The Thai government through Airports of Thailand (AOT) commissioned ICAO to carry out a study on the need for a master plan at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, which opened in September for operations.
European private equity firm Bridgepoint has beaten out Barclays Private Equity and Churchill Airports to buy Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA) for GBP145.5 million (US$288.2 million). After the deal was announced, Bridgepoint unveiled a GPB70 million (US$139.1 million) capital expenditure plan to add terminal capacity to accommodate anticipated growing passenger volumes and meet infrastructure requirements.
The sale of Stewart International Airport took the next step to being finalized after the acting governor of New Jersey signed legislation allowing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to designate one airport in each state for expansion. A similar bill has already been passed in New York and will allow the port authority to buy the lease of Stewart Airport as part of an effort to help ease air traffic at LaGuardia, Kennedy, Newark and Teterboro airports.
Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport has won the sweepstakes to become the Australian home to Singapore-based Tiger Airways, beating out others, including Sydney, Perth and Canberra.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) says the Senate's FAA reauthorization bill would delay FAA's moves to consolidate the Palm Springs approach control facility into the Southern California facility.
Elected Maria Claudia Oliveira Amaro Demenato chairman, replacing Noemy Almeida Oliveira Amaro, who will stay on as a member of the board. Mauricio Rolim Amaro was elected vice-chairman, and Pedro Pullen Parente was named to replace Henri Philippe Reichstul.
US Airways executives tell employees the carrier is still several weeks away from announcing an order, noting the airline is talking to both Boeing and Airbus about replacement options for widebody and narrowbody fleets, and those discussions are continuing.
Nearly one in 10 men responding to a British Airways survey say they take an overseas getaway within a month of beginning a romantic relationship, and Italy has overtaken France as the most popular destination for romantic holidays. The survey also shows that shopping is climbing the list of top travel reasons for men, overtaking sports events and bachelor parties and equal with "lads' weekends," BA finds. Overall, 60% of the population and 70% of 25- to 34-year-olds are taking up to three European trips per year.
Frontier subsidiary Lynx Aviation tentatively won its interstate operations certificate from the U.S. Transportation Dept. on May 4. The department stressed that it found Lynx fit for operations with 10 aircraft, and that any bid to expand operations beyond the 10 aircraft should be preceded by a 45-day notice [OST-2007-27074]. Lynx will fly its Bombardier Q400 turboprops on a mix of Frontier's new and existing markets (DAILY, April 13). -ARS
New Zealand's Auckland Airport says it will be the first in Australasia to operate a Category IIIB landing and lighting system, which is expected to be operational by May 2008. The airport hopes this will cut down fog-related delays - Auckland has to divert flights due to fog up to 11 days a year.
American Airlines reported a 3.3% decline in April revenue passenger miles to 11.5 billion, ranging from a 10.6% drop in traffic in the Pacific to the only increase - a 2.8% rise in traffic to Latin America.
The European Commission has decided to further investigate Travelport's proposed acquisition of the Worldspan global distribution system, which will merge it with Travelport's Galileo GDS. The EC is concerned about anticompetitive situations in Europe. Travelport says there are now many alternative distribution channels. It should know, it owns several - Orbitz, Gulliver's Travel Associates, ebookers, Cheaptickets and more. The company says it still expects the deal to close in the third quarter.
Republic Airways Holdings CEO Bryan Bedford says it is important to note the trend toward larger regional jets is still in its early stages. "Only half of the legacy carriers have achieved enough scope relief to allow them to deploy regional jets of up 76 seats in their network," Bedford notes, adding, "Their competitors are surely aware of the significant disadvantage they face as a result."
Airline competition in Brazil should become "more rational" following GOL's purchase of New Varig in March (DAILY, March 29), TAM Brazil President Marco Antonio Bologna told reporters, adding that "there should be less predatory competition based on airfares." If capacity increases due to new aircraft delivered to GOL or TAM, the market need not be afraid of "fare wars," he said.
Two U.S. airports expect to wrap up trials for the Homeland Security Dept. this year showing how explosives detection systems can screen air cargo, while a third airport finishes tests on sensors that can find stowaways on all-cargo aircraft. The Air Cargo Explosives Detection Pilot Program (ACEDPP) was launched by HSD in June 2006, and the fiscal 2006 appropriations bill that started it calls for completion by the end of this year, according to Doug Bauer, a HSD program manager.
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.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. last week formally invited European Union carriers to apply for authority to operate services to the U.S. under the new U.S.-EU air transport agreement. The authority will take effect on March 30, 2008. The department is launching the process now "to facilitate a smooth transition to the new regime..."
The Travel Industry Association of America believes the federal government needs to do more to inform the public of the new Western Hemisphere Initiative following disappointing results of a public survey.
Acknowledging the growing importance of environmental issues in aerospace businesses, Boeing said Friday it has established a company-wide Environment, Health and Safety organization and named a 23-year company veteran, Mary Armstrong, to be its VP. Citing Boeing's concern with "environmental performance of our products and services" and compliance with environmental regulations, CEO Jim McNerney said the new organization will develop an integrated strategic plan for the company, also encompassing its work with suppliers and customers.
Debt-watcher Fitch Ratings has rated $91 million in Massport revenue bonds at AA, citing Boston Logan's long-standing role as New England's primary international gateway airport and a stable and diverse mix of domestic and foreign flag airlines, augmented by the increasing presence of low-cost carriers.
LAN beat La Polar, manufacturers of metal products, and Entel, international telephone and internet operators, in a recent survey of analysts and brokers of the Santiago Stock Exchange about their choice blue-chip securities over the coming months. Investors and traders were swayed by LAN's solid growth program and sustained increases in passenger traffic.
