Atlantic Coast Airlines, operating as United Express, reported a 42.8% jump in June traffic on 38.8% more capacity compared to the same month in 1998. The load factor increased 1.7 percentage points to 61.8%. The carrier, benefiting from partner United's expansion earlier this year at its Dulles, Va., hub, also saw a 37.7% rise in passengers carried for the month. Year- to-date traffic gained 41.8% and capacity 37.4%, which pushed the load factor up 1.8 points. Passengers carried surged 35.8%.
Thailand's transport ministry rejected Thai Airways International's request for a 5% fare increase for international flights, but it approved a 13.5% hike for domestic routes. The increase is expected to generate $28 million in additional revenue this year and $44.5 million in 2000.
Japan Airlines expects to start code sharing with Iberia on its Amsterdam- Madrid and Amsterdam-Barcelona routes as early as October advancing its efforts to join the oneworld alliance, sources said. The two carriers previously operated code-share services on the Narita-Madrid route, but this abruptly ended in 1993. A spokesman for Japan Airlines said that there were no plans to link frequent flyer programs or ground services. JAL and KLM currently operate together on the two routes to Spain, but the arrangement will end after JAL and Iberia begin joint services.
SAS ground staff launched a strike yesterday at Copenhagen Kastrup Airport, causing flight delays and cancellations, said the Danish airport authority. SAS partner airlines, including Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, also were affected by the conflict. The strikers fear that SAS will subcontract part of its ground services in an effort to cut costs.
El Al appointed Fortis Aviation to handle the sale of two 757-200s. Both are powered by Rolls-Royce engines. One is available now, the second will be available in October.
A Boeing 727 cargo plane operated by Lufthansa Cargo India crashed in Nepal yesterday with five crew, including an American pilot. The New Delhi-bound plane crashed about four miles southwest of Kathmandu in rocky terrain shortly after takeoff, a Lufthansa spokesman said. The condition of the crew is not known. The aircraft was in the livery of Hinduja Cargo Services, a subsidiary of a joint venture between Machen Holdings UK and Lufthansa AG.
Boeing will use GE Aircraft Engines' GE90 exclusively to power the long- range 777X aircraft, a decision that sent the stock of competitor Rolls- Royce down 2.5% yesterday. Pratt&Whitney parent UTC shares rose slightly yesterday. GE's shares gained $4 per share following the engine contract and a larger GE-NBC television deal. Boeing hopes to build 500 of the 777- 200X and -300X twinjets using an 115,000-pounds-thrust growth version of the GE90, called the GE90-115B.
Delta reported that system traffic for June reached record levels, rising 1.7%, while capacity increased 3.5%. Domestic traffic was up 2.1% on a 3.5% increase in capacity, and the load factor was 76.9%. International traffic inched up 0.5% on a 3.4% gain in capacity. Load factor was 79.9%. For the year-to-date, system traffic grew 1.8% on a 1.9% gain in capacity. Load factor was 72.4%.
Hainan Airlines (HAL) asked the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for permission to set up a new airline, based in Tibet. HAL signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tibet Auto- nomous Region of China to establish Tibet Airlines (TAL). According to the director of the project, Xu Xiangcheng of HAL, four other Chinese carriers were invited to become partners. Xu declined to identify the carriers, saying negotiations still are under way. He said if plans fall into place, TAL would be the first multi-airline venture in China.
Vanguard Airlines is considering moving its headquarters from Kansas City to Chicago Midway Airport if it can work out a deal with the airport for a hangar and gates. VP Marketing and Planning Russell Winter told The DAILY that the carrier is in the "early days" of discussions with Midway and any move would be part of a package deal, including hangar and maintenance space. "If it comes together, the move will be done," he said.
TWA's revenue passenger miles rose 5.3% systemwide in June as domestic traffic gained 9.8% from June 1998 levels. International RPMs fell 13.5%. Capacity was down 2.9% overall, with a 5.7% increase in domestic flying and a 10.2% drop in international seats. The resulting load factors were 80.2% systemwide, up 1.8 percentage points; 79.8% domestic, up 3.0 points, and 82.7% international, down 3.2 points. Year-to-date traffic results reflect similar changes. Systemwide RPMs rose 1.4% - up 5.2% domestically and fell 16.0% internationally.
Operations at Milan Malpensa Airport experienced severe disruptions Sunday when about 4,000 local residents demonstrated against development. About 700 flights accumulated a delay of 30 minutes on average, but no flights were grounded, according to SEA, the airport management company. The demonstrators demanded new measures to combat noise; redesigned approach and departure routes; limitations on nighttime flights, and an end to flight transfers from Milan Linate to Malpensa, slated for October.
The board of directors of Formosa Airlines formally approved the merger of Formosa Airlines into Mandarin Airlines. Formosa is jointly owned by China Airlines and the A.D.I. Group, which holds 42% of the shares. Mandarin Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of CAL. Following the completion of the merger, A.D.I. will own 5.06% of the outstanding shares of Mandarin. A CAL spokesman said that, following the receipt of approval to transfer traffic rights, CAL will begin serving Mandarin Airlines' international routes to Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
ICTS International signed a five-year contract with El Al for installing its Advanced Passenger Screening software package on all flights to Israel. The software was designed to permit the pre-evaluation of passenger data by providing computer assistance in the check-in process. The company said this approach accelerates passenger handling at the gate, reduces the risk of delays and permits flexibility in gate assignment. ICTS has similar contracts with Northwest, Continental and Delta.
FAA has canceled an informal flight deviation counseling program that was scheduled for tests in Anchorage after the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said it had several concerns about it. AOPA President Phil Boyer said he was concerned that a pilot might unwittingly incriminate himself during "informal" counseling, resulting in a formal enforcement action. AOPA has "long argued that informal counseling is the best way to ensure pilot compliance with the regulations," he said.
The European Commission may not approve payment of a third and last installment of state aid to ailing Greek carrier Olympic Airways. The survival of the airline is at stake. European Commission Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock, in a letter to Greece's Transport Minister Tassos Mandelis, said he was "gravely concerned" with the carrier's failure to implement its restructuring plan, a top EC official confirmed yesterday.
Salt Lake City-based charter carrier WinAir went out of business after it was unable this week to find financing needed to acquire aircraft to keep it afloat. WinAir had said during the last two weeks that it was trying to attract investment capital. The airline already cut its four-airplane fleet back to two and laid off about 75 employees, according to reports from Long Beach where WinAir had its hub. The airline also faced flight delays and cancellations and was having trouble getting its FAA scheduled flight certification.
Air Canada has initiated nonstop Toronto-Victoria service through Sept. 26 and this week launched its first nonstop transpacific service between Vancouver and Taipei. Air Canada is offering three weekly nonstop Airbus A340 flights on the route, complementing code-share partner EVA Air's three Boeing 747 nonstop flights. Together, the airlines offer code-share service Monday through Saturday. The service is timed for an early morning arrival in Taipei to enable same-day connections to most Asian destinations. The service offers 284 seats in two classes.
The growth in U.K. vacation travel for the 12 months ended March 31 is thought to be the highest in the last decade. Vacation market growth for the winter was 10.5%, with the 12-month growth even faster, at 11.3%, according to figures provided by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority. The July 1999 edition of ATOL Business, published by the CAA's Consumer Protection Unit, states that 9.6 million passengers in the winter and 22.5 million in the full year were protected by Air Travel Organisers' Licenses.
Summary of U.S. Markets Served By Regional Jets, As of August 1999 Percent of Airports With RJ Service Grouped By Airport Size* Non-Hub Airports 32.0% Small Airports 36.7% Medium Airports 14.7% Large Airports 16.7% Total U.S. Airports With Domestic RJ Service 150 Total U.S. Hub Airports With RJ Service 26 Total U.S. Spoke Airports With RJ Service 124
Boeing 717 has completed 27 days of flying exhibitions and customer demonstrations in seven European countries, as Boeing awaits its first order from a major European airline. The aircraft made 24 flights in 14 cities. The first four 717s, three test airplanes and a production version, are completing flight-test and certification requirements. Boeing expects to receive FAA certification and certification from Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities in September.
Southwest's June traffic jumped 14.1% to 3.3 billion revenue passenger miles, and capacity increased 10.6% to 4.3 billion available seat miles, compared with year-earlier levels. Load factor grew 2.3 percentage points to 75%. Passenger boardings totaled 5 million, up 7.3%. For the year-to- date, the carrier reported 17.5 billion RPMs and 25 billion ASMs, boosting load factor 3.3 points to 69.1%.
America West's June traffic grew 4.3% to a record 1.6 billion revenue passenger miles in June, the fifth consecutive month of records. Capacity rose even faster, 5.8%, which resulted in a load factor decline of 1.0 percentage points to 72.5%. Year-to-date traffic was up 7.3% on 7.2% more capacity, boosting the load factor 0.1 points to 66.5%. Boardings were up 8.3% to 27.7 million.
Flight attendants at Air Canada were expected to strike late last night as contract talks between the carrier and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Airline Division were making little progress. Although an 11th-hour settlement was possible, CUPE spokeswoman Catherine Louli said yesterday not enough progress had been made to expect a resolution and avert a strike by the deadline of midnight last night.
