Virgin Blue has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to look into its landing fee dispute with Sydney Airport. The dispute relates to methods used by the airport to allocate costs for access to the Airside Service between airline users of that service and the basis on which the price for access should be levied. The issue falls under Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
UPS yesterday announced an order for 27 Boeing 767-300ER freighters, although it stressed that this order is not connected to its review of its Airbus A380 freighters. The 767s will be delivered between 2009 and 2012. The carrier notes these aircraft can be used on European and Latin American routes, as well as routes within Asia and Europe. The A380s UPS has on order would be flown on specific long-haul routes currently served by 747 and MD-11 freighters. The A380 order is under review after Airbus' well-documented timetable problems with the aircraft.
Covenant Aviation Security has been awarded a contract by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to handle some security operations at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. Under the four-year contract, Covenant will provide unarmed uniformed guards at vehicle and pedestrian guard posts, construction sites in airport operations areas and employee and public parking lots, said port authority spokesman Pasquale DiFulco. Passenger checkpoints will continue to be handled by the Transportation Security Administration, he added.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. last week launched proceedings aimed at finding carriers interested in operating Essential Air Service at Quincy, Ill., Victoria, Texas, and Ponce and Mayaguez in Puerto Rico.
Shanghai Airlines, one of the few long-established Chinese airlines that hasn't been absorbed by the country's big-three carriers, wants to set up a base in the home territory of one of the others, Hainan Airways. Shanghai Airlines says it's negotiating with authorities to set up the base on Hainan Island before the end of the year.
British Airways acknowledged it achieved "mixed results" in the December quarter, with a dip in profits caused partly by a series of operational headaches. Pre-tax profit dropped to GBP113 million (US$22 million), down GBP53 million (US$104 million) from the comparable 2005 period. Operating profit declined by GBP47 million (US$92 million) to GBP129 million (US$254 million). Revenue inched upward -- gaining 0.5% to GBP 2.1 billion (US$4.1 billion) -- but this was overshadowed by a 3% increase in costs.
SkyEurope secured a loan from the Bank of Scotland for pre-delivery payments covering five new Boeing 737-700s scheduled for delivery in 2008. Previously, Bank of Scotland and SkyEurope struck a loan deal for four other -700s the carrier on order. SkyEurope has 21 -700s on order, with purchase rights for 11 additional aircraft. The airline arranged operating leases for the first 12 planes with GECAS.
Executive charter operator Comlux placed an order for two more Airbus A318 Elites, bringing the carrier's total order to five units. Airbus said Comlux is the biggest A318 Elite customer, aside from an undisclosed client. Lufthansa Technik will outfit the aircraft with a VIP cabin.
FAA will be looking for industry comment on what a reasonable transition period would be for raising the pilot retirement age from 60 to 65, says agency head Marion Blakey. FAA plans to publish a proposed rule on the new age limit sometime this year, and the entire rulemaking process will likely take between 18 months and two years.
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) FEB. 14-15 -- Defense Technology & Requirements Conference, National Press Club, Washington, D.C. APRIL 17-19 -- MRO 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Ga. APRIL 17-19 -- MRO Military 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Ga. OCT. 16-18 -- MRO Asia
Safran's Turbomeca unit has laid the cornerstone of a new plant that will permit regrouping of all development and production activities at its main site in Pau, in southwestern France, into a single new facility. The plant is to be ready in 2008.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] FEB. 6-7 -- NBAA: Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition 2007, Hong Kong, 202-783-9000, email: lpeters@ nbaa.org, www.abace.aero FEB. 13-15 -- ATC Maastricht Conference & Exhibition 2007, MECC, Maastricht, +32 2 729 36.02, fax: +32 2 729 91.98, email: [email protected] FEB. 14-17 -- The Alaska Air Carriers Assn.: AACA Annual Convention & Trade Show; Anchorage, Alaska, 907-277-0071, fax: 907-277-0072
Republic Airways Holdings CEO Bryan Bedford says the company's cash balances could fall between $250 million and $275 million by yearend. Depending on the outcome of talks with Delta, they could be even higher, Bedford notes. He adds Republic could speak publicly about the meetings in a couple of weeks. Previously, Delta said it would let regional carriers that won its business announce the agreements. Last year, Delta asked regionals to bid on flying up to 143 regional jets.
With the potential for Ryanair's cash balances to reach $2.5 billion by yearend, CEO Michael O'Leary says the carrier's shareholders will garner some of that cash, either through a one-time dividend or a share buyback. He also notes the carrier likes to keep cash on hand to take advantage of favorable aircraft deals during industry down cycles.
International passenger traffic was up 8% in December compared with December 2005, while international freight grew by 4.6%, Airports Council International reports. Overall, total passenger traffic -- the aggregate of international and domestic traffic participating in the association's PaxFlash and FreightFlash statistical sampling program -- grew by 5.2% for the month, while total freight rose 2.7%. PaxFlash and FreightFlash represent 60% of the total passenger and 70% of the total freight numbers worldwide.
