Gulf Air launched its five-times-weekly Bahrain-Baghdad service Monday and said it plans to launch flights to both Najaf and Erbil on Sept. 15. Routes to Basra and Solamnia will follow. It said it aims to be the "market leader" in Iraq.
Turkmenistan Airlines placed an order for three 737-700s worth approximately $192 million at list prices, Boeing announced yesterday. Delivery dates were not announced. The Ashgabat-based carrier, established in 1991, currently operates 717s, 737 Classics and NGs, 757s and one 767, according to the manufacturer. In March 2008 it ordered two 737-900ERs and one 737-700, and it signed up for one 777 two months earlier.
Hawaiian Airlines will start charging $10 for the first checked bag on inter-island flights beginning Sept. 14. "Our costs continue to rise and fares have simply not kept pace. We've held the line on this fee as long as possible, but have to remain competitive," Senior VP-Marketing and Sales Glenn Taniguchi said. Premium loyalty program members, business class passengers and those traveling on international tickets including points in Hawaii are exempt.
British Airways took delivery of the first of two A318s equipped with steep approach capability. The CFM56-5B9/3-powered aircraft will operate on the carrier's twice-daily (except Sunday) London City-New York JFK service scheduled to launch Sept. 29, featuring an all-business-class cabin with 32 seats. Route will be twice-daily in mid-October. Separately, BA today is reintroducing the wider seats previously offered in its Club Europe cabin in response to customer feedback. "As these are converter seats, the installation is simple and there is no extra cost," BA noted.
American Airlines will furlough 228 flight attendants on Oct. 1 and place an additional 693 on leave. The Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants said the carrier originally had planned to cut 1,200 positions in response to previously announced capacity reductions but that the union and management worked to minimize the final number. As a result, 244 employees will go on leave in October and November and an additional 449 will be asked to take voluntary leave. Of the furloughs, 105 will come at New York LaGuardia and 65 at Chicago O'Hare, with the remainder at Boston, St.
Finavia, Finland's state-owned air navigation services provider and airports operator, said its board approved discounts on airport, air navigation and security charges for commercial air traffic. The discounts, effective Sept. 1 for the remainder of 2009, will be "approximately 10%." Discounts for 2010 and 2011 will be decided upon later. According to a statement, "the purpose of the discount policy is to improve the operating preconditions of air traffic, especially domestic traffic, which is currently facing challenging times."
Southwest Airlines received a reprieve from US FAA yesterday and now has until Dec. 24 to replace the unapproved parts on approximately 39 remaining 737-300s/-500s as both the regulator and Boeing said the exhaust gate assembly hinge fittings "would not prevent safe operation of the airplanes."
Southwest Airlines announced schedule adjustments for the Jan. 9-March 12, 2010, period featuring elimination of 92 individual flights and addition of another 42, including new service from St. Louis to Boston and Minneapolis-St. Paul beginning Jan. 10. It temporarily will suspend Albuquerque-Portland, Ore., Manchester, N.H.-Pheonix and Kansas City-Seattle service. AirBaltic yesterday launched twice-weekly Riga-Pskov service aboard an F50. IndiGo will launch twice-weekly Kolkata-Dibrugarh service on Sept. 16.
Wizz Air yesterday announced the addition of a third aircraft in Prague in June 2010 in response to SkyEurope Airlines' shutdown ( ATWOnline, Sept. 1). It also will increase frequencies on existing services to London Luton, Rome Fiumicino, Bergamo, Brussels Charleroi and Eindhoven in September and October. Meanwhile, Niki CEO Otmar Lenz confirmed to ATWOnline that the carrier will look to expand into areas that lost service as a result of SkyEurope's demise.
Sensis announced that Newark International and Boston Logan International now are operating with its Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X. The runway incursion detection and alerting system is operational at 19 US airports. FAA plans to deploy ASDE-X at 35 airports by 2011.
IATA said 54 airlines that have reported second-quarter financial results have lost a combined $2.02 billion, a figure signifying a "further deterioration" the organization said is troubling considering that carriers "usually make 50% of their profits in this seasonally strong quarter."
Avianova, a new Russian LCC, launched operations from Moscow Vnukovo with two A320s serving Sochi, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don and Samara. RIA Novosti said the airline's fares start at RUB250 ($7.88) excluding taxes and fees. Avianova Director Vladimir Gorbunov said the carrier hopes to add two aircraft in time for the winter schedule, The Moscow Times reported. The current aircraft are on lease from ILFC for five years each. Avianova's main shareholders are Alfa Group and Indigo Partners.
The legal wrangling between Delta Air Lines and regional partner Mesa Air Group has heated up again now that Delta has filed suit to cancel its contract with Mesa subsidiary Freedom Airlines, which operates 22 ERJ-145s as Delta Connection.
Etihad Airways introduced its new first class suite on an A340-600 operating between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow. Suite includes an 80.5-in. lie-flat leather seat, a 23-in. LCD screen, a wooden table and a changing room with full-length mirror, sink and a fold-down seat. A second -600 equipped with the suite will enter the fleet next month. Five A330-300s will be delivered with the suites over the next two years, starting in December. Nine A340s will be retrofitted by December 2010.
Hainan Airlines posted net income of CNY175 million ($25.6 million) in the first half based on domestic accounting standards, down 43.7% from the CNY311 million reported in the year-ago period, on a 3.5% decrease in operating revenue to CNY6.12 billion.
The union said that neither airlines nor regulators in the US and Canada have "kept pace" in terms of pilot qualification requirements and training oversight. "Today's archaic regulations allow airlines to hire low-experience pilots into the right seat of high-speed, complex, swept-wing jet aircraft in what amounts to on-the-job training with paying passengers on board," ALPA said. "Investigations of recent accidents reveal that safety margins have been eroded at some carriers as a result. A complete overhaul of pilot selection and training methods is needed."
Milwaukee's General Mitchell International, which has felt the pinch of a faltering economy and a failing local carrier, is looking forward to better times with the arrival of Southwest Airlines this fall. Over the past year, the airport was affected adversely by the financial problems of Midwest Airlines and a subsequent 40% reduction in flying. In prior years, Midwest accounted for more than half of the flights out of MKE. In the first five months of 2009, traffic was down some 15% compared to 2008.
US Department of Homeland Security will add 13 airports to its Global Entry pilot program aimed at streamlining the arrival process for enrolled travelers returning from international destinations. Airports in Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sanford, San Francisco, San Juan, and Seattle now will be included. The program uses biometric identification including a digital photo, which can be entered into a special kiosk where the traveler is issued a receipt used to clear Customs and Border Patrol stations.
US travelers are more environmentally aware than they were just two years ago but few are willing to pay extra for eco-friendly travel, according to the July "travelhorizons," a quarterly consumer survey co-authored by the US Travel Assn. and Ypartnership, an advertising and public relations agency.
BORN IN A DAY WHEN AIR TRAFFIC WAS burgeoning, planners saw perimeter taxiways as a way to cut both runway incursions and fuel costs. Now that traffic has tumbled and fuel isn't quite as terrifying, the issue is whether they still make sense. It depends. There is more than a modicum of validity to the old saying, "When you've seen one airport, you've seen one airport."
