Continental is awarding 25,000 OnePass bonus miles to roundtrip BusinessFirst passengers leaving the U.S. through Newark for London or Manchester. The one-time-only bonus is good until Dec. 31.
Commercial Service Helsinki is inviting American companies to participate in the largest travel show in Scandinavia, MATKA '96, to be held Jan. 18-21 in Helsinki. The USA Pavilion was the most popular foreign pavilion at the show this year, with 15,000 visitors. Exhibitors this year totaled 821. U.S. Foreign Service officers say the U.S. continues to be the most popular long-haul destination for Finns. The USA Pavilion is open to any organization promoting travel to the U.S.
FAA has completed the upgrade of the International Flight Service Station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to an Automated International Flight Service Station and has closed the station in Rocky Mount, S.C. The new station was commissioned last week. Southern Regional Administrator Carolyn Blum said the San Juan facility provided more than 270,000 flight services during the last 12 months.
Eastwind Airlines has appointed Teddi Groff director-customer service, Anne McKeown regional sales manager and Herman Gillis chief pilot/director of training. Groff previously was a flight attendant for Northeast Airlines and a supervisor for America West. McKeown, responsible for sales support in the greater New Jersey/Pennsylvania region, has worked as a flight attendant, corporate sales manager and district sales manager for national airlines. Gillis has worked for the past 20 years at various airlines in positions such as chief pilot and senior VP-operations.
British Airways and USAir today bring Chattanooga, Tenn.; Flint, Mich., and Florence, S.C., into their code-sharing network, which provides the cities with connecting service to London Gatwick. Passengers from Chattanooga and Florence will connect through Charlotte and Flint passengers through Pittsburgh. The three cities bring the number of code-share points for the carriers to 71.
SAS has received DOT approval of its application for broad new authority to expand its operations to the U.S. Awarded under terms of open skies agreements completed June 16 by the U.S. and Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the authority will enable SAS to operate services between points in the three Scandinavian countries, via intermediate points, to points in the U.S. and beyond.
Lineas Aereas Costarricenses, S.A. (LACSA) has asked DOT for renewal of its authority to operate combination service between San Jose, Costa Rica, and Tampa, Fla. The carrier also wants continued authority to co-terminalize this service with its authority to serve Orlando. LACSA is not operating on the route but "is currently evaluating its service options and wishes to have all necessary authority in place so that service can be commenced without delay." (Docket 49221&OST-95-655)
USAir will resume daily service to St. Thomas from Baltimore tomorrow after suspending the flights in mid-September because of damage caused by Hurricane Marilyn. Robert Fornaro, USAir senior VP-planning, said there is a need to transport emergency and relief workers and supplies to the island. "The tourism market will be depressed for much of the fall because of the damage, but everyday air transportation is a necessity in the region, which is why we've decided to resume service as soon as possible." The return flight stops in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Frontier Airlines has signed a letter of intent to lease two 737-300s from GE Capital Aviation Services to expand service from its Denver hub to the West Coast. The 136-seat aircraft will go into service in November. Frontier recently closed a public offering giving it enough financing to lease up to four 737s. It currently operates a fleet of five leased 108- seat 737-200s.
Aviation-Related Bills Introduced In Congress, September 1995 - H.R.2274 - introduced Sept. 7 by Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) - a bill to amend Title 23, U.S. Code, to designate the National Highway System, and for other purposes. Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
American asked DOT for authority to integrate its Germany and Kuwait service. The carrier said it will use the authority to carry out a blocked-space/code-sharing agreement with Kuwait Airways with respect to property and mail, operating via Frankfurt. (OST-95-698)
The successful testing of a new digital satellite data link will increase the safety, capacity and efficiency of international routes over the Russian Far East and eventually could make it possible to double international flights and save as much as an hour and a half of flight time to Asia, according to FAA Administrator David Hinson. FAA, under an agreement with Russian civil aviation authorities, led a team that installed prototype controller workstations at control centers in Anchorage, and Anadyr and Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky in the Russian Far East.
Canadian Airlines International's August traffic rose 8.4% from the same month a year ago on 13% more capacity, causing its load factor to fall 3.2 percentage points to 76.7%. Through the first eight months of this year, its traffic was up 2.5% with a 10.9% increase in capacity, depressing its load factor 5.4 percentage points to 65.7%. "Canadian's traffic figures continue to improve through the third quarter," said Don Casey, VP-capacity planning for Canadian. "August represents the strongest growth we have experienced this year," he said.
Air Macau's first commercial flights will be to Shanghai and Taipei, according to the startup, which previously announced plans to launch service on Nov. 9. Both Shanghai and Taipei will be served with daily A321 flights. Air Macau's first leased aircraft is scheduled for delivery the first week of November. The carrier also leased a second A321 and two A320s. Air Macau plans to add Beijing and Bangkok to its route network as soon as possible, likely upon delivery of the second A321, scheduled the first week of December.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Balance Sheet As of July 31, 1995 ASSETS Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment $ 561.51 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables $ 65,328,417.30 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments: U.S. Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness
The Provisional Airport Authority of Hong Kong has chosen a unit of Regal Hotels (Holdings) Ltd. to develop and operate the first hotel at the new Chek Lap Kok Airport and a consortium led by Sun Hung Kai Properties to develop and operate the air freight forwarding center at the new facility. Investment costs for the hotel, including an adjacent parking garage, are estimated at about HK$2 billion - US$256.4 million. The freight forwarding center is expected to require about HK$1.9 billion - US$243 million - in investment.
America West plans to expand service to Mexico City from its Phoenix and Las Vegas hubs, with two daily nonstops to Phoenix and one to Las Vegas, beginning Jan. 19. On Feb. 15, starting its new service to Detroit Metro Airport, the carrier will operate three daily flights - two from Phoenix and one from Las Vegas. The new flights are the result of the carrier's recently announced decision to initiate a two-year growth plan, building on the two hubs (DAILY, Sept. 22).
Robert Crandall, chairman of American, will be guest speaker at the International Aviation Club monthly luncheon Oct. 12. Lunch begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Monet Ballroom of the Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L'Enfant Plaza, Washington.
Dade County Board of Commissioners yesterday approved 9-4 American Airlines' $900 million Super A concourse expansion plan at Miami Airport. The plan reduces gates available to other airlines to 61 from 108 and entails a rent increase of about 50%, based on the airport's "equalized" rate structure. "We are very pleased with the decision and we think it is very positive for both the community and the airport," American spokeswoman Pat SanPedro said. "We see this as a Miami project and not an American project," Dade County Commissioner Peter Reboredo told The DAILY.
Reaction to the possibility, feasibility or advisability of United or American acquiring USAir ran the gamut yesterday from very positive to almost despondently negative. "In theory, it makes a heck of a lot of sense," said S.G. Warburg analyst Brian Harris, who was among observers who noted the nice fit of United's and USAir's route networks and played down the seriousness of the antitrust issues such a combination would raise. "It's scary," said PaineWebber analyst Sam Buttrick, who questioned the financial advisability of such a transaction.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Income Statement October 1, 1994 - July 31, 1995 Current Month RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 11,959,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 405,234,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 18,446,000.00
The Environmental Protection Agency last week issued a final rule on the multi-sector storm water permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Published in the Sept. 29 Federal Register, the rule applies to airports and airport tenants that conduct "servicing, repairing or maintaining aircraft and ground vehicles, equipment cleaning and maintenance (inducing vehicle and equipment rehabilitation, mechanical repairs, painting, fueling, lubrication) or deicing/anti-icing operations."
USAfrica has withdrawn a motion requesting more time to make its case against DOT's show cause order reallocating the carrier's U.S.-South Africa frequencies. It is continuing its quest for financing to restart service, however. The carrier said it retracted the motion in compliance with an order from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, precluding further action by DOT and all the parties involved until the court issues an order.
Frontier Airlines said yesterday the underwriters of its recently completed public offering have exercised their option to purchase another 240,000 shares of common stock at $4.625 per share. The offering brings to 1.84 million the number of shares sold by the carrier, netting $7.3 million. Net proceeds from the additional shares are $976,800, which will be added to Frontier's working capital.
Midwest Express Airlines and Elan Financial Services of Illinois have introduced the Midwest Express MasterCard, with which cardholders can earn frequent flyer miles on Midwest Express for each dollar charged. The Midwest Express MasterCard program will offer a regular MasterCard, a Gold Card and a business card. The annual fee will be $40 for the regular card and $65 for the Gold or business card.
