Astar Air Cargo's U.S.-Mexico exemptions were renewed by the U.S. Transportation Dept. earlier this week, but the department deferred a decision on amending the carrier's operating certificate to encompass all of Astar's U.S.-Mexico authority. DOT said it would "act on the carrier's certificate applications subsequently" [OST-2005-22621].
Indian carrier Jet Airways is considering a $400 million rights issue to fund the acquisition of aircraft dedicated to cargo service. Carrier Chairman Naresh Goyal said about 6% of Jet Airways' revenues is derived from cargo operations. An employee of American is expected to head the airline's cargo operations.
Fraport AG's six airports served 5.5 million passengers in April, up 3% year over year, but April traffic at Frankfurt Airport fell 0.3% to 4.4 million passengers. The German airports operator expected fewer travelers in April because Easter was in March, but continued good weather and strong demand resulted in relatively high traffic levels throughout the month.
Named Jeff Gruber technical committee chair, Tony Bailey education committee chair, Donna Bricker awards committee chair, John Wicht publication committee chair and Cheryl Jenke the new Western Pacific Regional director.
You can now register online for AVIATION WEEK events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) OCT. 17-18 -- MRO Asia 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Shanghai, China NOV. 7-8 -- MRO Europe 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Fiera Milano Congressi, Milan, Italy NOV. 28-29 -- A&D Finance Conference, New York, N.Y.
SilkAir starting May 25 will add four flights a week on the Singapore-Shenzhen route, raising the frequency to 11 weekly. The airline launched flights to the southern Chinese city on October 30, 2005, and uses Airbus A320s on the route. SilkAir, a regional carrier and wholly owned Singapore Airlines subsidiary, serves 28 points in Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India, Philippines and Cambodia and Myanmar.
Start-up carrier Skybus said it booked more than 200,000 flight segments in two weeks and three days, and late last week the airline won FAA certification, paving the way for its May 22 debut. The certification took longer than expected, which led Skybus to ask the US DOT for a dormancy waiver since that agency gave Skybus its approval in March 2006.
Travelport Ltd., parent company of the group that includes Orbitz Worldwide, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the sale of a portion of its ownership interest in Orbitz. The company says the two still need to complete negotiation of financial and other terms in the planned IPO.
Singapore Airlines is in final talks to buy a stake in the smallest and financially weakest of China's Big Three airlines, Shanghai-based China Eastern, state media say. Although such a deal has long been expected, Singapore Airlines is playing down the prospects of succeeding with this project, saying it is only talking about cooperation with the unprofitable Chinese carrier.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization is concerned about how changing EU policy on climate change could affect tourism to the islands. With Dutch and French Caribbean islands under government influence of European nations, for example, they are moving to tax carbon emissions from airlines. These impacts will be discussed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at a sustainable tourism conference sponsored by several airlines and the CTO May 17-20 (www. CaribbeanMediaExchange.com).
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] MAY 15 -- Wings Club 65th Anniversary and Luncheon featuring Joe Sutter, Beoing 747 Design Team Leader, Yale Club, New York, 212-867-1770, email: [email protected] MAY 15-17 -- Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association Spring Conference, Scottsdale Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz., www.raccaonline.org
Clay Jones, chairman, president and CEO of Rockwell Collins, called on government and industry officials to consider the formation of an industry consortium to develop construction plans and financing for the Next Generation ATC system.
Southwest's markets from San Francisco are pitting the carrier against Alaska Airlines, United and US Airways. The carrier is launching service in three markets -- Chicago Midway, Las Vegas and San Diego -- in August with 18 daily flights.
Despite high fuel prices Singapore Airlines posted a profit of S$2.13 billion (US$1.4 billion) for the year ended March 31, a massive 71.6% increase from the previous year. Revenue jumped 8.6% to S$14.5 billion (US$9.55 billion). The depreciation of the U.S. dollar affected revenue from third-party airline customers in ground- handling, overhaul and maintenance and other services. Expenditure increased 8.7% to S$13.18 billion (US$8.69 billion) -- of which fuel accounted for S$4.92 billion due to the 10.56% hike in the price of aviation fuel.
Appointed Dave Barger CEO, effective immediately, while founder and CEO David Neeleman will become non-executive chairman of the board. Barger will keep his responsibilities as president of the airline.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will lead a rally on the national mall in Washington on May 17 to call attention to management practices and federal policies that it says are threatening jobs in the transportation industry.
The International Federation of Airline Pilots is "outraged" at a May 9 recommendation by the Brazilian federal police to prosecute the Legacy 600 pilots involved in the Sept. 29, 2006, midair with a GOL Boeing 737-800 "for placing a vessel or aircraft in jeopardy." IFALPA, which represents more than 100,000 pilots worldwide, says the "fundamentally flawed" decision is premature and should have waited until the Brazil-led independent technical investigation is concluded.
A regional member of the Star Alliance, Slovenia's Adria Airways, has replaced its legacy IT system with the common IT platform developed for the alliance by Amadeus. Since 1986, Adria has been using Lufthansa and Lufthansa Systems' IT solutions. Amadeus says other carriers in the alliance are evaluating the benefits of the platform.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey believes that aside from airspace congestion, the aircraft emissions issue "may be the most serious barrier to aviation growth, at least in the long term." Blakey notes that Europe's growing push to penalize airlines for emissions "happened virtually overnight," and the U.S. industry "should not be so foolish as to presume that it can't happen here."
Air Jamaica plans to introduce new service between Barbados and Fort Lauderdale as early as June 24 pending U.S. Transportation Dept. approval. The airline would use Airbus A320s seating 12 in business and 138 in economy to operate three weekly flights in the market, on Sunday, Monday and Thursday. Air Jamaica wants DOT to expedite the application so it can launch the service on June 24, at the beginning of the peak summer travel season.
