The most probable cause of the ground collision last Nov. 22 of a TWA MD-82 and a Cessna 441 at Lambert-St. Louis Airport was the Cessna pilot's misunderstanding about what runway he was told to use for his takeoff, the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday. The board repeated an earlier assessment that better ground surveillance capabilities at Lambert - an Airport Surface Detection System-3, especially an ASDE-3 enhanced by the Airport Movement Area Safety System - "could have prevented the accident" (DAILY, March 7).
Business travelers can enroll in the LatinPass frequent flyer program through the Internet, according to Eduardo Gallardo, LatinPass's program director. Frequent travelers who live in North America and who are not members of any of the LatinPass airlines' frequent traveler programs are eligible to become LatinPass cardholders. The Internet address for LatinPass is http://www.thegroup.net/latinpass.
Vacation travel by Japanese citizens has been healthy this summer, with six airlines - Japan Airlines, All Nippon, Japan Air System, Japan Asia Airways, Air Nippon and Japan Transocean Airlines - reporting a 7.3% rise in domestic passengers and an 11.9% gain in international traffic July 22 through Aug. 20. The Japan Ministry of Transport attributes the growth to the opening of Kansai Airport. The six airlines carried 7.9 million passengers domestically and 679,288 on international flights.
Gulf Air intends to begin service to Houston Intercontinental Airport via New York on Oct. 29, according to the City of Houston Department of Aviation. "Securing scheduled, single-plane service between Houston and the Middle East has been one of our foremost air service department goals," said Houston Mayor Bob Lanier. "It is extremely important because of our strong community-of-interest and energy connections with that part of the world," he said. Initially, Gulf Air plans to operate four Airbus A340 flights a week to Houston via New York Kennedy.
Avis/Preferred Holidays is offering a "See America" program that invites travelers to "fly one way, but drive back." The seven-day package is good for travel Sept. 5-Nov. 19. The per-person rate starts at $369 for one-way air fare between any two cities, an Avis compact car and seven-night hotel accommodation. Vacationers can choose any destination served by participating airlines America West, Carnival, Continental, Delta, TWA and United. Participating hotels are Howard Johnson, Ramada Inn, Days Inn and Best Western.
International Airline Travel Agent Network (IATAN) is offering geography seminars to agents. The three-hour workshops will cover world areas that have undergone the greatest number of boundary changes in the past 10 years. The sessions are designed to help agents identify the principal geographic features, nations, cities and tourist attractions of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Five workshops are scheduled throughout the country in the next three months, and more will be conducted in 1996.
Lufthansa's systemwide passenger traffic increased 4.9% in July to 5.56 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The number of passengers boarded rose 7.4% from July a year ago, to nearly 2.8 million. Through the first seven months of 1995, Lufthansa's passenger traffic grew 11.7% to 34.39 billion RPKs, and its passenger enplanements increased 10.7% to 18.4 million.
Guatemala's expanding economy should bring concomitant growth and business opportunities in tourism, the country's second largest export earner, U.S. government officials report. With a population of 10 million, it is the largest country in Central America and one of the most important U.S. trading partners in the Caribbean Basin. U.S services and products benefit from high name recognition, and U.S. firms have a good reputation there, according to a tourism sector overview from the U.S. embassy in Guatemala. The U.S.
CS First Boston analyst Paul Karos has initiated coverage of Continental with a buy recommendation.He expects the carrier to be profitable this year for the first time in a decade and to prove, a la America West, that it is possible to shrink to profitability.
Lufthansa Cargo AG posted a pre-tax profit of 2.8 million Deutschmarks (US$1.9 million) on revenues of DM1.6 billion (US$1.1 billion) for the first half of 1995, its first six months of operation as an independent company. Although average freight yields per ton have declined, the company said it has been able to make adjustments by switching diminishing transport capacity to more profitable markets and increasing overall cargo volumes by 14.8%. Lufthansa Cargo was one of three Lufthansa Group units spun off into independent companies on Jan. 1.
AirTran Corp. shareholders have approved the spinoff of the company's Airways Corp. subsidiary through distribution of Airways stock to AirTran shareholders, except Northwest, in a special dividend. Northwest will get more AirTran common shares instead of Airways Corp. stock. AirTran shareholders also have approved an amendment to the company's articles of incorporation changing its name to Mesaba Holdings. The new name is now effective. Trading in Airways Corp. common stock will begin today on the Nasdaq National Market under the AAIR symbol.
Non-profit organization SER-Jobs For Progress will offer an international travel training program this fall in Miami that is designed to place 120 individuals annually in travel and tourism jobs. The eight-week course, which is free to the students, will use the American Airlines International Travel Academy curriculum. SER, which stands for service, employment, redevelopment, is a national network of organizations that helps individuals enter the work force via a partnership with the corporate and public sectors.
The global market for air traffic control/air traffic modernization (ATC/ATM) equipment, systems and services will surpass $92 billion over the next decade, and satellite technologies will play a significantly larger role in the market, according to a newly published study by consulting firm Booz-Allen&Hamilton, McLean, Va. The study, "Air Traffic Control and Air Traffic Management Systems: An Analysis of Policies, Technologies and Global Markets," finds a significant need exists to modernize ATC systems in Russia, China and other rapidly developing nations.
Duty Free International Inc. said its Airport Division sales jumped 11% to $26.3 million in the second quarter of 1994, due mainly to an increase in foreign tourists to the U.S. In the first quarter this year, the division opened 12 stores in the new Denver Airport, two at Boston Logan and one at San Juan Airport. The Inflight Division also posted healthy growth, with $44.9 million in sales for the quarter, up 12%, prompting the company to seek further "substantial growth opportunities" in inflight sales.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled 5-1 Tuesday that USAir and American must pay a 6% tax on food, non-alcoholic beverages and meal supplies for flights originating in Pennsylvania. USAir originally brought the suit against the state, seeking $2.2 million in tax refunds. A lower court ruled in favor of the airlines in 1993. The carriers argued that food and beverages are integral to flight service and exempt from the tax. USAir, with its largest hub at Pittsburgh, estimates the tax will cost it $1.4 million annually. American said its cost is about $300,000 a year.
Delta subsidiary DeltaTel Inc. has introduced a communications card for long-distance calling and communications services. The card enables users to make calls, offers a personalized voice and fax mailbox, speed dialing, conference calling and access to reports on breaking news, weather, sports, financial information, horoscopes and soap opera updates. In the future, it will provide free direct access to airline, car rental and hotel reservations centers. The card was developed in conjunction with Atlanta telecommunications carrier Premiere Communications.
American charged that TWA put out "inflammatory rhetoric...without substance" when it commented on DOT's proposed changes in the on-time disclosure rules.
Munich Airport moved a record 13.5 million passengers through its gates in 1994 but lost money anyway. Intercontinental traffic expanded 5.5% to reach 1.1 million passengers as the number of carriers serving Munich rose from 180 to 198. Revenue increased nearly 3%, from 667 million Deutschmarks to DM686 million. Munich's operating result increased 30% to DM110 million due to reductions personnel costs and other operating expenses. Munich's bottom line was negative for the year, however, though the deficit, DM95 million, was DM6 million less than in 1993.
A new Latvian carrier with the financial backing of U.S. and Scandinavian interests will start operations next month, investor SAS said yesterday after the signing of a formal agreement establishing the not-yet-named airline (DAILY, March 30). The government of Latvia will own 51.03% of the new carrier; Houston-based Baltic International USA, co-owner of an existing Latvia-based airline, will own 20.04%; SAS will own 16.53%, and Swedfund and the Investment Fund for Central and Eastern Europe each will own 6.2%.
Representatives of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport were in Washington yesterday making a case at DOT and on Capitol Hill for nonstop service to London Heathrow. Following an August meeting between Dallas and Fort Worth mayors and DOT Secretary Federico Pena, the officials said they were there to keep pressure on the government to complete an agreement in the fall, giving the carriers enough time to compete for rights and begin service by next spring. In advance of the next round of U.S.-U.K. talks Sept.
Aerovias de Honduras (Honduras Airways) has withdrawn its application for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Honduras and points in the U.S. via intermediate points in Belize. It had proposed various routings to Houston and Miami using 727-200 and -300 aircraft (DAILY, Feb. 17) (Docket 50217)
Air Niagara Express has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Toronto and Atlantic City, N.J. The Canadian carrier has been operating the service on a charter basis but said it wants to offer scheduled service as soon as market conditions permit. Based in Mississauga, Ontario, the carrier operates two Convair 580 aircraft. (Docket 49616&OST-95-473)
Wilcox Electric received a $3.3 million contract to install two Wilcox Mark 10 instrument landing systems at Brunei Airport. The equipment will be delivered in November, and the contract will be completed by April.
KPMG, international accountants and consultants to the transportation industry, offers country-specific guides that contain general information on conducting business and on taxation for more than 30 countries. Requests can be sent by fax to 201-307-8071 in the U.S., and 44-1923-23-97- 58 in the U.K.
GE Aircraft Engines put GE90 and Aircraft Engines home pages online this week. The GE90 home page, on the World Wide Web, features information about the engine's development program, including why GE decided to design a new engine rather than a derivative, and technical data and press releases. GE also provides a link to the Boeing 777 home page for a complete look at the engine and its application. The GE Aircraft Engines home page comprises an overview of the company, including its history, annual report and recent developments.
