Viaduct 1, the bridge whose partial collapse in January closed down the high-traffic expressway that connects Caracas to the international airport at Maiquetia (DAILY, Jan. 10), collapsed completely earlier this week. Constant landslides due to heavy rains in the past two months led private engineers to predict this week's total collapse."The veteran viaduct has given up. Let it rest in peace," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who promised to replace it with a new link in 2007.
Mesa Air on June 9 plans to launch its new Hawaiian interisland airline dubbed Go!, as lawsuits between the airline and its potential competition heat up. The carrier unveiled the new name yesterday and went live with its web site www.iflygo.com, which is now taking reservations for its CRJ service to five destinations. Mesa is entering the market with one-way fares of $39.
European airlines fear that the European Union's current plans to set up a Single European Sky "will not hold its operational promises," an industry source ahead of the EU transport ministers meeting Monday in Brussels.
The European Commission decided to launch an in-depth investigation into the restructuring of state-owned flag carrier Cyprus Airways, to seek out a possible illegal bailout. The Cypriot government is planning to guarantee a EUR96 million (US$116 million) loan for the troubled carrier, which is planning to slim down, sell off its Eurocypria charter subsidiary and get a EUR24 million capital increase 18 months after the launch of the restructuring plan.
The Air Line Pilots Association plans to continue its aggressive fight against the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s foreign ownership proposal, but President Duane Woerth is concerned that Congress may be losing interest in the topic after the recent Dubai ports debate. DOT in November issued an NPRM that would make it easier for foreign companies to protect their investments in U.S. airlines. The comment period for the NPRM closed Jan. 6, and sources expect the final rule to come out next month, possibly during Congress' spring break April 10-23.
U.S. passenger airlines posted a 6% drop in the number of full-time employees between January 2006 and January 2005, according to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) yesterday opened a terminal dedicated to low-fare airline operations despite warnings from air traffic controllers on problems that may arise because multilateral radar and the system to process and display flight data have yet to be installed.
Delaware in June will get scheduled commercial air service when Delta launches daily flights from Atlanta, after years of being the only state in the U.S. without regular commercial air service.
Northwest won from the U.S. Transportation Dept. exemptions to code share on Delta's flights from New York to Sao Paulo and from Atlanta to Dominican Republic points Punta Cana and Santo Domingo, and to Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, as well as on Continental flights from Houston to Buenos Aires, Punta Cana and Cali, Colombia, (DAILY, Feb. 17).
Royal Jordanian's highly anticipated small-jet order was Embraer's second sale this year for the 170/190 family, bringing the airframer's total orders for the jets to 12 as the first quarter winds down. The order for seven 100-seat Embraer 195s from Royal Jordanian follows an order from COPA Airlines affiliate AeroRepublica last week for five 108-seat 190s.
US Airways' service to the Caribbean is "relatively underperforming" other parts of the airline's network, reports Scott Kirby, executive VP-marketing and sales. After pulling down the majority of the short-lived Fort Lauderdale Caribbean mini-hub attempted recently, Kirby plans to "hold flat" the current capacity to the islands.
Air Midwest, in a bid to accommodate the needs of Cedar City, Utah, seeks approval from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to change its Essential Air Service routing to connect Cedar City with Salt Lake City instead of Phoenix.
Iberia this year will increase capacity by 28.1% on flights from Madrid and Guatemala City, Panama City and San Jose, Costa Rica. In 2005, these routes registered 87% load factors, which increased to 9l% in the first two and one-half months of 2006. Schedules now provide for daily Madrid-San Jose flights and three weekly flights from Madrid each to Guatemala and Panama. -LZ
The commercial aerospace industry is enjoying favorable conditions as airline recovery continues, although the current order cycle for Boeing and Airbus probably peaked last year, Standard & Poor's said in a report released this week.
AirBaltic plans to debut two new routes in May, launching a domestic flight from Riga to Liepaja and an international route to Tel Aviv; it will also code share with Aeroflot on Moscow-Riga service. The carrier said the service to Liepaja supports the goal of Latvia's transport minister of having domestic flights to all the country's major towns. AirBaltic is offering four weekly flights to Liepaja.
Strong revenue growth boosted Hawaiian to a modest pre-tax profit for 2005, but an abnormally high tax burden hammered the carrier back into a net loss for the year. The 2005 pre-tax profit totaled $10.5 million, and after taxes were included the net loss was $12.4 million. Hawaiian's full-year and fourth-quarter results were dampened by "an unusually high provision for income taxes," resulting in an effective tax rate of 218% for 2005, the airline said.
Los Angeles-based freight forwarder J.H. World Express has had its air carrier certificate revoked by the Transportation Security Administration after repeated security infractions.
