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.
Load factors at Air Wisconsin improved 2.3 percentage points from November 2006 to November 2007, as traffic improved 2.9% on 0.5% less capacity. The airline carried 464,786 passengers in November, up 5.2% from the same month last year. Year-to-date traffic, meanwhile, was down 4% to some 200 billion revenue passenger miles. Capacity for the January-November period is down 4.3% when compared with the same period last year, while year-to-date loads are up 0.2 percentage points to 71.8%.
Indonesian Transport Minister Jusman Syafi Djamal has opposed the purchase of any European aircraft by Indonesian carriers while the European Union refuses to let Indonesian airlines from flying over EU member nations for safety reasons.
Venezuela’s civil aviation institute (Inac) is taking a close look at the Venezuela-U.S. air transport market, with an eye to stabilizing an imbalance in the market that the agency says tends to favor U.S. carriers. U.S. carriers handle 70% of traffic between Venezuela and the U.S. despite a bilateral between the countries that says airlines from both countries should share “fair and equal opportunities in carrying passenger traffic,” said Inac President Ramon Vinas.
The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Finance has hired Credit Suisse to help it privatize Prague Airport. The government is constructing a new system of highways and motorways in the country, said Karel Hanzelka, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport. “The financial funds after privatization of the airport will be used as a resource for new activities in the road building,” he said.
MAIR Holdings is planning to divest itself of its lone airline subsidiary, Big Sky because attempts to develop the airline’s operations on the East Coast and in Montana proved unsuccessful.
Air Canada and Corsairfly of France have signed a deal that includes code sharing between Canada and France, as well as enhanced marketing in France of Air Canada. The marketing will be done by the Nouvelle Frontieres Group, owner of France’s largest travel agency network. Nouvelle will now promote Air Canada as a preferred carrier to those agents.
Vietnam Airlines has confirmed its plans to fly the Airbus A350XWB twin-widebody, having turned its purchasing commitment into a firm order. The 10 aircraft will be in the -900 configuration. In parallel, Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Co. has firmed up its purchase of a further 10 airbus A321s.
Jet Airways has shifted its regional headquarters from New York to San Francisco to plan for competition it expects to face from growing giant Kingfisher Airlines when it flies direct from Bangalore to San Francisco in August 2008. Jet Airways announced it will launch a flight from Delhi to the West Coast in February 2008, six months ahead of Kingfisher Airlines, and Jet Airways official told The DAILY the airline is “only preparing its flight operations schedule by moving office.”
