About 64% of U.S. leisure travel bookings will be made online by 2008, a sharp jump from 45% in 2005, predicts PhoCusWright. Similarly, 48% of all corporate gross bookings will be made online by 2008, up from 31% in 2005. In 2005, total travel bookings reached $224.4 billion, the second consecutive year of more than 7% growth, the new analysis says.
North America's airports served more than 1.5 billion passengers in 2005, up 4.3%, according to ACI-NA; however, cargo and total operations dropped 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively. Atlanta remained No. 1 worldwide in passenger traffic in 2005, at 85.9 million passengers, up 2.8%. Chicago O'Hare and Los Angeles Airport followed, with 75.5 million and 61.5 million. Memphis remained the busiest cargo airport in the world, handling more than 3.6 million metric tons, up 1.2% from 2004.
United this week unveiled plans to launch several new routes this fall, including two transborder flights to Canada. The daily services will all start Sept. 6, the airline said. The new international flights include a service from San Francisco to Toronto with an Airbus A319 and a new double-daily Los Angeles-Vancouver flight that will be operated with a CRJ-700. Other new flights with CRJs include a service from Denver to Grand Rapids, Mich., and a LAX-Oklahoma City daily service.
The Dept. of Homeland Security plans to start issuing new transportation worker identification cards to seaport workers by yearend but doesn't know when it will extend the program to the aviation sector, a top DHS official said yesterday. Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that the long-delayed project to issue tamper-proof identity cards to all workers in secure transportation areas, such as docks, rail yards and airports, will begin with a national rollout that eventually will enroll 750,000 maritime workers.
Executives from Brazil's regional BRA are visiting Cordoba this week to explore future operations from Sao Paulo to that strategic gateway in Argentina. As a low-cost carrier, BRA would be the first Brazilian airline to compete with GOL, active for two years in the Argentine market.
Virgin Atlantic Airways will introduce telemedicine devices on board its aircraft, the airline said yesterday. The Tempus system will replace MedLink until 2009. In medical emergencies, Tempus links the aircraft to the MedAire ground station in Phoenix, where doctors are on call to diagnose the problem.
American yesterday said it needs to find additional fuel savings this year equal to about 35% of the savings it already achieved. Last year, the airline's fuel conservation program reduced consumption by 84 million gallons. American CEO Gerard Arpey told employees he wants another 30 million gallons in additional savings this year. This saving would be worth about $56 million. "We can and must build on the momentum we established last year," Arpey said.
Bidders found bargains on everything from luggage to Ipods to jewelry at auctions of confiscated and lost-and-found items held May 13 at the Miami and Tampa airports. Florida state law requires that government facilities, such as airports, hold a public auction of items left behind for more than 30 days. Miami Airport holds items for 60 days as a courtesy to its passengers, said spokesman Greg Chin.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta yesterday said DOT would prioritize aviation system bottlenecks -- including New York LaGuardia Airport -- as part of a wider White House initiative to reduce congestion in U.S. transportation.
Airbus has gained its first U.S. business jet customer, with the delivery of an Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) to Florida-based Pharmair Corp. The cabin will be completed by Associated Air Center in Dallas, and the aircraft will be powered by CFM56-5B7/P engines. Airbus' corporate jets are based on its A320 family.
Jorgen Lindegaard, CEO of the SAS Group, said he will resign in fall for personal reasons after five years at the helm of the Scandinavian carrier. "I feel that the time is right for a new CEO to take over. For my part, I would like to take on a further challenge," he said. Lindegaard said the workload imposed by his function contributed to his decision. "I have spent all my time working. You can do that for a certain amount of time in your life, but not your whole life," he said.
More than 10,000 business jets -- worth about $141 billion -- will be built from 2006 to 2015, predicts Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia. This is a sharp increase from the 2005-2014 forecast released last year, which predicted 7,400 business jets would be produced. Aboulafia believes there will be a record 900 planes built this year worth more than $13 billion, and an even higher number in 2007, followed by a modest market dip.
American and United want the U.S. Transportation Dept. to expand its ban on Eurofly operations from Milan Linate Airport (DAILY, May 8) to the U.S to all Italian carriers [OST-2006-24809].
The parent company of Allegiant Air is preparing for an initial public offering to build its balance sheet and bolster its niche market strategy of connecting the large leisure markets of Las Vegas and Orlando. Allegiant Travel Co. filed preliminary information earlier this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that detailed plans to offer up to $100 million in common stock.
Restructuring costs from its FLS Aerospace acquisition and currency fluctuations caused SR Technics to post a CHF2.5 million (US$2 million) loss in 2005, but the MRO company's revenues grew 17% to CHF1.4 billion (US$1.2 billion). The MRO's earnings before interest, taxes and other unusual items grew 16% to CHF146 million (US$120 million). SR Technics currently has 750 planes under contract. The company is also preparing for an initial public offering, and appointed Rothschild and Wyvern Partners as financial advisers.
Latvian carrier airBaltic plans to launch direct service from Riga to Tel Aviv June 5. The carrier has scheduled two weekly flights between the two cities on Mondays and Wednesdays, and will use a Boeing 737-500 on the route. Tel Aviv is airBaltic's 31st direct flight from Riga.
The Thai government has again pushed back the opening of its new Suvarnabhumi International Airport because of continued construction delays. The airport was originally scheduled to open this month. Then it was scheduled for July, and now the government says it will announce a new opening date in June. Officials say that there are at lease 46 projects at the airport that are behind schedule.
U.S. low-cost carriers knew that rival network carriers would eventually lower their labor costs to a competitive level, but that day is coming sooner than many expected, forcing LCCs to delve into the contentious world of labor concessions.
