Aeroports de Montreal, operator of Dorval and Mirabel airports, said Tuesday it will close Mirabel to scheduled passenger traffic and use the facility only for cargo and charter flights. Canadian Airlines International, Alitalia, Sabena and Lufthansa already have left Mirabel for Dorval, and remaining carriers - Air Canada, British Airways, Air France, KLM and Swissair - presumably will switch soon. Mirabel opened in 1975 with a design capacity of 10 million passengers, but traffic never approached that level - there were 2.5 million passengers in 1994.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Chairman Richard Branson confirmed this week that he has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire an 80% stake in EuroBelgian Airlines. Branson plans to operate the airline as Virgin European Airways, a low-cost entity that will be separate from privately held, long-haul carrier Virgin Atlantic. Last year, Branson explored the feasibility of starting a low-cost, no-frills operation in Europe.
Continental has applied for authority to operate code-share service with the TACA Group - TACA International Airlines, Aviateca, Copa, Lacsa and Nica Airlines. If approved by the U.S. and Honduran governments, Continental plans to begin June 1 displaying the designator codes of its partners on its service in the Dallas/Fort Worth-Houston, Newark-Miami, Panama City-Guayaquil, Panama City-Houston/Los Angeles, and Houston-San Pedro Sula markets.
Delta's Air Line Pilots Association canceled a systemwide teleconference, scheduled at 7 p.m. tonight, on the status of negotiations with the company. ALPA said yesterday negotiations under the auspices of the National Mediation Board have not ended, and because of a strict media blackout, the teleconference will not take place.
With a two-year financial recovery under way, Aer Lingus has launched a $14.2 million makeover of its operations. The carrier recently unveiled a new livery - the first redesign in 20 years - that includes a variation of its trademark shamrock and new lettering. The carrier launched the new design in Europe and will expand it piecemeal across its system. The upgrade also includes new leather seat covers in business class and a new look in coach. The changes will be unveiled in the U.S. on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.
Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) has proposed that the government set up an aircraft leasing company as part of a concerted plan to develop the island's aerospace industry. The proposal has been forwarded to the Council for Economic Planning and Development, Taiwan's highest economic planning agency, for approval.
United will inaugurate daily nonstop service between Chicago and Dusseldorf June 6 under its code-share arrangement with Lufthansa, using 206-seat 767- 300 aircraft. Saying Germany is one of United's "key transatlantic markets," Chris Bowers noted that "Dusseldorf lies at the center of Germany's industrial heartland, and this new service will meet the needs of the business community, as well as leisure travelers and cargo shippers."
SH&E says it is better positioned this year to provide high-quality consulting and research services to the aviation industry with the recent purchase of the company by its management from Reed Elsevier. In 1995, Robin Wilson, former vice chairman of TWA; Bob Gould, former chief executive of MGM Grand Airways, and Ken Wayne, former senior VP-operations of Pan Am, joined the buyout group.
American International Airways, Ypsilanti, Mich., has elected its first outside directors to the board - Phil Sauder and George Kelsey. Sauder is a limited partner in Carlisle Enterprises, a California mergers and acquisitions firm, and the former executive VP and general manager of Abex Inc.'s Aerospace Division. Kelsey is a principal owner of the law firm Kelsey McAlpine, P.C. Other board members are Conrad Kalitta, chairman; Don Schilling, president of Kalitta Flying Service, and Douglas Kalitta, AIA VP-Central and South American sales and operations.
Continental will boost flights at its three domestic hubs - Houston, Newark and Cleveland - to an all-time high this summer with increased transcontinental operations and service to four new domestic destinations. It also will beef up some international service. The carrier will add capacity at the hubs by terminating unprofitable service, and by picking up five aircraft - two 757s and three 737s - previously scheduled for delivery this year.
Delta is offering companion fares for travel from 23 cities in the Southeast to Atlanta for the Olympic Games. The fares allow a seven-day maximum stay and range from $168 to $198 roundtrip.
Boeing awarded Whittaker Controls a contract to develop a flow control valve for the 777 widebody twin that allows airlines to carry livestock, perishable goods and other temperature-sensitive cargo in the forward cargo hold. Parent Whittaker Corp. has had multiple valves and controls on Boeing aircraft stretching back to 1942, but this is the company's first work on the 777. "Getting our products on this airplane was a major goal for the company," said Whittaker Controls President Bruce Bannon.
British Midland and American want to code share on British Midland flights from London Heathrow to Dublin and applied for the authority at DOT last Friday - three days after British Midland and United made a similar request. British Midland would connect at London with American's flights from New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles. Both proposals require extra-bilateral authority from the Irish, but American and United are assuming the Irish government is more willing to grant it now that Delta and Aer Lingus have a pending code-sharing application.
China Airlines will lease six new 737-600s from Boeing, according to Taipei newspaper reports. The 160-seat aircraft, scheduled for delivery at the end of this year, will replace five older airplanes in service on regional routes. In a move aimed at strengthening its cargo service to the U.S., CAL also will lease an all-cargo 747-200.
Air Canada will begin offering two daily nonstop flights from Toronto Pearson to Nashville April 15. It will offer special introductory roundtrip fares of $136, on sale until April 15 for travel April 15 through July 10. It also is offering triple bonus miles under its Aeroplan program until June 15. Air Canada will operate the 50-seat Canadair CL-65 in the market.
Southwest will celebrate 25 years of service in June. Based at Dallas Love Field, it will use a new slogan throughout the year - Southwest Airlines, 25 years of LUV. Southwest's stock exchange symbol is LUV.
AAR said its AAR Landing Gear Center will inspect the main landing gear of Gulf Air's nine Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, modifying or repairing them as needed, to comply with FAA's recent airworthiness directive citing the landing gear's susceptibility to corrosion and cracking. The overhaul and repair company said it will carry out the work in Abu Dhabi by March 20. It said it is the only company certified by FAA to carry out such repairs offsite.
Northwest will expand service from the U.S. to the new Kansai Airport, Osaka, Japan, to 42 flights per week, up from 35 last summer, by adding frequencies from Seattle and Honolulu. Between June 29 and Sept. 30, the airline will increase its four weekly flights in each market to daily service.
Air China is slated to take delivery of three A340-300 aircraft in the second half of 1997. Signing the contract Feb. 17 to acquire the aircraft from China Aviation Supplies Corp. (CASC), which ordered six A340s from Airbus in 1994, Air China became the second Chinese carrier to order the aircraft. China Eastern is scheduled to take delivery of the first of five A340s it ordered in the second quarter this year. To be powered by CFM International CFM56-5C engines, Air China's A340s will seat 282 passengers in a three-passenger-across configuration.
Worldspan has added two capabilities to its Power Pricing product. Subscribers can now rebook a preferred alternative itinerary via Direct Access. The new feature, designed for corporate and leisure travel planning, also allows agents to verify last-seat availability through Direct Access.
British Airways' rollout late last year of a new first-class product is leading other carriers to rethink their plans and could force Cathay Pacific to upgrade its first class as early as next year. "They [BA] are coming out and raising the bar and asking who is going to match it," Simon Heale, Cathay Pacific's deputy managing director-commercial, told The DAILY yesterday in New York. Like other carriers, Cathay has looked at putting beds in the hold of some of its aircraft, Heale said, although customer feedback on the idea has been negative.
DOT has issued a show cause order tentatively granting USAir authority to operate scheduled service between Philadelphia and Munich. Pending final approval, the carrier plans to fly daily Boeing 767-200ER service on the route, beginning May 23.
EVA Airways reported a net operating profit of US$7.23 million in 1995, the company's first profitable year since beginning operations five years ago. Sales grew to US$1.05 billion. For 1996, the company is targeting sales of US$1.28 billion and a net profit of US$21.9 million. Also planned is an increase in capitalization to US$657 million from US$547 million.
