b in 4Q05 (vs $3.2b) and $11.9b in 2005 (vs $11.1b). Aviation represented 8% of GE's total sales in 2005.

PRATT & WHITNEY reported profit of $362m in 4Q05 (vs $280m in 4Q04) and $1.4b in '05 (vs $1.1b in '04); revenues

totaled $2.6b in 4Q05 (vs $2.2b) and $9.3b in 2005 (vs $8.3b). Pratt represented 22% of UTC's total sales in 2005.

AERO INVENTORY, UK received 5-year extension of HAECO contract to manage and supply 747, 777, A320, and

A330/A340 component spares inventory (principally for Cathay Pacific). It is also making equity offering to raise

£92.3m (£88.4m net) to become one of two Airbus-appointed Nominated Service Providers (selection expected in

1H06) to supply consumable parts procurement and inventory management services to Airbus aircraft operators.

HEXCEL had $139.7m net income (includes $117.6m benefit from reversal of valuation allowance vs US deferred tax

assets) on $1.2b sales in 2005 vs $28.8m on $1.1b in 2004; commercial aerospace sales rose 14.5% to $529.4m.

CTT SYSTEMS, Sweden has Jet Aviation order for Cair cabin humidification system for an A320 VIP aircraft.

A J WALTER AVIATION, UK purchased Aero-Lloyd's entire A320 spares inventory warehoused in Frankfurt.

CHINA SOUTHERN carried record 44.1m pax in 2005 vs 39m in 2004; cargo rose 42% to 774,550 tonnes.

EATON Fluid Power business earned $339m on $3.2b sales in 2005 vs $338m on $3.1b in 2004. Its commercial aerospace shipments rose 11% in 4Q05, and it expects significantly higher growth in commercial aerospace in 2006.

CESSNA AIRCRAFT earned $457m on $3.5b revenues in 2005 ($6.9b backlog) vs $267m on $2.5b ($5.9b) in 2004.

HORIZON AIR earned $6.2m on $556.4m revenues in 2005 vs $9.3m on $503.2m in '04; aircraft utilization rose 5%.

MESA had $13m net profit on $323.6m revenues in first quarter ended Dec. 31 vs $13.9m on $264.8m a year ago.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Board of Directors authorized repurchase of up to $300m of company's common stock.



Regionals & Business Jets

EXPRESSJET HOLDINGS reported net profits of $24.9m in 4Q05 ($33.6m in 4Q04) and $98m in 2005 ($122.8m in 2004); revenues totaled $405m in 4Q05 (vs $387m) and $1.6b in 2005 (vs $1.5b). It performed better than budgeted rates under capacity purchase agreement with Continental Airlines, resulting in $4.2m rebate to Continental for 4Q05.

EMBRAER Board approved plan to change capital structure (to facilitate access to capital markets and increase financing resources for future programs) and create new corporation listed on the Novo Mercado of the BOVESPA.

SAAB AEROTECH was formed via consolidation of Saab Aircraft, Saab Nyge Aero, Saab Aerosystems Customer Support businesses (to be the Aircraft Services Division) with Aerotech Telub, Saab Aviocomp and Saab Metech.

BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE made first flight of 12-pax Challenger 605 with GE CF34-3Bs and ROCKWELL COLLINS Pro Line 21 avionics; EIS is 2H07. 605 has 200 lb higher payload than Challenger 604; 4,045-nm-range (Mach .74).

COMAIR (Delta) pilots agreed to concessionary labor agreement designed to save airline about $17.3m annually.

ACE AVIATION priced IPO for 23.5m units of JAZZ AIR INCOME FUND at C$10 each for 19.1% of Jazz; options for additional 3.5m can be purchased, increasing stake in airline to 22%. Jazz now operates 63 Dash 8s and 65 CRJs.

GENERAL DYNAMICS AEROSPACE earned $495m on $3.4b sales in 2005 vs $393m on $3b in 2004. GULFSTREAM delivered 89 green aircraft (63 large) vs 78 (56), and completed 84 (60) vs 77 (52); it sold 12 used aircraft vs 15.

CIMBER AIR SUPPORT has Interstate Airlines contract to provide component support for up to three ATR 42s.

M7 AEROSPACE, TX has repair station certification from EASA for facilities in San Antonio and Springfield, MO.

ATLASJET, Turkey ordered three CRJ900s, and optioned two. It currently operates two CRJ700s.

LAFT, MT ordered 35 2-seat Liberty XL2 single-engine piston aircraft for lease to a Florida-based training academy.

ASSOCIATED AVIATION, Nigeria purchased two EMB 120s (048/050) from SkyWest; SkyQuest Intl. arranged.

JETSUL, São José dos Pinhais, Brazil leased ex-Trans States J41 (057) from BAE Systems Regional Aircraft.

AERO CONTRACTORS, Nigeria wet-leased Dash 8-300 (609) from Schreiner Aviation Group (CHC Global).

DARWIN AIRLINE, Lugano, Switzerland leased Saab 2000 (015) from SWISS International Air Lines.

SWISS leased second (3380) of planned six ex-British Airways CitiExpress Avro RJ100s for fleet rationalization.

CITYJET, Ireland leased ex-FlyBE BAe 146-200 (2136) from BAE Systems, and now has 19 BAe 146s.

BAE SYSTEMS sold ex-ACA J32 (890) to AEROLINEA DE ANTIOQUIA, Colombia; ex-Regionsair J32 (883) to

CORPORATE FLIGHT MANAGEMENT; ex-Aerocaribe J32 (915) to ROCKHOPPER, UK; and J32 (878) off-lease to

AIR NATIONAL, New Zealand. BAE Systems Regional Aircraft reports it sold 38 and leased four J32s in 2005.

ANSETT AUSTRALIA is parting out BAe 146-300 (3137; built in 1989).

BAE SYSTEMS leased three each ATP E-Class Freighters to ATLANTIC AIRLINES, UK (2015/ 2017/2024), and to FIRST FLIGHT COURIERS, India (2039/2051/2054) for startup.

EASTERN AIRWAYS, UK leased third and fourth ex-Trans States J41s (071/074) from BAE Systems.

VALLEYSOFT, Angola purchased three ex-ASA EMB 120s (165/210/249) from Delta Air Lines.

ATR had $542m turnover in 2005 vs $469m in 2004; it delivered 15 new aircraft (vs 13 in 2004), placed 48 used (51) aircraft, and booked orders for 90 new aircraft (12). It plans to increase production and deliver 25 in '06 and 40 in '07.

EADS SOCATA, FL plans to roll out 6-seat, TBM 850 with PT6A-66D in Orlando on February 23.

ROBINSON HELICOPTER, CA delivered record 806 helicopters (243 R22s and 563 R44s) in 2005 vs 690 (234 R22s and 456 R44s) in 2004. It says the previous record of 780 annual helicopter deliveries was set by BELL in 1980.

THUNDER AVIATION SERVICES, Chesterfield, MO received repair station certification from EASA.

PRECISION ELECTRONICS, GA has ATR Support contract for repair and overhaul of 30 ATR component types.

E&S, UT has CAE contract to supply the visual system for EMBRAER 170 simulator ordered by Saudi Arabian.

SANDEL AVIONICS, CA received TSO from EASA for its ST3400 TAWS and SN3500 EHSI systems.

AVFAB, MO was approved by Brazilian MOD to install its Aft Jump Seat kit on the King Air 100, 200 and 300.

CHARTERAUCTION.COM, MA plans to begin doing business (private charter service) under name of JETS INTL.

JSSI and EVAS teamed to cross-market services. JSSI customers will receive preferred pricing for EVAS cockpit smoke displacement system, and EVAS customers will get preferred pricing on JSSI's maintenance programs.

RADIANT ENERGY, Canada opened an InfraTek aircraft deicing facility at Oslo Airport (OSL), Norway. SAS GROUND SERVICES NORWAY is operating the facility.

E&S, UT has launch order from Airbus for its EP-10 visual system for A320 FNPT II training device at Toulouse.

FLIGHTSCAPE, Canada was selected by CAA Mongolia to provide technology for new flight recorder laboratory.


Traffic, Airports & Routes

AAPA members flew 531.1b RPKs in 2005, up 5.1% vs 2004; ASKs rose 4.6%. Cargo rose 3.3% to 51.3b RTKs.

CZECH AIRLINES (CSA) carried record 5.2m pax in 2005, up 20% from 4.3m in 2004.

AIRTRAN AIRWAYS plans (date TBA) to begin daily White Plains, NY-Atlanta/-West Palm Beach/-Orlando (717).

IBERIA plans February 1 to begin daily La Coruña, Spain-London Heathrow (A320).

AMERICAN AIRLINES plans February 3 to resume LaGuardia-New Orleans (MD-80).

UNITED plans March 4 to begin weekly O'Hare-Puerto Vallarta and LAX-Cancun (A320); both will expand to daily.

ATA AIRLINES plans April 2 to begin 14-times-weekly Houston Hobby-LaGuardia (737-800).

WIZZ AIR plans April 7 to begin three-times-weekly Katowice-Cologne, Germany (A320).

ATA AIRLINES plans late April to begin Oakland, CA-Honolulu/-Maui/-Hilo and Ontario, CA-Honolulu (757).

KLM plans May 28 to begin twice-weekly Amsterdam-Chengdu, China (777-200ER).

DELTA AIR LINES plans June 5 to begin daily JFK-Kiev, Ukraine (767-300ER).

EMIRATES plans October 3 to begin four-times-weekly Dubai-Copenhagen, Denmark (A330-200).

AIR CANADA plans in 1H07 to begin daily Toronto-LAX-Sydney, Australia (777)

AIR NOSTRUM (Iberia) plans Feb. 1 to begin daily Madrid-Nantes, France (CRJ), Iberia's eighth city in France.

AMERICAN EAGLE plans April 3 to begin three-times-daily DFW-Lafayette, LA (Saab 340).