The Airport Authority (AA) yesterday announced a HK$4.5-billion expansion plan for Chek Lap Kok Airport to capitalize on growth opportunities.

Air Canada intends to challenge Qantas between Los Angeles and Sydney next year, operating fifth freedom services as part of a daily Toronto-Sydney service that will commence during the first half of 2007 when its new 777-300ERs and dash 200LRs begin arriving.Air Canada said it will use authority contained in the recent open skies agreement between the US and Canada and will apply to Canadian and Australian authorities for permission to operate the route.

Alaska Air Group Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer credited "sacrifices by our employees, strong revenue performance and the benefits of our fuel hedging program" for the company's improved performance in 2005, which saw the parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air narrow its net loss 61.4% to $5.9 million from a 2004 deficit of $15.3 million.

Virgin Blue is working towards a deal that would see it add another codeshare and Velocity frequent flyer partner by the end of March, with others likely to follow later in the year.

Korean Air concluded a challenging FY05 with net earnings of KRW202.3 billion ($205.6 million), a 61.1% plunge from its 2004 profit of KRW519.5 billion. Chairman and CEO Yang-Ho Cho acknowledged last year's difficulties, saying, "High fuel prices throughout the year combined with the pilots strike in December caused a decrease in the airline's net profit. However, our efforts to enhance profitability through cost savings and fuel surcharges brought about an increase in Korean Air's overall operating profit." Indeed, operating profit rose 12.6% to KRW432.2 billion on a 5.2% gain in revenues to KRW7.58 trillion and a 4.8% climb in expenses to KRW7.15 trillion.

Rising demand from long-haul business class passengers helped British Airways increase profits significantly in the third quarter and offset a jump in fuel and other cost increases.

It will take at least five years to realize a low-cost aviation market in China, said Mao Ang, an analyst with China Galaxy Securities.

United Airlines formally, and finally, exited bankruptcy yesterday after 1,150 days during which it cut annual costs by approximately $7 billion including more than $3 billion in concessions from labor unions, reduced and reconfigured its fleet to fly more profitable international routes and launched its low-cost subsidiary Ted."Today, we have the business platform we need to compete with the strongest carriers and a clear strategy of offering the right service to the right customer at the right price," Chairman, President and CEO Glenn Tilton said in a statement. "As we move ahead, United is committed to continuous improvement in costs, revenue and operations to optimize our resources and sustain competitive margins."

Qantas confirmed to ATWOnline last week that its evaluation of the 777-200LR is ongoing despite local media reports indicating it had been shelved. Qantas CFO Peter Gregg told this website that the 777-200LR is "definitely under serious evaluation," although he was coy on the finer details of the operational options under examination.

Boeing yesterday raised its earnings outlook for 2006-07 on the back of strong sales and earnings momentum as it reported that fourth-quarter net income more than doubled to $460 million from $186 million in the year-ago period.The result propelled full-year income up 37% to $2.57 billion from $1.87 billion in 2004.