America West is expanding its service to California and West Texas with four daily nonstops from Phoenix to San Luis Obispo and three to Carlsbad/Oceanside, beginning April 4. The new service will be operated by America West Express using 37-seat de Havilland Dash 8 aircraft. On March 24, the carrier will launch nonstop Phoenix-Midland/Odessa service with three daily flights using 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets, and on March 27, it will add two daily Phoenix-El Paso flights, for a total of six.
China Southern Airlines carried 15.05 million passengers in 1998, placing it first among airlines in China for the 20th consecutive year. China Southern transported 27% of all passengers carrier by Chinese airlines last year, and the carrier also leads in the number of aircraft (96), flights operated and markets served. China Southern's 96 jets comprises 81 Boeing airplanes, including nine 777s, and 15 Airbus A320s. The passenger load factor on its Guangzhou-Los Angeles nonstop, begun last July, was 76% in December.
KLM will begin Amsterdam-Shanghai service March 29 to piggyback on its existing service to Beijing and Hong Kong. KLM will begin with twice-weekly service to Shanghai using Boeing 747-400 Combi equipment with seating for 277 and cargo capacity for 35 tons.
Japan Airlines moved closer to the American-British Airways alliance yesterday by signing a code share and marketing agreement with BA. The expected alliance will give both carriers more marketing power for passenger traveling from Europe to Japan. As of April 1, BA and JAL will offer frequent flyer program members the chance to earn miles on each other's international flights. With government approval, the carriers will code share late this summer on JAL's daily Osaka-London nonstop.
EVA Airways said it will launch the first direct air cargo link between Taiwan and India on Sunday with the introduction of service to Mumbai. The carrier will operate three flights a week using MD-11 cargo aircraft. The service follows an "open skies" policy for air cargo operations by Indian regulatory authorities, EVA said.
Airbus aircraft orders will be "significantly lower in 1999" compared with 1998, said Aerospatiale Chairman Yves Michot yesterday in Paris. Last year, the manufacturer won 556 orders. Michot said airlines worldwide need 600-700 new aircraft of more than 100 seats per year. In 1997 and 1998, Boeing and Airbus registered a total of 2,200 orders. "There will be a market correction which will start in 1999," Michot said.
American, Delta and US Airways took another round of shots yesterday at each other's proposals for seven weekly U.S.-Italy frequencies being made available for award on the way to open skies. US Airways urged award of the rights in line with DOT's international aviation policies (DAILY, Dec. 17, 1998). "The U.S.
Passenger load factor for the U.S. airline industry in 1998 is expected to set another post-deregulation record, slightly above the 70.4% in 1997, when all the data are in.The rate will not come close to the industry's 1945 load factor: 86.6%, according to Merrill Lynch. But back in 1945, U.S. domestic system capacity was smaller than American Eagle's today.
Private Greek carrier Aegean Aviation is developing while loss-making state-owned airline Olympic Airways is entangled in labor unrest. Aegean Aviation will increase its capital by 7 billion drachmas (US$24.8 million) to finance the purchase of three new Avro RJ100 regional jet aircraft, the carrier said yesterday in Athens. The first two will be delivered in April and May and will be operated on domestic routes. Aegean Aviation in 1992 became the first private airline to obtain an air transport operator's certificate in Greece.
Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. has been selected as a supplier of passenger and crew doors for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.'s S-76 helicopter. The five-year contract, signed last month in Taichung, is believed to be worth more than $10 million.
Luxair will launch a 767-300 service to Newark Airport March 30, to be operated four times weekly via a wet-lease contract by Belgian low-cost carrier CityBird. Luxair, which is 50% state-owned, is launching this new route following Icelandair's decision to halt its Luxembourg-Reykjavik-New York service.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has withdrawn its bid for a stake in China Airlines (CAL), citing loss of interest. SIA had sought a minimum 20-25% stake in the state-owned Taiwanese carrier when negotiations started six months ago but was offered a maximum 10%. SIA also was refused positions in the CAL management team. Last month, SIA pulled out from bidding for a stake in cash-strapped Philippine Airlines.
Spirit Airlines will introduce daily nonstop New York LaGuardia and Islip-Fort Lauderdale service on Feb. 5, offering an introductory one-way fare of $69 for all tickets purchased by Jan. 31.
BAA plc, the U.K. airport company, said yesterday that its seven airports handled a 7.7% increase in traffic in December 1998 over December 1997 - 7.9 million passengers, bringing the full-year total up 7% to a record 110.6 million. North Atlantic traffic grew by 7.5% and other long-haul routes gained 10.5%, helped by a 4.8% increase in traffic on Far East services. European scheduled traffic went up 8.8% largely because of continued substantial gains at Stansted, the fastest-growing airport in the BAA group.
British Midland has asked the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority for rights to serve four U.S. destinations - New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington - from Manchester. Last February, the carrier applied for route licenses to serve up to 10 U.S. points from London Heathrow. The airline has reserved options on two 767-300s and two A330-200s with the transatlantic market in mind. Services from Manchester are allowed under the current bilateral, but approval of the Heathrow routes will have to wait for the renegotiation of the Bermuda II agreement.
US Airways set a load factor record for 1998 even though the airline shrank overall during the year. Traffic for December fell 1.1% on 4.5% more capacity, lowering the load factor 3.7 percentage points to 65%. Domestic traffic was down 3.5% on 1.4% more capacity, while international traffic grew 24.7% on 37.1% more capacity. For 1998, traffic fell 0.9% on 2.8% less capacity, putting more passengers in fewer seats for a record 72.7% load factor, up 1.4 points.
Delta's $1 surcharge per domestic segment booked through methods other than the airline's web site amounts to "blaming and punishing the traveling public for purchasing their tickets through channels they clearly prefer," The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) said. Delta said Monday it would add the surcharge for each segment of a domestic ticket booked through travel agents and Delta's reservations, field ticket and city ticket offices (DAILY, Jan.
Kansas City, Mo.-based Vanguard saw a 4% decline in traffic on 11% less capacity for December 1998 over the same month in 1997, boosting the load factor 4.9 percentage points to 65.6%, the highest December load factor in its history. Vanguard flew 58 million revenue passenger miles and 88.3 million available seat miles. Passengers flown increased 12% to 124,270. Year-to-date RPMs dropped 9% and ASMs 20% over 1997, pushing the load factor up 8.2 points to 59.2%, also a record. Passengers flown grew 15%.
Alaska and Horizon, which recently announced a marketing agreement with American, are forming a similar accord with American partner Canadian Airlines. The pact, effective April 1, will involve reciprocal code sharing and frequent flyer participation.
U.S. Airports Sources of Non-Operating Revenue Large Hub Airports* Fiscal Year 1997 (Dollar Amounts in Thousands) Passenger PFC Facility Per Bond Grant Charges Passenger** Proceeds Payments Atlanta 44,536 1.36 -- 16,507
Europe's high-speed "Chunnel" rail link under the English Channel will get a fresh shot of financial aid from Britain, following a recent decision by European Union competition authorities. The railway, which has drawn away an estimated 12-15% of passenger traffic from Europe's airlines in the business-class market, is one of the EU's 14 high-priority network projects.
National Business Aircraft Association on Monday sent FAA an 18-page document comprising Safety Guidelines&Responsibilities for Fractional Aircraft Owners and Fractional Aircraft Program Managers. The document was developed on a consensus basis with the National Air Transportation Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
President Clinton and Argentine President Carlos Menem have asked for a timetable under which U.S-Argentina open-skies "negotiations [are] to be concluded by March," James Dobbins, National Security Council senior director for inter-American affairs, said in a press briefing on Menem's visit this week to the U.S. DOT confirmed that further talks are planned for March in Buenos Aires.
American is offering a $98 companion ticket with the purchase of a qualifying fare for customers traveling from San Francisco to Vail/Eagle County. The companion ticket is available with a $198 roundtrip ticket, bought 14 days in advance, and on other fares on the route. Travel must occur before Feb. 14. The travel period for the 14-day advance purchase fare is good through March 28.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines posted an 8.6% jump in traffic on 8.4% more capacity in December, compared with the like month a year ago, pushing the load factor up 0.1 percentage points to 51.3%. ASA flew 85.4 million revenue passenger miles and 166.6 million available seat miles. Passengers flown increased 5.7% to 326,465. Year-to-date RPMs climbed 12.6% and ASMs 2.9%, causing a 4.8-point rise in the load factor. Passenger boardings gained 6.7%.
