In the fourth fatal accident this month, a TANS Peru 737-200 crashed in northeastern Peru near Pucallpa Tuesday, killing at least 60 passengers and crew. The aircraft was carrying 93 passengers and eight crew when it went down in swampland just 2 mi. from Pucallpa-Capitan Rolden Airport, a transit stop for the Lima-Iquitos flight. At least 33 injured passengers were taken to hospitals. Reportedly, the captain, first officer and cabin crew all perished in the crash, according to a TANS spokesperson. The 737-244, registration OB-1809P, was built in 1981.
Volga-Dnepr Airlines said it will acquire five new An-124-100M-150 freighters from Aviastar-SP. The freighter is an improved version of the An-124 outsize and heavyweight cargo aircraft and has a capacity of up to 150 tonnes. Deliveries are set to begin in 2008. The announcement came a day after Volga-Dnepr Group reached agreement with Russia's Vnesheconombank regarding financing arrangements for the resumption of An-124-100 production and the IL-76 freighter modernization program ( ATWOnline, Aug. 23).
Estonian Air will raise its fuel surcharge from €8 to €12 from Sept. 1. The carrier said it has been able to keep the surcharge at the April 2004 level until now despite a price hike of 68% during the period.
Qantas again raised its ticket surcharge for international and domestic passengers as it faces a A$1.25 billion increase in fuel costs this year. From Sept. 2, the domestic one-way fuel surcharge will lift from A$20 ($15) to A$26, international from A$60 to A$75 and transtasman from A$40 to A$46. Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said the decision was made "reluctantly" and noted that "the volatility of current and future oil and jet fuel prices is a serious issue for all airlines." Qantas is 90% hedged at about $49 a barrel until December.
Air Europa and representatives of pilots union Sepla reached a preliminary agreement to prevent a strike called by the pilots on Aug. 5 for later this year, Expansion reported. The agreement is subject to ratification by a pilots' meeting called for Aug. 30-31.
Embraer installed Europe's first flight simulator dedicated to training crews of the 170/190. The CAE simulator is based at Swiss Aviation Training in Zurich.
American Airlines applied to the US Dept. of Transportation to offer nonstop service from St. Louis to Puerto Vallarta from Feb. 4 to April 1. The winter season flights will operate on Saturdays using a 136-seat MD-80. AA already offers seasonal service from St. Louis to Cancun on both Saturday and Sunday using 188-seat 757s and the Cancun flights will resume Oct. 30. The carrier also offers daily connecting service to both destinations through its DFW hub. Ukraine International Airlines will start a five-times-weekly Kiev-Milan service Oct 31.
British Airways Chief Executive Rod Eddington rejected any suggestion that the carrier should have been better prepared for the wildcat strike in sympathy with fired Gate Gourmet workers that caused a third consecutive summer of disruption to BA flights.
The UK's National Air Traffic Services suffered a service interruption Wednesday morning, causing flight delays mainly at UK airports, while the Eurocontrol Upper Area Control Center at Maastricht decided to cut capacity by 50% during a 35-min. period, resulting in extra delays to flights from UK airports to and from Europe. NATS' Flight Data Processing system at West Drayton developed a fault at 9:30 a.m. local time and was restored to full operation by 9:50 a.m. However, it took several hours to clear the backlog and restore schedules.
The International Air Transport Assn. yesterday said it opposes a reported initiative by the European Commission to develop a "blacklist" of airline companies determined to be operating unsafely. In a statement, the organization said, "Efforts on safety should have a direct and positive impact. Blacklisting is punitive and does nothing to directly improve safety." It also stated that the industry's success at reducing fatal accidents "has been largely the result of global standards and international cooperation. There are no global standards for blacklisting."
Lufthansa declined to comment on a report in the Financial Times that the Vereinigung Cockpit pilot union cancelled the collective bargaining agreement reached with the airline last December, the first step toward a possible strike. An airline spokesperson told this website that "Lufthansa didn't bring this agenda to the public," adding that "there are always talks with the unions." According to the Times report, the pilots claim LH has violated their scope clause requiring that mainline pilots fly all aircraft larger than 70 seats.
FKI Logistex announced the launch of its CrisBag baggage handling system in North America. CrisBag uses RFID-tagged baggage totes to offer "complete sort-and-trace capability," the company said.
Emirates recorded triple-digit increases in sales via the Internet in the first four months of its current financial year. In April passengers making online bookings increased 195%, in May 230%, in June 225% and in July 154% compared to the same months last year. The carrier did not provide the current or past shares of travel booked on the Internet upon which the percentage increases are based.
British Airways said it reached a new deal with its Heathrow catering supplier Gate Gourmet that "paves the way for a return to full catering onboard all British Airways flights at Heathrow." According to the airline, the accord "improves and extends the commercial arrangement" between the companies that has been at the center of a labor dispute involving Gate Gourmet and its own employees and that spread to BA with disastrous effects earlier this month. The caterer had warned of an imminent bankruptcy filing absent a new contract.
Heading into day four of a strike by its mechanics and aircraft cleaners, Northwest Airlines continued to maintain silence on its operational performance, declining to provide data on daily completion factors and ontime performance. In a taped message to employees, the airline said it expects to complete 96% of its flights in the first full week. Approximately 4,400 members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. went on strike Saturday ( ATWOnline, Aug.
Airline traffic (passengers) will grow at a rate of 4.1% per year over the next 15 years, resulting in a doubling in the number of passengers to 7.4 billion by 2020 compared to today and overwhelming the available airport and airspace infrastructure, according to a study by Geneva-based Airports Council International.
Air New Zealand and Qantas eventually will forge an equity tie-up, according to outgoing ANZ MD and CEO Ralph Norris. Speaking with ATWOnline, Norris said there "is a good chance that the deal will go through. It makes common sense." Last year the Australian Competition Tribunal, which was able to consider new evidence, overturned the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's rejection of Qantas's proposed purchase of a 25% stake in ANZ. The NZ High Court, which was not permitted to consider new evidence, upheld the NZ Consumer Commission's rejection of the deal.
TeamSAI and Cavok Group announced a collaborative marketing agreement. Cavok offers FAA certification support solutions for startup airlines and those transitioning to ATOS or FAR 121 certification. It also provides custom inspection programs and reliability engineering to airlines, OEMs and MROs. TeamSAI's aviation consulting practice includes strategic business planning solutions, financial and operational performance optimization, fleet acquisition support, planning, technical and implementation services and executive recruiting and support.
AirAsia launched what it claims is the world's first online booking service linking its Internet booking system with mobile phones and wireless devices. Developed by eSpherical.com, the offering allows mobile phone and PDA users with any GPRS, 3G, EDGE or wireless facilities to view the airline's Web pages directly. The service provides AirAsia customers the ability to search for flights, book, use a credit card to pay and receive flight confirmation and itinerary details from anywhere in the world 24 hr. a day.
American Airlines will launch service from its Dallas/Fort Worth hub to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Guanacaste, Costa Rica, effective Feb. 3. Subject to government approvals, AA will operate to Montego Bay four times per week with 142-seat 737-800s. The new service is in addition to its four daily flights from Miami and New York. AA will offer twice-weekly service using 737-800s to Guanacaste. Continental Airlines will begin daily nonstop service between Newark and Ponce Nov. 17. It will serve the route with a 737-800 seating 14 in first class and 141 in coach.
Virgin Blue is at the center of a hostile takeover bid involving its major shareholder that could see Richard Branson's Virgin Group re-emerge as the controlling influence in the low-fare airline. Transport conglomerate Toll Holdings has launched a A$4.6 billion ($3.5 billion) offer for Patrick Corp, holder of a majority 62.4% stake in Virgin Blue. If Tolls succeeds, Patrick's shareholding will be cut to 27% with Virgin Group agreeing to lift its own holding from 25% to 40.6%.
General Electric said Singapore Airlines signed a 10-year OnPoint Solutions service agreement for maintenance, overhaul and repair of the GE90-115Bs that will power 19 777-300ERs entering service in 2006. The OnPoint Solutions agreement is the first for the GE90.
Korean Air moved to take a stake in China's first private low-cost airline Okay Airways, which leases 737-900s from Korean. Okay commenced operations in March from Tianjin just south of Beijing. The maximum foreign equity allowed is 49% with a cap of 25% from any one foreign company.
United Airlines' United Services MRO division said it formed "a first-of-its-kind strategic network" with four fixed-base operators--Executive Air, JET Aircraft Maintenance, Jett Care and Pegasus Aircraft Maintenance--to expand its line maintenance capabilities from 31 airports currently to more than 50 worldwide.
Japan Airlines Group said international passenger boardings for the 31-day Japanese summer vacation period July 22-Aug. 21 slipped 0.9% compared to the year-ago period to 684,956. Load factor was 73.4%. Demand on transpacific, Korean and Oceania routes was strong but traffic to resort destinations in Southeast Asia was below last year, "reflecting the slow recovery of Japanese traffic" since the tsunami. Traffic to China also was down on 2004 "owing to the lingering effect of anti-Japanese demonstrations" last April.
