More reliable and efficient journey times for passengers using London Heathrow Airport would benefit travelers and the U.K. economy, said Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.
Horizon is seeking Transportation Dept. approval to put Qantas' code on flights the carrier operates between Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. The code share would launch shortly after the carrier wins a statement of authorization from DOT [DOT-OST-2007-0070}.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. will not reconsider its Sept. 10 decision that rejected ExpressJet's motion to treat operating data for its independent branded flying operation as confidential. DOT said it could not find "a compelling justification for overturning the original denial" of the motions [DOT-OST-2007-28396].
Cargolux Airlines International is expanding its service to Kazakhstan. After beginning service in August to Almaty, the carrier says starting this week it will also operate to Atyrau, in western Kazakhstan. The service is focused mainly on supporting the need of the oil-drilling sector. The flight to Atyrau goes through Baku and then continues to Shanghai. The Baku-to Atyrau leg is operated in partnership with Azerbaijan's Silk Way Airlines.
Mexicana and JAL in December will launch code sharing between Mexico and Japan via Los Angeles. JAL's code would appear on Mexicana's flights between Monterrey and Los Angeles, which will serve as the transit point and will connect to JAL's Tokyo and Osaka flights. Mexicana needs code-share authority from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to cover the use of Los Angeles as a transfer point [DOT-OST-2007-0074].
U.S. airlines employed 3% more workers in September 2007 than in the same month last year, the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported recently. The bump represents the eighth consecutive increase in full-time employee (FTE) levels from the same month of the previous year. BTS counts two part-time positions as one FTE.
Qantas has joined the growing list of international carriers that have pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix charges for cargo shipments, and the airline has agreed to pay a $61 million fine resulting from a U.S. Justice Dept. investigation.
Air France is headed for an intense period of talks with its cabin crew to renew their contract and avoid another strike before the current labor agreement expires Jan. 2. However, airline officials note they have some wiggle room, because the two sides could extend the existing labor deal until April to buy more time for negotiations.
British Airways will not pursue an all-out fight with Caja Madrid over its planned takeover of Iberia but is keeping an eye on expanding its relationship with the Spanish carrier. BA management yesterday decided it would not exercise its option of buying shares being sold by Iberia core shareholders BBVA and Logista; the pre-emptive rights expired yesterday.
BAA must drastically cut waiting times at security checkpoints or face fines that could total up to GBP75 million under new target average wait times proposed by Britain's Civil Aviation Authority. The CAA is cutting the maximum wait time to 10 minutes at Heathrow and 16 minutes at Gatwick. Britain's largest airports operator says the new benchmark fails to take in account the current security threat facing the U.K.
Swiss International Air Lines has introduced a new daily service between Zurich and Delhi, using an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Delhi becomes the second destination in India along with Mumbai, and passengers now have a choice of 14 weekly flights between India and Switzerland. Swiss pulled out of Delhi in 2003, when it was faced with a crisis. "Delhi is the first intercontinental destination we are adding to our network," said CEO Christoph Franz.
More low-cost carriers are turning to third-party online distributors for bookings after originally starting with business models that shunned giving away control of their seat inventory.
London Heathrow Airport needs a third runway to keep up with European competitors, including Amsterdam Schiphol, according to a new report released by the U.K. Dept. for Transport.
Airlines should not be subject to the mandates of S.2191, "America's Climate Security Act" currently before the Senate, as the bill takes "the wrong approach for [the] industry," ATA President James May wrote last week in a letter to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.). Applying the bill to commercial aviation "simply is unnecessary," May wrote, arguing that as an industry, airlines are focused on reducing fuel burn, which translates into reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the industry has improved fuel efficiency 103% since 1978, May wrote.
Deals with KLM, TAP Portugal and China are adding to the Airbus order book, but the aircraftmaker also is continuing its struggle with the fall in the dollar. In recent days, KLM has said it would buy two further airbus A330-200s, bringing its fleet to 12 aircraft, and TAP Portugal agreed to take 12 A350XWBs; it had previously planned to buy 10 of the smaller A350s. TAP also says it plans to order eight more A320s, intended to expand the airline's short- and medium-haul network.
The summer of 2007 was a record-breaking season for international travel to the U.S., reported the U.S. Commerce Dept.'s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) -- 14. 3 million visitors spent 15% more during the summer 2007 than in 2006, or $30.7 billion. Figures released last week show that some 5.3 million international travelers visited the U.S. in August 2007, up 15% from the same month last year. Those visitors spent $10.3 billion in the month, up 14.2% year over year.
JetBlue would compete with Delta on the Orlando-Cancun route next spring, per a filing with the U.S. Transportation Dept. for exemption authority needed to launch the service. JetBlue would begin operations during the spring break travel season in March, and would use its Embraer 190s on the route. Spirit and Xtra Airways are also designated to serve the route, but are not providing scheduled service, JetBlue said [DOT-OST-2007-0071]. The carrier also offers flights to Cancun from New York and Boston. [email protected]
The European Commission is hoping to win over German resistance to Galileo, the European Global Navigation Satellite System, at a meeting of European transport ministers on Nov. 29 in Brussels.
Amadeus signed a one-year, renewable agreement with the United Nation's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to jointly develop programs related to studies and analyses of the global tourism sector. Amadeus will supply the UNWTO with information it collects on travel bookings and origin and destination traffic to help the UNWTO forecast tourism to various regions. An Amadeus spokeswoman said the data are information the GDS has already collected, which will now be shared with the UNWTO. This is a non-financial agreement.
Asia/Pacific airlines recorded a US$124 billion operating revenue with US$5 billion as operating profit, reports the Malaysia-based Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. The region had 570 million passengers traveling, 385 million of them on domestic and 185 million on international routes. AAPA forecasts travel within the region will grow more than 6% next year. Asia/Pacific global market share stood at 27% of global passenger traffic and 42% of global cargo traffic.
Prague-Ruzyne Airport has become the first to test the new EMILI 1 liquids detection equipment at its security checkpoints. EMILI 1, created by Emisens, is based on principles of microwave fast detectors, said spokeswoman Eva Krejci. "The detector will be now tested only as additional equipment independently, so this will not compromise or influence our standard security control procedures," she said.
