A Phoenix-based development group has won a three-way battle to upgrade a 13-acre parcel of land on the west side of Las Vegas McCarran Airport. The airport originally asked for a minimum bid of $616,000 a year, which was what the parcel was appraised for, said airport spokesman Chris Jones. “The public auction took place Dec. 18 during the Clark County Board of Commissioners meeting,” he said. Sealed bids were accepted until Nov. 28,followed by an oral bidding process before the [Clark County] commissioners.”
Singapore Airlines Cargo will carry Japan Airlines code on its all-cargo flights on the Singapore-Osaka-Los Angeles route, pending regulatory approval from the U.S. Transportation Dept. The airline told DOT it inked an agreement with the Japanese carrier wherein it will carry the JL code and block space on the flights for JAL cargo. SIA Cargo said it would implement the code share as soon as the nod was received [DOT-OST-2008-0002].
New air traffic control measures implemented in the last few months by Brazil’s civil aviation regulators to avoid congested airports due to flight delays and cancellations during heavy holiday periods worked well during Christmas and New Year. Airport regulator Infraero reported that at major airports only 6.3% of flights were canceled and 8.4% were delayed at the beginning of the Christmas rush. Infraero reported 85% of flights operated normally during the New Year weekend.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. denied a motion from American seeking review of the its decision to weigh putting seven of American’s U.S.-Colombia frequencies up for grabs in the latest proceedings (DAILY, Dec. 10). American had argued that the move by DOT, prompted by the carrier’s decision to shift the frequencies to other routes (DAILY, Nov. 30), was “arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion” and suggested the department was moving away from established precedent on frequency allocations.
German antitrust authorities want more time to consider the proposed acquisition of Condor by Air Berlin. The government says the complexity of the deal is prompting the request, which is not atypical in this kind of a deal. Thomas Cook, which is selling Condor, argues it’s merely a routing request.
BMI will double flights between London Heathrow and Moscow Domodedovo airports due to strong demand but is cutting back on some intra-U.K. routes. BMI began operating to Moscow in October 2006, but demand is strong enough that the carrier believes it can add a second flight for point-to-point demand and transfers to its broader network.
Air Comet Chile (formerly Aerolineas del Sur), encouraged by the success of beefed-up service from Santiago to Concepcion, Balmaceda and Temuco last month, on Jan. 12 will launch an additional long-haul flight from Santiago to Puerto Natales, gateway to Patagonia and Torres del Paine National Park. The park attracts major flows of ecotourists from overseas. Internationally, Air Comet plans more worldwide connection options from its current routes to Lima and Buenos Aires, both preferred by Chilean passengers.
The U.K.’s Dept. for Transport has given the green light to 21 airports to ease limits on carry-on baggage. Effective Jan. 7, passengers flying out of airports, including Heathrow, Stansted, London City, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, will no longer be limited to one bag past security checkpoints, according to DFT. Limits of 100 ml of liquids, creams and gels are still in effect, and airlines can still set their own rules on bags taken into aircraft cabins.
AirTran Airways has accepted $3 million in cash and additional incentives from the state of Florida to keep its headquarters in Orlando. The carrier has also agreed to build a new Systems Operations Control (SOC) center at Orlando Airport. “We decided to stay mostly because our people like Orlando. It’s been a great base of operations so far, and we wanted to keep the momentum going with the least amount of turbulence,” said spokesman Dave Hirschman.
The launch and growth of several startups increased competition in Mexico’s air transport market in 2007, and some of those startups will figure into the consolidation that industry watchers expect will take place this year, as legacy and low-cost airlines adapt to operate in the new market.
Air passenger fatality numbers for 2007 “are well below long-term trends,” according to a new report from consultant group Ascend. Passenger fatalities were down 20% to 631 in 2007, compared with the annual average of 718.9 for this decade and an average of 954.4 for the 1990s. The 15 fatal accidents in 2007 were two more than the 2006 total, but were still slightly better than the annual average of 16 since 2000 and 24.2 in the 1990s.
New York-based Eos Airlines may be looking to extend its all-business class model to the U.S. domestic market. The airline is asking the U.S. Transportation Dept. for authority to operate scheduled interstate service. The carrier told the department the authority would “strengthen its international service” and said it would “allow Eos to bring its superior and unique service to travelers seeking alternative flight options” [DOT-OST-2007-0126].
United and Italian carrier Air One filed the first authority application for 2008 with the U.S. Transportation Dept. yesterday, as the carriers seek authority to implement a code-share deal inked early last month. Air One would carry the UA code on flights out of Rome to 17 Italian destinations, while United would put Air One’s code on its Rome-Washington flights, as well as from its Dulles hub to 11 major U.S. cities and Mexico City. The code share may also be extended to Air One affiliate Air One CityLiner, but that carrier would seek its own authority at a later date.
Russia’s Aeroflot Cargo has inked a deal with Finnair Technical Services to handle maintenance on its fleet of Boeing MD-11 cargo aircraft. The deal, which lasts until 2016, is valued at EUR200 million (US$294.6 million). “Aeroflot Cargo’s decision is a clear indication of Finnair’s competitiveness on world-wide aircraft maintenance markets,” said Kimmo Soini, senior VP of Finnair Technical Services in a statement.
The U.S. and Australia are planning to hold formal open-skies talks, tentatively scheduled on Feb. 12-14 in Washington, a senior state department official told The DAILY.
With final numbers yet to come, it appears both Boeing and Airbus will each finish with close to 1,300 orders for 2007. The two companies will announce their yearend totals soon. The last Boeing update through Dec. 18 had the manufacturer at 1,213 orders, and Airbus reported 1,204 orders through Nov. 30. However, both have signed significant new deals since the last updates, and there are likely a few surprise orders that will be counted in the 2007 total.
FAA is offering a new pay proposal to its controllers in an attempt to resolve a long-running contract dispute, but it appears unlikely that the controllers’ union will accept the deal.
French-based construction company Vinci S.A. said it has acquired a 3.3% stake in Aeroports de Paris (ADP). In taking the stake, the company reaffirmed plans to make long-term investments in airport infrastructures. It will support the profitable growth strategy put in place by ADP’s management team, the company added.
The Dublin Airport Authority’s business plan, reflecting its EUR2 billion (US$2.8 billion) investment program and the outcome of the interim review of the determination on airport charges for Dublin Airport have caused debt watcher Standard & Poor’s to raise its outlook from negative to stable. S&P also affirmed its A long-term and A-1 short-term corporate credit ratings on DAA. It also affirmed the A long-term senior unsecured debt rating on DAA Finance PLC’s EUR250 million (US$358.2 million) bond issue.
Republic Airways Holdings will exercise options for 11 Embraer 175 aircraft, which will be placed with Shuttle America for its Delta Connection operation.
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB) last week completed its first Boeing 727-200 flight with a full load of charter passengers marketed through local Las Delicias Tours. LAB flew between its home base in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz after submitting documentation on technical and financial viability to Bolivia’s civil aviation department (DGAC), which validated its operating license.
Cubana de Aviacion crews last week took delivery from Russia’s Aviastar-SP of the last of three Tupolev 212-passenger 204-100E jet airliners, an updated version of the basic Tu-204, and equivalent to the Boeing 757 family. The aircraft will be used by state-owned Cubana to expand its medium-range regional routes.
