Tiger Airways Australia is allowed to fly again, but the carrier will restart operations with a vastly reduced domestic network. Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Agency (CASA) says it has lifted Tiger’s suspension, which has been in place since July 2. CASA determined that the carrier has addressed the range of safety concerns that caused the grounding, although it has put a limit on the number of daily flights it can operate. The lifting of the suspension had already been signaled (Aviation Daily, Aug. 10).
China and Russia are quietly soliciting interest from countries opposed to the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) in moving potentially toward a formal complaint through the International Civil Aviation Ortganization (ICAO), industry sources say. The stakes could be high. In a worst-case scenario, a formal complaint under Article 84 of the Chicago Convention could result in all 27 member states of the EU losing voting rights in ICAO if the body rules against the EU.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has ordered eight more Boeing 777-300ERs for its widebody fleet. The new deal, valued at $2.3 billion at list price, adds to SIA’s current 777 operations, which includes 19 777-300ERs. The new General Electric GE90-powered aircraft, scheduled for delivery in the carrier’s 2013/2014 fiscal year, will be assigned to medium- and long-haul routes.
Ethiopian Airlines has chosen Esterline CMC Electronics’s portable Class 2 electronic flight bag for the 10 Boeing 737-800s it ordered in 2010. “The selection by Boeing of the latest addition to our EFB product portfolio and the first purchase order for the 737NG production aircraft by Ethiopian Airways is excellent news. This certainly strengthens our growing OEM supplier position in the commercial air transport market,” says Esterline CMC President Greg Yeldon.
Etihad Airways on April 1, 2012 plans to operate its first passenger service to East Africa with the inauguration of service to Kenya. The daily nonstop between Etihad’s hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport and Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will be served by a two-class Airbus A320 configured with 16 business-class and 120 economy-class seats. Nairobi will be Etihad’s 72nd destination and the first nonstop passenger service between the two countries’ capitals. The carrier has operated cargo-only flights to Nairobi since March 2009.
Click here to view the pdf Mishandled Baggage Reports, June 2011 Total Baggage Enplaned Reports Per 1,000 Passengers Rank Airline Reports Passengers Current
The city of Chicago has unveiled new procedures for issuing contracts for O’Hare International and Midway airports that increase transparency in the evaluation and selection process.
Vision Airlines is dramatically scaling back its services to Northwest Florida Regional Airport, at least for this fall and winter, including five routes it is ending on less than two weeks’ notice. “Based upon travel trends, we have decided to make these changes sooner than anticipated and focus on markets where demand for travel will be stronger,” says David Meers, the low-cost carrier’s COO.
Capacity discipline that helped keep world airlines results aloft in 2010 may be eroding in 2011, particularly in the powerhouse Asia-Pacific region, Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA) data suggest.
The Qantas engineers’ union revealed that the airline plans to cut the number of pre-flight checks conducted by its licensed-engineer members, one of many new work rules the union opposes as contract talks continue. In a message to members, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) says Qantas is proposing that for Boeing 737-800s and Airbus A330s, engineers would only do checks before the first flight of the day and any ETOPS flights.
A Georgia Public Policy Foundation report on the value of privatizing Briscoe Field near Atlanta has energized both proponents and opponents, says study author Benita M. Dodd, foundation VP. The report projects the pending move for the 600-acre field as “an enormous economic boost” for Gwinnett County and region. Dodd describes Propeller Airports Briscoe Field, Inc., as the likely successful bidder to privatize Briscoe under the FAA’s pilot privatization program.
Mexico’s VivaAerobus in November intends to add two Florida destinations to its network with the launch of non-stop services to Miami and Orlando from its Monterrey hub. The year-round Miami service is first, with flights scheduled to begin Nov. 11. The Orlando non-stop, which will be operated “during high seasons,” will be launched eight days later. “Just a few years ago we had the vision to become a player with routes to the U.S.
The Malaysian government’s investment arm, Khazanah Holdings, and AirAsia’s two most influential shareholders, co-founders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, have agreed to align AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) as part of a share-swap deal. The two men have been appointed to the MAS board, which is undergoing a shake-up. Several board directors are being replaced, along with MAS’s managing director Tengku Azmil Aziz. An executive committee that includes Fernandes will run the new airline until a new managing director is appointed, says AirAsia.
Fourteen U.S. airline flights exceeded the Transportation Department’s three-hour limit on tarmac delays in June, the DOT reported Tuesday. The DOT says it is investigating all 14, but noted that five of the delays occurred at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and three at Washington Dulles International Airport on stormy days. Under the tarmac-delay rule that took effect in late April 2010, U.S.
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After an agonizing two-week partial shutdown of the FAA, lawmakers are now turning their attention to negotiations on a long-term reauthorization bill.
Australian regulators are expected within a matter of days to decide if grounded Tiger Airways Australia can resume operations, and all indications are that the suspension will be lifted. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) cited serious safety concerns in several areas, from pilot training to maintenance control, when it suspended operations at the carrier, a unit of Singapore-based Tiger Airways, on July 2. Since then the carrier has been working with CASA to resolve its concerns.
U.S investment firm J.P. Morgan has provided Biman Bangladesh Airlines with a US$277 million financing facility to support the government-owned carrier’s fleet expansion. The investment will be used to buy two Boeing aircraft from the carrier’s 2008 orders for two 737-800s, four 777-300ERs and four 787-8s, all of which are scheduled for delivery over the next eight years. It is unclear which aircraft the J.P. Morgan facility will cover. Repayment details, though, are being discussed, with Biman scheduled to pay the 12-year loan quarterly.
With Garuda’s Indonesia deal for 25 A320 narrowbodies now firm, Airbus has reached the 1,000-aircraft order mark for 2011. Garuda’s plans to acquire 15 A320s and 10 A320NEO (New Engine Option) airliners for its Citilink low-fare operation was announced in June but is now firm. The deal—along with Cebu Pacific’s confirmed plan to buy 30 A321NEO airliners and Lufthansa’s recent announcement that its 30 A320/A321NEO deal is firm—brings Airbus to the 1,000-order level.
A U.S. Transportation Dept. (DOT) court filing defending the legality and constitutionality of its second round of passenger rights rules may also set the stage for the third-round passenger rights rulemaking it plans to initiate early next year, and the battle that is likely to ensue.
