MCA Inc. and Osaka Universal Promotion Company (OUPC) signed a basic agreement this month to build a Universal Studios theme park in the Konohana area of Osaka by spring 2001. After nearly two years of negotiations, the project will move forward next month with the creation of the entity that will construct and operate the theme park. Starting equity will begin at 4 billion yen (at an exchange of 100 yen to the dollar), increasing to about 40 billion yen by the opening. U.S.
Southwest said it chose EDS to develop a new cargo accounting tracking and tracing system (CATTS). The carrier has 47 cargo facilities, and its cargo business has been "consistently growing more than 20% each year." Southwest said the new system will automate its point-of-sale and accounting processes. EDS will be responsible for the design and development of CATTS, which will use client/server technology.
As the U.S. and Germany negotiated their open skies aviation agreement (see Page 331 of the hard copy of this issue), Delta withdrew its two-year-old complaint against the German government and Frankfurt/Main Airport. Delta filed the complaint Dec. 29, 1993, contending that the government and the airport denied it the right to perform its own ground-handling and imposed unreasonable and burdensome rates and charges in violation of the U.S.-Germany bilateral agreement. (Docket OST-95-683)
DOT is inviting interested U.S. carriers to apply for 3.5 new weekly U.S.-Lima frequencies, including services from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, to become available Nov. 1. (Docket OST-96-1104)
U.S. District judge yesterday gave co-defendants Dade County and American the green light to issue bonds and proceed with plans for the airline's Super A terminal at Miami Airport. Judge Federico Moreno dismissed three counts of a suit filed by five plaintiff airlines that would have stopped the county from entering into the agreement with American, issuing bonds and assessing fees associated with the Super A plan. Moreno denied, however, the co-defendants' motion to dismiss the three remaining counts in the suit.
U.S. is scheduled to resume aviation negotiations with South Africa March 25-27 in Washington. The sticking point in previous rounds has been third- country code sharing, but "there are indications they are willing to cut a deal now," said a DOT official.
Carriers competing with USAir in Florida markets have matched a spring fare sale announced by USAir cutting as much as 40% in about 150 domestic markets. The tariffs, good for travel April 15-June 14, must be purchased by tomorrow and require a 21-day advance purchase and a three-day stay. Delta said it is responding in competitive markets. Continental said it is offering competitive fares with the same restrictions.
Corporate travel decisionmakers and the employees who take the business trips are adapting to flying without tickets and liking it, according to a survey by Air Travel Card. Almost half of the 200 travel managers and other executives polled - up from 23% last year - said company employees are flying regularly on airlines offering electronic ticketing.
U.S. Major Carriers Atlantic Share of Service Third Quarter 1995 Total Revenue Departures American 6,785 Continental 1,359 Delta 8,592 Northwest 1,734 TWA 2,689 United 4,367 USAir 735 Total 26,261 Average Number of
The French tourist office, Maison de la France, is enticing Americans to visit the country with its 1996 promotional campaign - Cities of History and Art. Cultural attractions in France drew more than 140 million visitors in 1995, and the Union of National Museums attracted 15 million, the office said. Paris Fantastique travel programs, coupled with special spring air fares, are available through April 30. More than 100 hotels are offering significant reductions, and city tours are discounted 30%.
FAA said yesterday it will not penalize airlines for failing to reach the 80% minimum-use requirement at slot-controlled airports during the January East Coast blizzard. In bi-monthly use-or-lose reports, operators may designate slots at high-density airports as having been operated between Jan. 7 and Jan. 12.
Citing Russia's refusal to renew its code-share service to Moscow, United urged DOT to reject or limit Transaero's bid for renewal of its U.S.-Russia authority. Transaero applied for continued permission to operate scheduled combination service between points in Russia and Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Orlando and Seattle, via intermediate points (DAILY, Feb. 9). United plans to inaugurate service to Orlando in June and Chicago in November.
Bombardier, thought by many to be the most serious candidate to take over Fokker, has ended its pursuit of the struggling Dutch aircraft manufacturer. Netherlands Economic Affairs Minister Hans Wijers said yesterday that Laurent Beaudoin, Bombardier chairman and chief executive, told him that his company will not make an offer for the assets of Fokker, which has been under court protection from creditors and looking for a takeover since January.
DOT has renewed the authority of Krasnoyarsk Airlines, doing business as KrasAir, to operate combination service between Russia and New York, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco. A former division of Aeroflot, KrasAir is 51% owned by the Russian state and 44% by employees, with the balance held by an investment fund (DAILY, Jan. 16). It operates a fleet of 50 Russian-made aircraft and two DC-10-30s leased from Douglas Aircraft. (Docket OST-95-523)
Delta will begin weekend service between New York LaGuardia Airport and Fort Myers March 2, operating one daily roundtrip flight in the market on Saturdays and Sundays at a one-way fare of $89. The carrier will use one of the 139-seat 727s generally allocated to the Delta Shuttle.
National Transportation Safety Board has begun rudder system tests on a retired, static 737 at Boeing. No airborne tests are planned. The aircraft was donated to the Museum of Flight by USAir. The tests are part of the board's investigation of the crash of a USAir 737 in September 1994 outside Pittsburgh.
GD Express Worldwide, which trades as TNT Express Worldwide, said yesterday it will build a $66.6 million European air hub in Lige, Belgium. The new hub will open in early 1998, said John Fellows, chief executive. "Our business in Europe is growing incredibly quickly.
British Airways said its application for a new World Cargocenter at London Heathrow Airport has been approved by the planning committee of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The building, scheduled to open late in 1998, will double BA's freight, courier and mail capacity to 800,000 metric tons a year. The building will use the latest proven cargo-handling systems for its 38 landside docks and 57 dual-function pallet/container build-and-break stations, BA said.
Finnair's traffic increased 6.7% last month, compared with January 1994, to 839 million revenue passenger kilometers. Revenue ton kilometers rose 7% while cargo and mail increased 1.8%. The load factor for the month was 63.2%, down 1.8 percentage points. For the period April through January, traffic grew 12% over the same period of 1994-95, to 8.87 billion RPKs. Revenue ton kilometers were up 11.3% and cargo and mail up 5.4%. Load factor for the period gained 0.9 points to 68.4%.
Air Aruba is seeking renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Aruba and Tampa and to co-terminalize its Tampa services with flights to Miami and Baltimore. The carrier operates five weekly flights between Aruba and Tampa, two of them on a co-terminal basis with Baltimore. Also, some of the carrier's services between Tampa and Aruba operate beyond Aruba to Bonaire and Curaao, Netherlands Antilles. (Docket OST-95-110)
Oral arguments on a class-action suit filed by controllers fired by the Reagan administration in 1981 are scheduled March 8 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan. The former controllers want the suit to be remanded to U.S. District Court for a full hearing. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Platt ruled in favor of the government's argument to dismiss the case.
Herbert Lanese was named president of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, effective immediately. Lanese, who had been deputy president, succeeds John Capellupo, who will retire at the end of March from MDC's largest operating unit.
Continental is challenging American over unused U.S.-Brazil authority, requesting 14 weekly frequencies to operate scheduled Newark-Sao Paulo and Newark-Rio de Janeiro combination service. It proposes daily DC-10-30 service on both routes, beginning June 6. American applied earlier for seven frequencies to operate daily New York-Rio de Janeiro nonstops with 162-seat 767-200ERs (DAILY, Feb. 12).
Emery Worldwide said yesterday it has begun daily DC-8 direct air freight flights from its Brussels hub to its Dayton sortation center, "providing the only Next-Business-Day delivery service for heavyweight express cargo shipments from Europe to all major markets throughout the U.S." David Beatson, president, said the new service supplements the "substantial heavyweight cargo capacity Emery provides to customers on scheduled airline carriers between North America and Europe. Emery is currently Europe's ninth largest purchaser of scheduled airline capacity."
