News from Travel Technology Update: Amadeus this week will unveil the first components of a new next-generation distribution technology platform for the hotel industry. As a first step, Amadeus has completed the migration of the 75,000 hotel properties that participate in its GDS from a system based on TPF (transaction processing facility) to a Linux platform, Jeroôme Destors, deputy managing director of Amadeus' Hospitality Business Group, said. All hotel GDS operations are now running on the open-systems platform.
US Dept. of Transportation said an investigation it conducted into "chronically delayed flights" and threats of stiff fines against airlines led carriers to "fix" the problems. Actions taken included "changing flight routes, adding flight crews and making additional aircraft available," DOT said.
Panasonic Avionics will supply its eX2 IFE and communications system to Air Austral for installation on three existing 777-200s and two 777-300s currently on order.
Despite high fuel prices, Chinese carriers are entering what analysts predict will be a period of robust growth driven by rising load factors. According to statistics released Friday by CAAC, the Chinese air transport industry flew 3.28 billion RTKs in October, up 16.7% over the year-ago month. Passenger boardings jumped 15.2% to 18.6 million while cargo traffic climbed 19.7% to 1.05 billion ATKs. Load factor rose 4.3 points to 79%.
CFM International announced that Skybus Airlines will be the first US carrier to operate the CFM56-5B Tech Insertion engines, which are onboard an A319 that was delivered to the budget airline. The Tech Insertion program was certified for A320 family aircraft in September.
Speaking last week on the occasion of the launch of Swiss International Air Lines' new daily service to Delhi, CEO Christoph Franz said his carrier's acquisition by Lufthansa not only will continue to benefit Swiss but should serve as a model as the industry continues down the road to consolidation.
Nationwide Airlines remained grounded yesterday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3) as it denied press reports that it leased a 767 from KLM in order to continue its Johannesburg-London Gatwick service. KLM has performed MRO on Nationwide's own 767, but the South African carrier vehemently denied any other arrangement.
European Commission and Nepal announced a horizontal air services agreement allowing any EU airline to operate between Nepal and any EU nation where a bilateral agreement with Nepal exists and traffic rights are secured.
Click suffered a two-day strike by cabin staff that affected approximately 220 flights. The strike ended Monday when the Mexicana-owned LCC offered a 4.74% salary increase and other benefits, Reuters reported.
Claiming it is on the verge of a "quantum leap" forward, Turkish Airlines yesterday reported a third-quarter profit of TRY104.9 million ($88.3 million), up 16.2% from the TRY90.3 million posted in the year-ago period. The profit will leave THY well-positioned as it plans to boost its fleet by 20%, taking delivery of seven A320-200s, five A321-200s and eight 737-800s through 2008.
Atlasjet MD-83 accident investigation was joined this week by Boeing and Pratt & Whitney officials who traveled to Turkey and inspected the crash site. There has been no initial discovery of technical problems on the MD-83, which was on wet-lease from World Focus Airlines, and no explanation yielded from tower recordings that reveal the pilots believed they were headed for a routine landing at Isparta Airport, according to Turkish officials ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3).
Emirates commenced nonstop service between Houston and Dubai yesterday, offering thrice-weekly flights using a 777-200LR. Service increases to daily in February. US Airways will launch thrice-daily Charlotte-Daytona Beach service Feb. 1 aboard E-175s operated by Republic Airlines. Germanwings will begin twice-weekly flights from Cologne to Keflavik and Osijek next summer. Sama will launch thrice-weekly flights to Amman from Dammam and Riyadh on Dec. 6. It is the Saudi carrier's third international destination.
S7 Airlines introduced the A319 on its thrice-daily Moscow Domodedovo-Krasnodar service. It claimed it is the first airline to serve the southwestern destination with Western-built aircraft. S7 currently operates 12 A319s.
Qatar Airways will phase out its four A340-600s earlier then scheduled as it takes deliveries of its new 777s, CEO Akbar Al Baker said last week in Seattle as the carrier took its first 777-300ER. He also confirmed that QR will not exercise its six A340-600 options. It took its first -600 in September 2006. Separately, QR will establish a leasing company called Oryx Leasing that will aim to place the carrier's older aircraft. It will start by the middle of next year with six A300-600s and eventually will handle the A340-600s.
Precision Conversions will provide Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management with a 15-pallet-position 757-200PCF. Following modification next year at the Flightstar facility in Jacksonville, CargoJet will operate the Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft under a lease from BBAM.
Embraer announced the sale of two E-170s plus one purchase right to Suzuyo & Co., which intends to start an airline based at the Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport scheduled to open in 2009. Delivery of the aircraft, worth up to $87 million if the purchase right is exercised, is planned to start in the 2009 first quarter.
Aeroports de Paris plans to increase main airport fees at Charles de Gaulle and Orly by 3.8% in 2008, down from the 4.25% hike it applied this year. The proposal represents a preliminary estimate of the average increase in passenger fees, landing fees, aircraft parking fees and fees for the use of fueling facilities, ADP noted. It added that the 3.8% figure takes into account "buoyant" passenger traffic growth in 2007 as required by a "ceiling adjustment mechanism" included in its contract with the French government as part of its privatization.
Silverjet reported £11.8 million ($24.4 million) in passenger revenue in the six months ended Sept. 30, its first full fiscal semester since launching operations in January. The all-business-class carrier launched a second daily London Luton-Newark service during the period. It also announced a proposed placing of £12 million and a proposed convertible loan of £10 million from TFB Ltd.
Pinnacle Airlines bought out all of Northwest Airlines' common stock holdings in the regional carrier. Pinnacle announced the purchase of 2.5 million shares from NWA for $13.22 per share, or $32.9 million. It also agreed to purchase the Class A Preferred Share retained by NWA in January. It has repurchased 4.5 million shares of its common stock since launching a repurchase program in May, leaving 20% of total shares outstanding.
Frontier Airlines Friday launched four-times-weekly Denver-San Jose, Costa Rica, service aboard an A319. A fifth weekly flight will be added Jan. 5. San Jose is Frontier's 10th foreign destination--it already served seven in Mexico and two in Canada.
SkyWest Inc. placed a firm order for 18 CRJ700 NextGen aircraft and four CRJ900 NextGens, plus 22 options that can apply to either type, Bombardier announced Friday. SkyWest subsidiaries SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines operate the world's largest CRJ fleet of 244 CRJ200s, 102 CRJ700s and 17 CRJ900s. This is its first NextGen order. Firm aircraft are worth $773 million at list prices. The new CRJ700s, configured with 66 seats in three classes, will be operated by SkyWest Airlines for United Express.
