FAA officials say the agency will have to reduce its fiscal 2006 budget by more than $140 million due to a government-wide 1% cut approved by Congress. The cuts will pare FAA's operations budget by $81.9 million, facilities and equipment by $25.4 million, research and development by $1.4 million, and the airport improvement program by $35.5 million. The DAILY reported smaller figures in the Dec. 12 issue, but these reflected cuts only to the Air Traffic Organization budget. -AS
Airbus yesterday signed deals with two carriers that include nearly 150 firm orders and options for A320 family aircraft. Italian carrier Air One ordered 30 A320s and placed options for 60 more. The new aircraft will gradually replace the carrier's fleet of Boeing 737s, and will also allow Air One to launch new European routes. The A320s will be powered by CFM56-5B6/P engines.
KLM, Thai Airways, Lufthansa and other carriers reportedly expressed interest in forming a strategic alliance with Indonesian flag carrier Garuda, according to The Jakarta Post, but there has been "nothing official from these airlines," reports Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa; Lufthansa denied it was interested in the stake (DAILY, Jan. 10).
Lufthansa CityLine on Feb. 2 will put United's code on its flights from Frankfurt and Munich to Pisa. United already code shares with Lufthansa and its Italian unit Air Dolomiti between Munich and Pisa. The Pisa flights replace services that normally operate to Florence but are being rerouted due to runway construction.
International low-cost carrier Air Madrid, which in the past two years developed routes between the Spanish capital and key South American destinations, is considering charter flights between South America and Israel, said Israel's ministry of tourism.
During the official signing of a 68-aircraft order for Air-India yesterday, Boeing announced it will build maintenance, repair and overhaul, plus pilot training facilities in India. Boeing said it has committed to investing in the new facilities, although "details of this effort are to be finalized over the coming months." The aircraft order was placed in December, with deliveries to begin next year.
Jet Airways Chief Operating Officer Peter Luethi recently announced plans to retire when his three-year contract ends in April and move back to the U.S.
Former National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jim Hall recently joined the Nolan Law Group but will continue as principal of Hall & Associates LLC, a government and regulatory consulting firm. Hall, who chaired NTSB from June 1994 to January 2001, is Of Counsel to Nolan Law Group and will remain in Washington. The Chicago-based firm focuses its practice primarily on mass tort aviation and brain injury litigation. -SL
All Nippon Airways plans to launch its third dedicated Boeing 767-300ER freighter into operation on Feb. 14. The new freighter will be used on domestic, late-night cargo flights between Tokyo Haneda and the southern city of Saga. Cargo on the route is now carried in the belly space of a 777 passenger aircraft with no passengers on board. The new 767 freighter also will be used for ANA's first scheduled international cargo flights from Osaka Kansai.
Horizon plans to launch flights between Portland and Reno April 3, using its 74-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops. The single daily roundtrip flight is the airline's second market from Reno after launching flights from the city to Los Angeles last year. Horizon said the new service would offer customers from the Oregon cities of Eugene, Klamath Falls, Medford, North Bend, Pendleton and Redmond convenient connections to Reno through Portland. -LR
LAN Airlines reported higher December loads as traffic jumped 12.6%, outpacing an 8.5% capacity increase. Systemwide load factor increased 2.7 percentage points to 72.8%. International traffic for December was up 16.4% as capacity gained 11%. The international load factor for the month rose 3.4 points to 73.9%. Traffic grew due to strong demand on routes to the U.S., Europe, the South Pacific and in Latin American markets. The carrier also noted traffic growth in the domestic markets of Peru and Argentina.
Italian carrier Air One launched an urgent petition in the court of Busto Arsizio in Lombardy to prevent Alitalia from bidding for bankrupt carrier Volare.
FAA estimates that the government-wide 1% cut to fiscal 2006 budgets passed by Congress last year will reduce its operations budget by $66.2 million, the facilities and equipment budget by $25.4 million, and the research and development budget by $1.4 million. A transition program for flight service stations will be down by $1.5 million. FAA says it is still deciding how it will make these cuts, and the controllers' union is concerned that it may affect the agency's new controller hiring plan.
Slowing traffic growth in the last quarter of 2005 caused Eurocontrol to reduce its traffic growth estimates slightly for 2005 and 2006, but stronger growth is forecast to return in 2007, the agency said in its latest forecast. Using data through the end of November, Eurocontrol estimates that flight numbers grew 4.1% in 2005, and slower growth of 2.3%-3.9% is expected for 2006, with a growth level around 3.1% considered most likely. If oil prices don't increase much, flight growth will rebound to about 3.5% in 2007, Eurocontrol said.
China's Air Traffic Management Bureau has completed the transition to full operational use of new Thales air traffic control systems for some of China's largest cities. The North East and South Area Control Center contract, awarded to Thales in 2001, required the installation of Thales' Eurocat systems in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The last of the systems was commissioned at Guangzhou in November, and the Shanghai system was completed last May. The Beijing system became fully operational in December 2004. All were finished on time.
Jetstar plans to base an Airbus A320 permanently at Avalon Airport near Melbourne, starting March 26, coinciding with the launch of flights to Perth on March 28. Basing the plane overnight allows for a 6 a.m. departure time to Sydney, and the carrier plans to boost frequencies on the Melbourne-Sydney route to eight flights a week. Jetstar also wants to offer a second daily flight between Avalon and Adelaide. With the latest changes, Jetstar said its seat capacity is three times greater at Avalon since the launch of operations in June 2005. -LR
The Airbus A380 landed at Rionegro's Jose Maria Cordova International airport in Colombia this week for four days of "hot-and-high" tests, including overflights of Antioquia's mountainous terrain.
Buoyed by several new deals in its aerospace business, Singapore Technologies Engineering said profits in 2005 grew 12% to S$396 million, which led the company's board to propose a dividend of 13 cents per share.
Philippine Airlines plans to terminate its service to Riyadh on March 6, ending decades of service to Middle East because of overcapacity and financial losses on the routes.
FAA yesterday shelved a rule easing Part 121 oxygen requirements after the National Transportation Safety Board warned that the rule was based on faulty data and could jeopardize safety.
TAP Portugal may soon sell VarigLog, the Brazilian carrier's cargo division, after a higher bidder for the unit emerged, Portugal's Transport Minister Mario Lino said in a parliamentary hearing. The division will be sold for $45.6 million or 20% more than TAP paid a month ago. The TAP investment helped Varig make imminent leasing payments and avoid grounding part of its fleet.
