Terry Hallcom, a bidder for MarkAir, is president and chief executive of Shuttle Inc. d/b/a USAir Shuttle. He was identified incorrectly in The DAILY of Oct. 27
A group of Spanish and Argentinian banks is said to be negotiating to acquire most or all of Iberia's majority stake in Aerolineas Argentinas. The current management would maintain control. Iberia is under pressure to sell as a condition for securing European Commission approval of another round of state subsidy.
National Aviation Club will present J. Kenneth Higgins, director of flight test for Boeing, with the Cliff Henderson Award for Achievement for lifetime individual contribution to aviation. Higgins is being recognized for his work in commercial aviation, particularly for leading and directing the Boeing 777 flight test program. He will receive the award at a luncheon Nov. 14 at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Va.
U.S. and Macau initalled last week their first-ever bilateral air services pact. "This modern agreement will complement other recent liberalizing initiatives that have been put in place with Hong Kong and the Philippines," said DOT Secretary Federico Pena, who will visit Macau on his upcoming Asian trip.
Lufthansa plans to expand operations at Munich over the next year with increased intra-European and intercontinental flying. "Frankfurt Airport will remain our major hub, but Munich will evolve as number two," Herbert Steppat, head of planning and network management, said last week. Lufthansa believes Munich, the third largest passenger market in Germany after Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, is well positioned geographically to handle transit passengers en route from one foreign destination to another.
Swissair's systemwide scheduled traffic, comprising passengers, cargo and mail, increased 8.8% last month to 316.8 million revenue tonne kilometers on 7.4% more capacity, producing a load factor increase of 0.9 percentage points to 73.3%. The passenger load factor rose 0.8 points to 71.7%.
Aeromexico posted third quarter operating and net profits Friday despite a 17.8% decline in passenger boardings and an 18.3% drop in traffic. For the quarter, Aeromexico reported an operating profit of 171.4 million new pesos (US$26.9 million) and net earnings of NP143.1 million (US$22.5 million) on operating revenues of NP1.43 billion (US$225.1 million). In the third quarter last year, Aeromexico had an operating profit of NP116.1 million but a net loss of NP28.1 million.
Kuwait Airways is beginning twice-a-week Airbus A340 service to Chicago from Kuwait via Amsterdam this week with the implementation of its winter schedule. Also this week, the carrier plans to begin twice-weekly service to Copenhagen via Frankfurt and three weekly flights to Trivandrum, India. The airline said it is eager to launch service to Beijing and expects to complete a feasibility study by the end of the year. This winter, Kuwait Airways will offer additional capacity to Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
Emery Worldwide appointed Vincent Gallagher director-Publishing and Printed Materials Specialty Group, and Emery EXPEDITE! named Allen Haley area sales manager- Southeast operations and Ronald Wituski area sales manager-Midwest operations.
Haiti National Airlines, d/b/a Hanair, asked DOT to renew its eight-year- old exemption authority to operate scheduled passenger and cargo service between Port au Prince and four U.S. points - Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New York and San Juan. Stating that it would like to operate from Cap Haitien as well as Port au Prince, Hanair also asked DOT to amend its authority to encompass a point or points in Haiti. The privately owned carrier allowed that it has not made full use of its current authority, which expires Nov.
NASA's Office of Aeronautics plans to measure the chemistry of supersonic transport emissions again, following up on a test last year with an Air France Concorde that revealed an unexpectedly high level of sulfur particles in the exhaust plume.
Moody's Investors Services upgraded the long- and short-term debt ratings of McDonnell Douglas Corp. and those of McDonnell Douglas Finance Corp. because of the company's strengthened financial condition and an improved operating and cash flow outlook. Other factors affecting the decision include the company's continuing effort to cut costs and Moody's view that resolution of the A-12 military aircraft program dispute between McDonnell Douglas and the U.S. Navy will not have a material cash flow impact.
International Lease Finance Corp. placed two new Airbus A330-300s Friday with Malaysia Airlines. The 316-seat aircraft, scheduled for delivery in January and September 1996, will be powered by Pratt&Whitney PW4168 engines. The airline plans to operate the aircraft on Asian routes out of Kuala Lumpur. The initial lease terms will be for two years each, and Malaysia will have five consecutive one-year extension options.
The White House yesterday announced completion of Saudi Arabian Airlines' fleet replacement order of 61 McDonnell Douglas and Boeing aircraft, dating from early 1994. The Clinton administration said the deal is worth about $6 billion, but industry and banking sources still estimated it at more than $7 billion. Sources said Boeing will get about $5.3 billion for 23 777-200 widebody twins, powered by General Electric GE90 turbofans, and five 747-400s with GE CF6s.
Boeing's third quarter profits, reported yesterday, beat Wall Street's consensus estimate by 22% thanks to lower taxes and R&D spending, but Chairman Frank Shrontz warned that the Machinists' union strike will cut deeply into fourth quarter jetliner deliveries and take a bite out of profits. The company's stock fell in morning trading before recovering somewhat later in the day.
Northwest has finished restructuring a $731.4 million financing arrangement related to property it owns in Japan, the airline said yesterday. The effect is to reduce the company's long-term debt by about $731 million and smooth out the repayment schedule from a single balloon payment originally due in February 2000 to annual installments due in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Northwest said it has obtained an option to defer semi-annual cash payments for up to three years, and the interest rate on the debt has been reduced to 3% from 4%.
KLM has secured a five-year, $700 million standby revolving credit facility the Dutch carrier said will enable it to react better to financial market developments. KLM targeted a facility worth about $500 million but increased the total by $200 million because international response was so substantial. Citibank, ABN AMRO Bank and Union Bank of Switzerland led the syndicate that arranged the loan, and a total of 32 banks in The Netherlands and throughout Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific region participated.
DHL International is expanding its operations in Moscow to accommodate its 100% growth rate in the former Soviet Union, the international air express carrier said yesterday. The expansion includes a gateway facility at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, a new DHL-dedicated flight out of Moscow, an increase of shipment value limitations and a new country headquarters office. DHL said the expansion project is part of a $10 million investment.
Western Pacific will begin serving Washington Dulles Airport Dec. 15 with daily nonstop service from its base in Colorado Springs, offering fares as low as $109 one way. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority General Manager James Wilding said the low-fare carrier's arrival "continues a growing service trend at Dulles, and we're continuing to make progress on our terminal expansion construction program to ensure that we will be able to attract and accommodate more service for the region."
Qantas will upgrade its Sydney-Jakarta service Sunday to daily from its five flights per week because of increased demand in the market, the airline said yesterday. It also plans to introduce three weekly Perth- Jakarta flights. In the first half of 1995, travel between Australia and Indonesia rose 39% over the same period last year, according to Geoff Dixon, Qantas group executive general manager (commercial). Qantas plans to add a fourth weekly Sydney-Seoul flight on Nov. 14.
DOT has invited U.S. carriers interested in operating all-cargo service to Hong Kong, with local traffic rights, to apply by Nov. 7. Under the newly signed U.S.-Hong Kong memorandum of understanding, U.S. cargo carriers may operate eight weekly frequencies between Hong Kong and two points to be chosen from among the Philippines, Thailand and Korea. No more than five frequencies may be operated to any one point.
Polar Air Cargo has launched scheduled service to South America with the introduction of flights linking Chicago, New York and Miami with Buenos Aires and Santiago. The move "is in direct response to the growing demand from freight forwarders and agents in the U.S. and around the world to expand our current services," said Edwin Wallace, chief executive of Polar Air. "This is only the first step in the development of our scheduled services in the region," he said.
