Bombardier is actively studying the merits of stretching the 72-seat Q400 to 90 seats in a Q400X version. Bombardier's Barry MacKinnon told Regional Airline Association members this week that the manufacturer has seen a healthy amount of interest, but no timeline or formal launch decision has been made.
Officials at the U.K.'s Manchester Airport have said they will make their facility carbon neutral for energy and vehicle use by 2015 as part of its recently published master plan. Manchester and The Carbon Trust are now working together to calculate the airport's carbon emissions. The study revealed that in 2005 Manchester Airport produced 430,000 tons of CO2, with 60% generated by ground transport (passenger and staff journeys to and from the airport), 23% by aircraft taxiing on the ground and almost 18% from energy use in the terminals.
ST Aviation Services Company (SASCO) and Boeing recently completed the door-cutting for the first Boeing 767-300 converted freighter (BCF), a step regarded as the start of major activity in the program. Singapore Technologies Aerospace subsidiary SASCO inducted the BCF in October from All Nippon Airways (ANA), Boeing's launch customer for the program. The prototype is expected for redelivery in June 2008, after completion of flight tests and certification by Boeing.
Regional airlines were this week told they might want to accept a $25 air traffic control user fee as the lesser of other possible evils when FAA reauthorization packages are pushed again through Congress.
Hawaiian Airlines signed an MOU with Airbus and Rolls-Royce for up to 24 new long-range widebodies. It will acquire six A330-200s and six A350XWB-800s with purchase rights for another six A330-200s and another six A350-8s. It also may lease additional A330s to bring online as early as 2009. Hawaiian intends to replace its current widebody fleet of 18 aircraft, expand its long-range fleet and "open new routes to more distant markets on a nonstop basis from Hawaii," according to CEO Mark Dunkerley.
American yesterday said it wants to spin off its regional carrier affiliate American Eagle, although the company was vague as to the timing of the divestiture and it admitted it still has many details to iron out.
The European Commission is taking Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Communities for failing to implement European Union legislation on the inspection of non-EU aircraft. The EC said Poland did not transpose the directive on the safety of third-country aircraft using Community airports correctly into its national legislation. The EU rules, adopted in 2004, seek to harmonize ramp inspection procures and organize the exchange of information gathered during the inspections. [email protected]
Singapore Airlines signed a Total Care Agreement with Rolls-Royce for the Trent 900 engines on its 10 Airbus A380 aircraft. Rolls-Royce will provide off-wing maintenance, repair and overhaul of engines, as well as spare engine support. The engines will be repaired and overhauled at Singapore Aero Engine Services Limited (SAESL), a joint venture company owned by SIA Engineering Company Limited and Rolls-Royce.
Aerogalapagos (Aerogal) On Dec. 7 will become the only Ecuadorean carrier to operate into the U.S. as it launches daily nonstop Boeing 737-200 service to Miami with immediate connections to and from Quito. Aerogal already flies to major destinations in Ecuador as well as to Colombia. [email protected]
Hungarian low fare airline Wizz Air is expanding its presence in Bulgaria. The airline will base an additional Airbus A320 in Sofia next July and start services to Valencia, Barcelona, Bergamo, Varna and Izmir/Turkey. The four times weekly Varna service will be the first domestic low fare carrier route in Bulgaria.
Verified Identity Pass's Clear registered traveler program is opening an enrollment station at the Senate Federal Credit Union branch at the Government Accountability Offices in Washington, DC. Clear is also opening a third enrollment station in January at the Pentagon in cooperation with the Pentagon Federal Credit Union. Federal credit union members will receive 14 months for the price of 12 when enrolling in Clear, while military on active duty receive free Clear cards.
Brazilian low-cost carrier GOL last week began daily service between Rio de Janeiro and São José dos Campos in São Paulo. With the new service GOL now offers service to 59 destinations.
Aviation, travel and business representatives in Canada are calling on the government to reach an open skies agreement with the European Union as talks began yesterday. Representatives from the Canadian Airports Council (CAC), the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce emphasized the importance of an open skies agreement for the country's economy. A single open skies agreement would replace Canada's current 17 separate bilateral agreements among the 27 EU member states.
Chicago, New York and Seattle would see more cargo service from Russia thanks to new service from Khabarovsk that Aeroflot-Cargo plans to launch. The DC-10 freighters used for the flights to New York Kennedy and Chicago would stopover in Anchorage, with the carrier operating twice weekly to New York and weekly to both Seattle and Chicago [DOT-OST-2007-0072].
Los Angeles International Airport can stem the tide of a steady decline in cargo compared to Asian competitors by pushing LA/Ontario International Airport as an alternative, according to a new report by Webber Air Cargo.
An Airbus A330 recently delivered to China's Hainan Airlines (DAILY, Nov. 19) will be used to help the carrier launch service between Beijing and Seattle.
Mexicana will launch service between Monterrey and New York next May, pending regulatory approval from the U.S. Transportation Dept. The airline would use its Airbus A320 aircraft to serve the route daily. Mexicana would be the only carrier serving the route [DOT-OST-2007-0069].
Airlines are keeping a watchful eye on oil prices as they skirt the $100-per-barrel mark, but economists say a less obvious worry may be the precipitous fall in demand for air travel as rising energy costs put pressure on discretionary income. This possibility could be further compounded if the U.S. economy tips into recession, as some economists are starting to predict. The possibility of recession itself could be made more real if energy prices remain high and demand for oil rises due to a cold winter in the U.S., economists say.
Iberia has normalized operations and schedules on its daily non-stops between Madrid and Quito. These flights had been suspended, and Guayaquil used as a gateway to Ecuador instead since Nov. 9, when an Iberia Airbus A340-600 landed long at Quito's Mariscal Sucre Airport, 9,000 feet above sea level, and went off the runway. No one was injured, but to remove the aircraft from where it landed, Iberia had to import 17 tons of equipment from the U.S.
Transavia says it is buying seven Boeing 737s and has taken an option for three more of the narrowbodies to modernize its existing fleet of 737s. The Netherlands-based, Air France-KLM low-fare adjunct hopes to phase out older 737s starting in 2009. The first of the new batch of 737s are to be delivered that spring. The rest of the aircraft would be delivered at a rate of two per year through 2012.
