Component maker Ametek will open a 1,700 square meter (18,000 sq. ft.) maintenance facility in Singapore by the end of this month to cut turnaround times for Asian customers. The facility’s initial work will include maintenance and repair of pneumatic and hydraulic parts.
March 26-28, 2008 at The Phoenician Resort in Phoenix, Arizona With focus on open skies and international flying, both U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Deputy Director-General Ryuhei Maeda, Civil Aviation Bureau Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Japan are confirmed participants this year. To register, visit phxskyharbor.com or call 602-683-2634. PHX PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Aircraft maker Avic 1 and China Eastern have gained approval to start a regional airline this year, thanks to a cabinet-ordered exception to the ban on considering new applications before 2010. The carrier, Xingfu Airlines, will fly Avic 1 aircraft, beginning with MA60 turboprops and later introducing ARJ21 regional jets. The eventual fleet is planned as 50 of each type.
A disabled aircraft had to be towed off a runway at Boston Airport Sunday, causing 31 flight delays. Aside from the runway blockage at Boston, flight delays were relatively low on the weekend, a welcome change from February when the average daily delay count was about 1,600. There were 978 delays Sunday, and just 518 Saturday, caused mainly by wind. Friday saw snowy weather in many parts of the Northeast and 1,276 flight delays.
State passenger bills of rights governed by federal, not state, law, the U.S. Transportation Dept. said yesterday in a clarification that could have repercussions on an upcoming court case in New York and in other cases around the country. This clarification comes just days before a New York court is due to hear an appeal on the December decision striking down an airline industry challenge to that state’s passenger bill of rights legislation (DAILY, Dec. 19, 2007).. The appeal is to be heard on Wednesday.
Thai Airways International will develop a passenger-to-freighter conversion business at its maintenance facility at Bangkok’s old Don Muang Airport under a plan that has gained preliminary approval from Transport Minister Santi Prompat.
Airport operations and behavior have changed rapidly across the world under the influence of low-cost carrier development, with the most dramatic effect being on secondary airports near large cities, according to a new report from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. These airports were often previously often unused, or greatly underutilized and had life breathed into them by the arrival of one or more LCCs, said the report, entitled “Low Cost Airports & Terminals.”
US Airways, anticipating negative growth in the domestic market, is launching an effort to close the international capacity gap between it and its rivals in a plan dubbed Project Global Reach.
Competition from a high-speed rail line has forced three Taiwanese airlines to suspend four domestic routes. Mandarin Airlines has given up flights between Taichung and Taitun, UNI Air has stopped services between Taipei and Kaohsiung, and bankrupt Far Eastern Air Transport has dropped its flights between Taipei and Tainan and between Hualien and Kaohsiung.
A third runway needs to be built at London Heathrow Airport because the capacity is badly needed and it has been demonstrated that stringent environmental limits can be met, according to BAA in a report to the U.K. Dept. for Transport.
Virgin Atlantic’s selection of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 for its Boeing 787-9s adds the 23th customer for the powerplant to the order book. Virgin has committed to taking 15 engine sets for the twin-widebody, as well as four spare turbofans. Options and purchase agreements included in the contract could extend the Trent 1000 commitment to 43 787s. The deal is valued at about US$2.6 billion.
American and its pilots union are preparing for their first sessions with a National Mediation Board facilitator next week, and they plan to start off with less-controversial administrative clauses.
American is scrutinizing the flight data recorders from a Boeing 777-200ER to determine what caused the aircraft’s left Trent 800 engine to “hang up” on approach to Los Angeles Airport on Feb. 28. As of March 3, it is the American pilots union’s understanding that the event differs from the Jan. 17 landing accident at London Heathrow involving a British Airways 777-200ER, also powered by a Trent 800, says Karl Schricker. He is Allied Pilots Association communications committee chairman.
IATA is planning to launch a pilot carbon offsetting program with the participation of six airlines by the end of this year, says CEO Giovanni Bisignani. The goal is to “develop a standard scheme for airlines and their passengers to participate in voluntarily,” he says.
The allegedly anti-labor record of presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is being attacked by the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, the group said following its annual winter meeting held over the weekend.
Germany’s air accident investigation body BFU has launched an in-depth analysis into why a Lufthansa Airbus A320 came close to a serious crash while landing at Hamburg Airport on Saturday.
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Finnair last week ordered three more Embraer 190s, bringing its firm orders for E-Jets to 23. First delivery of these 190s is due in 2010. Finnair currently operates 10 Embraer 170s and six 190s. A seventh 190 was handed over to Finnair last week. The 190s are configured for 100 seats in two classes.
Brazil’s VRG (operating under the Varig brand) last week signed formalized interline agreements with Japan Airlines and Korean Air. The announcement came only days after VRG announced a similar deal with Iberia (DAILY, Feb. 28). The carrier also signed an agreement with KLM in January (DAILY, Jan. 24).
Continental saw its load factor slip slightly in February — mainly due to its international operation — although the carrier managed to keep unit revenues growing strongly. Both consolidated and mainline loads were down about a point to 76% for the month, with international seeing the largest decrease of 1.9 points to 71.3%. Domestic mainline load factor was about flat.
Chile’s domestic traffic jumped 30.4% from January 2007 to 456,031 passengers in January 2008, the largest growth percentage in the past 11 years, reported the Civil Aviation Board (JAC). Overall traffic reached 945,232 passengers in January, up 17.3% from 2007, with international traffic accounting for 51.83%. Heading the list of top routes were long-hauls from Santiago to Antofagasta, Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas, and segments with the largest increases from Santiago were Copiapo (56.1%), Temuco (47.9%) and La Serena (47.1%.).
Emirates has rolled out its initial Airbus A380 network plans, inaugurating service with a new city-pair for the mega-transport: Dubai and New York. Airbus is slated to hand over the first of the Engine Alliance GP7200-powered A380s in August, but service operations between Emirates hub in Dubai and New York will not start until Oct. 1. Emirates will be the first Engine Alliance customer to start revenue service.
Airline industry groups say FAA should be looking for more immediate benefits from automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) technology, and the agency should focus more on more near-term technology to increase equipage and participation.
