Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) warned that it expects flooding last week in Villahermosa and the state of Tabasco will hurt traffic at Villahermosa Airport, though it is unsure to what extent traffic will fall. Villahermosa handled 5.4% of ASUR's total passenger traffic in the past 12 months.
Eurocontrol estimates Europe will see a 4.6% increase in traffic next summer, and aviation stakeholders have agreed on a laundry list of system improvements to handle the extra volume. The growth for the summer 2008 months -- May to October -- will actually be similar to the 2007 increase of 5.1% during the same period this year. Next year will be "yet another challenging season" for European ATM, with the additional complication of the European Football Championships in Austria and Switzerland, a Eurocontrol official said.
Kingfisher affiliate Deccan Aviation intends to launch service to one point on the East Coast of the U.S. and one point on the West Coast of the U.S. as Kingfisher Airlines next August, a move that will help Bangalore-based Kingfisher get around obstacles that could prevent it from holding out service to the U.S. Kingfisher parent UB Group brought a 26% stake in Deccan in June (DAILY, June 1), and Deccan says Kingfisher controls the airline through several of its sister companies.
The Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) has released a request for proposal to create a 10-year major advertising display program at Miami International Airport. The proposal covers 320 indoor and outdoor advertising locations in the airport, including static advertising, hotel reservations and information boards, wall wraps and floor exhibits. "The department will entertain adding or deleting and/or any proposed comprehensive advertising program submitted by the proposer," according to the RFP.
Airports Council International has named James Cherry, president and CEO of Aeroports de Montreal, as its new chairman of the World Governing Board for the next two years. Cherry has been on the ACI board since 2005. Cherry replaces interim Chairman Ghanem Al Hajri from Sharjah Airport. He filled the role since the August retirement of Niels Boserup, president and CEO of Copenhagen Airport. [email protected]
Aer Lingus will discontinue its three-times-weekly service from Dublin to Dubai next March. The airline plans to redeploy its aircraft on transatlantic routes and add frequencies to San Francisco, Orlando and Washington.
IATA this week announced that Paul Steele will be the group's environmental director from Dec. 1. Steele brings serious green credentials to the job, as he was previously chief operating officer of the WWF International, the conservation organization.
Air Berlin is close to finalizing a bilateral alliance with a U.S. major carrier, CEO Joachim Hunold told members of the aviation press club in Frankfurt. He declined to say who the future partner will be, but said the deal would be "reached shortly."
Members of Airports Council International (ACI) have approved resolutions that will provide focus areas for airports worldwide to further environmental programs and encourage the goal of carbon-neutral airports. The measures were presented at the organization's annual world assembly in Buenos Aires.
Southwest hopes to target new business travelers and capture corporate travelers currently aligned with other airlines through its new "Business Select" fares unveiled yesterday. The carrier earlier this year said it would detail its strategy to target business customers and debut changes to its Rapid Rewards loyalty program during the fourth quarter.
Clear has signed a strategic marketing partnership with American Express to give corporate card holders a discount on Clear annual membership, as well as enrollment preferences. Clear, which operates registered traveler security express lanes at some U.S. airports, will give AmEx users appointment services to pre-book times for biometric scanning, so that they can obtain their Clear card. Clear also will set up enrollment kiosks in office buildings when a company enrolls 50 or more employees. [email protected]
Czech Airlines at the start of the month began collecting its fuel surcharge in euros, rather than U.S. dollars, citing the "greater stability of the European currency, compared to the continuously dropping dollar." The airline, in switching from currencies, also raised the surcharge by EUR5 to EUR22 (US$32) for medium-haul flights and by EUR3 to EUR60 (about US$87) for long-haul flights, on par with "the average level among traditional airlines," Czech said. [email protected]
Delta believes FAA's schedule reduction initiative at New York Kennedy Airport discriminates against U.S. airlines because the agency is undertaking a separate proceeding for foreign carriers.
US Airways executives tell employees that even though a lot of attention has been given to the sell-off of frequent flyer programs, "We have nothing to announce, and the real value for airlines is in industry consolidation, rather than these core business units."
Dubai has been chosen as the host state for the World Travel & Tourism Council's 2008 Global Travel & Tourism Summit. The show will take place April 20-22. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Dept. of Civil Aviation, and Geoffrey Kent, chairman of WTTC, signed an accord this week to develop a partnership comprising the government of Dubai, Emirates, Jumeirah, Nakheel and WTTC, to guide the development of the summit.
Air France said 84.4% of its flights departed on time while 85.5% of flights arrived on time in September. The results, which the carrier said "were on target," were an improvement from Air France's August performance, when 78.7% of flights left on time or within 15 minutes of scheduled departure, while 81.7% arrived on time.
Oakland Airport joins San Francisco and San Jose by offering a registered traveler program. Proposals for the airport's RT program are due Nov. 21, and RT is scheduled to start in spring 2008, said spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes. "We are bringing the registered traveler program to Oakland to provide improved customer service to passengers and because customers have asked us to offer this service," she said.
British Airways head Willie Walsh believes the new Transatlantic Economic Council should put its weight behind efforts to fully liberalize the U.S.-European aviation market.
Delta reported healthy international traffic increases in October while keeping domestic capacity nearly flat. And while the Pacific market is the smallest of any of the regions Delta serves, it saw by far the largest increases. Its traffic rose 41.4% during the month in the Pacific to 133 million RPMs on 60.9% more capacity to 182 million ASMs.
Bmi and United have expanded their code-sharing deal from London Heathrow to include five new U.S. destinations. Bmi can now sell direct flights operated by United to Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco and Denver, with flights starting March 30. Bmi says it intends to expand the code-sharing arrangement at a later date to include "a range of domestic U.S. destinations beyond the gateway cities."
Qatar Airways will become the first airline from the Persian Gulf region to serve Scandinavia when its winter schedule becomes effective on Nov. 27. Qatar will launch four flights a week from Doha to Stockholm, Sweden, and increase to five its Doha-Geneva weekly flights, also taking Doha-Geneva-Newark flights to five. Those flights were launched over the summer. CEO Akbar Al Baker said the airline will continue its aggressive expansion efforts in 2008.
