Air France will halt its twice-weekly service between Paris and Taipei, effective Oct. 31, leaving EVA Airways as the only carrier offering direct flights between Taiwan and France. A spokesman for the carrier said the decision was based on estimates that traffic on the route will drop during the winter season, and on high costs at Chiang Kai-shek Airport in Taipei. Air France will continue to operate weekly all-cargo service on the route and will consider restoring passenger flights for the 1996 summer season.
Teledyne Controls said it has developed its Telelink data link unit for digital messaging between business/commuter aircraft and ground net works. The unit provides for integration with flight management systems, digital communications with air traffic control, flight planning, weather services, GPS-based position reporting, delivery of flight papers, aircraft reporting, custom messaging and telephone links.
National Air Transportation Association and the Aviation Research Group announced development of the NATA General Aviation Business Barometers, a system designed to track general aviation business activity. The barometer will report aviation fuel sales for Jet-A and Avgas, charter sales in revenue and flight hours, flight training instruction hours and maintenance sales. Each major area will have an index, and its data will be compiled in a general business activity index. Data also will be collected from the nine FAA regions.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Under 750 Miles O&D Passengers First Quarter 1995 Short Total Average Haul Markets Non-Stop Passengers Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day 1 1 Hononlulu - Kahului 100 7,515 2 2 Chicago - New York 723 6,980
United launched a major campaign against Japan yesterday for its refusal to allow the carrier to operate service beyond Osaka to Seoul, Korea. In separate events in the U.S. and Australia, three senior airline officials, including President Gerald Greenwald, gave speeches assailing Japan's intransigence. Simultaneously, United released a study detailing the value of U.S.-Japan fifth-freedom rights and submitted a legal filing to DOT, urging the department to deny Japan Airlines' request for increased U.S. service.
Amadeus India is opening new offices in Madras and Bangalore in response to demand from Indian travel agencies. Amadeus entered the Indian market in September 1994 with the establishment of Amadeus India in New Delhi. In the past year, Amadeus India has automated 188 travel agencies with 240 locations and introduced Indian Hotel Reservation Services. Currently, more than 230 travel agencies are awaiting the installation of Amadeus terminals.
China is becoming more sophisticated about exercising the economic power inherent in aircraft orders, making more small deals rather than fewer big ones in order to maximize leverage, Boeing President Philip Condit told the Aero Club of Washington yesterday. Sometimes the Chinese expect Boeing to be more helpful than it can be with government-to-government problems - in China, a company the size of Boeing "would have a lot of influence with the government."
British Midland confirmed it has placed an order for two additional Fokker 70s for delivery in winter 1996-97. Two years ago, British Midland placed an order for five 74-seat Fokker 70s and four 106-seat Fokker 100s to replace its fleet of Douglas DC-9s. The decision to order two more Fokker 70s comes following successful trials and positive customer feedback, particularly on key regional routes where the Fokker 70s have been operated since April, the airline said.
In a preview of a policy statement the Association of European Airline plans to issue in coming weeks, Kees Veenstra, AEA deputy director general, called yesterday for movement to create a free-trade environment in the transatlantic market. Such a transformation cannot happen overnight and would take a great deal of effort, however, Veenstra said in a speech to an international aviation conference in Washington sponsored by Global Aviation Associates. He called for a cooled-down approach to air transport relations between Europe and the U.S.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) said it is in talks with Alenia on exploring ways to benefit from the Italian manufacturer's lower production costs. The talks come amid mounting financial pressures on DASA to reverse heavy losses of the last two years and signals from the German government that its room for maneuver to help the ailing aeronautics group is small.
Some of the failures that occur at FAA's air route traffic control centers cause "system degradation to a level that can have adverse safety implications," a National Transportation Safety Board official told the House aviation subcommittee yesterday. Bernard Loeb, director of NTSB's Office of Aviation Safety, told a subcommittee field hearing at the Chicago ARTCC that system outages are caused by "unique failure modes that continue to occur," and he called for a mixture of hardware, procedure and personnel improvements.
United is offering 25,000 bonus miles for passengers flying its Connoisseur business-class product from Chicago and New York to London Heathrow by yearend. Mileage Plus members will receive credit for the 25,000 miles in addition to the roundtrip mileage. The miles qualify a program member for a free domestic award ticket. Customers must register by calling 1-800- 930-3052. United operates three flights a day in the New York Kennedy- London market and one daily roundtrip in the Chicago-London and Newark- London markets.
ValuJet likely will announce a third focus city late this year or early in 1996, the growing carrier's chief financial officer, Stephen Nevin, told analysts yesterday. Nevin, whose airline operates from hub-like focus cities Atlanta and Washington, did not offer details but stressed that ValuJet is aware of its niche - short-haul, low-fare, low-cost - and plans to confine its operation to the eastern and southeastern U.S. But it has identified 20 new markets outside each current focus city that represent "ideal" opportunities for the Atlanta-based airline.
Laker Airways, Freddie Laker's new company that plans to operate transatlantic service from Florida, is the result of 14 months of negotiations with General Electric Capital Corp. Aviation Services (GECAS) (DAILY, Sept. 26). A Laker representative declined to elaborate on the aircraft deal with GECAS. Laker Airways will be controlled by Oscar Wyatt, chairman and founder of the Coastal Corporation of Houston, who holds 75% of the voting rights and 51% of the company.
Air Line Pilots Association's main push in the next few months will be bringing the four American Eagle carriers under the ALPA umbrella, President Randy Babbitt says.ALPA units are in mediated talks with FedEx, WestAir, Delta and Express One, and direct negotiations are starting at Mesaba and Sun Country and continuing at USAir Shuttle and Reeve Aleutian Airways. Yesterday, the USAir Shuttle pilots asked for mediation.
Cathay Pacific Airways USA has passed the 3-million-miles mark in awarding AAdvantage frequent flyer bonus miles to travel agents as part of the "Miles for Me" promotion. The program, launched in February, enables Cathay passengers to earn 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles by redeeming a reward certificate that is available only from travel agents. At the same time, travel agents automatically earn 5,000 AAdvantage miles when passengers redeem the certificate.
USAir will launch service to Washington Dulles from Columbus Nov. 16. USAir and USAir Express each will offer a daily flight with a 68-seat F-28 and a 32-seat Dornier 38. USAir provides service to Columbus from Washington National and Baltimore/Washington airports.
Jeppesen&Co., the Frankfurt affiliate of Denver-based Jeppesen, announced a new online service that calculates international navigation charges. The new service, Enroute Navigation Charge, is available as a subscription or on an as-needed basis. Jeppesen said the service permits users to input data, such as route and aircraft weight, and receive a detailed statement of navigation charges in less than a minute.
Trimble said yesterday its approach navigation system was awarded a supplemental type certificate by FAA. The system will enable regional/commuter, corporate and helicopter operators to fly instrument flight rules supplemental en route, terminal and non-precision approaches, Trimble said. The Trimble 2101 I/O (input, output) is the "most accurate and usable GPS receiver on the market," said Bruce Alspach, VP-Avionics Group.
Reno Air has put tickets on sale for coach travel from Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Tucson and Palm Springs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in October. Tickets must be purchased by Oct. 2. Upgrades can be purchased on the day of departure for an additional $20. Fares from Albuquerque are as low as $49 to Los Angeles, $40 from Colorado Springs to Las Vegas, $30 from Tucson to Las Vegas, and $35 from Palm Springs to San Jose.
Delta has asked DOT for another limited waiver of the 180-day statutory limit for action on its complaint against the German government and Frankfurt/Main Airport. A decision has been repeatedly postponed since Delta filed the complaint Dec. 29, 1993, contending the German government and the airport had 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 agreement. "The issues relating to Delta's complaint have still not been resolved," said the carrier.
Although FAA plans to replace old computers at five air route traffic control centers, the airlines have expressed concern about what the agency will do to "lessen the impact of outages in the interim," according to a letter to Administrator David Hinson from Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett. ATA recommended that FAA and contractor Loral discuss actions needed to install the newer computers ahead of the October 1977 schedule.
British Airways Chairman Colin Marshall reiterated yesterday the carrier's commitment to partner USAir and its opposition to union representation on the USAir board. Speaking to the British-American Business Association, Marshall said, "While the fortunes of USAir have been a matter of some concern, the alliance has always remained of strategic importance to our future development." BA is "confident" that USAir's rationalization program will be successful, he added.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Over 750 Miles O&D Passengers First Quarter 1995 Long Total Average Haul Markets Non-Stop Passengers Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day 1 3 Los Angeles - New York 2,467 6,438 2 4 Miami - New York 1,097 6,208
CityFlyer Express, a British Airways Express operator, has ordered two new 66-seat ATR 72-200s, ATR said yesterday. The first of the new planes will be delivered in November and the second in February. The two will bring CityFlyer's fleet to four ATR 72 and six ATR 42s.
