Iberia expanding fleet; Finnair concludes cooperation with Finncomm Airlines; SAS up
European airline share movements were mixed on Wednesday (04-Aug-2010) as wider markets ended trading flat. Markets were confused after mixed economic data from the US, with better-than-expected services and private sector employment figures but poor retail revenue results released during trading.
In key markets, UK's FTSE (-0.2%) slipped, while Germany's DAX (+0.4%) and France's CAC (+0.4%) made small gains for the session.
Iberia expands fleet
Iberia (+1.4%) made gains on news the carrier is continuing to expand its fleet, after a year with no new aircraft because of the "bad situation of the airline industry". During trading, the carrier announced it took delivery of a new, and its, 17th A340-600. It is also the seventh aircraft to join the Iberia fleet in 2010 (five A340-600s and two A319s). The new aircraft will be operated on long-haul routes to Latin America, US and South Africa.
See related CAPA Profile: Fleets
Finnair concludes cooperation with Finncomm
Finnair (-3.6%) announced the conclusion of cooperation with Finncomm Airlines on seven domestic routes and the commencement of cooperation with flybe to improve domestic services. The cooperation will commence at the end of Oct-2010 using three turboprop aircraft based in Helsinki to fly routes including Tampere, Turku and Tallinn. Finncomm announced on 02-Aug-2010, it would cease its services to Jyvskyl, Pori and Seinjoki. Finnair announced on 03-Aug-2010 that it would increase Helsinki-Jyvskyl services.
See related CAPA Profile: Codesharing or Interlining
Elsewhere, Dart Group (-5.3%) was the biggest decliner of the day, while easyJet (-2.8%) continued to fall for a second consecutive session.
SAS (+4.5%) continued its recent upward movement, with Lufthansa (+3.0%) and Cimber Sterling (+2.7%) following.
Europe selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 04-Aug-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Yahoo! Finance & Reuters