Luis Fernando Jaramillo-Correa, head of the Opain group just awarded 20-year concession contract to modernize and manage Bogota's Eldorado International Airport, said the airport will be torn down and rebuilt. "We'll have a new airport with a streamlined design for both domestic and international boarding ramps in the same enlarged area, a process that will start by moving cargo facilities elsewhere to clear space for ramps," Jaramillo-Correa said.
All Air France flights bound for the U.S. will leave from Terminal E at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, except Detroit and Cincinnati service, effective Aug. 31.
Boeing's board this week approved a new share repurchase plan, which will see the company buy back up to $3 billion in common stock. "We are enhancing shareholder value with a balanced use of our cash flow...Our record backlog, strong operating performance and solid balance sheet allow us to invest in growth programs like the 787 while also pursuing a significant share-repurchase program," said Boeing CEO Jim McNerney.
JetBlue's VP-Flight Operations Dave Bushy is moving to Cape Air Oct. 1 as the carrier's chief operating officer. Bushy has been with JetBlue for three years, and was previously Delta's senior VP-flight operations. JetBlue, meanwhile, named System Chief Pilot Scott Green to replace Bushy. Green joined JetBlue in 2001 after eight years with Comair. Green's experience at JetBlue includes stints as assistant chief pilot and chief pilot-New York Kennedy.
Qantas this week signed agreements with three vendors to test new technology, which will allow passengers to receive phone calls, email or messages with their mobile phones or personal digital assistants.
Copa Airlines said this week it will start using Howard Airport as an alternate airport in October, rather than Cartagena, saving significant amounts of fuel.
Cathay Pacific yesterday took delivery of its 100th aircraft, an Airbus A330-300, and executives said the plane marks the start of one of the most aggressive periods of fleet expansion in the carrier's 60-year history.
DHL yesterday began construction on a new service center near Chicago O'Hare Airport. The $7 million facility will serve as DHL's local pickup, delivery and sorting operation, and is expected to open early next year. It will handle domestic and international parcels as well as palletized, loose-load and container freight. The facility will have sorting capacity of 7,500 packages per hour. This is the second service center DHL has opened in the Chicago area in the past year.
French startup Elysair's planned Newark-Paris Orly service (DAILY, Aug. 22) is drawing fire from Continental and American, which are concerned about the lack of reciprocity for U.S. carrier operations at Orly.
A total of 445,302 foreign tourists arrived at Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport in the second quarter, an increase of 20% from the same period last year, according to Argentina's department of tourism.
Colombian all-cargo carrier Tampa reports volume rose 3.5% to 89,173 tons in the first half of this year from the same period in 2005. Revenues totaled $91.5 million, up 23.6%, while RTKs were up 14.1%, propelling load factor from 81.4% to 83.3%.
Maxjet yesterday unveiled plans to launch service to Las Vegas in November, the carrier's third destination and first city away from the U.S. East Coast.
SkyEurope won a EUR38.8 million (US$49 million) capital infusion from York Global Finance II as part of a new EUR56.3 million (US$71 million) equity financing package it brokered with the company.
LAN's Peruvian affiliate said it plans to make significant additions to its domestic and regional route networks in the near future. The regional system will include La Paz and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, according to DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America & Caribbean.
Forecasts for Tropical Storm Ernesto in the U.S. triggered AirTran to cancel 31 flights yesterday and today to and from several Florida destinations -- Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami. The carrier said the storm's path could also affect its flights to Orlando. AirTran is waiving change fees on itineraries. JetBlue also plans to waive those fees for customers flying to Fort Myers, West Palm and Fort Lauderdale yesterday and today.
Alaska Airlines last week moved a step closer to winning approval to fly extended over-water routes and extended twin-engine operations, both of which will allow the carrier to grow its long-haul network.
The National Transportation Safety Board is gathering information from 32 minutes of recording from the cockpit voice recorder of the Comair CRJ that crashed Sunday to determine why the plane took off from a considerably shorter runway at Lexington/Bluegrass Airport after the crew confirmed it would use the longer runway.
Air New Zealand is looking at international network growth to boost revenue and help reverse a sharp drop in annual profits, but the airline also has not finished cutting unprofitable long-haul destinations, CEO Rob Fyfe says. Air NZ will add at least one new long-haul route every year, Fyfe said during the carrier's annual earnings presentation last week. "This airline must grow...[Air NZ] is undertaking a detailed evaluation of potential new routes," said Fyfe.
Gulf Air Cargo yesterday named Sam Okpro as manager-network planning and development joining the carrier's team in Manama, Bahrain. Formerly director of cargo services at IATA from 2000 to 2006, Okpro will be part of a team charged with growing Gulf Air Cargo's business. One of his top priorities will be to analyze "the feasibility into owning and operating our own freighter." He will also be reviewing the airline's cargo product offering. Prior to IATA he worked with BWIA in Trinidad & Tobago from 1998 to 2000 where he was senior director-cargo.
Airbus completed the first flight of its fifth A380 at Toulouse Friday, with the debut of the Engine Alliance GP7200 engine the most notable feature of the flight. The other four A380s already being flown all use the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine. So far, six A380 customers have selected the GP7200 for 82 aircraft orders, out of a total of 16 customers and 159 orders. The fifth A380 -- known as MSN9 -- will be the last to enter the development program, Airbus said.
San Jose, Calif.-based Infineon Technologies AG has been tapped by the U.S. government to supply its secure integrated circuit chip technology for the nation's new electronic passport. The U.S. began issuing electronic passports to diplomats and other government workers in late 2005. Congress passed legislation requiring that countries participating in the US Visa Waiver Program must issue passports with secure chip technology by October 2006. At the same time, the U.S. adopted the technology to conform to ICAO specifications for electronic passports.
Korean Air on Sept. 1 plans to launch code-share flights from Prague with SkyTeam alliance partner CSA Czech as a way to expand its European network. Korean will add its code to 17 routes from Prague within Europe operated by CSA. Korean will offer more than 30 daily flights to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Duesseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London Heathrow and Stansted, Madrid, Manchester, Munich, Oslo, Stockholm, Warsaw and Zurich.
