Premium international air travel rose by 6.4% in June, but growth is expected to slow in the coming months, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says in its June Premium Traffic Monitor. According to IATA, economy travel was up by 4.8% in the period. The association believes the lower rates reflect slower world trade growth and weakening business confidence. The fact that economy travel did not recede is seen as an indication that it is less impacted by high fuel prices than many expected.
Denver International is joining a handful of airports offering an online system that tracks flights and establishes a means to identify candidate aircraft for noise complaints.
The U.S. Navy will be a willing customer for the nation’s nascent biofuel industry as part of a White House initiative to kick-start the alternative energy sector. The Navy Department, which includes the Marine Corps, will partner with the Energy and Agriculture departments to equally share a $510 million investment over three years—half the private sector’s cost—to develop so-called “drop-in” aviation and marine biofuels, which can be used with existing fuels to power military and commercial vehicles.
A massive narrowbody order by Qantas will be used to push further into lucrative Asian markets, with this growth to be channeled through the group’s Jetstar subsidiary as well as two startup carriers in major Asian cities. Qantas announced it will acquire up to 110 Airbus A320 aircraft—including 78 A320NEOs (new engine option)—as part of a sweeping international transformation plan unveiled Aug. 16.
Qantas and Japan Airlines confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in the aviation industry when they announced details of a low-cost carrier joint venture in Japan yesterday. The new carrier will be called Jetstar Japan, which will begin operations by the end of 2012. The joint venture will include the two airlines as well as Mitsubishi Corp. It will have an initial fleet of three Airbus A320s, but will grow to 24 A320s within a few years, says Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.
Boeing will officially complete flight tests for FAA Part 25 type certification of the Rolls-Royce-powered 787 this week, clearing the way for deliveries to start next month. The company says it is preparing a statement to announce the formal completion of tests “once all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed,” while flight test sources indicate that with the exception of a few remaining engine ground tests this week, all the baseline work is essentially done.
Royal Jordanian’s CEO Hussein Dabas says the company has faced “big challenges” in the first half of the year because of high oil prices and the political unrest in the Middle East, but the airline is seeing an upward trend in traffic and profitability.
Australia’s Tiger Airways is preparing to resume flying on a second route following the lifting of the carrier’s operating suspension last week. Tiger is restoring its Melbourne-Brisbane route beginning Aug. 18 after reintroducing its Sydney-Melbourne service on Aug. 12. The carrier is “resuming Australian domestic services gradually,” and regulators are only allowing it 18 sectors per day during August.
Australia’s Strategic Airlines plans to build on its new Hawaii routes by linking to mainland U.S. destinations, challenging the established players in the lucrative transpacific market. “Ultimately we are planning to add connections to the U.S. mainland and beyond,” Strategic Chief Commercial Officer Damien Vasta tells Aviation Week following the announcement of flights from Melbourne and Brisbane to Honolulu. Vasta has previously signaled that the beyond-Hawaii links could be achieved through a code-share or interline agreement.
Canada and Costa Rica have tentatively approved an open skies accord to replace a bilateral air services agreement from 1996. The deal, which must still be ratified by both countries, follows open skies agreements Canada has signed with Brazil and Mexico (Aviation Daily, Aug. 11).
Air Lease Corp. is in talks with Boeing about the re-engining plan for the 737NG, but has questions about whether the aircraft can be competitive with the rival Airbus A320NEO (new engine option).
Jay Pierce, chairman of Continental Airlines’ Air Line Pilots Association chapter, is applauding moves to implement a new fatigue risk management system for the work group. The lack of a fatigue plan has for some time been a major concern for Pierce, and he again raised the issue late last month when United Continental Holdings complained about the cancellation of Continental Boeing 737 services at its Newark Liberty International hub because of an apparent sick-out (Aviation Daily, July 29).
Latvian airline Air Baltic continues to grow traffic in spite of a long-standing dispute among its shareholders. The airline saw traffic increase by 7% in the first seven months of the year. In the same period, the load factor improved by six points to 73%, albeit lower than industry average.
Brazil’s finance ministry has granted its approval of Grupo TAM’s proposed merger with Chile’s LAN Airlines. The backing from the Treasury Department’s Secretaria de Acompanhamento Economico, while noting there are overlaps on three passenger and 10 cargo routes, says the merger should be approved without restrictions because the airline industry is sufficiently competitive to assure the airlines will not dominate the sector.
Efforts to establish the first carbon dioxide certification standard for aircraft are proving difficult, and the recent failure to agree on a metric for CO2 emissions risks delaying completion of the standard. Any delay could empower environmental groups already putting pressure on governments to regulate aircraft CO2 emissions in the absence of a global standard.
US Airways is citing the Justice Department’s investigation into possible antitrust violations by global distribution system providers as one of many reasons why the airline’s antitrust lawsuit against Sabre should be allowed to proceed.
EADS CFO Hans-Peter Ring arrived in New York last week for meetings with institutional investors and analysts in the middle of a stock market meltdown. “Obviously the markets feel that there is [the threat of] a double-dip recession,” he says. But if that does happen, Ring is confident the company’s Airbus unit is prepared.
Israel will build a new international airport at Timna near the Red Sea resort of Eilat to boost tourism in the southern region of the country. The airport will be named after the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon.
