Due to high oil price and furious competitions, although China Southern increased capacity and other finances through the acquisition of China Northern Airlines and Xinjiang Airlines, but last year's total loss still reached RMB1.848 billion yuan compared to the RMB48 million yuan loss in 2004. The stock value has decreased RMB0.42 yuan per share and no dividends for shareholders.

Southwest Airlines managed to stave off rising unit costs and a 79.6% jump in fuel expenses to record a first-quarter profit of $61 million, up 3.4% over the $59 million earned in the three months ended March 31, 2005.The carrier also announced yesterday that it will exercise options for 79 737-700s for delivery from 2007 through 2012, bringing its firm orders to 140.

Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, eked out a small but noteworthy profit of $2.8 million before special items in the historically challenging winter quarter, reversing an adjusted net loss of $41.7 million in the year-ago period.

Macquarie Airports is hoping the arrival later this year of the double-decker Airbus A380s and the emergence of longer-haul, low-cost carriers will help boost lacklustre growth in international traffic through Sydney Airport.

Air Berlin may announce more details of its upcoming IPO tomorrow.It is expected that the carrier's stock could begin trading as early as May 5. According to German daily Boersen-Zeitung, a possible press meeting Friday will signal the start of the road show for the offering, which includes a visit by CEO Joachim Hunold to the US to attract interest from Wall Street in the German low-fare airline.

Expenses surpassed revenues in a year in which Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines continued to absorb China Northern Airlines and Xinjiang Airlines, leading to an annual loss of CNY1.85 billion ($229.8 million) compared to a CNY155 million profit in 2004.

Internet travel services company Travelzoo Inc. shared that this year's first-quarter profit more than doubled and it benefited from a lower-than-expected loss from its operations in Europe and a decrease in its effective tax rate. (4/19/2006)

Low-fare shopping solution Worldspan e-Pricing has introduced new features for standard level subscribers in the United States and Canada, with users being offered twice the number of low-fare itinerary options in a single search to destinations worldwide. (4/18/2006)

JetBlue Airways may "modestly retard its growth" through retirement of its oldest aircraft or deferrals of new deliveries and could make an announcement to that effect as early as next week, JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker speculated in a report released Monday.A JetBlue spokesperson told ATWOnline the carrier is in a quiet period ahead of its quarterly results release on April 25 and could not comment. Yesterday, it announced it hired a new VP-revenue management, filling a position that had been vacant since last fall (see item below).