Lufthansa is starting the first of three Internet auctions June 5 for nonstop roundtrip tickets from Germany to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. It is the first time Lufthansa has offered a ticket auction on line. The exact destinations will be disclosed shortly and the flight details announced June 1. Bids will start at a minimum of 10 Deutschmarks ($5.80). The Internet auctioning of tickets "is a further milestone" in the development of Lufthansa's InfoFlyway online service, said Stefan Pichler, executive VP-sales.
Orally approved an exemption for Polar Air Cargo to conduct cargo service between Anchorage and Oslo, and to integrate the authority with its existing certificate, through May 1, 1999...Approved a separate Polar exemption to carry cargo between Miami and Caracas and beyond to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo through May 2, 1999, integrating the authority...Approved an exemption for Iberia to carry general cargo on a 747 on a Madrid-Orlando-Miami routing May 9 through May 16...Received notification of an Air Foyle Ltd./Antonov Design Bureau charter flight, subject to FAA approv
Amerijet asked DOT for a 90-day extension of dormancy provisions for its planned scheduled all-cargo service from Los Angeles to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Merida. DOT granted authority for the routes, but "unforeseen circumstances" in the carrier's aircraft maintenance and conversion program prevented it from starting service by May 8, the original deadline. The carrier said preparations continue, and it already has established facilities at Los Angeles and the three points in Mexico.
Canadian government officials in Washington asked the U.S. Friday to postpone for at least 90 days a plan to impose overflight fees for aircraft transiting U.S. airspace. Canada is suggesting the U.S. may be violating the bilateral agreement by failing to meet "just and reasonable" standards and implementing the fees without advance consultation. According to an outline of talking points obtained by The DAILY, Canadian officials told their U.S.
Aviation Week&Space Technology magazine promoted John Morrocco to European bureau chief in London, Pierre Sparaco to senior European editor in Paris and Ed Phillips to Southwest bureau chief in Fort Worth, and named Michael Taverna European editor in Paris and Metehan Demir contributing editor in Turkey.
OnFlight Media has secured contracts to sell advertising on the exterior of airplanes operated by Hainan Airlines of China, Orient Thai Airlines in Thailand, U-Land Airlines in Taiwan and Pacific Airlines in Vietnam. It said it expects to announce additional agreements with airlines in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. OnFlight is responsible for advertiser negotiations, logo design and painting. Its founders came from Western Pacific Airlines, which pioneered the concept.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said it is preparing to take legal action if FAA implements air traffic control user fees for general aviation aircraft overflying the U.S. The fees are slated to take effect May 19, although Canadian pilots will be exempted from the charges until October. "These overflight fees are a threat to safety and an accounting boondoggle," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "Congress never intended for FAA to charge private aircraft. AOPA also is acting on behalf of Canadian and other international pilots.
PATS Inc., Columbia, Md., has been chosen by Boeing Co. to provide several systems for the 757 aircraft slated for operation by the U.S. Air Force's Special Air Mission Wing. PATS President Jack Frost said the company will build auxiliary fuel tank systems, retracting passenger AirStairs, retracting crew ladders and high-capacity potable water systems for VIP transports. Frost said the systems will be delivered to Boeing's Wichita, Kan., plant as complete kits.
DOT finally set a procedural schedule for the proposed American-TACA code share, now that the applicants have provided additional information as requested by the department. The May 8 order gave American-TACA three business days to file remaining documents that were undergoing confidentiality review, and then interested parties will have 21 days to file. Another seven business days are allotted for replies. There is no deadline requiring DOT to make its decision, however. The schedule is somewhat more compressed than Delta's suggested 45-day period.
Redmond, Wash.-based PRIMEX Aerospace Co. has been chosen by American, Delta and United to install its EmPower system in aircraft, to enable passengers to plug in their laptop computers. The contracts are worth more than $15 million, the company said. All three airlines are installing the power systems this summer (DAILY, May 7). The work will be performed at the company's Redmond facilities. PRIMEX develops and manufactures rocket engines, gas generators, aircraft fire suppression systems and airborne electronic products for military and commercial customers.
U.S. and Korean officials will discuss open skies during bilateral talks in Seoul May 20-21.U.S. officials hope Korea will join Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia in a growing open skies zone in Asia. The senior State Department official will be Dan Fantozzi, director of the office of aviation negotiations; the senior DOT representative will be Ed Oppler, assistant director of the office of international aviation.
Frontier Airlines' April traffic jumped 29.4% to 76.5 million revenue passenger miles from the 59 million reported last April. Capacity grew at a slower rate, 21.2%, to 121.4 million available seat miles from 100.2 million, pushing the load factor up four percentage points to 63%. For the first four months, traffic grew 28.5% to 311.6 million RPMs while capacity rose at the same rate to 510.1 million ASMs. The load factor gained 0.2 points to 61.1%. The number of passengers carried rose 23.5% in April and the first four months, to 105,407, and 434,778, respectively.
Condor German Airlines has expanded service between Germany and Tampa and beyond to Mexico. The new schedule calls for five weekly flights to the Florida city from Cologne/Bonn, Frankfurt and Mexico. Condor will fly from Tampa to Puerta Vallarta on Thursdays and to Acapulco on Sundays.
Western Pacific Airlines will serve its newest planned destination, Denver, with 45 average daily flights, and affiliate Mountain Air Express (MAX) will operate 24 average daily flights beginning June 29. The Colorado Springs carrier and MAX will have 23 daily departures from Colorado Springs, including 12 that transit Denver. Examples of fares are Denver- Portland for $218 roundtrip, and $278 for Denver-Newark.
- In Federal Register dated May 2...Adopted an airworthiness directive on certain Aerospatiale ATR 42 and ATR 72 series airplanes requiring modification of the handle of the passenger/crew door to change the "down- to-open" configuration to "up-to-open"...Adopted an AD on certain Jetstream BAe ATP series airplanes requiring modification of parts in the elevator flight control system and the propeller switch warning system...Adopted an AD on Raytheon DH 125-1A, -3A, and -400A series airplanes requiring a one- time inspection to detect scoring of the upper fuselage skin arou
Reno Air's traffic increased 3.2% in April to 252 million revenue passenger miles on 0.5% less capacity. The load factor advanced 2.4 percentage points to 66.9% as the carrier transported 442,189 passengers. President and Chief Executive Robert Reding said the traffic growth "was achieved in conjunction with generally higher fare levels prevalent on the West Coast this year." For the first four months, traffic was up 9.6% to 974.7 million RPMs, available seat miles rose 12.6% to 1.493 billion and the load factor dipped 1.8 points to 65.3%.
Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing to accelerate by about three months its development of a 102,000-pounds-thrust version of the Trent 800 engine for Boeing's 777-200X/300X derivatives. The Trent 8102 now is scheduled for certification in April 2000 and availability to enter service in January 2001.
CCAIR posted net income of $126,145, or two cents per share, compared with $69,555, or one cent per share, in the three months ended March 31, 1996. The Charlotte, N.C., US Airways Express affiliate increased operating revenues 4.4%, to $16.5 million from $5.8 million, while operating costs rose 4.1% to $16.1 million from $15.5 million. Yield per revenue passenger mile jumped more than two cents, from 47 cents to 49.7 cents. Cost per available seat mile was up 1.4 cents to 22.8 cents from 21.4 cents.
Three of the six Central American nations that signed open-skies agreements last week do not meet Category 1 safety standards. FAA rates Guatemala as Category 2, preventing expansion of service to the U.S. Honduras and Nicaragua are Category 3, barring service by flag carriers until safety and technical practices improve.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries February 1997 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator Air Philippines 1 737-200 JT8D-7B Interlease Aircraft AAR 1 737-200 JT8D-9A US Airways Aerocancun 1 A310-300 PW4152 ILFC Aeromexico 1 MD-82 JT8D-217 Aero Lloyd Air Comet 1 A310-300 PW4152 UT Capital Airborne Express 1 DC-8-63(F) JT3D-7 ATI Inc.
China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 crash-landed May 8 during a thunderstorm in the southern city of Shenzen, killing at least 30 people, wire services reported. The accident is the first major crash in China in three years, but the second for China Southern in five, after a 737 killed 141 in November 1992.
