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World Airways, North American Airlines Announce Renewed Contracts With U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 09:01 CDT

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- World Air Holdings, Inc. subsidiaries World Airways and North American Airlines have renewed contracts with the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC) to provide fixed and expansion international flying for fiscal year 2007, which begins Oct. 1, 2006, and ends Sept. 30, 2007. Both airlines now are part of the Alliance Contractor Team.

The consolidated World Air Holdings fixed buy for FY 2007 is approximately $73 million, with $47 million contracted to North American and $26 million contracted to World Airways. This is a 20 percent fixed-buy increase over the combined contract total of $61 million for the two airlines in FY 2006. World Airways remains the primary wide-body passenger carrier for the Alliance Team and North American will be the primary narrow-body passenger carrier.

For the first nine months of the FY 2006 contract, through June 30, 2006, World Airways has received a total of $320 million in military revenues, including $264 million from expansion flying and North American has received a total of $121 million in military revenues, including $120 million from expansion flying. The total estimated FY 2007 contract value for the entire Alliance Contractor Team, including fixed-buy and expansion cargo and passenger flying, is $1.08 billion. The company expects expansion demand to remain strong through the final quarter of FY 2006 as well as through FY 2007.

"We're pleased that our Alliance Contractor Team again received the largest award, and the combination of World Airways and North American has strengthened our share of the business," said Randy Martinez, chief executive officer of World Air Holdings. "We now have the aircraft types to cover almost any requirements for U.S. military international flying, including MD-11s, DC-10s, Boeing 767s and Boeing 757s, which will enable us to capture more of the Alliance Team's passenger entitlement. We are pleased to see a significant increase for North American, as we are now able to provide appropriate aircraft types for the different categories of fixed-buy flying that we couldn't do before the acquisition."

The following chart includes historical military revenues, in millions, for World Air Holdings (excluding revenue associated with fuel reconciliation to the per-gallon contract rate):

Fixed Fiscal Year Buy Percent Expansion Percent Total 2003 (World Airways) $82 25 $251 75 $333 2004 (World Airways) $128 34 $246 66 $374 2005* $104* 21 $394* 79 $498* 2006** $57** 13 $384** 87 $441** 2007 $73 TBD TBD TBD TBD * Includes North American for the period April 28 through Sept. 30, 2005 ** Partial year through June 2006 (nine months of fiscal year)

"World Airways has served the U.S. military continuously for more than 50 years and is the leading carrier of military personnel and dependents. North American has added to our team's capacity and flexibility to serve the military's needs, as we anticipated," Martinez said.

World Air Holdings, Inc., based in Peachtree City, Ga., has three wholly owned subsidiaries: World Airways, Inc., North American Airlines, Inc., and World Risk Solutions, Ltd. For information, visit http://www.worldairholdings.com/.

"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competition in the market for air transportation services, the cyclical nature of the air carrier business, reliance on key customer relationships, fluctuations in operating results and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Reports are available from the company upon request.) These various risks and uncertainties may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the company in this release.

World Air Holdings, Inc.

CONTACT: MEDIA, Steve Forsyth, +1-770-632-8322, or INVESTORS, JaniceKuntz, +1-404-352-2841, both of World Air Holdings, Inc.

Web site: http://www.worldairways.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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