Airbus Deliveries Postponed By Singapore Airlines

Thursday saw Singapore Airlines, the world’s second largest airline by market value, declaring a deal with Airbus in order to postpone delivery of eight A380 aircraft – the latest step in a series of order deferment by global airlines amidst a downturn in air travel. Last month, the maiden delivery of an A380 was delayed by Thai Airways by two years to 2012.

After Airbus’ previous failure to construct the plane according to schedule and being compelled to pay compensation, a number of airlines have opted for deliveries of their superjumbo planes to be put back.

It will be between six months and 12 months later than originally planned that the deliveries to Singapore will take place under the new schedule.

Nicholas Ionides, a spokesman for the airline, said: “It is another measure that will help us better match capacity to demand during the downturn.”

No details regarding the costs associated with the rescheduling were made public by Singapore Airlines.

CLSA analyst Robert Bruce expressed, “Because you don’t need any more capacity for now, providing that there’s no cash cost for them to delay the delivery, it is positive news.”

Singapore Airlines, which is predicted to take delivery of another two aircraft this financial year, currently operates nine A380s.

It should be noted that the first quarterly loss in six years was recently posted by Singapore Airlines, which expects a full-year loss if the tough conditions continue.

Airline Stocks Fall, Led By Continental, United

Airline stocks declined Wednesday. At last check, the NYSE Arca Airline Index shed a fraction at 24.95 points with all but two of its 13 components trading down. Continental slipped 1% to $13.47, United parent UAL Corp. fell 1% to $6.68 and US Airways lost less than 1% at $3.74. Trading up were shares of AMR , Gol and Ryanair . The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 12 points to 9,530.

American Airlines November Traffic, Capacity Declines

AMR Corp., the operator of American Airlines and regional airline American Eagle, said late Thursday that traffic declined at American Airlines and rose at American Eagle in November.

American Airlines November traffic dipped 0.5% to 9.49 billion revenue passenger miles and traffic at American Eagle rose 11.7% to 634.6 million revenue passenger miles from a year ago.

A revenue passenger mile equals one passenger flown one mile.

Capacity in November fell 4.2% to 11.92 billion available seat miles at American Airlines and increased by 6.8% at American Eagle. Load factor, or the percentage of seats filled with passengers, in November rose to 79.6% from 76.6% at American Airlines and to 70.4% from 67.3% at American Eagle.

Allegiant Air Low Price Airline Ticket from Lansing to Grand Rapids airport

With the season’s first snow covering the ground, the timing could not have been better: Gerald R. Ford International Airport officials announced today that it had landed a low-cost airline to fly to vacation destinations in Florida.

Allegiant Air will move from Lansing’s airport to Grand Rapids in early February, offering discount, non-stop flights to Orlando and Tampa/St. Petersburg.

The airline will offer introductory airfares of $89 each way and later will raise them to $109.

An airline spokesman said Allegiant moved because Ford airport officials convinced it this is a more central location and because the runways are longer than those in Lansing.

The airport also waived landing fees and other fees for a year, which could save Allegiant up to $1 million, said airport executive director James Koslosky. Ford also agreed to spend up to $250,000 to market Allegiant.

“It was mostly the hard work of the airport, convincing us that the demand is here,” said Allegiant spokesman John Fenyes.

Allegiant Air flies from small and medium-sized cities to vacation destinations — Las Vegas, Phoenix and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa/St. Petersburg.
Airport officials urged the public to support Allegiant. “If they don’t use it, if they don’t fly, it ain’t going to work,” said airport board member Richard VanderMolen. “If they don’t use it, we’re going to lose it.”

Airport officials have worked with local business leaders for several years to lure a low-cost airline to Grand Rapids. They say the $130 million parking ramp, with 4,900 parking spaces on four levels and a wavy, glass-and-steel canopy, has been a big part of their sales pitch. It is to open in the fall of 2009.

It’s been a difficult sale, though, blamed in part on Northwest Airlines, the Minneapolis-based airline which is the local airport’s biggest carrier. The airline has a history of matching routes and prices of new low-cost airlines just long enough to drive them away. Airport officials call it the “red-tail effect,” referring to Northwest’s red-tailed jets.

As with many airports, business has suffered at the Ford. Since passenger counts peaked over 2 million in 2004, they have dropped by 7.4 percent. In the first half of this year, they continued to fall — down 4.5 percent compared to the first half of last year.

Ford airport officials say its bigger airlines aren’t providing enough flights or seats to meet
demand. Ticket prices are higher at Grand Rapids than many other markets.

Airlines are flying smaller jets from Grand Rapids, using the bigger aircraft for the more lucrative trans-Atlantic flights.

Airport officials have said they hoped a low-cost carrier would lead to lower ticket prices from other airlines serving Grand Rapids.

The Ford’s average domestic fare of $435 is fifth-highest among the top 100 airports and $105 more than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. While average U.S. fares dropped by nearly 5 percent since 2001, they have soared here, climbing by 8.5 percent.

A $27,000 study released in February found that a growing number of West Michigan travelers — about 25 percent — were driving to airports in Detroit, Chicago and elsewhere to catch flights. A similar study a decade ago showed a “leakage” rate of 12 percent.

American Airlines Winter Ski Destinations on Sale

If you are planning a winter ski trip this year, you might want to check out the discounted flights available for travel dates through March 31, 2009 on American Airlines. Great fares are available to destinations such as Vail, Steamboat Springs, and Jackson Hole from various locations around the country, and start as low as $90*/each way based on a roundtrip purchase.

Keys to getting a great price:

– Be flexible with your dates.
– Remember mid-week departures sometimes offer the best fares.
– Check multiple ski destinations for the cheapest roundtrip fare.
– Tickets must be purchased at least 14 days prior to departure.
– A two-day stay is required.
– Book now, sale could end any time.

Sample flights:

– Tulsa – Steamboat Springs – $90*/each way based on roundtrip fare.
– Chicago – Vail – $120*/each way based on roundtrip fare.
– Dallas – Jackson Hole – $145*/each way based on roundtrip fare.

I found a flight (super saver economy flight) from Birmingham, Alabama to Vail, Colorado leaving January 25, 2009 and returning on January 30, 2009 for $112*/each way. Pretty good deal if you are looking to plan a ski trip on a budget.

*Taxes, fees, and conditions apply.