Lambert-St. Louis International Airport’s plans to capitalize on its mid-continental location by developing a cargo hub are bearing fruit now that the facility receives all-cargo service from China. China Cargo Airlines inaugurated the service Sept. 23 with a Boeing 777F from Shangahi. The carrier will also operate a 747-400F on the route, initially with one flight a week. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay says, “We’re starting small, but together we can build something big.”
A bill introduced Sept. 26 by Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) seeks to streamline the visa process for visitors to the U.S. and proposes using videoconferencing to conduct visa interviews.
Next-generation aircraft built with composite primary structures will make up a larger part of the global fleet in the next couple of decades, but they will represent a smaller percentage of airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) expenditures.
Frontier Airlines lost more than $55 million on small-jet, short- haul service in the first half of this year and is cancelling many of those services this fall, according to the low-cost carrier and its parent company, Republic Airways. Most of the cuts are occurring in Milwaukee, where Frontier will suspend service on eight of its 29 routes at its Mitchell International Airport hub this October and November. Frontier operates a bigger hub in Denver.
LAN Airlines appears to be contemplating a Boeing 767 widebody fleet for its new Colombian division, Aires. The current fleet renewal plan for Aires, which LAN acquired in November 2010, calls for an eventual replacement of the Colombian airline’s leased Boeing 737-700 fleet with Airbus A320s, while retaining some 15 Bombardier turboprops.
In a rally to support the ongoing challenge by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to Boeing’s opening of a 787 factory in North Charleston, S.C., members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) say the company’s own documents show building the plant was “the highest-risk option.”
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has hired Cincinnati company Landrum & Brown to conduct a system capacity planning study of the five airports operated by the authority.
Dubai International Airport handled more than 4 million passengers in August and has topped 4 million passengers in six of the past eight months, putting it on track too meet its forecast of 51 million passengers for 2011, says CEO Paul Griffiths.
Honeywell is moving ahead with the formation of four joint ventures in China linked to its participation in the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (Comac) C919 program and, separately, is in talks to develop a small engine in China with Chinese partners.
Kazakhstan’s national carrier, Air Astana, has taken steps toward expanding its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business with the long-term objective of being less dependent on outside MRO providers. The carrier says it has opened a facility “equipped to handle non-destructive testing and repairs to wheels, batteries and aircraft structures. Air Astana’s investment in the facility will save it over $1 million in the first year, as it becomes independent of foreign maintenance service providers.”
A shortage of turboprop aircraft available for lease has made even some older models desirable again. Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) of Billund, Denmark, says it has just bought a Bombardier Dash 8-300 from All Nippon Airways Trading Co. and one ATR 42-500 from Transtate Airlines Investments. This ATR was previously with Australian carrier MacAir, which went into bankruptcy, NAC adds.
In a rain-soaked delivery ceremony Monday outside the Boeing factory’s huge hangar doors, Boeing executives were apologetic about the 787 program’s tardiness but strongly asserted the value of the technology they pursued and the global manufacturing base they used to achieve it. Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh declared the 787 “the biggest innovation in commercial aviation since the 707 was built more than 50 years ago.”
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) reportedly plans to establish an aircraft leasing company to ease the placement of Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) aircraft with airlines. A report in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, citing unnamed sources, says the plan is to launch the leasing company in 2014. MHI, which is a large equity holder in Mitsubishi Aircraft, will enter negotiations soon with central and local governments about being involved in the new leasing business, says the report.
Global Infrastructure Partners, the operator of Gatwick and London City airports, has joined in a rare alliance with another airport and a German investor to make a bid for Madrid and Barcelona airports. The Global team comprises Aeroports de Paris, operator of Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Allianz, an insurance company with which Global has had previous connections. The Spanish government is soliciting bids for management contracts for various airports, including Madrid and Barcelona. Another round of bidding is due by the end of October.
Boeing is starting production of initial parts for the first stretched 787-9 and is “on track” to achieve payload-range and empty-weight targets after completing the critical design review (CDR) in mid-September.
Republic Airways expects to receive a wavier from a requirement to raise $70 million in additional financing for its Frontier subsidiary by the end of September to avoid the negation of a critical cost-cutting agreement with Frontier’s pilots. Republic says the waiver would come from FAPAInvest, the group created as the investment vehicle for Frontier pilots.
Southwest Airlines has been compelled by a judge to begin taking the "necessary steps" to comply with the U.S. Transportation Department's new fare advertising rules by Jan. 24, an action that could delay its route integration with subsidiary AirTran Airways by three months. Last week a U.S. Appeals Court rejected requests from Allegiant Air, Spirit Airlines and Southwest Airlines to postpone the implementation of some of the new Transportation Department (DOT) passenger rights rules.
United Airlines is the next battleground for Boeing and Airbus to fight over a large narrowbody order, possibly as many as 200 aircraft, says RBC Capital Markets Analyst Robert Stallard. At current market prices, this would be worth about $18 billion. Stallard says to watch for an order late this year or early next. United's response: "United has the newest and most fuel-efficient fleet among the network carriers, and we have regular, ongoing communications with manufacturers."
