The number of international travelers visiting the U.S. in July grew 9% from the same month last year to 5.3 million, reports the U.S. Commerce Dept.'s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. Spending by those visitors during the month, meanwhile, increased 12% to $10.2 billion. Year-to-date spending is up 10% to $68 billion.
Cargolux will start serving Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from Oct. 29 on. The flight will depart Monday from Luxembourg and be routed via Dubai landing in Vietnam the next day. The return leg is routed via Bangkok. The second flight departs Luxembourg on Fridays and goes through Dammam, Saudi Arabia, landing in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday. It returns via Hong Kong and Sharjah.
Columbus-based Skybus won U.S. Transportation Dept. authority to launch service between Columbus and Freeport in the Bahamas. The airline plans to serve the market three times weekly, alternating the offering with its flights to Nassau. The carrier will use its Airbus A310-100 aircraft for the services [OST-2007-29340). [email protected]
With its new landing gear overhaul and hydraulics facility fully operational in Queretaro Mexico, Messier Services is aggressively pursuing Boeing landing gear business in addition to offering gear overhauls on Airbus A320s and Bombardier CRJs.
Andrew Steinberg, U.S. Transportation Dept. assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, plans to leave the department soon, sources tell The DAILY. His departure date and future employment plans are unknown. Steinberg, who has held this post since Sept. 29, 2006, played a lead role in negotiating a new aviation deal between the U.S. and China this year and has been involved in many other high-profile DOT activities. Steinberg previously was FAA's chief counsel.
Monarch Airlines, GOL and Aerolineas Argentinas have all signed lease deals with AerCap in the past quarter. The lessor says that Monarch is taking one Airbus A310, GOL has signed for two Boeing 767-300s, and the Argentinian carrier has agreed to lease three A320s. All the deals are for used aircraft, and the average lease term is 80 months. Seven new engine lease agreements were also completed.
London Gatwick Airport's North Terminal is testing a new fingerprinting trial for passengers coming into the country. The BioDev project is being overseen by the U.K.'s Border and Immigration Agency. The test is part of the U.K.'s border security systems, which already has U.K. visas collecting fingerprints from visa applicants around the world.
The inaugural of low-cost carrier EasyFly, the international expansion of Aires, Avianca's incursion into commuter routes between medium-size city pairs and AeroRepublica's more aggressive competition in all markets has resulted in a competitive increase in medium-sized markets, said El Tiempo, adding that the competition could become even fiercer if those carriers are interested in going international.
Ghana International Airlines will hold out service to the U.S. through a code share with South African Airways that needs U.S. Transportation Dept. approval. The airline, which is seeking both exemption authority and a foreign carrier permit, said the carriers are aiming to launch the code share as soon as relevant government approvals are won "but no later than Jan. 15." The code would appear on four weekly flights between New York Kennedy and Accra [DOT-OST-2007-0010]. [email protected]
African countries should create regional civil aviation coalitions to foster further growth in air travel, liberalize air services, and to address the continent's safety and security record, officials say.
Air Canada has tapped outsider Michael Rousseau as the airline's new CFO and executive VP. Rousseau was formerly the president of the giant Hudson's Bay Co. Prior to joining HBC, he held senior executive positions at the Moore Corporation in Chicago and Silcorp Ltd. His appointment will be effective Oct. 22. Rousseau replaces Joshua Koshy, who is leaving the company.
Goodrich won new business from World Airways through a three-year deal to supply MRO services and rotable support for the carrier's MD-11s. Under the terms of the deal, Goodrich's Service Center in Foley, Ala., plans to refurbish thrust reversers and inlets in addition to the rotable support.
The U.S. Export-Import Ban this week approved a $1.23 billion financing package to the National Aviation Company of India, parent of Air-India and Air India Express. The package consists of a loan guarantee of $862.6 million to support the purchase of Boeing 777-200LRs and 777-300LRs and GE90 spare engines. The second loan guarantee of $363.5 million will go toward the purchase of 737-800s and CFM-56 spare engines. Both loan guarantees are structured through ABN AMRO.
Ryanair has gone ahead with a legal challenge against the French government to assure its employees working at its Marseille base can work under Irish labor law (DAILY, July 13). The French supreme court ruled this year that French labor law had to be applied. Ryanair's Head of Regulatory Affairs Jim Callaghan contends that's a violation of international and European laws. Ryanair is appealing to the European Court of Human Rights to have the French ruling overturned. [email protected]
The transfer of air traffic control responsibilities from Brazil's military to a civilian agency could happen if it is deemed the best possible option, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said. Defense of air space must remain a military responsibility, but traffic control could be streamlined and upgraded under civilians to keep up with the current, unprecedented growth of airline traffic, Jobim told O Estado do Sao Paulo.
New York-based startup Baltia Air Lines, which has been working to get off the ground since 1991, is seeking authority to launch service between New York Kennedy and St. Petersburg, Russia, next year. The carrier initially would operate weekly service between New York and St. Petersburg with a Boeing 747-200 leased from Aviation Management Group. Baltia expects to take delivery of the aircraft in February or March.
BAA saw traffic at its eight airports rise 2.9% to 14 million passengers in September year over year. Driving the growth were the key markets of Other Long-Haul, European Scheduled and North Atlantic, up 5.6%, 5.1% and 4.1% respectively. But Irish and European charter traffic continued to be weak, down 3.2% and 4.1%, respectively.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. promoted Clive Seal from VP-flight operations to VP and general manager of Pinnacle Airlines Inc. George Casey was named President and GM of Pinnacle's subsidiary Colgan Air. Current Colgan CEO Mike Colgan will become VP-sales and product of the corporate group in addition to being responsible for product review and quality assurance at both airlines.
Japan Air Lines and Korean agreed this week to expand their code-share arrangement to include the Tokyo Haneda-Seoul Kimpo route. The carriers already operate separate twice-daily flights between these two airports, but the new deal will allow them to place their codes on each other's flights. The agreement -- still subject to government approval -- comes into effect Oct. 28, and tickets for the route go on sale Oct. 17.
SkyTeam member KLM and SkyTeam associate member COPA Airlines yesterday signed a code-share deal that will see the carriers offering more travel options between Latin American and Europe via KLM's Amsterdam hub and COPA's "Hub of the Americas" in Panama City. The agreement will also enable frequent flyers (OnePass for COPA and Flying Blue for KLM) to earn miles when traveling on the other partner's flights. [email protected]
JetBlue won an exemption from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to operate in the New York (Kennedy)-Puerto Plata market (DAILY, Sept. 28). The carrier intends to launch the service in January [OST-2007-29358].
