DOT made final its show cause order awarding an operating certificate to Sunworld Airlines. The carrier expected to receive its FAA certificate this week, clearing it to start operations Sunday. Sunworld plans to operate between U.S. points and Grand Cayman Island, West Indies, using a leased Boeing 727-200 aircraft (DAILY, March 7). (Dockets OST-95-666&OST-95-667)
United Express affiliate Great Lakes Aviation last month flew 21.2 million revenue passenger miles, a 37% increase from the same month in 1995. Capacity rose 22.9% to 47.9 million available seat miles from nearly 39 million, allowing the load factor to rise 4.5 percentage points to 44.2% from 39.7%. Passenger boardings rose 45.8% to 71,517. Great Lakes operates 38 Beech 1900s and 12 Embraer Brasilias. Feb. 1996 Feb. 1995 2 Months 1996 2 Months 1995
In testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee aviation subcommittee yesterday, DOT Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Charles Hunnicutt said he has held an informal discussion with his U.K. counterpart in London. "Although I cannot announce that there is now a basis for resuming talks, the meeting was useful," he said. "I had a chance to explore possible ways of moving the process forward, and we will be evaluating what we learned," he added.
Canadian Airlines International boosted its traffic 14.7% last month on 10.5% more capacity. The carrier flew 1.13 million revenue passenger miles on 1.78 million available seat miles, producing a load factor of 63.6%, up 2.3 percentage points. For the first two months of the year, Canadian flew 2.31 million RPMs, up 9.8%, and 3.64 million ASMs, up 6.8%. The load factor rose 1.7 points to 63.4%.
Aeropuertos Espaoles y Navegacion Aerea (AENA), Spain's airport authority, issued a tender to select a second operator of ground-handling services at Barcelona, Madrid/Barajas and Malaga airports. The tender is part of AENA's continuing liberalisation of ground-handling at its airports, where Iberia held a monopoly until 1994. AENA recently gave the Spanish engineering group Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas and the airline Air Europa the right to offer ground-handling at Seville, Bilbao, Valencia and Santiago de Compostella.
The White House yesterday announced the appointment of Kenneth Brody and Clyde Prestowitz as chair and vice chair of the Commission on U.S.-Pacific Trade and Investment Policy. The commission will review "both the opportunities and the obstacles in U.S. trade policy with Japan, China and the Asia-Pacific region, and to recommend strategies for significant further market openings for U.S. competitive products, services and investment in the region," according to a statement issued by the U.S. Trade Representative.
Hawaiian Airlines February traffic rose 29.2% to 303.1 million revenue passenger miles from 234.6 million RPMs in February 1995. Available seat miles increased 26.7% to 310.1 million for a load factor of 77.2%, up 1.5 points. Hawaiian carried 434,454 passengers in February, an increase of 18.6%.
Continental inaugurated nonstop 757 service to Lima, Peru, from Newark yesterday. The carrier intends to add five Latin American destinations this summerto its current 11. "The addition of nonstop service to Lima, coupled with our upcoming service to Bogota and Quito, fortifies Continental's position as the New York metropolitan area's largest carrier and Newark's role as a true international gateway," it said.
DOT has revoked the operating certificates of Worldwide Airline Services, which did business as Leisure Air. The former carrier filed for protection from creditors on Jan. 19, 1995, and subsequently ceased operations, converting its Chapter 11 bankruptcy to Chapter 7 liquidation. (Dockets 47931&48803)
February 16, three days before the Lunar New Year, was a record-setting day for Cathay Pacific. The carrier processed 19,082 passengers at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport that day, and its catering arm produced 55,795 meals. Previous records in both categories were set in January 1995.
Summary of U.S Major Carriers Domestic Traffic August 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) America West 1,562 8.99 804 1,256,328 American 5,846 (6.13) 1,130 6,606,842
Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) last week introduced legislation (H.R.3037) that would fund the essential air service program from the receipts of a proposed overflight fee on non-U.S. airlines. The measure is similar to language adopted by the Senate Commerce Committee during its consideration last year of the FAA reform bill (S.1239). Pomeroy's bill would make EAS a mandatory spending program within FAA, thus removing the program from the annual appropriations process.
FedEx, citing "unprecedented winter storms and weaker-than-expected international airfreight revenues," yesterday reported net income of $27.2 million for the quarter ended in February, compared with $63.1 million during the same period a year earlier. Revenues increased 9% to $2.5 billion. Operating income fell to $78 million from $97.7 million and pretax income dropped to $52.7 million from $110.7 million. Terming the results "well below our plans," Chairman Frederick Smith said major snowstorms in January closed many airports and business throughout the Northeast.
Vanguard Airlines will open a telephone sales center in Lawrence, Kan., in April to supplement the existing center in Mission, Kan. President Bob McAdoo said the new center will be conveniently located near Kansas University and could create more than 300 part-time jobs that will be an alternative to employment in the fast food industry. "We will make it rewarding for students to work with us by providing flight benefits for themselves and their families." The center also will house a city ticket office.
Miami-based Gulfstream International Airlines continued to post substantial traffic and capacity increases last month, as revenue passenger miles increased 88.6% to nearly 8 million; available seat miles rose 92.1% to more than 15 million, and passenger boardings jumped 72.4% to 41.1 million. The load factor was off one percentage point to 53%.
Air Transport Association reported that revenue passenger miles flown by its 14 member carriers increased 10.2% in February, to 38.9 billion, in the highest month-over-month increase since July 1992. ATA President Carol Hallett said three factors contributed to the healthy traffic gain. "First, the extra day from leap year provided for an additional travel day. In addition, there was probably some spillover traffic from passengers who postponed trips during the brutal weather in January.
TACA CEO Federico Bloch predicts a financial and operational consolidation of South and Central American airlines because of a growing need to strengthen the balance sheet. One result, he says, will be more airline ownership of aircraft and less leasing. Currently, 75% of passenger jets operating in the region are under lease, he says.
Business Express is for sale, either in part or in whole, Saab Aircraft President Henrik Schruder said Thursday, countering statements by BizEx management and its adviser SH&E to the contrary (DAILY, March 8). Saab is the carrier's largest creditor at $24 million. Schruder said creditors will not give the airline away, however, and Saab has floated a $4 million line of credit and offered financial incentives to management to keep the airline operational and maximize its value to current and future stockholders.
Tom Moore was appointed VP-general manager of airline financing for Douglas Aircraft in addition to his duties as VP-contracts, said Don Black, senior VP-marketing and airline financing. Moore was VP-deputy general manager of airline financing. Catherine Heide and Jordan Weltman will continue to manage the airline financing group as VPs reporting to Moore.
Germany's largest tour operator, Touristik Union International (TUI), will expand its presence in Belgium's leisure travel market in May when it acquires an equity stake in Belgian tour group JetAir. The two companies agreed last May that TUI would take a 35% stake in JetAir, based in the coastal town of Ostend. The value of the transaction was not disclosed, but TUI's investment is speculated to be as high as 800 million Belgian francs. Under the terms of the agreement, TUI can raise its stake to 50% or more in a few years.
Travel and Tourism Research Association will hold its 27th annual conference at Bally's Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas June 16-19. Cost is $350 for members and $525 for non-members if payment is received by May 5. Sessions will cover measurement of tourism impacts, international tourism research, tourism on the Internet, guide for marketing to travelers with children, new marketing approaches, technological advancements in tourism research and marketing, and eco-tourism. For more information, call 303-940-6557.
U.S. government officials report the Egyptian government has gone a long way toward reducing red tape for tourism investors in time for hotel construction in the Red Sea area planned this year, which is expected to be a record-setting period for travel in Egypt. The government decided tourism investors need apply only to one ministry, the Ministry of Tourism, for permission to import duty-free equipment and materials, cutting delays in obtaining Customs exemptions.
Transat A.T. Inc., a Canadian air transportation and travel services company, has signed an agreement to purchase French tour operator Look Voyages SA in a move it says will double its revenues. Look, the second largest tour operator in France, has annual sales of more than 2 billion French francs (US$550 million) and employs 600 workers. Look created its own air carrier - Societe de Transport Aerien Regional (STAR) - in December under a vertical integration strategy similar to what Transat has done in Canada.
Preferred Holidays, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avis Rent A Car, and SYSOPS, an airline reservations management system software developer, have signed an agreement to provide complete reservations management to airlines. The third-party reservations service is expected to add jobs at Preferred Holidays' Fort Lauderdale center. The aviation operating software offers on-line, real-time management, including reservations, inventory control, yield management, airport check-in, flight-following functions and "800" number and Internet access, all using a ticketless system.
