US Airways plans to add three new routes to its transcontinental network this summer, with flights between its East Coast hubs and Sacramento and Tucson.
Venezuela’s Aeropostal /Alas de Venezuela reported last week its operations were getting back to normal after the recent collapse of its route network in the Caribbean (mainly to Santo Domingo and Curacao from Caracas) that suggested the carrier needed a bailout from Venezuela’s airline regulator INAC (DAILY, Feb. 4).
Wizz Air will suspend flights April 2-4 from Bucharest due to security measures related to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s summit in the Romanian capital. Wizz Air is having to cancel 20 flights outbound and an equal number of return flights.
British Airways has embarked on a last-minute lobbying campaign to ensure that regulators ease restrictions on London Heathrow Airport as a public consultation period for the development of the airport draws to a close. The on-going debate in the U.K. will lead to decisions on whether to give the go-ahead to a third runway and whether to allow the introduction of mixed-mode operations on existing infrastructure to free up capacity in the intervening time. The public comment period ends Feb. 27.
FAA plans to have automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) coverage for Gulf of Mexico oil platforms available by the end of 2009, FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell says. ADS-B has long been regarded as a crucial safety improvement for helicopter operations in the Gulf, which does not have full radar coverage. FAA estimates helicopters fly more than 2 million operations a year to the 5,500 offshore oil platforms.
Spain’s Gadair has applied for the foreign carrier permit that it will need to operate wet-lease services on behalf of its affiliate, Air Ecuador (DAILY, Jan. 11). Gadair said it operates charter flights for tour operators and wet-leases for other Spanish carriers, and is working to launch scheduled service between Madrid and Bahrain. It plans to use Boeing 757s and 767s for the Air Ecuador wet-lease — it currently subleases one 757 from affiliate Hola Airlines and said it plans to lease 767-200s and -300s for its wet-lease operations.
Seoul Incheon Airport took first place in Airport Council International’s Airport Service Quality Survey. It was a hat-trick for Asia/Pacific airports in the survey, with Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur taking second and Singapore Changi taking third. “At Incheon, the management team takes pride in delivering quality airport service and sees it as being part of the overall tourism value chain,” said Craig Bradbrook, ACI program director.
Successful implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will minimize short-shipped and lost baggage, while SMS messages when the baggage is unloaded from the airplane could be a new passenger service offering, according to a new study. UFIS Airport Innovation AS (UFIS AI) partnered with RFID Lab Norway, UPM Raflatac Finland, Lyngsoe Systems and the Nordic Innovation Centre on the case study, known as the Nice Travel Project. The study was designed to look at ways to show the advantages of RFID for the aviation sector.
Las Vegas McCarran Airport is pushing aggressively to add more airlines to its off-site bag check-in program, says Randall Walker, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation. “Our goal is to someday reach a point where 10% of all bags checked through McCarran originate at an off-airport drop point, and to get there we’ll need widespread airline participation,” he adds.
British Airways and its pilots union are entering conciliation in an attempt to resolve their dispute over hiring pilots for the new OpenSkies subsidiary. The British Air Line Pilots Association (BALPA) said conciliation is due to start within seven days, although the facilitator has yet to be named. However, the union is not backing away from its threat of labor action.“Should conciliation not progress in a timely and positive fashion, BALPA will be able to serve notice of action,” the pilot group said.
Profits for Auckland International Airport Ltd. (AIAL) were down 3.9% to NZ$47.5 million (US$37.9 million) in the first half of Fiscal Year 2008. The company, in the middle of a takeover offer from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), blamed increased operating expenses and NZ$5.8 million in one-off costs from the ownership proposal. AIAL also noted a rise in depreciation and interest costs associated with its investment program, combined with higher interest rates.
Bombardier last week took a significant step toward finally launching its C-Series program, after its board granted authority to offer formal sales proposals. The actual program launch decision will come sometime this year after Bombardier obtains firm commitments from customers. Prospects for this look decent because the manufacturer included glowing references from some potentially major players. Entry into service is planned in 2013. Bombardier painted the delay in launching the program in a positive light.
As pilots at Austral, domestic subsidiary of Aerolineas Argentinas (AR) were discussing whether and when to strike (DAILY, Feb. 21), AR last week agreed with the government that the country “requires more aircraft” and confirmed adding more units to its fleet.
The International Air Transport Association notes that Indonesia is ahead of the industry average with 95.5% e-ticketing usage, and is “well positioned” to meet IATA’s June 1 goal for 100% e-ticketing. The industry-wide e-ticketing rate is 93%. Russian lags significantly at 54%, and Africa and the Middle East regions also behind at 83% and 84%, respectively.
30 Years Ago Feb. 27, 1978 – The U.S. and Japan were unable to resolve their differences over proposed operations charges at the new Tokyo Narita Airport, and the U.S. may charge JAL more to land its planes in the U.S. Japan wants to charge $6.6K to land a 747 at Narita -- to do the same at both Haneda and JFK costs $3K, while the fee at LAX is a little more than $1K. 20 Years Ago
The U.S. Transportation Dept. last week awarded AirTran and Spirit the right to operate new daily flights from Washington National Airport. Spirit will use the new authority to fly a daily roundtrip to either Jacksonville or Milwaukee, and Spirit intends to fly to Fort Lauderdale. The services must begin by May 3. DOT said it selected AirTran and Spirit’s applications because they would offer the “greatest competitive benefits.” Not only are they low-cost carriers, they would also offer more seats than competing carriers, DOT said.
Spring break travel is shifting to the U.S. from the Caribbean because of the weak economy, Kayak.com data finds. Miami is the top choice, followed by Las Vegas. However, only 10.8% said the price of flights is causing travelers to drive instead.
You can now register online for AVIATION WEEK events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) MARCH 4 — Laureates, Washington, D.C. MARCH 12-13 — Aircraft Data, Phoenix, Ariz. APRIL 15-17 — MRO/MRO Military/AVIATION WEEK’s Interiors, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. SEPT. 23 — Green Aviation, Madrid, Spain
Inspectors for Transport Canada are getting a new format for their credentials. The new credentials include a photo identification card, a certificate of designation and any accompanying badges or stamps. The cards will identify inspectors as government officials with designated powers to perform certain duties. They will also be equipped with state-of-the-art security features that meet standard security requirements, as necessary.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sur CFO Adolfo Castro anticipates some traffic leakage at Cancun once the new Riviera Maya Airport opens. “Once the new airport is open, Cancun airport traffic will suffer, as some of the traffic going to Playa del Carmen will go to the new airport because of location,” he tells analysts. “How many locations will use the new airport? I don’t know and I don’t have an estimate, but it could be 20% of Cancun’s passenger traffic.”
Boeing is adamant it is committed to the shorter-haul 787-300, in reaction to reports that it is studying canceling the variant to focus on getting the delayed 787-800 back on track. So far, it has only 30 orders from ANA and 13 from JAL for the 787-3. Boeing does acknowledge that engineering resources are being diverted from other development efforts, including the stretched 787-9, to resolve problems on the 787-8. The company declines to comment on possibile follow-on delays to 787 family members that are set for entry into service in 2010.
Northwest’s Master Executive Council (MEC) met Friday and plans to meet again today in Bloomington, Minn., in a closed session to discuss the confidential briefing it received on Monday concerning a merger. The MEC told its members of the Air Line Pilots Association that it is receiving daily updates to the “status of our situation.” The team that has been chosen by the company to explore a merger is one that continues to represent the best interests of the pilots, the MEC has determined.
