Frontier saw strong unit revenue growth in January, based on a load factor increase of 7.3 points. Traffic increased 18.3% for the month, far exceeding the 6.4% capacity growth. Passenger unit revenue climbed 11.7%, compared with last year, with yields increasing by just 0.3%. Enplanements were up 12.5%.
SAS sees a need to expand its Strategy 2011 (S11) restructuring program to combat the effects of an expected economic downturn and identifies other challenges ahead. The overhaul plan, although only launched last year, is no longer seen as sufficient, SAS management signalled in announcing 2007 results, which saw operating revenue increase 4.7%, to SKR54 billion, on a 2.9% rise in traffic to 31.2 million passengers. Net income of SKR636 million was recorded.
Athens International Airport has signed a consulting deal to help Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) and the Beijing Olympic Committee prepare to handle participants and travelers attending the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic games.
The Transportation Security Administration has unveiled details for an airport employee screening pilots at six of seven airports that will start this spring. Boston Logan and Jacksonville airports will run the 100% physical screening part of the pilot, the DAILY has learned. But Stewart Airport, also tapped to test 100% screening, declined to participate, citing its recent acquisition by the port authority and the need to look at its operations during the transition.
The Indonesian police’s arrest of a Garuda Indonesia Airways captain on manslaughter charges has reignited industry protests against accident criminalization.
IATA is asking FAA for a 30-day extension of the comment period on the U.S. Transportation Dept.’s recent congestion pricing proposal. The changes to the Policy Regarding Airport Rates and Charges is a “highly litigated area,” IATA says, so the association is asking for an extension until April 2 to consult with its member carriers and to study what effect the proposed changes could have on U.S. bilateral aviation agreements.
Korean Air blamed a 97% drop in 2007 net income — to US$11.6 billion — on weakness in its currency and skyrocketing fuel prices. The carrier’s operating revenue in the fourth quarter was up 8.9% to US$2.4 billion, while it ended the year at US$9.3 billion, up 9.1%, driven by growth in international passenger and cargo revenue.
Chinese airport charges will fall 5% under a new table of prices to take effect on March 1. Charges for Chinese airlines’ international services will rise, however. The Civil Aviation Administration plans to create a uniform system of charges in the coming five years.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that flight delays, mishandled bags and customer complaints were all up in 2007 from 2006. BTS reports that an average of 73.4% of flights arrived on time last year, compared with 75.4% in 2006. The 20 carriers that file with BTS also reported 7.03 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers, up from 6.73 in 2006. BTS further reports that consumer complaints to the DOT were up 58.2% last year, reaching 13,168 complaints, compared with 2006’s 8,325.
Airports will see more advanced X-ray machines deployed under the Transportation Security Administration’s $6 billion FY2009 budget submitted by the Bush Administration. The budget includes $1.2 billion to speed up the installation of inline baggage-screening systems. TSA plans to help fund that effort by requesting a temporary, four-year hike of 50 cents in the passenger security fee, currently set at $2.50 per airline segment.
GWAO Celebrates 20 Years! Everyone in the aviation community will be celebrating the 20th Annual Greater Washington Aviation Open on Monday, May 5, 2008 at Lansdowne Resort in Virginia – and we want you to be there.
FAA’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget request once again slashes Airport Improvement Program funding but is tripling funding for the NextGen air traffic control modernization program. The total FAA budget request of $14.6 billion is down from the FY2008 budget of $14.92 billion enacted by Congress. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters urged Congress to move on the FAA reauthorization bill, currently stalled in the Senate, to restore the funding mechanisms for the agency.
Of the 75 large U.S. airports required to add enhanced surface markings to their runways by June, 71 had done so by the end of last year, said Dick Marchi, ACI-NA senior VP-technical and environmental affairs. A further 229 are in the process of doing so, Marchi said. The markings are an effort to prevent runway incursions and over-runs.
British Airways is concerned about how the U.S. economic slowdown and credit market crisis might hurt transatlantic travel, but these trends will not cause BA and other airlines to think twice about adding new flights in this market, a senior airline executive tells The DAILY.
Board members for Southern California Regional Airport Authority (SCRAA) have decided to disband, one of four options unveiled last week by a consulting firm it hired to study future options (DAILY, Jan. 29). It is the second time that SCRAA, originally created in 1984, had its plug pulled in 2003. The authority was revived in June 2006 by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who made transportation issues a highlight in his administration.
Finnair has exercised one of its remaining options for Airbus A330s to continue its long-haul fleet growth. The carrier still retains two A330/A340 options. It has already fielded three A340-300s and should receive two more this year. The A330s are being bought to replace seven remaining MD-11s. The newly bought aircraft should arrive in 2010, Finnair says.
Departing Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa calmly reaffirmed last Sunday that exclusive talks for the sale of Alitalia to Air France-KLM would continue, even though the privatization of the ailing flag carrier is rapidly turning into legal and political mayhem.
A Lloyd Aereo Boliviano Boeing 727-200 chartered by Military Air Transport (TAM), carrying 151 passengers and eight crew members from Cobija in Northeastern Bolivia to La Paz, made a crash landing last Friday on a jungle bog after two unsuccessful approaches to Trinidad Airport, 45 minutes away.
