The U.S. Transportation Dept., at Lynx Aviation's request, will temporarily defer an earlier order allowing the Frontier subsidiary to sell tickets in advance of winning operating authority from the FAA.
Start up Mexican carrier Quest Mexicana SA de CV plans to lease four BAe 146-200s from BAE Systems Regional Aircraft. The Cancun-based airline primarily intends to serve the south-eastern region of Mexico, and plans to dub itself Ka'an Beel Air. Quest Mexicana is part of the Lomas Travel group that owns hotels, marinas, tour operators and vehicle hire operators.
Reps. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Jon Porter (R-Nevada) introduced a bill this week that would take money from the State Department to promote travel to the U.S. while improving its image abroad.
Spirit Airlines is repainting its aircraft to highlight its push into the Caribbean, and also plans to update its uniforms, signage and website. The new paint scheme on the aircraft will be red, green yellow and blue. Spirit aims to complete the livery revamp by fall 2008.
New KLM service from Amsterdam to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport will lift DFW's international destinations to 38, bringing it back to pre-Sept. 11, 2001 levels. The new service, scheduled to begin March 30, 2008, is expected to generate $125 million for the local economy.
GoJet and Mesa this week applied for authority to carry Air Canada's code on the United Express services they operate in the U.S. and any service they may operate to Canada or third countries. [OST-2007-29353]
Germany is launching a pilot program to link takeoff and landing charges with emissions. The program is slated to start Jan. 1, running at the Frankfurt and Munich airports and therefore covering around 50% of air traffic in Germany. The charge will be EUR3 ($4.20) per kilogram of NOx emission.
Air Midwest per U.S. Transportation Dept. order will continue to operate essential air service at DuBois and Franklin/Oil City in Pennsylvania, Greenbrier/ White Sulphur Springs/Lewisburg in West Virginia and Athens, Ga., through Oct. 31 or until Gulfstream International Airlines begins service in these markets. The carrier was selected to replace the Mesa subsidiary in July but has yet to begin service [OST-2004-17617].
Air France reported improved on-time performance in August despite strong traffic, weather delays and security scares in the form of unclaimed baggage that prompted evacuation in some parts of its airports. The airline, however, mishandled more bags than it did the previous month.
Better coordination is needed from the three government agencies collecting international air passenger inspection fees whether the fees are consolidated or not, according to a new General Accountability Office (GAO) report.
SkyEurope is considering establishing a base in Bulgaria's capital Sofia and in the short-term plans to expand its flights from Sofia to Vienna to twice daily. Company COO Karim Makhlouf said SkyEurope's expanded Vienna-Sofia service would "stop the monopoly of Austrian Airlines...in the market."
The U.S. and Colombia have agreed to a new aviation pact that will go into effect Dec. 1 and expire Dec. 31, 2009, offering open-skies type advantages for services to Barranquilla and Cartagena.
The unprecedented growth of airlines in India and Latin America has not gone unnoticed by the SkyTeam alliance, and SkyTeam Chairman Leo van Wijk believes carriers in those markets will soon be the focus of competition between global airline alliances looking to add suitable carriers to their rosters. "I think there are two key markets where we currently have no direct partnerships -- India and Brazil," van Wijk told The DAILY. These two markets will be important in the future, "not just for SkyTeam but for the [other] alliances."
After weathering two days of fierce criticism from Congress about its lack of action on flight delays, the White House yesterday announced plans for two new measures at New York-area airports. President George W. Bush and Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said DOT has formed an industry-government committee to look for ways to reduce congestion at New York airports, and they also said FAA will meet with airlines to reduce overscheduling in peak hours. Congressional Democrats, however, said the administration is offering few new ideas.
Pacific Wings was awarded essential air service flying for Alamogordo/Holloman AB in New Mexico (DAILY, Aug. 28), after support from the community caused the U.S. Transportation Dept. to reconsider the airline's proposal.
Two new destinations should show up on Virgin America's route map within the next three months as the airline's fleet grows to 12 aircraft by the end of November.
Thursday marked the two-year anniversary of the merger between US Airways and America West, and the airline had double reason to celebrate after FAA on Wednesday finally awarded its single operating certificate. While its pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and ground service workers continue to work under two separate regimes, Hal Heule, senior VP of technical operations, said the complex certification process -- which was achieved on schedule -- was "a testament to cooperation between our work groups and regulators."
British Airways's decision to buy 12 Airbus A380s, with seven options, and 24 Boeing 787s, with 18 options, will assure the carrier's immediate long-haul fleet modernization needs and allow it to grow capacity 4%, although more large orders are still pending. The A380s will be used to replace 20 747-400s, while the 787s will allow BA to phase out its 767 fleet. BA CEO Willie Walsh says likely destinations for the A380s include Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, and cities in India.
The Oneworld alliance is launching a range of new fare and marketing initiatives to increase its share of the Italian, Dutch and Belgian markets. The alliance said these moves represent its biggest effort yet in the three countries. Oneworld will trial combinable fares in these markets, allowing passengers to "mix and match" published fares from any alliance member. It will also introduce special versions of round-the-world fares. Both initiatives are being trialed for the first time.
Emirates has signed a deal to acquire a 49% stake in the in-flight catering company Alpha Flight Services Australia. The deal will provide Emirates flights with their food service in Australia, beginning in January. Emirates says this is its second joint venture in catering, with the first being Emirates Flight Catering in Dubai. Emirates said it will work with Alpha to expand the business.
Crew shortages in Dayton have forced US Airways to pull back some flying from the airport, management told employees in a recent update, which has constrained the carrier's ability to add capacity in some markets.
The city of Stockholm and Sweden's Luftfartsvket (LFV) are a step closer to an agreement that will keep Bromma Airport open for another 30 years, to 2038. The original lease on the city airport was set to expire in 2011. "There has been a debate for almost 20 years" about Bromma, a city airport situated some five miles from the center of Stockholm, said LFV spokesman Jan Lindqvist. "Some have asked [whether] we really need Bromma when there is Arlanda...then we [could] build a lot of houses in the area instead."
