Egyptian charter airline Lotus Air is leasing two Airbus A320s from the CIT Group with delivery scheduled in May 2003 and August 2004. Lotus now operates four A320s, providing charters to England, France, Switzerland and Austria.
Hungary has decided to sell a major stake in state-owned carrier Malev. The state wants to retain a stake of 50% plus one share, however. Several major European airlines have shown interest in having Malev as a member in their global alliances. At one point, British Airways was within days of announcing a deal, but it later faltered. Currently, KLM/Northwest and Delta/Air France look to be the most obvious partners.
Virgin Blue still plans to launch before the Sydney Summer Olympic Games next month but would not predict when it will gain its operators certificate from the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). The airline planned to start Aug. 3 but had to delay the first flight until CASA completed its review. The airline said Friday that it is working closely with the CASA and "will make further announcements as progress is made." The agency's delay in completing the review is caused by an unprecedented domestic carrier workload.
Concorde's absence from British Airways' fleet may not be bad for the financially struggling carrier. Shifting Concorde passengers to other flights "only aids and abets their new high-yield strategy," said George Hamlin, senior VP of Global Aviation Associates.
United's management should be told as quickly as possible that its proposed merger with US Airways "has now become a laughable fantasy," said Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene. He wrote that United's executives "have shown they cannot run one airline" and should not be permitted to run two. "Any government regulator who entertains such a notion should look for work elsewhere."
FlightSafety International named Andy Parrish assistant manager-Savannah Center, Ken Brewer a member of the maintenance training sales team and Greg Napert Central-Region manager-maintenance training marketing.
Swiss regional carrier Crossair plans to decide on replacement aircraft for its fleet of MD-82 and -83s by the end of the year. The airline's supervisory board on Wednesday will receive an update on the status of the evaluation. Originally, the airline planned to make the decision at this meeting. Crossair is choosing among the Airbus A319/320 and the Boeing 737-800, although other 737 models also are in the running. Crossair has one MD-82 and 11 MD-83s.
Bad publicity surrounding United's labor problems could trickle down to Atlantic Coast Airlines' future bookings, as customers concerned about flight cancellations book away, said analyst Jim Parker of Raymond James Associates.ACA could not say whether future bookings were being affected, but Parker said although ACA is "in good shape there might be a little impact there." Thirty five percent of ACA's traffic out of Washington Dulles connects with United.
France and Britain have agreed to form a committee that is supposed to find a way to bring the Concorde back into the air. The aircraft was grounded last Thursday by French and British aviation authorities. French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said, "The two parties share the same determination to find a solution to put the Concorde back into service in sure conditions." Aviation authorities of both countries have required the Concorde's manufacturers to propose fixes to avoid tire bursts to avoid dramatic consequences like in the July 25 crash near Paris.
Pegasus Aviation leased a Boeing 727-200A cargo aircraft to new customer Express One International, a charter and cargo operator based in Dallas. Express One operates 29 727s.
Chinese travel web site Et-china.com signed an agreement with China Air Service (CAS), one of the top three largest airline ticket agencies in China, to distribute Et-china.com airline tickets. Et-china.com is jointly owned and operated by Et-china.com Investments, an Australia e-commerce investment company, and China Southern Airlines.
Greenville-Spartanburg and Louisville have the greatest choices of regional jet service, with 11 carrier-hub combinations each, according to AvStat Associates President Doug Abbey. He said 193 airports in North America have RJ service and noted that "we are really just in the first third of the RJ onslaught."
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) awarded a grant of US$110,080 for an aviation project in Kazakhstan. This grant brings TDA's total investment in Kazakhstan to almost $1 million in fiscal 2000. TDA awarded the grant to Kazaeronavigatsia, the state-owned aviation company, for a feasibility study on upgrading the country's air traffic control system. Kazakhstan has a number of major airports, and the TDA-funded study will assess the country's current system and develop a new air traffic control communications system design.
United has exercised options for six A319 and six A320 aircraft, bringing to 31 the number of Airbus single-aisle aircraft ordered so far this year. United, which has ordered 164 A320 family aircraft, is the largest Airbus operator in North America and third largest overall.
Delays in European airline traffic have improved significantly in the second quarter of 2000 over last year's period. However, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said that the figures would have been the worst ever if statistics last year had not been affected negatively by the Kosovo-conflict. On average, 24.5% of all intra-European flights were delayed 15 minutes of more in April. The figure rose to 27% in May and 28.5% in June. According to AEA, airport and ATC as well as reactionary delays were the "largest cause at all the airports."
A federal grand jury has accused the owners of aircraft insulation blanket specialist Mexmil Co. of ducking some $1.8 million in taxes and using the money to buy a luxury home in Florida and pay off Nieman Marcus department store bills. Prosecutors claim Mexmil owners Michael and Carol Molus "fraudulently overstated the firm's manufacturing costs from 1991 to 1994," and used some of the money for personal expenses, according to DAILY affiliate AviationNow.com.
U.S. National and Regional Carriers Traffic as of July, 7 Months 2000 U.S. National Carriers Traffic as of July, 7 Months 2000 (000) July July % 2000 1999 Change Air Wisconsin Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 118,530 115,174 2.9 Available Seat Miles (000) 176,403 154,913 13.9
Top aviation officials from major U.S. carriers, labor unions and airport organizations will meet Monday at DOT, at the behest of DOT Secretary Rodney Slater, to discuss the current service crisis in U.S. air transport and ways to resolve it. Slater, who announced plans to bring stakeholders together when he met with United CEO Jim Goodwin and United pilots union head Rick Dubinsky last week in Chicago to address United's operational problems, wants the parties to seek joint solutions to pressing industry problems.
HeartLand Airlines applied at DOT for certificate authority, planning to begin service from Dayton, Ohio, in June 2001, using Boeing 717 aircraft configured for 88 passengers in two-by-two seating.
DOT granted Celtic Tech Jet Ltd. an exemption for U.S.-Canada passenger and cargo charters as well as authority for other charters to or from the U.S. (Docket OST-00-7611)
British Airways will boost the frequency of flights between Johannesburg and London Heathrow to twice daily, beginning Jan. 9, 2001. The launch of double daily Johannesburg flights follows last month's increase of its Cape Town service to daily flights. Both business and leisure traffic on the route is strong and is continuing to grow, according to Alan Burnett, area general manager for Africa. The increase follows the bilateral talks in May, after which British carriers were granted two additional South Africa frequencies.
