While there is a need to regulate charges at certain monopoly airports, regulation is not necessary at more than 160 airports in Europe, as the European Commission proposes, according to the European Low Fares Airline Association.
Air France signed a commercial agreement with Costa Crociere, Europe's leading cruise company, aimed at boosting the number of fly/cruise passengers using the French carrier. "During the coming winter season, close to 28,000 Costa passengers will be flown by Air France to departure points for cruises operated by the Italian company," said Air France. These departure points include Pointe à Pitre (Guadeloupe, French Carribbean), Dubai, Miami, Hong Kong, South America and Mauritius. -MT
United has awarded refurbishment work of international and business class on aircraft flying international routes to Timco and FIS, based in Seattle, Wash. The renovation is part of the carrier's customer focus, Chief Operating Officer Peter McDonald said this week at Aviation Week's MRO conference in Atlanta, pointing out customer strategy was a driver in the carrier's margins.
Continental managed to echo American's achievement in reaching a first-quarter profit despite harsh winter storms, although carrier executives warned of a tough pricing environment going forward. The airline reported a $22 million first-quarter net profit -- including special items -- compared to a loss of $66 million in the same period last year. This was Continental's first profitable first quarter since before the industry downturn that began in 2001. Operating profit rose to $64 million, up an impressive $53 million from last year.
Virgin America is using Lufthansa Technik for the its line maintenance and all of its material support, giving the MRO more inroads into the U.S. market. Lufthansa Technik plans to handle line maintenance in six Virgin America markets -- San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington and San Diego.
The Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority has approved flag carrier Vietnam Airlines' request to operate nonstop flights from Hanoi to Osaka. Currently, the flights are operated via Ho Chi Minh City. The nonstop flights are expected to start with the winter schedule in October. The carrier also operates to Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka.
Smaller communities using federal grants to attract more air service in fiscal year 2003 reported mixed results, a DAILY poll found. The DAILY looked at the top 10 grant recipients in the Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program. Of the five communities covered below, only two still have the service outlined in their applications. The program was funded at $20 million in FY2003. The U.S. Transportation Dept. handed out grants to 60 communities in 34 states and Puerto Rico.
Polar route traffic will grow much faster if the U.S. and China agree to liberalize their bilateral aviation agreement, Nav Canada CEO John Crichton says. Polar flights using Canadian airspace have already increased to more than 20 a day. Crichton believes Russia and China would be able to improve their ATC infrastructure to handle extra volume on these routes.
Venezuela's Avior intends to launch new Valencia-Miami service on May 1, pending approval from the U.S. Transportation Dept. The carrier, which won authority to serve Miami from Barcelona last December (DAILY, Dec. 15) and launched the flights in January, would use its Boeing 737-200 seating 12 in business and 96 in economy to operate three weekly flights on the route.
Standard Aero, a long-time independent provider of Honeywell auxiliary power unit services, has signed a service center agreement with the manufacturer, the companies said Wednesday. The deal designates Standard Aero as an official repair and overhaul provider for Honeywell GTCP36-100/150s and RE220s. As part of the agreement, Winnipeg-based Standard Aero will stop using Parts Manufacturer Approval parts in the APU models covered and will share its reliability data with Honeywell in a joint effort to boost the APUs' performance.
SAS, widely considered an innovator in using technology to improve its business, has launched SAS.mobi, the first mobile version of an airline's Web site. The site features check-in, time tables, flight status, news, weather and information on EuroBonus, its frequent flyer program. The site was created by Swedish technology provider Adimo.
The Civil Aeronautics Board in Manila has halved Singapore-based, low-fare airline Tiger Airways' current six-monthly operating permit to Clark's Disdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA). Known as the Foreign Air Carrier's Permit (FACP), it was initially supposed to end in September but will now expire in June before Tiger receives a renewable six-month FACP. No reasons were given by CAB. An official with CAB was willing to say only that it was the agency's prerogative to issue short-term FACPs
Delta TechOps, taking full advantage of this week's gathering of maintenance executives in hometown Atlanta, announced five major deals Tuesday, including an agreement to service Mesa's GE CF34 engines and four strategic partnerships. Separately, TechOps Senior VP Tony Charaf revealed that his unit in-sourced $312 million worth of third-party work in 2006, surpassing the company's goal of $270 million.
Austrian Airlines intends to increase to 10 the number of long-range destinations it serves this summer when it begins flying to Chicago on May 29. The airline will be operating up to six flights per week during the summer to Chicago. At the same time, it will upgrade to the Boeing 777 on its flights to Washington, D.C.
Lufthansa hopes to reach its self-imposed profit target of EUR1 billion (US$1.34 billion) this year, one year earlier than planned, Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said at the annual shareholder meeting yesterday.
Spirit AeroSystems, the supplier of airplane assemblies and components that was formerly Boeing's Wichita Division before being acquired by Onex Corp. in 2005, wants to dilute its reliance on Boeing -- which accounts for 91% of its revenues -- by seeking out more business from new customers.
Lambert-St. Louis Airport has become the latest to create an incentive program to attract new airlines and expand existing service. The airport felt the incentives were necessary to be competitive with other facilities, said Brian Kinsey, business and marketing manager. "We know that airlines have limited resources for new and additional services, so offering incentives allows them to make decisions as easy as possible," he explained. "We know we're not first to the game, but we want to be competitive going forward."
Airline insurance premiums have fallen for six straight months. AON Aviation says that first-quarter insurance renewals have seen rates fall about 25%. Large contributors to the reductions were cutbacks at Varig,which have reduced its liability exposure, as well as a 25% reduction in traffic at IranAir from last year, AON says.
American yesterday reported a first-quarter profit for the first time in seven years, with lower fuel costs helping offset the $60 million revenue hit the airline took from a bad run of winter storms.
