Foreign-registered general aviation aircraft should continue to pay Canadian air navigation system costs through a fuel tax, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said in reply to a Nav Canada request for comments. AOPA President Phil Boyer was replying to Phase 2 service charges for air navigation, in which Nav Canada is considering how general aviation will pay for using the air traffic control system, flight service station services and radio navigation aids. Under consideration is a form of fuel tax or an annual fee.
Singapore Airlines and Asiana of Korea have agreed to code share between the two countries beginning April 14. The agreement, subject to government approval, covers service between Seoul and Singapore three times a week. With the agreement, Asiana will pull out of the market and stop serving Singapore altogether. SIA's A340s and A310s operate the service, and Asiana will buy a block of seats on each flight.
Germany will step up its work to preserve duty-free sales within the European Union beyond the scheduled cutoff on June 30, 1999, Hansgeorg Hauser, secretary of state for finance, told the Bundestag. Hauser called on representatives of all parties to join the fight to safeguard the "many thousands" of jobs in Germany that depend on the duty-free sector. The following day, the European Parliament called unanimously on EU authorities to carry out an independent study of the social, economic and regional impact of doing away with duty- and tax-free sales across the EU.
Continental has expanded service on key routes as part of its continuing development of its U.S. hubs and preparation for summer travel. Changes at Houston include new jet service to Merida, Tampico and Veracruz, bringing to 14 the number of cities Continental serves in Mexico; more flights to Detroit, Portland, Ore., and Washington National; and more Continental Express service on five routes.
Exports of commercial transport aircraft last year rose by $7 billion or 54% to $21 billion, according to the Aerospace Industries Association. Parts exports were up $3 billion to $20 billion, with both categories accounting for most of a $10 billion overall gain to $50 billion. Military exports were down $494 million to $10 billion. The industry posted a trade surplus of $32 billion, up $5.6 billion. Imports rose 33% to $18 billion.
Iberia expects substantial improvements in profitability following the purchase of a license for the PROS IV revenue management and decision support system from Houston-based PROS Strategic Solutions. The package includes the PROS IV system for revenue optimization, the PROS Network Analysis Systems, PROS Network Origin-Destination Revenue Management Solutions and a system for passenger management. Iberia affiliates Air Nostrum and AVIACO are included in the agreement.
American, United and US Airways intend to add service to France by next year in the first significant expansion of U.S.-France service in five years. Following Wednesday's liberalized aviation bilateral with the U.S.'s oldest trading partner, U.S. airlines will have the right to add nine daily flights to France through 2002. And all price restrictions between the two nations will disappear in two years, allowing more competition across the Atlantic (DAILY, April 9).
FAA and Pratt&Whitney are investigating whether human error was involved in a cleaning process that resulted in the recall and eventual scrapping of more than 8,000 turbine blades for several kinds of commercial jet transport engines (DAILY, April 8). The company attributed the recall initially to blade damage that could have been caused by what it called an "overly aggressive" new ultrasonic cleaning machine at its Eagle Services subsidiary in New Haven, Conn.
Delta is offering sale fares for Easter starting at $128 roundtrip for travel tomorrow and return on Tuesday or Wednesday. Sample roundtrip fares include $128 Atlanta-Huntsville, $238 Atlanta-Los Angeles, and $245 Salt Lake City-Toronto.
KLM ordered four 737-800s, which will join four aircraft the carrier ordered earlier as part of its plan to expand its European network. The aircraft will seat 150 passengers in two classes, one of them a five- abreast business class. The first of the eight aircraft is to be delivered in February.
British Airways is considering the addition of a second building to accommodate more work under its program, begun last year, to transfer all of its transactions processing to India, according to Nick Hurd, finance change manager. BA has 110 workers at the India site and plans to have 250 by the end of the year.
Tower Air reported a 32.4% increase in traffic and a 38.3% rise in capacity, which pushed the load factor down 3.3 percentage points for March 1998 from the same month last year. Tower flew 241 million revenue passenger miles and 318 available seat miles, with a 75.8% load factor. Total block hours flown increased 23.8% to 4,255. RPMs went up 32.5% and ASMs 23.5% for the first three months of the year compared with last year, which caused the load factor to rise 5.2 points. Total block hours flown increased 30.6% to 10,156.
Barry Valentine, who held several positions at FAA, most recently acting administrator, is joining Zuckert, Scoutt&Rasenberger's consulting affiliate, Farragut International, where he will be director of aviation technical services.
Sri Lanka placed a $150 million order with Rolls-Royce for Trent 700 engines to power six Airbus A330-200s scheduled for delivery beginning in October 1999. Air Lanka's new business partner, Emirates, also has ordered the engines for 16 of the aircraft, also due for delivery beginning in 1999, Rolls said.
Pan Am, still operating charters in bankruptcy, is attempting to sell and lease back its last three aircraft in an effort to satisfy creditors. The airline met Wednesday with its Miami bankruptcy court judge, but substantive matters, including the use of cash and collateral, were deferred until the next hearing, scheduled April 15. That meeting will be "more important," a Pan Am spokesman said, because the airline's ability to fund an ongoing operation will be scrutinized.
Saab, shifting away from manufacturing aircraft, is reorganizing its marketing and customer support functions and has made a series of key appointments effective April 1. The company will cease manufacturing Saab 340 and Saab 2000 turboprop airliners in 1999. Saab will strengthen its global customer support organization and incorporate used aircraft sales and marketing into the Saab Aircraft Finance Group.
GE Engine Services-Dallas Inc., an affiliate of GE Engine Services, said it received a contract from America West to maintain CFM56, V2500 and JT8D aircraft engines.
FAA has certified InVision Technologies' newest and fastest automated explosives detection system, the CTX 5500 DS, the company said this week. InVision said the system is the first "intelligent" EDS, continuously monitoring bag flow through an airport conveyor system and the security status of each piece of baggage. It has a faster computer system, enhanced software and improved operator interface, enabling it to process baggage 30% faster than the CTX 5000 at a comparable cost, InVision said.
Millon Air's hopes to restart service following its October 1996 crash in Ecuador have been dashed by DOT, which yesterday issued an order dismissing the carrier's application to restart service and revoking its interstate and foreign scheduled and charter service certificates for reason of dormancy. DOT said it "has no reason to believe" that Millon "will be in a position to resume operations any time soon." Millon grounded its fleet voluntarily on Oct.
Delta inaugurated daily nonstop service Monday from Atlanta to Guatemala City, Panama City, San Jose and San Salvador. The carrier launched Atlanta-Caracas service April 1 and already provides daily flights from Atlanta to Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro. Delta's new flights will connect Latin America to 120 worldwide destinations with 620 daily departures from Atlanta.
Raleigh-Durham, N.C.-based Midway Airlines has exercised an option to acquire three more Canadair Regional Jets. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in the first half of next year. The three aircraft are in addition to the original ten ordered from Bombardier last September, four of which have been delivered in the past four months and six others of which are scheduled for delivery by yearend. Midway holds unexercised options on 17 more CRJs.
