A new commercial air route this week will be introduced in Chinese airspace, shaving about 30 minutes from Europe-China flights. IATA played a major role in obtaining approval from the Chinese government for the route with negotiations that began in 2000. The route, to be launched on Thursday, will be known as Y-1 or IATA-1, reflecting IATA's participation. IATA said 110 flights a week will benefit from the improved routing, and airlines will collectively save about $30 million a year in fuel costs.
Mesa Air CEO Jonathan Ornstein revealed an interest in forming a joint-venture operation with one or more Chinese airlines that could see a boost of regional jets within the country connecting mid-sized cities.
The Star Alliance is looking to add more regional partners in Africa, after South African Airways last weekend became the largest African carrier to join a global alliance.
Airbus "has a lot of work to do" in improving the Airbus A350 design, says Air Canada parent ACE Holding Chairman Robert Milton. Speaking at a Star Alliance meeting in Johannesburg, Milton believes the manufacturer should go for a completely new jet, rather than a version of the A330, echoing comments made recently by several top leasing executives (DAILY, March 30). Air Canada in November finalized a deal to buy as many as 60 Boeing 787s because the A350 "was too big for us." Singapore Airlines last week also voiced some A350 criticism.
Venezuela's Aeropostal recently launched daily nonstop MD-80 service between Caracas Maiquetia Airport and Medellin Rionegro Airport in Colombia, cutting down flying time to two hours from the four to six hours it used to take through Bogota's busy Eldorado Airport.
Air New Zealand is preparing for the launch of its new Shanghai service by negotiating slots and appointing a general manager for China. The airline, which already has approval to fly into Pudong Airport, is "finalizing slot times with a view to begin selling fares in a few months' time." The flights are expected to begin in November, and fares and schedules will be announced after slots have been secured. ANZ will use Boeing 777-200ERs on the Shanghai route.
Named William Lovett to senior VP and chief underwriting officer-North America, Peter Jarrett as chief financial and reinsurance officer and Michael Barrett as chief claims officer.
Mesa is moving forward on short-term leases for six CRJ-200s from GECAS that will form the fleet of the company's new Hawaiian airline Go!, CEO Jonathan Ornstein tells employees. He notes the leases have "very attractive" rates.
Italian carrier Livingston can begin to offer charter flights to the U.S., thanks to the grant of a foreign carrier permit and exemption from the U.S. Transportation Dept. Livingston will use the authority to continue Lauda Air Italy's U.S.-Italy combination charter service. Livingston acquired and absorbed the carrier in September 2005. It has three Airbus A330-200s dry-leased from ILFC and seating 24 in business class and 248 in economy [OST-2005-23352, -23353].
30 Years Ago April 9, 1976 -- CAB control over entry, exit and pricing should be substantially reduced, but the change must be gradual, said CAB Chairman John Robson. The Administration's deregulation bill, the Aviation Act of 1975, "has proposed too much change in too short a time," Robson said. 20 Years Ago
Congressional sources say there will be no movement on FAA reauthorization legislation this year, and the first legislative proposals will likely be introduced on Capitol Hill next spring. Lawmakers are aiming to end this year's House and Senate sessions in early October, so they can focus on elections. This will likely preclude any reauthorization bills being offered. However, congressional sources told The DAILY that it is typical for FAA reauthorization bills to be introduced in the same year the previous ones expire -- which in this case is 2007.
Trans States got the go-ahead from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to suspend its unsubsidized service to Springfield, Ill., but its exit from the Decatur, Ill., market will have to wait until a suitable replacement carrier is found. The carrier is leaving five markets -- Columbia, Mo; Decatur, Ill; Joplin, Mo; Springfield, Ill., and Springfield, Mo.
Spanish investment group Ferrovial began its long-awaited bid for a hostile takeover of U.K. airport operator BAA on Friday, and BAA urged shareholders to reject the offer because it is still too low. Ferrovial is offering 810 pence per share for BAA stock, which values the company at GBP8.75 billion (US$15.2 billion). This is the same value as the offer presented to the BAA board -- and rejected -- last month, but Ferrovial noted that its offer is still much higher than the value of the shares before the takeover speculation began.
The value of the $38.8 billion worldwide commercial jet transport maintenance, repair and overhaul market is expected to grow at 4.5% annually in the next 10 years as a recent decline in labor rates bottoms out and engine overhaul costs keep climbing.
Germany's Bundestag on Friday passed a law that allows the government to sell a 75% stake in the nation's air traffic control service, DFS. The Air Navigation Services Act includes regulations for the capital privatization of DFS, with the German government retaining only a 25.1% share. Another significant feature of the legislation is the establishment of a separate oversight body, to be called the Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services. This meets the requirements of Europe's Single Sky legislation.
Passengers can now use the Air France-KLM combined Internet check-in service that the carriers have established. Of all KLM passengers using e-tickets at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, about 30% already use Internet check-in. From May, KLM will accept all e-tickets issued by its SkyTeam partners and vice versa. This means passengers will need only a single e-ticket for flights operated by the SkyTeam carriers.
Delta will have until Dec. 16 to introduce service between New York/Newark and Cozumel, thanks to a second dormancy waiver from the U.S. Transportation Dept. The carrier in January won a dormancy waiver that pushed the start date back to June, but Delta appealed to DOT for an extension on the grounds that unlike Cancun, hotels in the smaller Cozumel market have yet to recover from Hurricane Wilma and are still under construction [OST-2005-22243]. -ARS
United's new technology project, dubbed "Horizon," will replace the Apollo system in the next few years. Horizon will be used only within the company to refer to the United-specific projects "necessary for the company to move to the Star Alliance's broader shared platform delivering a quality customer service." Last year, United, Lufthansa and Star signed a deal with Amadeus to install the new system (DAILY, Sept. 9).
Thomas Horton resigned from the company's board of directors, effective March 29. Horton was recently named CFO and executive VP-finance and planning at American Airlines' parent AMR Corp.
Chilean carrier Sky Airlines in June will expand internationally to Peru, to be followed by Ecuador and Brazil. Jurgen Paulmann, the carrier's controlling shareholder, said Sky ended 2005 with 18% domestic market share in Chile. The goal of taking 25% of the market has proved difficult to achieve due to the recent entry of Aerolineas del Sur, an affiliate of Marsans/Aerolineas Argentinas, into the market. -LZ
