Etihad Airways has begun interlining with Australia's Virgin Blue. The United Arab Emirates carrier has been flying to Sydney since March and Brisbane since September. It says the service between Sydney and Abu Dhabi has been so successful that it will raise the frequency to 11 flights a week from next March. [email protected]
Air India looks set to become a member of Star Alliance. "We will in all likelihood propose Air India as a Star member," Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said. "I assume that we will be able to make a decision in December." Star Alliance CEOs are meeting in Beijing and Shanghai on Dec. 10 and 11 to celebrate the admission of Air China and Shanghai Airlines to the group. A decision to propose Air India would have to be made at the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting, which takes place in Beijing. [email protected]
The House yesterday approved a three-month extension of FAA's program authority and taxes, although there are still long odds that the stalled reauthorization bill will be completed by the time this latest extension runs out.
Tackling congestion and meeting security demands are the main drivers behind IT investment to handle continued passenger growth, according to a new SITA survey of top IT trends. The survey polled the top 200 airport operators that handled 2.1 billion passengers in 2006 and future growth predicted to grow at more than 5% a year. The 4th Airport IT Trends Survey was released at Airports Council International (ACI) world conference in Buenos Aires.
United has been adding capacity on Atlantic and, to a lesser extent, Pacific routes this year, while it continues to cut back on domestic and Latin American markets. For the first 10 months of this year, United increased its Atlantic capacity by 7.9% to 16.9 billion available seat miles, which prompted traffic to grow by 8.4% in that market to 14.3 billion revenue passenger miles. In the Pacific, its ASMs were up 2.4% and traffic was up 1% to 22.1 billion RPMs.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh says he is not concerned about the effects of proposed flight restrictions at New York Kennedy Airport on BA's extensive operations there, nor will the restrictions hamper plans for a new transatlantic business.
Rockwell Collins won the avionics supply contract for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), with the aircraft featuring Rockwell's Pro Line Fusion system. Rockwell Collins also plans to serve as the avionics system integrator for the aircraft program.
GOL of Brazil is the first airline to implement Sabre's newest version of AirMax revenue manager software that uses forecasting methodology through the use of PNR data.
Aeroflot frequent flyers can now earn miles for travel on flights operated by China Southern or its affiliates or on other SkyTeam member flights that carry the China Southern code. China Southern will join the alliance this month.
Air India on Oct. 30 took delivery of the first U.S. Export-Import Bank-financed Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, thanks to the signature of an ExIm-guaranteed loan by the newly formed National Aviation Company Limited (NACIL). NACIL is the new company created after the merger of Indian and Air India.
The European Commission is expected to announce a proposal for a European passenger name record data collection system, similar to the one brokered in a hard-fought deal with the U.S. in July. In the proposed system, the EU will collect PNR data for all flights entering and leaving the EU, but not for intra-EU and intra-Schengen group flights. The proposal is part of a larger EC anti-terrorism agenda, expected to be released today.
IATA yesterday launched pilot programs under its e-freight initiative, an effort aimed at overhauling cargo transported by air in the same way e-ticketing has overhauled the passenger business. The effort is part of the group's "simplifying the business" cost-saving efforts. It also has proved one of the more challenging to work on, because it requires government involvement. A trial period is now under way, with Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, The Netherlands and U.K. participating.
El Al is "in the advanced process to get authorization from the Transportation Security Administration" to bring its Early Check-in at Home to New York, said Director of Service and Operations-North and Central America Moshe Mishol, who is optimistic that the plan could get the green light in time for launch early next year.
Delta recently introduced items from celebrity chef Todd English on its buy-on-board menu EATS. The items will be available for purchase to customers traveling in coach class on flights of at least 2,000 miles or four hours in the mainland U.S. Meanwhile, Delta's SkyTeam partner Continental introduced new first-class menus on flights throughout the U.S., Canada and to destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Singapore's Tiger Airways will establish a franchisee airline with the South Korean city Incheon, extending its no-frills brand into north Asia. The latest expansion move by Singapore Airlines budget affiliate will create perhaps the most widely spread narrowbody operation in the world as it and three other Asia/Pacific budget carriers vie to establish their brands across the region.
The Dept. of Homeland Security plans to extend the security requirements now applicable to Part 135 charter operators to a wider range of general aviation operators and also wants GA aircraft and passengers flying into the U.S. to undergo security screening before takeoff, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said Monday.
Ryanair has increased its full-year financial guidance, in large part because Europe's dominant low-fare carrier says yield decline will be less severe than feared. Half-way through the carrier's fiscal year, Ryanair officials say yield decline will be closer to the more positive end of the -5% to -10% bracket projected several months ago. Further efforts on cost savings also contributed to the airline boosting its full-year net profit guidance to EUR470 million (US$680 million), from EUR400 million estimated earlier.
The on-time performance of U.S. carriers hit a 13-year low in September despite marked improvement by airlines in handling delays in the month. Airlines have posted an on-time rate of 73.18% for the year to date, one-tenth of a point off the previous low of 73.28% in 2000. Performance in September, however, improved to 81.7%, some 10 percentage points from August 2007 and almost 5.5 points from September 2006 figures. The U.S. Transportation Dept.'s Bureau of Statistics said it was the sixth best September on record in 13 years.
Budget carrier Air Arabia said it has flown 5 million passengers since its launch in October 2003. Passenger traffic through the first half of 2007 was 1.23 million, a 57.9% increase from the same period in 2006. In July and August 2007, Air Arabia's traffic was up by 347,000 in 2007 from the same period in 2006. In 2006, passengers carried for India totaled 333,176 and in 2007, 293,026.
