Traffic for the Lufthansa group grew 9.1% last year on 9.7% more capacity than in 1994. The group, which includes Lufthansa, Condor and CityLine, flew 12.9 million revenue ton-kilometers (RTKs) on capacity of 18.2 million available ton-kilometers. Lufthansa carried a record 40.7 million passengers during the period, up 8.2%. The combined load factor slipped 0.4 percentage points to 70.4%, while the passenger load factor gained 0.5 points to 70.5%, a record for the company. The number of flights operated by Lufthansa during the year grew 7.7% to 580,100.
Traveling Software has made available LapLink for Windows 95, which offers Universal Mobile Access aiding business travelers away from home. Users can connect from wherever they are without having to reconfigure LapLink, and use e-mail, run applications, access files and transfer information in one session without having to redial. The estimated price for LapLink is $149.
FAA and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau have agreed to work together to introduce the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) concept to the North Pacific and explore the possibility of establishing additional air navigation routes and opening Japanese airports to more flights by business aircraft, Barry Valentine, FAA assistant administrator for policy, planning and international aviation, said yesterday. The agreement was reached in meetings in Washington Jan. 8-9, during what Valentine said was the first time a director of the Japanese bureau visited the U.S.
Employee-owned United parent UAL Corp. has paid down $2.6 billion in debt in the past 18 months, the company said yesterday. UAL released the statement after being disappointed with the reception generated by its fourth quarter and yearend results last week. The airline cut costs in the fourth quarter by completing a plan to retire all outstanding Japanese yen-denominated purchase certificates, United said.
A $10.5 million fourth quarter restructuring charge reduced America West's fourth quarter net profit to $5.98 million, 9.7% less than its net in the fourth quarter of 1994. The charge, tied to America West's plan to outsource heavy maintenance, held operating income to $22.7 million, down 25.6%. The carrier estimated that turning its maintenance over to an outside organization will save it $35 million over the next five years. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 1995, grew 15.7% to $396.3 million.
Northwest is pressing DOT to disregard United's opposition and grant Japan Airlines' application to serve Kona and Honolulu, Hawaii. JAL has applied to switch its 1989 Memorandum of Understanding service from Washington Dulles and Boston to Kona and Honolulu. "There is no question that JAL and Japan are entitled under the 1989 MOU to operate between Tokyo and Washington (Dulles), which JAL has operated, nor is there any question that JAL and Japan are entitled to switch the service to Kona, upon six months' notice," said Northwest.
The first Distinguished WorldTraveler award was presented by the Hospitality, Sales and Marketing Association International and Northwest Airlines to Richard Friese, publisher of Travel Agent magazine. Northwest donated $5,000 to the HSMAI scholarship fund in honor of the recipient. The award recognizes the effort of individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to the advancement of the travel industry.
Worldspan Travel Information Services and CompuServe's Network Services Division have signed a $15 million, five-year contract renewing their network services provider agreement.
U.S. Major Carriers Advertising Expenses Third Quarter 1995 % Of Total Passenger Systemwide Revenues America West $ 7,163,475 1.88 Domestic 7,156,463 1.90 Latin 7,012 0.16 American 50,057,000 1.43 Domestic 34,937,000 1.49
Arrow Air has accepted delivery of a Lockheed L-1011-200 freighter, one of five in existence, according to Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge, England, which converted the aircraft. The airplane can accommodate 23 88-inch by 125-inch pallets on the main deck and has a total payload of 127,000 pounds with a nonstop, fully loaded range of up to 3,000 miles. There is a small cabin behind the cockpit for couriers.
Virgin Atlantic Airways will launch a new radio and billboard advertising campaign in the U.S. Feb. 5. The campaign, which includes 11 radio ads, will focus on Boston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York and San Francisco. The ad group, titled "You Really Do Deserve It," uses comedian Richard Lewis and actor Roger Reese to tout the airline's virtues. Virgin said it needs the campaign to introduce its high level of service to people who are unfamiliar with it, said David Tate, executive VP. New York-based CMG Communications LLC developed the campaign.
Delta boarded more than 5.4 million passengers at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport in 1995, a record. The carrier now operates 216 daily flights there, compared with 170 in 1994, when it boarded 4.9 million passengers. It handled 78 million pounds of cargo in 1995 at Cincinnati.
The city of Philadelphia is urging DOT to select USAir for new U.S.-Italy service, saying the award would help reduce the increasingly large market share of USAir's code-share partner British Airways. USAir, Northwest and Delta are competing for six weekly frequencies in the market that will become available in April. USAir has proposed Boeing 767-200 service between Philadelphia and Rome, Northwest DC-10 service between Detroit and Rome, and Delta MD-11 or 767-300 service between Atlanta and Rome/Milan.
Greenwich Air Services reported that sales for the first quarter, ended Dec. 31, increased 50% to $58.6 million. Operating income rose 56% to $5.5 million. Net income jumped 101% to $2.1 million. Greenwich overhauls civil and military aircraft engines and gas turbines used in industrial and marine applications.
Tower Air has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between New York, on the one hand, and Amsterdam and New Delhi and Bombay, India, on the other. The carrier earlier announced plans to resume scheduled flights to New Delhi April 4, 1996, as part of its twice-weekly New York-Bombay service, via Amsterdam (DAILY, Jan. 24). After inaugurating service to New Delhi in 1994, the carrier suspended flights to the city in August 1995, saying the route had become uneconomical due to U.S.
South Korea's Samsung Aerospace Industries is "among the firms which have shown an interest in Fokker," a Fokker spokesman said yesterday. The company is looking for a buyer after Daimler-Benz said last week it is cutting off financial aid to Fokker, in which it has a 51% interest. The Fokker spokesman said the manufacturer received a facsimile last weekend in which Samsung expressed its interest. It is very likely that Fokker and Samsung, which is a large company with an aerospace division, will have exploratory talks, the spokesman said.
The U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA), teetering on the brink of extinction, is drafting a plan to begin a 120-day closing process in the absence of funding. The agency hopes to use to shift a skeleton staff of research and policy workers to other offices in the Commerce Department. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown will appear before Congress this week to seek approval for the closing plan and keeping open international offices in Canada, Germany, the U.K., Japan and Mexico - the five largest sources of tourists.
DOT has granted United authority to integrate segments of its U.S.- Caribbean and U.S.-Central and South American route authority. The carrier initially will use the rights to conduct scheduled combination service between Miami and New York, on the one hand, and Caracas, Venezuela, on the other, via Curaao, Netherlands Antilles. The service, to be operated under a code-share agreement with ALM Antillean Airlines, will enable ALM's Caracas-Curaao flights to connect at Curaao with United flights from Miami and New York (DAILY, Nov. 16).
Civil Aviation Administration of China has granted Federal Express a permit to operate a U.S.-China all-cargo route, the carrier said yesterday. The carrier plans to inaugurate service in early March with a flight originating in New York on a route that includes Chicago, Anchorage, Beijing and Shanghai, and a return to New York, via Anchorage.
Delta's Connection carriers transported 10.8 million passengers in 1995, a 6% increase over 1994. Comair experienced a 17% gain in traffic and carried more passengers - 3.8 million - than any other Connection carrier. Fifty-three percent of all passengers that boarded a Connection carrier connected to Delta, a 2% increase.
American Trans Air will beef up its summer operations with service to four new destinations from Indianapolis and regularly scheduled service to five others it served seasonally in the past. Beginning June 1, it will offer new nonstop service to Seattle, Milwaukee, Chicago Midway and San Diego. It also will serve Los Angeles and San Francisco with daily flights, Grand Cayman with two weekly flights, and Honolulu and Miami with direct or connecting service. The new schedule brings to 16 the number of destinations the airline serves from Indianapolis.
DOT has issued a consent order assessing America West compromise civil penalties of $35,000 for several violations of fare advertising rules. In a fare advertisement in USA Today on Jan.
Aviation negotiations between the European Union and the U.S. under a new approach from the European Commission will be one of Italy's top priorities as it leads the European Union during the first six months of 1996. The Italian government, which will chair ministerial meetings through June 30 under the EU's revolving presidency system, has scheduled transport meetings March 11-12 in Brussels and June 17-18 in Luxembourg, and commission proposals to take control of aviation relations with the U.S. will be at the top of the agenda.
KLM is discounting travel from The Netherlands throughout the world for a six-week period this winter. The sale fares are 60% less than standard economy ticket prices and 20% below standard discount fares. All flights require a two-night stay and most require a Saturday night stay. Booking is through Feb. 11 for travel through March 11.
