The Travel Industry Association wants to raise industry awareness by the presidential candidates with a campaign it is calling “Change the Debate.” TIA said the campaign is to call the attention of presidential hopefuls to critical travel issues. A recent survey of South Carolina and Florida residents showed that more than 60% said they did not believe the 2008 presidential candidates have adequately addressed the flawed or frustrating travel system.
Water spilled from a galley shut down all electricity supplies except the emergency battery backup on a Qantas Boeing 747-400 on Jan. 7, luckily when the aircraft was just 15 minutes from landing at Bangkok after a flight from London. The plane was at 15,000 feet at the time it lost power, already descending on approach. The water, leaking through a cracked drip tray under the first-class galley, short-circuited a generator control unit, the Australian airline says.
Ecuador’s Aerogal is contesting startup carrier Air Ecuador’s application to operate service to the U.S., questioning the airline’s ownership and suggesting the U.S. Transportation Dept. dismiss the application or request more information. Air Ecuador applied for authority to operate U.S. service in November (DAILY, Nov. 30). Its application said it would serve New York Kennedy with wet-leased aircraft operated by its “affiliate” — Spain’s Gadair. Gadair holds 42% of Air Ecuador’s voting stock.
American and India’s Jet Airways this week won U.S. Transportation Dept. approval of their planned code share (DAILY, Nov. 20). American will initially carry Jet’s code on its flights between New York and Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, and Raleigh/Durham, as well as on its Brussels-Chicago service. Jet, meanwhile, will carry the AA code on its flights between Brussels and Delhi, Mumbai and Madras, and between Delhi and Mumbai, Madras, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Calcultta and Ahmedabad.
Singapore Airlines will introduce a fourth daily flight between Singapore and Sydney from April. The Boeing 777-300ER service will take the airline’s daily capacity between the cities to 1,500 seats. The carrier has deployed its first Airbus A380 on the same route.
Canada’s Transportation Dept. has cleared the way for Zoom Airlines to operate scheduled services between Canada and Italy. The designation falls under an existing bilateral agreement between the two countries, but with an eye toward the full liberalization promised by a Canada-European Union open-skies agreement, currently under negotiation.
The International Aviation Club will host Air France-KLM Vice Chairman Leo van Wijk on Jan. 29 at its monthly luncheon in Washington. He is scheduled to speak about the management of international airlines, economic and security issues facing the industry, and recent regulatory developments. The event will be held at the Capital Hilton, 16th and K Sts. See www.iacwashington.org for more information, or email to reserve a table of no fewer than 10 to [email protected].
TAP Air Portugal will increase its fleet of Airbus A320s starting in 2009. The aircraft are taken on lease from the joint venture of AeroCap, LoadAir and Al Fawares and come from a pool of 70 Airbus narrowbodies the lessors ordered in 2005. The aircraft are CFM56-powered.
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Boeing is prepared to prove to FAA that it will comply with special conditions for certification of the 787’s computer networks when the 250- to 300-seat jet’s flight test program begins this spring. The goal is to ensure that the aircraft’s design is secure from intrusion by hackers. The review, noted in a Jan. 2 issue of the Federal Register , is among 10 special conditions FAA has established for the 787’s advances in design, materials and systems that have moved beyond already written certification rules.
As Boeing pushes to get its first 787 out of the factory, it’s facing some self-imposed delays in getting the second aircraft onto the final assembly line in Everett, Wash. It appears that the second flight test article will be as much as a month late getting to Everett, and it is unclear when Nos. 3-6 will arrive.
Indonesian budget airline Lion Air says it will set up affiliates in Australia and Thailand, fulfilling plans it announced last year to develop a franchise business like that of Singaporean rival Tiger Airways. Lion has agreed to buy 49% of an unnamed Australian company, even though Australia permits wholly foreign-owned carriers to fly domestically, as Tiger does. The joint firm will fly six aircraft under the title Lion Air Australia, while the Thai operation will be Lion Air Thailand and have four aircraft.
During talks last month, the U.S. and Brazil signed a memorandum of consultation (MOC) pledging to hold a second round of negotiations before the end of this year, The DAILY has learned. Last month’s talks were the first formal negotiations the two sides have had in a decade. The talks were also the first since Brazil made the transition from a military-controlled aviation system to a civilian-controlled system, a senior U.S. official said.
British Airways will begin direct flights from New York to Brussels and Paris in June with a new carrier it has dubbed Open Skies, seen as a way to take advantage of the European Union/U.S. air service pact that goes into effect in March. This move, by BA’s previously named Project Lauren, is the latest by carriers on both sides of the Atlantic that are jockeying for position to fly between key points in the U.S. and Europe.
Venezuelan civil aviation regulator INAC said it would review some of Aeropostal’s management practices as a deadline for the airline to pay $5.5 million to the regulator approaches on Friday. The move to review the carrier’s practice is seemingly related to the outstanding debt owed to INAC by Aeropostal. The US$5.5 million, which includes labor and operational warranties, was the result of administrative proceedings initiated by INAC for alleged “irregularities” by the airline denounced by workers and users.
Mexican regional carrier Aviacsa next month will inaugurate service from Monterrey to New York Kennedy Airport four times a week and from Guadalajara to Los Angeles with an equal number of frequencies, according to DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America & Caribbean. All flights will operate with Boeing 737 NG aircraft.
Austrian Airlines Group is adding two new Russian destinations this summer — Sochi and Nizhniy Novgorod. The airline will launch flights April 1 to Sochi and April 2 to Nizhniy Novgorod from Vienna with Fokker 70s, offering three weekly flights to each. Austrian currently flies to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Rostov and Krasnodar. The expansion is part of Austrian’s “Focus East” strategy, in which it is pulling back from unprofitable long-haul routes in favor of European niches.
The U.S.-European Union open-skies agreement is on track to go into effect at the end of March as planned, a preliminary meeting of the Joint Committee found.
Embraer has set a company record with 169 commercial aircraft deliveries last year, reaching the high end of its forecast 12 months ago. Also, the airframer says the strong order intake throughout the year continued into the past year, when it added 39 170/190s to its order book, and two ERJ135s for the Thai military.
Air Comet Chile (formerly Aerolineas del Sur) kicked off the new year with the opening of a new long-haul route from Santiago to Puerto Natales, gateway to Patagonia and Torres del Paine National Park, both favorite destinations with foreign ecotourists.
Lisa Porter, NASA associate administrator for aeronautics research, will leave the agency on or about Feb. 1 to become the first director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. In a Jan. 9 notice to NASA colleagues, Porter said the new organization will sponsor innovative research that will yield revolutionary game-changing capabilities for the intelligence community. Her deputy, Jaiwon Shin, will take over the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters as acting associate administrator.
