The air transport industry has "fallen behind in addressing future capacity needs," and the chief responsibility is attributable to governments that fail to offer timely approvals to airport expansion projects, Robert Aaronson, chairman of the Airports Council International, told a Montreal conference on the industry's future.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) joins Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in calling for an inquiry into the use of federal grants at New York MacArthur Airport. The airport's apron is developing potentially hazardous cracks that could close four airport gates, said Israel. He wants the DOT Inspector General to look at whether the apron, built partly with federal funds, was constructed according to appropriate standards.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) SEPT. 19-21 -- MRO Asia, Xiamen, China OCT. 24-26 -- MRO Europe, Amsterdam NOV. 13-15 -- Aerospace & Defense Programs, Phoenix
Cendant Corp. on Friday signed a deal to sell its travel distribution services subsidiary to The Blackstone Group for about $4.3 billion in cash, which will help Cendant pay off some debt and give the travel companies flexibility to grow.
Italian cargo startup Cargoitalia won exemption authority to launch scheduled and charter cargo flights from Italy to New York Kennedy, Atlanta, Houston Intercontinental and Chicago O'Hare (DAILY, May 9). It also got a tentative nod for a foreign carrier permit from the U.S. Transportation Dept. [OST-2006-24735, -24736].
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] JULY 16-18 -- Summer Legislative Issues Conference, Co-sponsored by AAAE & ACI-NA, Washington, D.C., 202-293-3035, email [email protected] JULY 17-20 -- FAA/ATCA 4th International Aviation Training Symposium (IATS), Oklahoma City, 703-299-2430, Fax 703-299-2437, email [email protected] JULY 24-30 -- Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Oshkosh 2006, Oshkosh, Wis., (920) 426-4800
International travel demand was strong in May, IATA reported Friday, with passenger traffic jumping 7% and freight demand increasing more than 5%. "Strong economies are supporting strong demand growth for both freight and passenger traffic," said CEO Giovanni Bisignani. He said the traffic is helping airlines offset the high fuel prices and "boost revenues by an average of 10% over the past three years." The 7% traffic rise in May is down from the nearly 10% growth posted in April, when traffic spiked due to the Easter and Passover holiday shift.
SAS Cargo on July 1 formed an independent legal entity to handle cargo at 12 airports throughout Scandinavia in an attempt to slow the "increasing amount" of air cargo that is trucked to airports south of Scandinavia.
Uruguay's Transport Minister Victor Rossi, concerned about the crisis at Pluna stakeholder Varig, said renewed talks on the alliance between the flag carrier and Venezuela's Conviasa are a possibility. When asked by reporters if Uruguay President Tabare Vasquez's upcoming visit to Caracas would be the best time to get conversations back on track, Rossi said, "Maybe. But first we'd have to agree on some issues which depend on third parties, and I am not referring just to Conviasa, but also to Varig's eventual fate." -LZ
Gol struck a $50 million long-term financing deal with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private sector arm of the World Bank. Gol plans to use the money to invest in aircraft spare parts and working capital. -SL
Mexicana's low-cost subsidiary Click, which last month won U.S. authority to fly Cancun-Miami, plans to expand its reach into the U.S. with service from Torreon to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Flights would start as soon as Click wins DOT approval. Click would use its Fokker 100s for the service.
30 Years Ago July 8, 1976 -- An FAA supervisor admits he looked in the dictionary, rather than consulting an Air Traffic Service order or handbook, to find a standard for determining if a controller involved in a near midair collision had been careless or negligent. A House panel recommends that FAA revise its handbooks, orders and other documents to clarify the definitions. 20 Years Ago
Germanwings is adding three weekly services from Hamburg to Moscow. The new roundtrip will start on Oct. 31. Germanwings already flies to Moscow from Cologne, Berlin and Stuttgart. The airline is 49% owned by Lufthansa.
Kirksville, Mo., stands to lose its direct air service in the fall, and only a compelling argument can prevent the U.S. Transportation Dept. from terminating the carrier's subsidy eligibility in the Essential Air Service program. If DOT decides to terminate Kirkville's subsidies, RegionsAir would be allowed to suspend its American Connection flights to the community, effective Oct. 1.
Aeromexico yesterday became the first Latin American carrier to sign up to fly the Boeing 787 thanks to a lease deal with ILFC Corp. Aeromexico will lease the three 787-8s from ILFC with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2010. ILFC in November ordered 20 787s. The announcement follows Aeromexico orders earlier this year for six 737s and the recent deliveries of two 777-200ERs. The 787s and 777s are part of Aeromexico's fleet renewal plan for routes to Europe and Asia and will replace Boeing 767s that are coming off leases.
American will carry Mexicana's code on flights from the carrier's gateways (Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami New York Kennedy, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose) to Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, S.C.; Grand Rapid, Mich.; Greensboro, N.C.; Huntsville and Mobile, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Lexington, Ky.; McAllen, Texas; Richmond, Va.; and Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y. American and American Eagle will begin carrying the code on those services later next month [OST-2004-16945].
The judge overseeing Varig's restructuring in a Rio bankruptcy court on Wednesday said he would postpone a decision on Volo de Brasil's offer to buy the struggling airline (DAILY, June 27) for 24 hours "due to the complexities of the deal."
Northwest won bankruptcy court approval to abrogate the existing contract with its flight attendants union if the two sides can't reach a deal within the next 14 days.
Stamford, Conn.-based Hexcel Corp., which supplies materials to the Airbus A380, expects revenue growth to slow in the next year because of the manufacturer's delays of the superjumbo.
Workers at floundering Bolivian airline Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB) may finally gain control of the airline after 50% of former President Ernesto Asbun's equity shares were transferred to the city government of Cochabamba -- LAB's hometown -- and then ceded legally to the workers on Wednesday.
Colombia's international passenger traffic grew to 317,000 foreign visitors in the first four months of the year, up 15.5% from the same period last year, reports DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America and Caribbean. In 2005, annual visitors numbered close to 1 million for an 18% increase from 2004, with U.S. and Venezuela in first and second places as countries of origin.
