Vueling Airlines (Vueling.com) ย (Barcelona) will open a new base in Brussels in May 2014. The airline stated it would launch seven new routes from BRU to Ibiza, Lisbon, Oporto, Palma de Mallorca, Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Venice bringing the Brussels total to 11 routes.
Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Vueling’sย Airbus A320-214 EC-LVP (msn 5587) with Sharklets in the “Linking Europe” special scheme arrives at London Heathrow.
Vueling Airlines:ย 
Virgin America (San Francisco) today reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2013 with operating income of $44.4 million and net income of $33.5 million on total revenue of $387.3 million. ย The airline posted an operating margin of 11.5 percent โ a 7.2 point improvement for the third quarter, driven largely by a 9.4 percent growth in revenue per available seat mile (“RASM”) over the year-earlier period.
Third Quarter 2013 Financial Highlights
Since taking a pause in its fleet and network expansion, Virgin America is now experiencing improved revenue and profitability performance across its network. Virgin America took delivery of one aircraft in the first quarter of 2013, increasing its total operating fleet to 53 aircraft.ย The Company does not plan to increase its fleet again until the second half of 2015, when aircraft on order from Airbus are scheduled for delivery.
Virgin America completed a restructuring of the majority of its debt with investors during May 2013, eliminating more than $300 million of existing debt and accrued interest.ย As a result of this restructuring, Virgin America expects its interest expense to substantially decline to approximately $10 million per quarter through 2014.ย Had the May 2013 restructuring been completed prior to the beginning of the year, Virgin America’s year-to-date net income would have been approximately $30 million higher.
Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Virgin America’s Airbus A320-214 N836VA (msn 4480) completes its final bank on the River Approach into Washington’s Reagan National Airport.
Virgin America:ย
Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) has announced it will add nonstop service from Wilmington- New Castle Airport in Wilmington, Delaware (ILG) to Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) and Detroit, Michigan (DTW) starting on April 29, 2014.
The addition of these two new cities brings the total number of routes served from the Wilmington/Philadelphia area to seven: Atlanta; Chicago-Midway; Denver; Detroit; Fort Myers; Orlando; and Tampa.
Following is the schedule for Frontierโs Atlanta service**:
Wilmington-Atlantaย (beginning April 29, 2014)
Following is the schedule for Frontierโs Detroit service:
Wilmington-Detroitย (beginning April 29, 2014)
All service from Wilmington-New Castle Airport operates on 168-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.
Copyright Photo: Rurik Enriquez/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A320-214 N204FR (msn 2325) with the Bald Eagle on the tail lands in Cancun, Mexico.
Frontier Airlines:ย
Route Map:
Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich) has issued this statement:
Swiss International Air Lines and its Aeropers and IPG pilotsโ unions have reached an agreement in their negotiations on the future overall structure and working parameters for the companyโs cockpit crew corps.
Swiss and its Aeropers and IPG cockpit crew unions have been in discussions since the end of last year with a view to establishing forward-looking working structures and laying the foundations for a single pilot corps. After intensive negotiations, the parties have found a viable compromise in the last few days that has met with the approval of both unions and the company.
The key issues in these discussions have been creating an integrated Swiss European and Swiss International pilot corps, efficiently introducing the new Bombardier CS100 and Boeing 777 aircraft types, sustainably maintaining Swissโ competitive edge, securing cockpit jobs and establishing and developing the companyโs new Geneva crew base.
The agreement reached will now be used to work out the corresponding amendments to the collective labour agreements (CLAs) of the two pilot corps between now and the end of this year. These amendments will then be presented to the unionsโ respective members for approval. The aim here is to have all collaborations under the new employment parameters from April 2014 onwards.
With the result of these negotiations, and the corresponding integration of Swiss European Air Lines into Swiss International Air Lines, Swiss is both setting a vital course for its own corporate future and breaking new ground within the airline industry.
In other news,ย Swiss International Air Lines has named its Airbus A320 HB-JLT โGrenchenโ (above) after the town in northwest Switzerland. The aircraft is something of a celebrity in the Swiss fleet: itโs the first member of Swiss’ Airbus A320 family to be equipped with sharklets, the winglets developed by the manufacturer to enhance inflight performance.
The symbolic naming ceremony was held in Grenchen and was attended by Boris Banga, the current Mayor of Grenchen, Daniel Bรคrlocher, Swiss’ Head of Corporate Communications and Peter Fasler, Head of Licence and Rating Training at Swiss Aviation Training subsidiary. Performing the honor was top Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann, the four-time Olympic gold medallist, World Champion and World Cup Winner, who serves as an ambassador for watch manufacturer Breitling, which is headquartered in the town.
The sharklet-equipped HB-JLT is the 38th member of the Airbus A320 family to be delivered to Swiss. The aircraft is deployed on medium-haul routes in Europe and on services to Africa and the Middle East.
The sharklets reduce aerodynamic drag in the wingtip area. Airbus calculates that the resulting fuel savings reduce the associated carbon dioxide emissions by some 1,000 tons per aircraft per year โ the equivalent of the CO2 produced by around 200 averagely-used family cars.
Copyright Photo: Nik French/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A320-214 WL HB-JLT (msn 5518) with Sharklets and a new name departs from Manchester.
Swiss:ย
Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) is celebrating 10 years of flying the Airbus A320 Family of aircraft. The airline issued this statement:
Ten years ago Aeroflot received its first aircraft from the Airbus familyย โ an A319 which was named after the eminent Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Prokofiev.
The A320 family airplanes meet all the requirements ofย security, reliability and passenger comfort. Aeroflot operates A320 aircraft onย European and domestic routes. Inย terms ofย operational reliability and actual hours flown per aircraft, the company isย among the world leaders. Cabins ofย this aircraft family are made inย two-class configuration and designed toย carry 116 (A319), 140 and 158 (A320), and 170 (A321) passengers.
Many aircraft ofย the A320 family which isย the backbone ofย Aeroflotโs park are decorated with unique liveries and logos. You can find A320s with the Dobrolet retro livery, Winter Olympics mascots (see below) and the Yekaterinburg World Expo 2020 Bid Committee logo. Aย jet from A320 family became the Olympic Torch Relay aircraft and brought the Olympic flame from Greece toย Moscow. The Olympic Torch Relay team will travel toย the northern regions ofย the country (from Kaliningrad toย Vladivostok) and toย the Caucasus onย board one of Aeroflotโs A320s.
Today Aeroflotโs fleet counts 140ย airplanes, most ofย them are ofย A319/320/321ย family. All the Airbus aircraft are delivered toย Aeroflot directly from the manufacturer. The average age ofย anย A320 family aircraft isย 5ย years.
Aeroflotโs fleet isย one ofย the youngest inย Europe. Byย the end ofย 2012, Aeroflot reached the fourth place among European carriers inย terms ofย aircraft deliveries, according toย Airline Business rating.
Aeroflot is celebrating its 90th anniversary inย 2013. Aeroflotย isย Russiaโs flagship airline and the largest national air company. Proudly being aย member ofย the SkyTeam global airline alliance,ย Aeroflotย with its partnering members provides service toย more than 1000 destinations inย 178ย countries.ย Aeroflotย operates one ofย the most modern and youngest fleets inย Europe counting 140 aircraft formed byย Airbus, Boeing and Sukhoi airliners with anย average airplane age between five and six years old. Inย 2012ย Aeroflotย carried 17.7 million passengers (27.5 million passengers asย Aeroflot Group), continuously showing the best results inย modern Russiaโs history.
Top Copyright Photos: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A320-214 VP-BWD (msn 2116) taxies past the camera at Zurich.
Aeroflot Russian Airlines:ย
Bottom Copyright Photo: OSDU/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A320-214 VP-BMF (msn 3711) in the Sochi 2014 – 2014 Winter Olympics scheme arrives at the Moscow (Sheremetyevo) hub.
Air France (Paris) is getting ready to celebrate 80 years of flying. To help celebrate the carrier is getting ready to take delivery of this brand new Airbus A320 with a special 80 ans-years logo.
Copyright Photo: Eurospot/AirlinersGallery.com. The pictured Airbus A320-214 F-WWIX (msn 5802) with Sharklets will become F-HEPG on the handover.
Air France:ย
Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (Indianapolis) today (October 1) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) to an affiliate of Indigo Partners LLC (Phoenix) in an all-cash transaction.
Indigo Partners and its principals, led by managing partner William A. Franke, have a history of investing in airline transportation and related industries and creating successful, differentiated companies. Under the terms of the stock purchase agreement, which has been approved by Republicโs Board of Directors, the buyer, an affiliate of Indigo Partners, will acquire all the outstanding shares of Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $145 million, of which $36 million (subject to certain adjustments under the purchase agreement) is to be paid in cash for the equity of Frontier Holdings and the balance is indebtedness that will be retained by Frontier. In addition, Indigo plans to invest additional funds directly in Frontier after the closing.
As part of the transaction, under a separate agreement, Republic will assign to Frontier all of Republicโs rights under agreements relating to the Republicโs Airbus A320neo order in exchange for reimbursement of pre-delivery deposits, which total $32 million.
โWe endorse and will support continued efforts to build Frontier into a leading nationwide ultra-low cost carrier (ULCC),โ said Franke. โAs airline fares continue to move up, passengers need affordable travel alternatives. Our goal will be to meet that need in more markets as we invest in the airline to grow its footprint, while maintaining a commitment to quality service, customer choice and satisfaction and continued employment opportunities for the Frontier team.โ
Completion of the transaction is conditioned on agreements being reached with the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and FAPA Invest LLC by no later than October 31, 2013, as well as agreement and documentation of other third-party commercial agreements. The transaction is also subject to receipt of required approvals by the Federal Communications Commission for the transfer of Frontierโs radio licenses, the receipt of certain third-party consents and releases and other customary closing conditions.
Assuming satisfaction of the conditions of the agreement, Republic expects the transaction to close in December 2013.
Barclays is serving as financial advisor and Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP is serving as legal advisor to Republic in connection with the transaction. Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as Indigo Partners LLCโs legal advisor.
Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Frontier’sย Airbus A320-214 N208FR (msn 4562) with the Cougar on the tail prepares to land at Baltimore/Washington.
Frontier Airlines:ย
VietJetAir (Ho Chi Minh City) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for up to 92 A320 Family aircraft and will lease eight more from third party lessors. Theย agreement signed with Airbus covers for 42 A320neo, 14 A320ceo and six A321ceo, plus 30 purchase rights for the A320 Family.
VietJetAir is an existing A320 operator, with eight leased aircraft already in service. The carrier took delivery this week of its ninth A320, delivered new from Airbus via the US leasing company AWAS.
Top Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Formerly with Olympic Air, Airbus A320-214 SX-OAU (msn 4193) became VN-A699 with VietJetAir.
VietJetAir:ย
Bottom Copyright Photo: Airbus. The first Airbus A320 with Sharklets, the pictured A320-214 F-WWDR (msn 5742), was just handed over to the carrier as VN-A682 on September 26, 2013.
LATAM Airlines Group (LAN Airlines and TAM Linhas Aereas) (Santago and Sao Paulo) reported it lost $330 million in the second quarter. The group was created last year with the merger of the two airlines. The group is struggling in Brazil with TAM due to a weakening Brazilian economy. TAM is cutting costs and reducing flights.
Read the full report: CLICK HERE
LATAM Airlines Group Fleet Plans (excerpt from the report):
Top Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato/AirlinersGallery.com. Sporting new Sharklets, Airbus A320-214 PR-MYY (msn 5591) taxies at the Sao Paulo (Guarulhos) hub.
LAN Airlines (Chile):ย
TAM Linhas Aereas:ย
Bottom Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero/ModoCharlie.com. Boeing 777-F6N N772LA (msn 37708) arrives at the Santiago hub.
Gulf Air (Bahrain) has clarified its position regarding its involvement in a new domestic airline in Saudi Arabia. The flag carrier is acting as a consultant to the Al Qahtani Group. The airline has issued this statement:
Gulf Air, Bahrainโs national carrier, has issued a statement clarifying the recent awarding of two licenses by the General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia (GACA) to operate domestic services within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Gulf Air did not bid and has not been awarded domestic traffic rights to operate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The airlineโs involvement is in a consultative capacity only to the Al Qahtani Group, a consortium of privately owned companies based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, Gulf Airโs name and brand remain independent of the venture.
An initial contract signed last year appointing Gulf Air in an advisory role to support the Al Qahtani Groupโs bid for national traffic rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has concluded with the consortium being awarded one of the two licenses. A second consulting agreement between Gulf Air and the Al Qahtani Group is currently being negotiated whereby Gulf Air will support the Al Qahtani Group in obtaining its Saudi Arabian Air Operatorโs Certificate (AOC).
Gulf Air has been operating to Saudi Arabia for over 63 years, amassing extensive operational and logistical knowledge of the Kingdom. As such, the national carrier is in a position to support Al Qahtani obtain its Air Operatorโs Certificate and further facilitate its entrance into the market.
Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A320-214 A9C-AH (msn 4218) with Grand Prix 2012 markings arrives at Dubai.
Gulf Air:ย
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