The executives behind Air Asia and Fly Asian Express (FAX) last week launched Air Asia X, Malaysia's first long-haul, low-cost carrier, which will start operations in July. Air Asia will acquire a maximum 30% stake in Air Asia X, while FAX will hold the remaining 70%. FAX, which operates rural air services in the east Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, is owned by Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes (50%), Kamarudin Meranum (30%) and Raja Azmi Raja Razali (20%).
Caribbean Airlines won authority from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to serve the U.S. and fully assume BWIA's place as Trinidad and Tobago's flag carrier. Caribbean Airlines, which launched operations last week, won from DOT broad exemption authority that covers initial offerings to both Miami and New York from Port-of-Spain, as well as future service to the U.S. Virgin Islands, San Juan, Orlando Boston, and Washington (DAILY, Dec. 13). The New York and Miami services will operate via Barbados with Boeing 737-800s or Airbus A340s.
TSA has completed awareness training for its 43,000 transportation security officers (TSOs) just in time for Muslims on hajj -- an annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Cultural awareness training has been and remains an important part of TSA's curriculum, said spokeswoman Amy Kudwa. "Security officers are trained as new hires as well as on a recurrent basis on respectful and sensitive screening procedures for cultural, religious and other groups with special needs, such as passengers with disabilities," she explained.
The National Transportation Safety Board tomorrow plans to detail the probable cause of a 2004 crash of Pinnacle Airlines CRJ-200 flight in Jefferson City, Mo. Pilots were commandeering a repositioning flight from Little Rock, Ark., to St. Paul, Minn. During the flight, the CRJ-200 reached the maximum certified altitude for the aircraft at 41,000 feet, and the engines subsequently stalled. Shortly after the accident, Pinnacle and Mesa placed a maximum altitude restriction of 38,000 feet on CRJ-200s/700s/900s.
Amadeus last week signed distribution agreements with Alaska Airlines and Continental as it works to add more U.S. carriers to its new content access program, which launched Jan. 1.
GoJet Airlines, Shuttle America, Mesa and SkyWest requested authority from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to carry SAA's code on flights they operate as United Express under the code-share agreement between the Star Alliance partners [OST-2007-26817].
British Airways expected Friday to ship out the last of the stranded bags that had been separated from BA passengers due to baggage system failures at London Heathrow Airport. The carrier had about 2,000 bags remaining Friday, down from about 7,500 in the middle of last week. Even after the BA bags had been moved, the airport was still faced with about 1,000 bags that had no airline tags. Heathrow airlines and airport officials are deciding how to ship the leftover bags.
RegionsAir expressed its displeasure over the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s decision to find another carrier to operate Essential Air Service at three West Virginia communities by moving to terminate service before the department selected another carrier.
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 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
Regional jets are not causing major congestion headaches at new York LaGuardia Airport, according to a new study commissioned by the Air Transport Association. Compared to other large airports, RJ numbers at LGA are "not excessive" and have increased more slowly, says study author Daniel Kasper. ATA is opposing an FAA proposal to introduce a minimum average aircraft size at LGA.
Australia's Brisbane Airport Corp. (BAC) is close to finalizing a five-year extension of its program that rewards airlines for year over year passenger growth of more than 5%.
Colombia's domestic and international traffic both registered significant growth from January to November 2006, up 17.2% and 13.6%, respectively, from the same period in the previous year. Figures from the civil aviation department (Aerocivil) show heaviest domestic traffic involved trunk routes from Bogota to Medellin, Cali, Cartagena and Bucaramanga.
Midwest Airlines starting this spring plans to expand its Connect service thanks to its growing Fairchild 328JET fleet. Beginning March 4, Midwest Connect will fly two flights each weekday from Milwaukee and Duluth, Minn. and three flights on Saturday and Sunday. The carrier is expected to add a third daily flight during the week in July. Duluth will become the carrier's 48th destination. The flights will be operated with 32-seat Fairchild 328JETs.
Delta will begin code sharing with recent SkyTeam addition Aeroflot in March, with New York and Moscow as the initial focal points. Aeroflot's code would be carried on Delta-operated flights from New York to Atlanta, Cincinnati, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle, while Aeroflot would put the Delta code on its flights between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Krasnodar and Koltsovo-Ekaterinburg. The code share will start on March 25, and no local traffic will be carried on the flights [OST-2007-26805].
National Transportation Safety Board member Steven Chealander was sworn in this week, starting a term that expires Dec. 31, 2007. Chealander was previously a pilot and safety manager at American.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. this week revoked the interstate charter authority of Alaska-based Larry's Flying Service for reason of dormancy. The carrier ceased operations in September 2004 but in 2005 and 2006 asked DOT for extensions to submit information needed to lift the suspension of its authority. The carrier was also looking to get its Part 135 operating certificate from FAA but late last June asked the agency to end the certification process [OST-2006-26713].
Still uncertain when its new reservations system will debut, WestJet recently extended its deal with Navitaire to use its OpenSkies system through the end of 2008. The Canadian airline became the launch customer in 2005 for aiRES, built by partners IBS and Travelport. Last year, the carrier pushed back the launch from spring 2006 to late in that year or early 2007.
Germany's air traffic controllers will announce today if they are going ahead with their planned strike (DAILY, Jan. 3). The Gewerkschaft der Flugsicherung (GdF) union said it has reviewed a pay proposal put on the table by ATC provider Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), without saying what decision it has made. A strike could happen as early as Saturday, with the union forced to give 24 hours' notice.
U.S. lessor Pegasus Aviation Finance Company recently ordered two A350s and six A330-200s, Airbus announced yesterday. The order represents the first for the A350 since the program was relaunched in November. The contract was signed in December.
The Air Transport Association yesterday slammed FAA's proposal to manage congestion at new York LaGuardia Airport, with the airline group claiming that the rule is overly complicated and that FAA is exceeding its authority in tinkering with market forces. ATA called for FAA to withdraw its proposal and instead issue a plan with a more limited focus. A far simpler system based on a secondary market for slot trading would be the most efficient way to allocate slots at LaGuardia, ATA believes.
Tay Yoshitani was named the new CEO of the Port of Seattle, which operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. He replaces Mic Dinsmore, who resigned. Yoshitani has led Ports in Oakland and Baltimore and was deputy executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. "We are thrilled to have found a candidate with Mr. Yoshitani's great experience in the complex areas we focus on as a port," said commission President Patricia Davis.
The search for the missing Adam Air Boeing 737-400 that earlier this week disappeared from radar screens over South Sulawesi in Indonesia has been expanded to cover the sea. Flight KI 754 was carrying 96 passengers and six crewmembers from Surabaya to Manado, a popular tourist resort (DAILY, Jan. 3).
