Swiss start-up Air Switzerland plans to start regional services from the country's capital, Berne, as early as July. The company wants to use three ex-Swisswings Fairchild Dornier 328 turboprops for the operation. Swisswings went bankrupt earlier this spring when a CHF10 million (US$6.42 million) capital increase failed to materialize.
Mexico's government is retaining Merrill Lynch Mexico (ML) to serve as advisor and broker for the process of selling off holding company Cintra and its main assets, AeroMexico and Mexicana. The government decided last week to get the sale started this month (DAILY, May 31). A previous contract between Cintra and ML expired last November, which made a new bidding tender necessary. Local industry analysts hailed the decision.
Horizon Air plans to increase its nonstop jet service between Portland and Denver from two to three flights each way starting July 28. "Response to our new Denver service has been outstanding," said Patrick Zachwieja, VP-marketing and planning. Horizon and Alaska Air began serving Denver April 28. Horizon currently offers two Portland-Denver nonstops and one Boise-Denver nonstop and Alaska offers three Seattle-Denver nonstops. All Horizon flights to Denver are operated with new 70-seat Bombardier CRJ-700s.
The Senate was at press-time yesterday still debating a laundry list of amendments to the Supplemental Appropriations bill, some of which are of significant concern to aviation groups. Included in the amendments were proposals to investigate controller staffing levels at Newark, institute a security program for charter flights, and expand the eligibility criteria of the airline federal loan guarantee program. A final vote on the bill was expected by today.
In an unusually direct response to a Transportation Department Inspector General (IG) finding, FAA expressed strong disagreement with the IG's take on STARS, stating emphatically that a full version of the system (FS-2) will go in on time with "all critical trouble reports...resolved."
A European Union court ruled yesterday that the European Commission should not have blocked Britain's Airtours from acquiring First Choice Holidays, and within hours EU competition commissioner Mario Monti unveiled plans in Brussels to draft new merger control guidelines. In overturning the Commission's September, 1999, ruling, the EU Court of First Instance in Luxembourg said the Commission "prohibited the transaction without proving that it would actually have an adverse effect on competition," the Court said in Luxembourg.
UK airport operator BAA yesterday reported a slight drop in traffic for the year ending March 31, but Chief Executive Mike Hodgkinson predicted that passenger growth will bounce back strongly.
Creditors of the former SAir Group are claiming CHF38 billion (US$24.17 billion) from the bankrupt aviation concern, according to SAir Group's administrator Karl Wuethrich. SAir Group has only CHF1.6 billion available to cover the claims. Of the CHF38 billion, the company considers CHF26.1 billion to be unfounded. -JF
Datalex signed a technology deal with Saudi Arabian Airlines, the company's first contract in the Middle East, to develop a World Wide Web booking engine for the airline's SARS reservation system. The Datalex booking engine will provide support for Arabic, "which is a critical requirement for this market," the airline said. The booking engine will also link into Saudi Arabian Airlines' frequent flyer program Al Fursan. Datalex will host the booking engine for the airline in Atlanta.
Air Transport Association CEO Carol Hallett speaks to the International Aviation Club at its June 18 luncheon meeting lunch at the Metro Marriott, Washington, D.C. A printable registration form is available at http://www.iacwashington.org, under "Events."
Spanish carrier Iberia turned in operating profit of EUR27.7 million (US$26.18 million) in the first four months of the year, Chairman Xabier de Irala said before the annual shareholder meeting. In the same period last year, the airline lost EUR73.3 million (US$69.3 million). Operating costs fell 6.7%, while traffic was up 3.3%. Irala said that for the full year "we see better earnings than last year, and better than we had expected in our budget." -JF
Priceline.com and The LastMinuteTravel Network signed a partnership this week through which priceline.com will offer "Name Your Own Price" last-minute travel services on LastMinuteTravel for airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and other vacation packages. Priceline.com's service, which launches later this month, joins other published last-minute deals already available on LastMinuteTravel.com and Last Minute Travel on America Online.
Federal agents arrested about 30 workers at the Norfolk and Richmond, Va., airports yesterday in a continuing anti-terrorism airport security initiative. The workers face a range of charges including Social Security fraud and falsifying criminal history records in applying for restricted access security badges.
Creation of a Homeland Security Department, and taking the Transportation Security Administration from DOT along the way will require congressional approval and will be a "messy process," with overlapping jurisdictions, according to an industry source. DOT Secretary Norman Mineta strove to retain TSA when Congress was crafting it.
The European Commission is launching a formal inquiry into France's EUR54.9 million (US$51.8 million) aid package compensating airlines for Sept.11-related losses. The European Union's competition watchdog has "doubts about whether [the French aid] ... is in conformity with the European rules."
Bolivia's airport ground workers' union, Aasana, is giving the government until July 15th to settle outstanding issues and start implementing solutions. Union leader Erwin Barba said this is the only way "to avert the threat of a new strike." Aasana paralyzed air transportation in Bolivia with a costly 24-hour strike on May 27.
A planned bilateral alliance between Swiss and British Airways could fail, Swiss Chairman Pieter Bouw said in an interview with Swiss radio. Bouw is concerned about a potentially high regulatory price the two airlines could be forced to pay to get European Commission approval for their agreement. Bouw raised the issues of slots in London Heathrow and costs of joining up. Swiss declined to comment on Bouw's statements. But top executives at the airline said no decision on the alliance has been made yet and they consider the concerns premature.
American recently installed 12 new OneStop self-service check-in kiosks at Los Angeles International Airport. AA is in the process of completing a $270 million upgrade to its LAX facility and has already completed new ticket counters, an "enhanced" security screening station and new gate seating areas in Terminal 4. With the new LAX check-in kiosks, AA will have the service at 27 airports.
KLM's overall load factor in May rose to 76.4%, from 73.8% a year earlier, the Dutch carrier reports. Overall capacity was 7% lower while traffic was down 4%. Passenger traffic on routes to Europe, Africa and India ran "well above last year's level," KLM said, though North Atlantic traffic was off 26% and capacity was down 28%. -MT
American is adding 12 points to its code share with Swiss Air Lines for services beyond Zurich, Brussels and Paris. AA last month placed its code on Swiss' eight daily transatlantic flights and on Swiss flights to 20 European points beyond Zurich. AA will place its code on Swiss flights beyond Zurich to Bologna, Gothenburg, Oslo, Milan, Rome, Turin and Venice, beyond Brussels to Basel and Zurich, and beyond Paris Charles de Gaulle to Bern, Geneva and Zurich.
US Airways this week sent its top frequent flyers a letter detailing its financial woes and opening up the possibility of a bankruptcy filing if it cannot restructure quickly enough. While the letter, from Senior VP Marketing and Planning Ben Baldanza, didn't contain fresh details about the airline's health, it was the first time the airline specifically warned the traveling public about what might be in store for the carrier.
The House this week passed the conference report version of a bill that would reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank through 2006. Eximbank supports, among other things, exports of U.S. jetliners.
