Precision Conversions received an STC from FAA to carry out passenger-to-freighter conversions of PW2000-powered 757-200s. In conjunction with the awarding of the STC, CAAC approved the conversion, clearing the way for delivery of the first converted aircraft to Shanghai Airlines. The work was carried out on behalf of ILFC, which is leasing the jet to the Chinese carrier. Work will begin shortly on converting a second ILFC 757 for Shanghai Airlines. Precision received an STC for conversion of Rolls-Royce-powered 757s last June.
Vietnam will build a $158 million international airport on Phu Quoc island, according to media reports. It will open in 2008 and is expected to handle 2.5 million passengers per year.
Copenhagen Airport reduced its takeoff charge for cargo flights by 3% on Jan. 1 and introduced a cap on cargo flight charges to the first 200 tons. The new rate is DKK63.25 ($10.25) per 1,000 kg. or part thereof. It will rise to DKK63.90 in 2007 and DKK64.55 the following year.
Northwest Airlines' markets are particularly well-adapted for new-generation large regional jets, the company argues in a special edition of its internal newsletter Passages. As previously reported, the carrier is seeking permission from its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., to create a standalone subsidiary to operate 70/100-seat jets ( ATWOnline, Jan. 6).
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said JFK, Newark and LaGuardia airports handled nearly 100 million passengers last year, a new record. A final tally is still a couple of weeks away, but preliminary figures suggest a 6% rise in passenger throughput, the Port Authority said. JFK handled nearly 41 million, Newark 33 million and LaGuardia about 26 million.
Preston Aviation Solutions, a Boeing subsidiary, announced that Dubai's Dept. of Civil Aviation will use its Total Airspace and Airport Modeler software. NavAero received an STC for its tbag C2 squared electronic flight bag system installed as a Class II EFB on a Miami Air International 737-800. Air One reached agreement with Accenture and Trax USA to implement the latter's Trax Engineering and Maintenance software. Click Commerce announced that American Airlines will implement its Service Parts Optimization and Planning solution.
Frontier Airlines mechanics, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, approved a three-year labor contract. The agreement was reached in December and includes a 3% pay raise over the life of the deal, reinstitution of a company 401(k) match, increased pension contributions and other benefits, according to media reports. Separately, Frontier intends to begin serving five cities in Canada in late May, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
ANA said it will retire its last 747SR March 10 following a flight from Kagoshima to Tokyo Haneda. The carrier's first 747SR took flight 27 years ago. It was the first aircraft to carry 500 passengers in an all-economy configuration. At one point ANA operated a fleet of 23 of the type.
Honeywell will provide its Runway Awareness and Advisory System to Lufthansa, it announced Friday. RAAS uses GPS technology to compare an aircraft's location against a database of airport runways and provides audio alerts.
AeroMexico and Mexicana Airlines plan to end service from Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, according to media reports. AeroMexico, which has served DFW since 1994 and operates one flight per day to Mexico City, will cease operations Feb. 5. Mexicana will leave DFW Jan. 10. It flew once daily to Guadalajara, four times per week to Morelia and thrice-weekly to Zacatecas. AeroMexico codeshares with Delta Air Lines and was hurt by the latter's withdrawal from DFW last year.
National Air Traffic Services said it handled a record 2.3 million flights through British airspace in 2005, a rise of 5.7% over the previous year and the highest annual growth since 1999.
American Airlines' December system traffic rose 4.6% over the year-ago month to 11.49 billion RPMs. Capacity dropped 1.1% to 14.55 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 4.3 points to 78.9%. The number of enplaned passengers lifted 4.8% to 8.2 million. Domestically, RPMs rose 2.6% to 7.55 billion, ASMs fell 4.5% to 9.42 billion and load factor surged 5.6 points to 80.1%. International traffic grew 8.8% to 3.94 billion RPMs with capacity up 5.7% to 5.13 billion ASMs, resulting in a load factor of 76.9%, up 2.2 points. Cargo ton-miles lowered 3.1% to 185.9 million.
Virgin Atlantic service increases from London include: To Mumbai from thrice-weekly to daily, to Shanghai from six-times-weekly to daily, to Cape Town from twice-weekly to thrice-weekly through Jan. 25 and to daily between Jan. 29 and March 25. It also will add a fifth weekly flight to Las Vegas in July and a sixth in September.
Delta Air Lines was granted an extension last week by the US Bankruptcy Court to file its reorganization plan by July 11. The original deadline was Jan. 12.
FLYi, parent of Independence Air, grounded its fleet Jan. 5 following its last flight, an A319 from Tampa that landed at Washington Dulles. Some 2,700 workers were left unemployed by the shutdown. The low-fare carrier, formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines, made the decision Jan. 2 to cease operating after failing to gain financial support from outside investors.
Paramount Airways, an Indian carrier launched last September, will purchase 15 Embraer RJs, according to media reports. MD M. Thiagarajan said a contract valued at $450 million will be signed in the next couple of weeks, with deliveries occurring before year end 2007. The airline ordered five ERJs at the Paris Air Show.
CAE signed a deal with Oman Air to extend its pilot training program. It will involve instructor-led upgrade training and recurrent training for 737NGs at the ECFT center in Dubai. SpiceJet of India signed a similar deal. CAE also reached an agreement with Qatar Airways for A330/A340 pilot training. Separately, CAE said it will invest $630 million in a six-year R&D program dubbed Project Phoenix "with the goal of improving current leading-edge technologies and developing additional ones."
Boeing Commercial Airplanes shattered its single-year sales record by a wide margin in 2005, booking net orders for 1,002 aircraft (1,029 gross). Prior to 2005, Boeing's best year was 1988 when it booked 877 net orders, including McDonnell Douglas orders added retroactively. Last year's performance is even more striking in comparison to 2004, when the company sold 272 jets.
Jagson Airlines of India is to buy or lease up to 19 A320 family aircraft over the next three years. The airline will lease six A320s and acquire an additional 13 from Airbus, transforming it from a regional turboprop operator to a national carrier serving nine major Indian cities by year end. Jagson became India's first private airline in 1992 and focuses on tourist destinations in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Recently it also started serving business destinations. Based in Delhi, it operates three 20-seat Do-228s.
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines released preliminary traffic results for November that show a significant slowing in passenger growth. Passenger numbers were up just 1.2% to 10.6 million, making the month the weakest in 2005. In terms of RPKs, passenger traffic rose by 2.1% on a restrained capacity increase of 2.9%, resulting in a marginal decline in passenger load factor to 72.3%. International cargo traffic fared much better with 4% growth in FTKs after four months of virtually flat numbers. Capacity was up 3.1%, resulting in a slightly higher freight load factor of 68.7%.
Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines announced the signing of a "strategic codeshare agreement" to take effect Feb. 1 on the Dammam-Doha sector. Delta Air Lines will launch daily New York JFK-Sao Paulo service from July 1. It also will add service to New Orleans and Long Beach from its Salt Lake City hub. Atlantic Southeast Airlines will operate daily routes to New Orleans beginning Jan. 31 and SkyWest Airlines will run thrice-daily flights to Long Beach from March 6.
