Mexicana has started four weekly non-stop flights from Mexico City to Calgary, the fourth destination it serves in Canada besides Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Airbus A319 aircraft configured for 12 in business and 108 in economy class are being used. Mexicana’s Isaac Volin stressed the airline’s impressive growth in Canada, source and destination of major business and leisure flows for Mexico. Calgary Airport President Garth Atkinson, meanwhile, said this new link would contribute substantially to more trade and travel between the two countries.
Air Canada Jazz this week took delivery of a second Bombardier Dash 8-300 aircraft for its charter operation. The aircraft will enter service in March 2008.
German low-fare and leisure carriers Germanwings and TUIfly are likely to merge in the coming months, forming a second large low-fare conglomerate in Germany. Parent companies Lufthansa and TUI this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and due diligence.
The European Regions Airline Association and Airports Council International-EUROPE are working together to persuade Eurocontrol to endorse the policy of using continuous descent approaches (CDAs) at as many airports as possible because of the practice’s beneficial effects on the environment and flight safety.
Mesa has given the U.S. Transportation Dept. end dates for several of Air Midwest’s Essential Air Service markets, a sign Mesa is forging ahead with plans to sell the airline (DAILY, Jan. 18). Air Midwest on April 20 will terminate service in Grand Island and McCook, Neb.; Columbia/Jefferson City, Joplin and Kirksville, Mo.; El Dorado, Jonesboro, Harrison and Hot Springs, Ark.; and in Manhattan/Fort Riley and Salina, Kan.
LiveTV scored a major coup Jan. 29 when it signed up Continental, which is the company’s largest customer yet for its seat-back live television product. Continental plans to introduce the service beginning January 2009, on its New Generation Boeing 737s and its 757-300s. Through DIRECTV, Continental will offer 36 live channels including several big-name channels. The airline will offer the service free to first class passengers, and will allow access to economy class for a $6 access fee.
SAS is introducing biometrics on its domestic network in Sweden to facilitate baggage security checks (DAILY, Dec. 7). Passengers will be offered the opportunity to give their fingerprints at check-in and again upon boarding the aircraft. “The aim of the biometric solution is to ensure that the person checking in the baggage is also the one boarding the aircraft, but in a smoother manner than today,” said SAS Sweden. The information concerning the fingerprint will be erased at the end of the flight, the company stressed.
Era Corp. — a major player in the automatic dependent-surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) industry — is continuing to add big names from the ATC community to its board and management.
The cockpit crew’s incompetence caused the 2004 crash of a Flash Airlines Boeing 737-300, concluded a report drawn up by four French independent experts. The report, handed over earlier this month to a French prosecution judge, also exonerates the manufacturer of the 737, which fell into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport on Jan. 3, 2004 (DAILY, Jan. 7, 2004). One hundred forty-eight people died on board Flight 604.
During negotiations last week in Washington, the U.S. and Russia agreed to changes to their air service agreement, allowing more overflights for U.S. carriers and lifting the charter restrictions for both countries, a senior State Dept. official told The DAILY. Delegations from both countries updated the annexes to the 1994 Air Transport Agreement and will return to the table later this year to discuss further code-sharing opportunites, said John Byerly, deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs.
Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has reached a settlement with some of the airlines in its fight to raise fees at Los Angeles Airport. Delta, Northwest, American, Continental and United were covered under the settlement, airlines that have long-term leases at LAX going back to 1984, LAWA COO Steve Martin told The DAILY.
AerCap believes strong aircraft and engine lease activity will allow the company to beat fourth-quarter earnings-per-share estimates, and management notes the next two years also look bright. Klaus Heinemann, CEO for the Dutch aircraft lessor, says that “our transactions in the fourth quarter and full year [of] 2007 show that the current market for aircraft assets remains strong.”
Cargo carrier ABX Air is awaiting U.S. Transportation Dept. exemptions to operate cargo flights to the Bolivian cities of La Paz, Oruro, Cochabamba, Sucre, Santa Cruz, Robore and Puerto Suarez from Miami. [DOT-OST-2008-0021].
Spanish investment fund Inversiones Hemisferio, the largest shareholder of low-cost carrier Vueling Airlines, confirmed talks about a possible merger between Vueling and Clickair, an Iberia affiliate.
AeroLogic, the new cargo airline launched by Lufthansa Cargo and DHL, will start scheduled services in April 2009, the two companies revealed at a news conference this week in Frankfurt. The airline will start its operation with a fleet of two Boeing 777-200LR freighters. The joint venture was announced last year and replaces an existing cooperation agreement of the same name. Lufthansa Cargo has been operating the equivalent of seven MD-11s on behalf of DHL, but that agreement is now superseded by the dedicated airline.
Cape Air on Feb. 12 will launch three daily flights between the New York communities of Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake and Boston,. The carrier was selected by the U.S. Transportation Dept. earlier this month to operate Essential Air Service in the markets. Cape Air is picking up the market from Big Sky, which in late December announced plans to cease flying (DAILY, Jan. 2). The only carrier to submit a proposal for service, Cape Air will receive subsidy from DOT to operate the service through Feb. 12, 2009 [DOT-OST-2003-14783].
Northwest Airlines said that despite continued higher fuel prices, the carrier will continue to see revenue grow and strong demand in its bookings. The airline paid $2.35 per gallon for fuel — its single largest expense — up 42 cents year over year, and forecast that costs in 2008 would be $2.57 per gallon, excluding taxes. CFO Dave Davis said the carrier had previously hedged about 50% of its fuel exposure for the quarter, using a combination of collars and swaps.
JetBlue yesterday cut its capacity guidance for this year, and announced it will sell more A320s than it orignally planned. The carrier said it will grow capacity by 5%-8% this year, down from earlier guidance of 6%-9% growth. JetBlue will plans to sell six A320s, four more than previously announced. Three will be sold in the second quarter, one in the third quarter, and two in the fourth quarter.
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Delta late in February will begin to carry the code of SkyTeam partner Korean on its flights between Atlanta and Dayton, Ohio, and Buenos Aires. The traffic beyond Korean’s U.S. gateways will be on a blind-sector basis only, the carriers said [DOT-OST-2003-14367].
