Though Delta's new set of U.S.-Mexico exemptions to serve Mexico City from Orlando and Salt Lake City were awarded with the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s standard 90-day dormancy condition, it remains to be seen if conditions imposed on recent ASA and Northwest Mexico awards were isolated incidents or, as some carriers suggest, a shift in DOT policy.
Venezuela's Avior recently asked U.S. regulators for permission to resume Miami service from its Barcelona base and Porlamar on the resort island of Margarita, following the carrier's reinstatement to Cat 1 in the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment program last spring (DAILY, April 26). State-owned rival Conviasa has yet to show interest in flying to the U.S., but is investing in fleet for new domestic and regional Latin American services.
Local businesses flying out of Huntington, W. Va.'s Tri-State Airport through Oct. 31 will be reimbursed for some of the fare, depending on the price of a ticket. The airport is using some of its $500,000 Small Community Air Service Development grant, awarded in 2005, to fund the program, said airport director Larry Salyers. Based on roundtrip fares, businesses can get $50 back for fares between $300 and $499; $100 for fares between $500 and $999; and $200 for fares more than $1,000.
Airborne laser jammers to protect airliners from shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles still need some refinements, although "initial performance assessments" indicate they can protect test aircraft, according to a Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) report.
Discouraging economics for blended winglets on Boeing 737-600s triggered a decision at WestJet to axe plans for installing the equipment on the smallest plane in its fleet.
Venezuela's Aeropostal wants to operate U.S.-bound service with its own planes and will likely be allowed to do so, thanks in part to the country's upgrade in FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program earlier this year (DAILY, March 24).
Continental says its mainline unit revenue for July rose an impressive 8.5%-9.5%, and a leading Wall Street analyst predicts that the rest of the September quarter will see unit revenue gains almost as large.
Japan's ANA more than doubled net profit for the June quarter to $68 million, and credited economic recovery in Japan and the international trend of rising passenger demand. Revenue was up 10.5% to $3.1 billion, and the airline reported an operating profit of $174.1 million, 66% ahead of last year. Domestic passenger traffic grew 2.3%, boosting domestic revenue by $92 million. Flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport saw particularly strong demand.
A single regulatory authority needs to be created to oversee the transition to the Single European Sky, says the industry-led consortium charged with drafting a blueprint for Europe's future ATM system. The U.S., which is working on plans for its own Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS), has an advantage over Europe's Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) effort, said Olaf Dlugi, SESAR's executive committee chairman. The U.S. already has a single sky managed by the FAA, while governance of ATM in Europe is fragmented, Dlugi said.
Brazilian regional OceanAir is preparing to go international, with plans to launch flights from Sao Paulo to Lima and Los Angeles and later Bogota and Caracas, using two Boeing 757s and 767s to be delivered soon. OceanAir is owned by Sinergy Aerospace, which also controls Avianca and Wayra Peru. The fleet now stands at 16 aircraft, not including the soon-to-be-acquired aircraft.
Senate Republican leaders are expected to quash most attempts to modify pension relief legislation, although unresolved concerns from some senators could still throw a wrench in the works if the bill is debated Friday as expected.
Continental and Alitalia will expand their code share to include Alitalia Express flights after FAA approved Continental's safety audit of the Italian carrier's subsidiary [OST-2004-19210].
Malaysia Airlines on Aug. 15 will raise economy-class fares for domestic flights by 15% and business class by 25%, and will also impose an administrative fee of MYR14 (US$3.82) per ticket issued. Fares were last raised in 1992. Malaysia's Ministry of Transport rejected two earlier applications from the airline to raise fares. But with the rationalization of Malaysia's domestic network that took effect Aug. 1, MAS no longer receives government subsidy for domestic flights and does not have to seek MOT approval to raise fares.
The new joint-owned Japanese cargo carrier called APA and JP Express (AJV) was scheduled to make its first flight early today, launching a network of 14 flights a week on 11 routes.
Munich Airport took a major step toward the construction of a third runway at the airport as it submitted planning documentation to regional authorities. The runway would raise hourly capacity to 120 movements from about 80 today and would help the airport continue its rapid expansion. The timing of the runway opening is still uncertain, as a flood of lawsuits is expected that could delay construction. Munich is Lufthansa's second-largest hub behind Frankfurt. -JF
Singapore's Changi Airport served 16.8 million passengers in the first half of 2006, a jump of 9.1%. The airport posted a 6.2% increase in passengers to 2.9 million year over year in June. Cargo movements for the first half rose almost 7% to 930,098 tons, while June cargo was up 3.6% to 155,230 tons.
By: Steve Lott, Aviation Daily U.S. airlines are excited about the possibility of higher yields and revenues on routes to Asia/Pacific destinations shown by recent expansion and new route announcements, but they can't ignore the cost side of the equation on these same routes, which hasn't dropped in recent years.
The Singapore Airlines Group saw its first-quarter net profit soar by 145% to S$575 million ($364.3 million) due mainly to one-off gains, although the group's airline unit also saw its operating profit increase nearly 60% to S$190 million.
A Brazilian labor court this week, at the behest of the national airline workers union (SNA), blocked the movement of $75 million of "new" Varig funds that would be used to guarantee unpaid salaries and retroactive benefits to dismissed employees (DAILY, Aug. 1). Leaders at SNA, while considering this a "victory," haven't ruled out going on strike later with support from workers who may not be fired.
Rosario, Argentina-based startup Sol Lineas Aereas was granted 15-year authority by the country's civil aviation department to start passenger and cargo operations in domestic and international routes. The carrier initially wants to operate from Rosario to Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Rafaela, Villa Gesell, Mar del Plata, and Montevideo in Uruguay using two SAAB 340 aircraft. -LZ
Colombia's state-owned carrier Satena received a contract from coal corporation El Cerrejon to operate daily corporate flights from Bogota and Barranquilla to Puerto Bolivar, gateway to the company's mining operations, for $6 million a year. Satena will use new Embraer 145s for the service.
Boeing this week named Swiss-based Liebherr Group to supply the environmental control system for the 747-8 program, with hardware deliveries to begin in late 2008. A memorandum of understanding was signed with Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS, which will design and build the systems in its Toulouse facility.
