US Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday disclosed which 11 airports will be first to receive advanced imaging technology units purchased with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, while the Transportation Security Administration installed the first units at Boston Logan.
British Airways and flight attendants represented by Unite set a Tuesday deadline "to determine whether or not a mutually acceptable settlement can be achieved," the UK Trades Union Congress said Friday. The parties have been negotiating with help from the TUC, doing so in the shadow of a strike authorization passed by cabin staff late last month and subsequent plans by the airline to use volunteers, pilots and 23 wet-leased aircraft to maintain operations ( ATWOnline, March 4).
Delta TechOps expanded its maintenance agreement with Sun Country Airlines to cover APU and component MRO services. Deal covers APUs on nine 737NGs for five years and extends an existing inventory supply and service contract covering SY's entire 737NG fleet through 2018.
GE Aviation and Air India announced an agreement under which the airline will provide MRO services on the GEnx-1B with technical support and training from the engine-maker. AI has 27 GEnx-1B-powered 787s on order with delivery expected to begin next year. "Air India envisages a state-of-the-art facility catering to GE90 and GEnx engines, including a new engine test facility," Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav said.
Qatar Airways took delivery of its 15th 777, a -300ER, and 80th overall aircraft, it said yesterday. It has 17 more on order. It is scheduled to launch service from Doha to Copenhagen (March 30), Ankara (April 5), Tokyo Narita (April 26) and Barcelona (June 7). Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium will add a seventh A320 configured with 180 seats in May.
Boeing announced that Air China and Air China Cargo will expand their use of the Airplane Health Management system for inflight monitoring of 777s and 747-400s. New contract adds 42 in-service and on-order aircraft to the 117 737s already covered. CA currently operates 10 777-200s and 10 747-400s while CA Cargo flies seven 747-400Fs. CA was Boeing's first Chinese AHM customer.
Alliance among Air Berlin, Niki and S7 Airlines is "quiet" while the first two carriers await expanded traffic rights to Russia ( ATWOnline, Jan. 13, 2009). "Without more traffic rights, we are not able to do much more in terms of cooperation," Niki President Niki Lauda told
European Low Fares Airline Assn.'s 11 members flew 162.5 million passengers in 2009, an 8.7% increase from 2008. Load factor averaged 82%. "These figures show clearly how ELFAA members are bucking the trend in the aviation sector when it comes to passenger numbers," Secretary-General John Hanlon said.
Air Berlin and pilots represented by Vereinigung Cockpit announced an agreement "to hold negotiations on unresolved issues of the framework collective agreement," forestalling the warning strikes the union threatened this week ( ATWOnline, March 3).
Atlas Air said it reached an agreement with Boeing to take over operation of the manufacturer's four 747-400 Dreamlifter freighters "toward the latter part of this year." Boeing uses the Dreamlifters to ferry major assemblies for production of 787s. It expects to deliver the first 787 to ANA in the fourth quarter and then begin ramping up Dreamliner production. Atlas and the manufacturer signed a nine-year contract under which the cargo carrier will operate the four Dreamlifters to support the 787 supply chain.
AirBaltic acquired full ownership of a cargo handling business at Riga International and will operate it under a new BalticCargo brand. It will offer "a full spectrum of cargo handling services of passenger aircraft and freighter aircraft, as well as cargo handling facilities," the airline said. "Latvia is currently the fastest-growing passenger aviation market in the EU. In our view, the cargo market has the potential to grow in a similar fasion, given Riga's favorable geographic location and the airport's expanding network of flights," airBaltic President and CEO Bertolt Flick said.
Ryanair will open a base at Malta International in May with one 737. It will launch six new routes from the airport, boosting the total number of destinations to 19 and the number of weekly flights to more than 120. It plans to serve 800,000 passengers per year at MLA. New service will be to Billund, Bologna, Krakow, Marseille, Seville and Valencia.
Avianca, which finalized its merger with Grupo TACA last month, plans to continue growing with the acquisition of Quito-based Aerogal, CEO Fabio Villegas said. Speaking last week to journalists in the Ecuadoran capital, he said Avianca parent Synergy Aerospace intends to invest $7.2 million on an 80% stake in Aerogal while TACA parent Kingsland Holding will acquire the remaining 20%, Dow Jones reported. Government approval is pending. Villegas said Aerogal will take delivery of three new A320s in the second half of this year, increasing its overall fleet to 15 aircraft.
Nizhny Novgorod is an economic and industrial center that is Russia's fourth most populous city with nearly 1.5 million residents, but its airport handles only 300,000 passengers per year and is served by just one non-CIS airline (Lufthansa). Now the regional government is working to change that and has launched a process designed to modernize Nizhny Novgorod International into a facility capable of serving more than 2 million passengers annually in 2014.
Somon Air of Tajikistan placed an order for two 737-900ERs worth $163 million at list prices, Boeing announced yesterday. The order represents the Dushanbe-based carrier's first direct order from the manufacturer and Boeing's fourth confirmed purchase this year. It also has sold 25 787-8s to United Airlines, 10 737-800s to Ethiopian Airlines and 20 more 737s to an unidentified customer.
Juneyao Group sold its 63% stake in Tianjin-based Okay Airways to Chinese cargo and logistics company Da Tian W Group and said it prefers to concentrate on building its Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines.
American Airlines faces a growing labor problem as talks with its flight attendants broke down late Wednesday, leading to a strike threat, while its ground workers set a Monday deadline to reach an accord before taking action that could lead to a work stoppage.
