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) FEB. 12-13 — Defense Technology and Requirements, Washington, D.C. FEB. 13-14 — ATC Demand Management, New York, N.Y. MARCH 4 — Laureates, Washington, D.C. MARCH 12-13 — Aircraft Data, Phoenix, Ariz.
Southwest says it is seeing strong demand for its new San Francisco airport flights. The flights are already achieving load factors similar to the carrier’s system average, says CEO Gary Kelly. Southwest launched SFO service in August and plans further expansion next month.
Boeing CEO Jim McNerney doesn’t believe the crisis in the credit market will make it harder for Boeing to achieve sales or production growth targets. Most Boeing sales are financed by non-capital market institutions “that have remained in pretty good shape,” he says. In capital markets, financing has seen “a risk premium built in,” and “some of the frothier deals aren’t getting done,” but even here Boeing is seeing “a bit of a loosening up.”
WHAT CAN BE DONE NOW TO MANAGE AIR TRAFFIC DEMAND? February 13 & 14, 2008 New York, NY The airline industry is finally in an upswing, and air traffic delays have become the headline news. Join us as we explore what the industry can do to alleviate congestion without compromising growth? Register and learn more www.aviationweek.com/forums/atcmain.htm or call +1.212.904.4483 or 1.800.240.7645
Brazil’s Varig, expanding its international network under control by GOL (DAILY, Jan. 29), announced Tuesday that in March it would suspend nonstops from Sao Paulo to London, Frankfurt, and Rome, a move that has already inconvenienced ticketed passengers.
China’s efforts to put the brakes on aviation growth appears to be having the desired ffect, with the latest figures showing extremely rapid but moderating growth rates. The country’s airlines carried 185.19 million passengers in 2007, 16% more than a year earlier, says the civil aviation administration.
Toronto-based Porter Airlines plans to launch U.S. service beginning March 31 with seven daily flights to Newark. There will be up to three daily flights on weekends. Porter took delivery of two new Bombardier Q400s, bringing its fleet to six. Four more deliveries are expected over the next year, and Porter plans to expand to other U.S. destinations.
The Transportation Security Administration this week launched a blog, titled “Evolution of Security,” that aims to let travelers voice their ideas, concerns and comments on transportation security.
A Boeing 737 of Indonesia’s Merpati Airlines carrying 141 passengers has hit a cow on landing at an incompletely fenced airport. No one was hurt — except the cow, which died when it was struck by the aircraft’s left engine. The engine was damaged in the Monday incident at Mopah airport in Papua, the Indonesian province on New Guinea. Only 1,500 meters of the airport’s 7,000-meter perimeter is fenced, says the manager of the facility.
ICAO experts in operations and marketing Hector Rios and Jorge Cordoba arrived in La Paz this week to help state-owned Boliviana de Aviacion (BoA) set up technical and administrative infrastructure for its planned takeoff in three months (DAILY, Jan. 25.). Separately, local analysts were intrigued by a release from China’s Ministry of Trade that two Chinese-made, 60-passenger Xinzhou-60 turboprops would soon be flying commercially for a “South American airline,” possibly BoA.
Environment Canada is testing a short-term weather forecasting system at that could give airport and airline officials more accurate weather forecasting. The Canadian Airport Nowcasting Project (CAN-Now) operates at Toronto Pearson Airport. Funding for the project began in April 2006 and is due to end in fall 2009.
A sweeping global warming bill being considered by the Senate could have major repercussions for the airline industry by calling for a study of aviation’s share of greenhouse gas emissions, potentially leading to more dramatic measures.
Last year’s strong increase in international traffic will probably not be repeated this year, with a December growth slowdown pointing to a wider trend, according to new data released by the International Air Transport Association yesterday. International traffic grew by 7.4% in 2007, up considerably from the 5.9% gain in 2006. However, the December increase was just 6.7%, after a 9.3% rise in November. “This step down reflects the impact of rising prices and economic uncertainty that grew more acute in December,” IATA said.
The reality of sustained high fuel prices and resulting urgent need for less domestic capacity supports the case for consolidation in 2008 largely among legacy carriers, which comprise some 55% of industry revenue, according to a Raymond James report.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly yesterday stressed the airline will not be left out in the cold if industry consolidation occurs, and he also reinforced the importance of adding international code-share partners to meet revenue growth targets.
EasyJet is running a trial to provide upgraded services for business travelers. Under EasyJet Plus, flyers would pay up to GPB80 (US$161.97) to be able to board the aircraft first and have a dedicated check-in line.
JetBlue and Aer Lingus are today scheduled to reveal new details of their proposed marketing tie-up. The two carriers have been talking for months about plans to link their Web sites.
Changi Airports International has been chosen to manage Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd Airport. The deal, between Saudi Arabia’s General Administration of Civil Aviation and CAI, is expected to close in two months. King Fahd, in the eastern half of the country, is the world’s largest airport in terms of land, covering 780 square kilometers, said CAI. The project is CAI’s second in the Middle East, said CEO Chow Kok Fong. -
Air Onehas filed an appeal with the Italian Regional Administration Court of Lazio to have the government’s decision overruled to name Air France-KLM as the preferred bidder in takeover talks with Alitalia. Air One was the losing bidder.
Air Astana, flag carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan, achieved record growth during 2007, with available seat kilometers up by 42% from 2006 despite spiralling fuel costs. Passengers carried increased 46% to 2.13 million, with associated revenue up 48% for the year. The growth was partially attributed to its fleet that increased to 18 aircraft during 2007 following the delivery of two Boeing 767-300ERs, two Airbus A320s and two A321s.
Richard Branson signals he plans to enter the Russian airline market. Talks are under way with two or three potential partner airlines, he tells the Russia Forum investment conference in Moscow. Partnerships could be announced within three months. However, Deputy Transport Minister Boris Korol stresses that ownership levels would be an issue, and that non-Russian airlines would not be allowed to serve domestic routes.
