Construction of Munich airport's second terminal has begun after Lufthansa and the airport's operator Flughafen Muenchen Gesellschaft (FMG) recently signed a contract covering the project. Under the agreement, Lufthansa and Munich airport jointly will build the terminal, which will cost about $1 billion, with Lufthansa investing $400 million. The building, which will be used exclusively by the airline and its Star Alliance partners, extends the airport's yearly capacity beyond 40 million passengers.
Construction began yesterday on a new runway for Tokyo Narita Airport that has been delayed for years by farmers who refused to give up their land. According to the Associated Press, workers began putting up fences to begin clearing land to start building the runway, which is set to be completed by May 2002. The new runway, parallel to the existing 12,800-foot runway originally, was planned to be 8,000 feet long. The plans for the airstrip were cut to 6,976 feet to avoid land owned by farmers opposing the runway.
World Duty Free Americas last week opened its 5,700-square-foot duty-free store in New York Kennedy's Terminal 7. The new store at JFK was modeled after the company's flagship store in Terminal 3 at London Heathrow Airport that opened in November 1998 as part of its global initiative to establish the World Duty Free brand. World Duty Free Americas is the retail operating division of World Duty Free, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. The new shop is part of the first phase of major renovations planned for British Airways' Terminal 7.
Boeing President Harry Stonecipher says transatlantic mergers make sense. "It's going to happen when it makes business sense," he told reporters in Berlin.In his view, a merged company consisting of Boeing and BAE Systems would be one of several options. Stonecipher is convinced that BAE "will be a player in transatlantic mergers," and Boeing plans to become more global.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic March 2000 (000) March March % 2000 1999 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 1,039,000 1,013,000 2.6 Available Seat Miles 1,494,000 1,469,000 1.7 Load Factor (%) 69.5 69.0 America West
The first commercial flight from Los Angeles to Havana in more than 40 years was completed Saturday with a group of journalists and students aboard. Tour operator Cuba Travel Services inaugurated weekly scheduled direct flights between the West Coast and Cuba. At a roundtrip fare of $739 in peak season, the operation will cater to about 100,000 Cuban-Americans who live on the West Coast. Besides people of Cuban origin authorized to visit relatives once a year, the U.S. government permits U.S.
Airbus will increase production to 375-385 aircraft per year but will not let it go higher in an attempt to help slow the cyclical peaks and valleys of the airline business. "We will not chase the peaks in the market," Airbus Senior VP John Leahy told Aviation Week Group editors. The consortium's production will reach the 375-385 level, "and there it will stop," he said. Airbus hopes to make 350 deliveries this year. Leahy has been talking to U.S.
With the anticipated departure of Canadian Airlines on June 1 following its acquisition by Air Canada, oneworld is making swift moves to ensure that it has extensive coverage of the Canada market. Air Canada is a member of rival Star Alliance. The group will set up a new office in Vancouver, while partner Qantas will begin flying to Canadian destinations. According to a Cathay Pacific official in Singapore, oneworld will serve seven Canadian cities with 64 daily flights.
DOT directed carriers interested in new slot opportunities at the four U.S. capacity-controlled airports to apply in eight dockets opened -- two for each airport -- and granted authority to carriers that meet provisions of the recently signed AIR-21 Act.
Preliminary findings by an Engineering Test and Evaluation Board (ETEB) could mean more changes to the rudders on 737 aircraft. The panel, meeting in Seattle since last spring, "found no immediate safety problems," according to Tom McSweeny, FAA associate administrator for regulation and certification. The panel, which is preparing a final report to be issued in June, found that ice on a rudder part could cause it to jam and that pilots can have difficulty following emergency procedures.
Talus Solutions signed a deal with SairGroup's Swisscargo to install and implement a cargo revenue management system throughout the company's network. The project to implement the Talus Solutions CargoRMS product will begin immediately, and the deal is valued at more than US$5 million. Swisscargo is the air freight company of SAirLogistics, a division of SAirGroup. Swisscargo, which claims to operate the world's fifth-largest air freight network, has set its sights on being Europe's leading independent cargo carrier.
Nav Canada President John Crichton brags about the touch-sensitive screen technology, designed and built within the company, which eliminated the use of paper strips from the new Toronto Tower, calling it the "world's first." FAA still is working on the technology.
Mexicana increased the frequency of its nonstop flight between Toronto and Mexico City yesterday from three weekly flights to a daily operation. Both airlines are offering daily nonstop service on a code-share basis.
Continental plans to start service from its Newark hub to Aruba Dec. 14, subject to government approval. Operating Boeing 737-700 equipment, the carrier will offer four weekly flights on the new route, its 10th Caribbean destination from Newark. Continental currently serves Aruba with daily nonstop flights from its Houston hub.
Icaro Airlines, an Ecuadorean startup, was formed to prop up trade relations in the formerly disputed frontier region between Ecuador and Peru. Icaro will cover two routes between Quito and the northern Peruvian city of Piura, via Machala and Loja, both in Ecuador.
Japan Airlines plans a phased introduction of its electronic ticketing on its international network, beginning next month. JAL will be the first Japanese airline to offer ticketless international service. The new service will be launched May 22 when reservations will be accepted for ticketless travel from June 12 onwards on routes from Narita and Kansai airports to New York Kennedy and Los Angeles. In the initial period, up to September, the ticketless service will be offered to members of the JAL frequent flyer program only for award tickets.
KLM's waiting period for resolutions to wide-ranging problems at Milan Malpensa Airport ends Thursday. At that time, KLM wants to know about growth opportunities, environmental restrictions, operational performance and the transfer of flights from Linate to Malpensa, and it expects to be informed by the Italian government through its alliance partner Alitalia. A KLM spokesman told The DAILY that concerning the alliance, anything from zero to 100% still is possible.
Lufthansa, Deutsche BA and other airlines operating to Germany had to deal with a computer breakdown at German air traffic control provider Deutsche Flugsicherung DFS. Lufthansa had to cancel four flights and delay dozens more yesterday morning. The computers were operational again later that day, but delays of up to 90 minutes continued all day.
Angel Air, Thailand's second designated national carrier, suspended its regional flights barely three weeks after expanding its domestic and regional networks. Angel said then that it wanted to shed 15% to a foreign investor. The airline's three leased 737-400s have been repossessed by the lessors, Malaysia Airlines, which took back two, and an unidentified carrier. Payments for the wet-leases were not made for the last three months.
Pilots at Ontario-based Bearskin Airlines last week asked for and received the help of a federal conciliator in contract negotiations. Pilots, who have been in talks with management for three months, are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association International.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR MARCH 2000 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Millions 3/99 Millions 3/99 Factor Atlantic Southeast 168.4 56.9% 246.7 30.3% 68.3% Great Lakes 21.4 1.3% 45.1 (3.7%) 48.4% Change Change
Australian carrier Impulse Airlines' decision to operate a budget service on routes among Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane most likely will stimulate the country's airline traffic the way low-fare carriers have done in the U.S., airline industry analysts and consultants say. But the carrier will face stiff competition from the Ansett-Qantas duopoly, which is unlikely to sit by and let an upstart take its lucrative traffic, especially with Virgin making plans to move in.
