Australia's aviation safety authority plans to develop regulations for a multi-crew pilot license specifically for individuals training to become first officers.
Austrian charter operator JetAlliance has ordered two A318 Elite corporate jets, becoming the first customer to place a repeat order for the Elite, Airbus said. The carrier already had one Elite and another A320 familiy corporate jet on order. For the Elites, JetAlliance has selected a 14-seat layout but has yet to choose an engine type. JetAlliance currently has a fleet of 37 aircraft.
Domestic Aeroparque Aiport in downtown Buenos Aires will be partially closed for the next two months while the current 2,200 meter long runway is lengthened by 180 meters in order to handle heavier traffic. Aerolineas Argentinas and its subsidiary, Austral, which were most likely to be affected, are re-scheduling 40% of their flights to Ezeiza International. Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, which manages Aeroparque, said other airlines will continue using this facility, each one to reschedule flights according to its needs. -LZ
Venezuela's Aeropostal Aires this week canceled fuel surcharges on passenger tickets amounting to $60 on international and $23 on domestic flights. "Thus we are using savings from lower fuel prices to make air travel more accessible to Venezuelan consumers," said carrier President Nelson Ramiz.
Rolls-Royce predicts a business jet engine market worth $70 million over the next 20 years, to power more than 24,000 new corporate jet deliveries during this period. Of the 24,000 total, nearly half will be in the medium or large business jet category, and in the overall aircraft market this category will only be surpassed by 130- to 190-seat regional passenger aircraft. Total business jet engine deliveries will be about 51,000 over the 20-year span, said the company.
Aeromexico, looking to cater to Mexican vacationers on their way to Disney World or to Caribbean cruises sailing from various Florida ports, last week renewed nonstop daily service from Mexico City to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport. Flights are operated with Boeing 737-700s. -LZ
President Bush made his first visit to FAA headquarters in Washington this week, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of new U.s. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. At the ceremony, Bush said Peters is "one of the country's most innovative thinkers on transportation issues." FAA Administrator Marion Blakey also witnessed the ceremony after addressing the National Business Aviation Association conference in Orlando earlier.
Avianca, by way of majority shareholder German Efromovich, last week announced plans to invest upwards of $2 billion to upgrade more than half of its current 52-aircraft fleet, cut costs and introduce new technology to improve passenger service. Meanwhile, rival AeroRepublica revealed its plans to take delivery of seven factory-new aircraft -- five Embraer regional jets worth $175 million and two double aisle aircraft leased from GECAS -- over the next 12 months. The first could be put into service as soon as December.
Korean Air's new China-based cargo joint venture is not expected to make a profit for at least three years, but the operation is expected to bring great long-term benefits as the carrier makes China a top priority and major focus for its strategic plan.
FAA awarded JetBlue four slots at O'Hare, four less than the eight openings the airline originally requested from the agency. The decrease from eight to four slots was a result of the new entrant negotiations JetBlue conducted with FAA, an airline spokeswoman explained. The carrier has not detailed its service yet, but FAA regulations require JetBlue to announce service by the end of the month and start flights by Jan. 27.
Royal Jordanian Cargo posted a 9% jump in third-quarter revenues, which was better than expected considering the substantial increase in freight capacity in the region.
Chile's Sky Airlines is finalizing plans to expand internationally with daily flights to Arequipa in southern Peru and Mendoza and Cordoba in western and central Argentina. The move entails beefing up the fleet of Boeing 737NGs. Sky also inked a code-sharing agreement with Colombia's Avianca that will give Sky's passengers access to Avianca's routes in the Americas and Europe. -LZ
American yesterday reported its second consecutive quarterly profit, but despite its healthier financial standing, the airline is sticking to its conservative line on capacity and fleet growth. The carrier achieved a $15 million profit for the third quarter, excluding special items, a turnaround of $168 million compared with last year's $153 million net loss. The second-quarter profit was $291 million. This year is the first to see back-to-back profitable quarters since 2000.
Canadian startup Porter Airlines is in midst of negotiating deals with one or more global distribution system (GDS) companies and could announce a new partnership soon, its CEO reports. As those discussions continue, Porter is readying for its launch Oct. 23 from Toronto City Centre Airport. Airline head Robert Deluce told The DAILY that bookings are pretty strong, noting that for the past seven to eight days, numbers gained strength over the previous day's count.
South African Airways is looking at an initial public offering as early as next summer, revealed CEO Khaya Ngqula. The IPO would follow a $500 million recapitalization program that the company hopes to complete by the end of the current fiscal year. Ngqula's comments come as a surprise, as earlier plans called for an IPO in the 2010 timeframe; however, the airline says it needs the funds for further expansion.
Aircraft simulator powerhouse CAE Inc. is starting to feel the benefits of the upswing in commercial aircraft orders. The Montreal-based company had projected it would sell 21 simulators in its current fiscal year, which runs through March 31. Halfway through that period, CAE has recorded 19 orders, including a contract for five 737 simulators recently placed by Ryanair. If CAE is able to maintain its sales pace, it will surpass the 35 orders it achieved in 2001 at the tail end of the industry's last upturn. -AS
Japan Airlines plans to expand its code-share agreements with China Eastern and Xiamen Airlines this month as part of its strategy to boost its network from Japan to China.
CIT Aerospace named David Davis as senior VP and general manager of its Business Aircraft Division. Davis has held positions at Cessna, Textron, Bombardier and Raytheon. He was also President of the Specialty Finance Group Aircraft Division of 1st Source Bank.
ExpressJet is preparing to detail the rest of its plans for aircraft exiting the Continental network Nov. 8 after announcing this week its intent to fly 10 planes by May 2007 through a new subsidiary, ExpressJet Corporate Aviation. The first two planes -- an Embraer ERJ-145LR and ERJ-145XR -- come offline Dec. 28, and ExpressJet will launch corporate flights with the longer-range XR Dec. 31.
Workers in control of Lloyd Aereo Boliviano are facing bureaucratic and legal hurdles -- placing the equity package in the company's official registry of shareholders and getting it approved by the Ministry of Labor (DAILY, Oct. 10) -- but are moving ahead with plans to rebrand the airline, rebuild the fleet and thank customers with a string of promotions.
Boeing yesterday revealed the customer for the last four 747-8 freighters the manufacturer had listed as unidentified orders, with investment firm Guggenheim Aviation Partners buying the aircraft to lease to cargo carriers.
