Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) is suspending the Denver-Durango route on October 29, 2013 for the winter season. The intra-Colorado route is currently operated with Airbus A319s and will be restored next summer according to Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 N934FR (msn 2287) with L.J., the Baby Lynx, prepares to land at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).
Frontier Airlines (2nd):ย 
Volaris (Mexico City) will launch a new route connecting Guadalajara with Phoenix starting on October 19. The new route will be operated three days a week with Airbus A319s.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-132 XA-VOR (msn 2296) “Rebeca” approaches Los Angeles International Airport.
Volaris:ย
Routes from Guadalajara:
Air Canada (Montreal) today announced that it will launch weekly nonstop flights between Toronto (Pearson) and Vail, Colorado served by nearby Eagle County Regional Airport in time for the 2013-14 winter ski season. Air Canada will operate its new seasonal service to Vail on Saturdays beginning December 14, 2013 until April 5, 2014, with 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft offering a choice of Executive or Economy Class service, and featuring complimentary seat back entertainment throughout the aircraft. Air Canada’s flights to Vail from its main hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport are timed to offer customers easy flight connections throughout its extensive network in Eastern and Atlantic Canada including Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.
Air Canada’s Toronto (Pearson)-Vail Schedule:
| Flight # | Depart Toronto |
Arrive Vail, CO |
Flight # | Depart Vail, CO |
Arrive Toronto |
| AC1051 | 09:50 | 11:45 | AC1052 | 12:30 | 17:43 |
In other news,ย Air Canada has also announced it will launch weekly seasonal flights between Halifax and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Florida, beginning December 14, 2013 until the end of April, 2014. Air Canada will operate flights on Saturdays using 97-seat Embraer ERJ 190 aircraft.
Air Canada’s Halifax-Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Schedule:
| Flight # | Depart Halifax |
Arrive Fort Lauderdale |
Flight # | Depart Fort Lauderdale |
Arrive Halifax |
| AC1216 | 08:15 | 11:00 | AC1217 | 11:45 | 16:30 |
Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-114 C-GBHY (msn 800) prepares to land at Las Vegas.
Air Canada:ย
US Airways Group, Inc. (US Airways) (Phoenix) today reported its second quarter 2013 financial results. For the second quarter 2013, pretax profit excluding net special items was $409 million, the highest in Company history. Net profit excluding net special items was a record $324 million, or $1.58 per diluted share. Net profit excluding net special items for the second quarter 2012 was $321 million, or $1.61 per diluted share. The Company’s 2013 second quarter net profit excluding net special items was negatively impacted by a non-cash provision for income tax of $85 million. There was no provision for income tax recorded in 2012.
On a GAAP basis, the Company reported a net profit of $287 million for its second quarter 2013, or $1.40 per diluted share. This compares to a net profit of $306 million, or $1.54 per diluted share, for the same period in 2012. The Company’s 2013 second quarter net profit was negatively impacted by a non-cash provision for income tax of $67 million.
See the accompanying notes in the Financial Tables section of this press release for a reconciliation of GAAP financial information to non-GAAP financial information.
Revenue and Cost Comparisons
Total revenues in the second quarter were a record $3.9 billion, up 2.9 percent versus the second quarter 2012 on a 3.4 percent increase in total available seat miles (ASMs). Total revenue per ASM was 16.22 cents, down 0.5 percent versus the same period last year driven by a 2.8 percent decrease in passenger yield, offset by a record quarterly load factor of 85.1 percent.
Total operating expenses in the second quarter were $3.4 billion, up 1.0 percent over the same period last year. Mainline cost per available seat mile (CASM) was 12.88 cents, down 2.0 percent on a 4.2 percent increase in mainline ASMs. Excluding special items, fuel and profit sharing, mainline CASM was 8.21 cents, down 0.4 percent versus the same period last year. Express CASM excluding special items and fuel was 14.34 cents, up 1.1 percent on a 0.3 percent decrease in ASMs.
Liquidity
As of June 30, 2013, the Company had a record $4.0 billion in total cash and investments, of which $350 million was restricted. This is up approximately $1.1 billion from the Company’s first quarter 2013 total cash and investments balance of $2.9 billion, of which $352 million was restricted.
During the second quarter, the Company raised approximately $870 million in net incremental cash through a series of financing transactions.ย These transactions included the refinancing of the Company’s term loan (resulting in approximately $270 million in incremental cash); the issuance of high yield bonds in an aggregate principal amount of $500 million; and a $100 million C-tranche to its 2012-2 EETC.
Special Items
The Company recognized approximately $55 million of net special items before taxes in the second quarter. Operating special items totaled $24 million and were primarily related to merger costs. The Company also recognized approximately $31 million in nonoperating special items primarily related to debt extinguishment charges due to non-cash write offs of debt discount and debt issuance costs in connection with conversions of the Company’s 7.25% convertible senior notes and repayment of the Citicorp North America term loan. The net tax effect of these special items was approximately $18 million.
Merger Update
The Company and its representatives continue to work closely with their counterparts at American in merger integration planning. The Company continues to expect the transaction to close in the third quarter. Recent accomplishments include:
Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-112 N733UW (msn 1205) in the Pittsburgh Steelers motif taxies to the active runway at the Charlotte hub.
US Airways:ย
American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) today (July 23) welcomed its first Airbus A319 aircraft, the first of 260 planned Airbus narrow body deliveries. American and Airbus celebrated this important milestone with a special delivery ceremony at the Airbus manufacturing facility in Hamburg (Finkenwerder), Germany.
According to American, “The Airbus A319 will offer customers modern technology and increased comfort onboard, including leather seats, Wi-Fi and in-seat entertainment throughout the aircraft. In addition, customers will be able to stay connected throughout their travels with individual universal power outlets and USB jacks at every seat.”
The Airbus A319 will offer a wide selection of inflight entertainment options for customers throughout the aircraft. First Class customers will enjoy a complimentary selection of up to 200 movies, up to 180 TV programs, more than 350 audio selections and up to 15 games, on a 12.1-inch HD-capable touchscreen monitor at each seat. Each seat throughout the Main Cabin will offer 8.9-inch HD-capable touchscreen monitors with an assortment of entertainment options, including movies, TV programs, games and audio selections.
In addition to increased technology offerings, the newย Airbus aircraftย pave the way forย Americanย to have a more fuel-efficient fleet, incorporating the latest in aerodynamic improvements. The A319s have Sharklets on the wings and other modifications to reduce fuel burn and keep American on the path toward being a more environmentally friendly airline.
American’s A319s will begin service in September from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to select cities, followed by additional routes throughout the end of the year. Initial routes planned for the A319 include service between DFW and Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; Memphis, Tennessee; and Wichita, Kansas.
As previously announced, American plans to take delivery of 260 Airbus aircraft from the A320 family, including 130 current-generation aircraft from the A321 and A319 variants through 2017, and 130 A320neo aircraft with next-generation engine technology beginning in 2017. American will configure some of the current-generation A321s for use on trans-Continental flights, designating these aircraft as A321Ts. The A321T is scheduled to begin service between New York’sย John F. Kennedy International Airportย (JFK) andย Los Angeles International Airportย (LAX), and JFK andย San Francisco International Airportย (SFO) in early 2014.
Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A319-112 WL D-AVYQ became N8001N (msn 5678) on the hand over. N8001N is also the first AA Airbus aircraft with Sharklets.
American Airlines:ย
Brussels Airlines (Brussels) is sponsoring the music event โTomorrowlandโ.
According to Wikipedia, TomorrowLandย is a massive electronic music festival. It is organized byย ID&T, Entertainment and Media Enterprise.[TomorrowLand occurs in the town ofย Boom, close toย Antwerp, inย Belgium, and has been organized since 2005. It has since become one of the most notable global music festivals.
The first festival was held on August 14, 2005 and consisted of performers such asย Push (M.I.K.E.),ย Armin Van Buuren,ย Cor Fijneman,ย Yves Deruyter,ย Technoboyย andย Coone.
Copyright Photo: Karl Cornil/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 OO-SSB (msn 2400) now carries a prominent TomorrowLand logo. In addition, Airbus A330-301 OO-SFN (msn 037) also carries even larger TomorrowLand logos.
Brussels Airlines:ย
Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) continues to tweak its route map, dropping city pairs that do not make money and starting new routes in the hope they will. The company is ending service to South Bend, Indiana from its Denver hub. The last flight will be on September 9. Frontier added SBN in October but the DEN-SBN route failed to attract enough customers.
Read the full story from the South Bend Tribune: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A319-111 N908FR (msn 1759) in the Blue Heron motif, arrives in Las Vegas.
Frontier Airlines (2nd):ย
EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) has introduced its new “Flight Tracker” service for its passengers with the latest flight information. The company issued today this statement:
EasyJet passengers can now access minute by minute updates about their flight thanks to a new Flight Tracker tool available at easyjet.com and on the easyJet app.
Flight Trackerย allows customers jetting off on a summer holiday or business meeting to access live information about their flight up to 48 hours before departure and en route to the airport.
In addition to providing traditional departure and arrival information, Flight Tracker gives easyJet passengers supplementary information direct from its operation control centre at London Luton Airport. The system is believed to be an industry first, with no other airline offering information en mass at an individual flight level.
EasyJet began trialling Flight Tracker in February 2013, since then nearly 3.5 million passengers have used it to access information about flights at:ย www.easyjet.com/en/flight-tracker
Peter Duffy, Marketing Director for easyJet, said: “Flight Tracker is a real innovation in the aviation world and is now available to all easyJet passengers via our website, the easyJet app or their mobile device. It allows customers โ and their friends and family โ to gain peace of mind by checking the status of their flight en route to the airport or during periods of adverse weather or strike disruption.”
During the peak of summer Flight Tracker will monitor up to 214 easyJet aircraft as they take hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers across Europe, the Middle East and Russia. Updates can be added for one flight, all flights from a specific airport or every flight in a just a matter of seconds.
Flight Tracker is now available on the easyJet app which also allows passengers to download mobile boarding passes to their phone. The award winning app has been downloaded over 5.4 million times, with over 100,000 mobile boarding passes downloaded since May. It is available to download atย http://www.easyjet.com/mobile
Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZIO (msn 2512) is the “Supporting UNICEF” special livery climbs away from Southend, easyJet’s newest London hub.
EasyJet (UK):ย
American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) is planning to operate the new Airbus A319 on a new overnight daily Dallas/Fort Worth-Bogota and return route starting on November 21 per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-112 D-AVYQ (msn 5678) will become N8001N on delivery this month.
American Airlines:ย
Germania Fluggesellsschaft (Berlin) has announced it move its operations from Berlin Tegel Airport toย Berlin Schรถnefeld on November 1. The move will be temporary.ย Berlin Schรถnefeld will be closed once the adjacent new Berlin Brandenburg Airport is opened next year. The airline will also add new service to Skopje.
The company issued this statement (translated from German):
Moving from north to south-east Berlin:
From November 1, 2013 launch for both line connections as well as the Germania charter flights from Berlin Schoenefeld Airport.ย At the same time, the Berlin-based airline has announced the addition of the Macedonian capital of Skopje to its network.
Germania Technology Brandenburg, a subsidiary of Germania, already operates at Berlin Schรถnefeld with a maintenance hangar together with Airberlin.ย The move from Berlin Tegel to Berlin Schรถnefeld allows the Germania Group a cost reduction by avoiding duplication in technology and maintenance.ย With the concentration of air operations in one location, the airline also avoids positioning flights between the two airports.
For tour operators, Germania already flies from Berlin Schรถnefeld to the Canary Islands, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A319-112 D-AHIM (msn 3818) arrives at Antalya.
Germania:ย
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