Delta believes it hasn't maxed out growth opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean, and two years into its aggressive expansion plan the carrier is still finding new destinations and O&D markets. Six new routes to the region will be launched this winter -- service between New York and Panama City, Guatemala City, Port-of-Spain and Costa Rica's San Jose and Liberia, and new Atlanta-Curacao service.
Beginning Dec. 8, Avianca will link Bogota and Lima with two daily nonstop flights that offer a wider choice of connections at both ends to destinations in South and North America and Europe. Boeing 767s seating 213 passengers will be used.
Delta has revealed plans to increase the role of its second-largest hub, New York Kennedy, as a stepping-off point to Europe, Africa and the Middle East while also making schedule changes to reduce congestion by next summer. Delta has revised its summer 2008 schedule in a way that new CEO Richard Anderson says will spread growth more evenly throughout the day to reduce congestion. Delta also is taking additional steps before next summer to reduce delays.
Singapore's Changi Airport recently conducted a successful trial of an IT system developed by Singapore-based Stratech Systems to monitor airport runways for foreign objects and debris (FOD), and this technology could soon be tested at Chicago O'Hare.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. on Sept. 27 will stop accepting electronic comments and submissions through its Docket Management System (DMS), as the system will move to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) as part of the Bush Administration's e-ruling initiative. The migration will affect dockets concerning DOT, the Department of Homeland Security's United States Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration. FAA dockets are already accessible in FDMS.
Venezuelan carrier Venezolana plans to launch a new route along the Caribbean coast before yearend, linking Margarita Island in the east, Caracas (Maiquetia) in the center and Maracaibo in the west.
Aeromexico on Dec. 10 plans to shift its offering in the Mexico City-San Diego market from one-stop service to nonstop flights, pending regulatory approval. The five weekly flights would be operated with Boeing 737-700 aircraft [OST-2007-29345].
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has already begun marketing Stewart Airport to airlines as an alternative to overcrowded New York City airports, even before the sale of the facility has been finalized.
The DAILY misstated the frequency of China flights awarded to U.S. airlines in a story on p. 1 of the Sept. 26 issue. The awards are for daily flights.
House aviation subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) accuses FAA of not acting aggressively enough to prevent airline overscheduling, and suggests the focus by the agency and airlines on the "NextGen" ATC system is a red herring. The FAA has "failed in its responsibility" to hold airlines accountable for scheduling practices, Costello said during an aviation subcommittee hearing Wednesday. He promised to continue to hold FAA's and airlines' feet to the fire on this issue, by scheduling similar hearings at least once a quarter.
Airlines, airports, FAA and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation must work together to reduce long onboard delays and minimize their effect on passengers, says a new report from the DOT's Inspector General.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace subsidiary ST Aviation Training Academy (STATA) has signed a lease agreement with the Australian city of Ballarat, Victoria, to develop a flight operations center at the local airport. STATA's local subsidiary Aviation Training Academy Australia is responsible for the contract, which involves a $5.2-million investment. Construction will start early 2008 and it should be operational late next year.
Fifteen acres of new wetlands in the Calumet region on the far South Side of Chicago will be created with $2 million in financing from the O'Hare Modernization Program. The project is part of the city's efforts to create wetlands to replace land being used in the construction process. "The O'Hare Modernization Program is contributing toward wetlands development in the Calumet Region as part of its program to leave Northeastern Illinois with more wetlands than it had before the O'Hare project began," said Mayor Richard Daley in a statement.
African nations are allowing ICAO the unprecedented authority to manage and coordinate government and industry programs aimed at reducing the continent's increasingly poor safety record. Delegates from 40 African nations have endorsed the implementation of the AFI plan, named after the Africa-Indian Ocean region of ICAO. A four-year budget is being set up to fund ICAO's new role.
Croatia and the U.S. will discuss an open skies aviation bilateral agreement in a first round of talks that begin today in Washington, D.C. The talks have a good chance of moving forward because of a desire by Croatia Airlines and United to code share, says one government official. An open skies agreement also could benefit other airlines that may want to code share through Dubrovnik, a popular tourist destination, such as Northwest/KLM and Delta/Air France.
Caribbean Airlines recently acquired all outstanding shares in Tobago Express and on Oct. 1 will assume operational control of the air bridge shuttle service connecting Trinidad and Tobago. The airline will continue to operate the schedule established by Tobago Express and also will continue to use Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the route. The service will still be regulated by the government of Trinidad & Tobago.
The good news of Canada's currency reaching parity with the U.S. dollar does not reach down to the country's airports, according to the Canadian Airports Council (CAC).
Virgin America looks like it will choose San Diego as one of its next U.S. destination. The airline, which begins flights to Washington Dulles today, and will add Las Vegas as its fifth city on Oct. 10, is advertising for a station manager and station supervisor in San Diego.
Clickair, the 20% Iberia-owned low-cost carrier, claims it has become the largest airline in terms of aircraft movements at its home base, Barcelona's El Prat airport, after just one year of existence. The carrier said it "has progressively bolstered its market share to now command the largest, individual share of traffic at Barcelona El Prat Airport ... accounting for 14% of traffic movements."
TAM plans to start flights between Guarulhos Airport in Sao Paulo and Montevideo, Uruguay starting Nov. 5. The carrier said it is offering passengers free transfers between Guarulhos and Congonhas airports. Recently TAM restricted its Airbus A319/A320 operations at Congonhas to the main runway - and only in dry conditions (DAILY, Sept. 18).
