This year's Pow Wow-Europe, organized by the Travel Industry Association of America in cooperation with the U.S. Travel&Tourism Administration, will be held Sept. 20-22 in Paris. The conference will bring together nearly 700 U.S. suppliers and European buyers of travel. The Delta Tourism Academy, an all-day educational session for buyers, will be part of the program.
Sempati Air will add a third weekly flight on its Jakarta-Kaohsiung route, beginning in September. It said the route, inaugurated April 27, is one of the company's fastest growing, with load factors averaging well over 70%.
ShinMaywa is studying whether to go ahead with a civil version of its navy US-1A amphibious rescue aircraft. Local Japanese governments, including the Osaka prefectural government, are increasingly interested in introducing fire-fighting and rescue aircraft because of their earthquake experience in Kobe. In addition, operators in Canada and France have inquired about civil versions of the aircraft, although there is no firm commitment to launch a formal development program.
A Lockheed L-1011-200 aircraft converted to a freighter, said to be the first of its kind, has arrived at American International Airways in Ypsilanti, Mich., from Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge, England. Conrad Kalitta, AIA president, said the aircraft can carry up to 125,000 pounds of cargo as much as 5,300 miles. AIA purchased three L-10lls from British Airways for conversion last fall, with options for five more. The options have since been converted to firm orders, he said.
Reports out of Beijing indicate that Air China has selected Boeing to supply new aircraft, including as many as 15 777s, in a deal valued at $2 billion. The Financial Times, quoting diplomatic sources in Beijing, and The Wall Street Journal, quoting a source familiar with the negotiations, said Boeing beat out Airbus Industrie for the long-awaited order. According to The Financial Times, recent political difficulties between the U.S. and China sparked hopes in Europe that the Airbus consortium would pick up at least some of the order.
Canadian Airlines International plans to reduce its service to Northern Canada and will return three Boeing 737s when their leases expire as part of its ongoing campaign to cut costs and improve its product by focusing on its core operations. On Oct. 29, Canadian North, the division of Canadian that operates to northern Canada, will discontinue service between Montreal and Iqaluit, Nanisivk and Resolute Bay, and between Ottawa and Iqaluit. Effective Nov. 10., Canadian North will realign services to Manitoba.
Ansett Australia is seeking renewal for two years of its authority to conduct code-sharing services with United. Under the arrangement, both carriers hold out and sell services under their designator codes on Ansett's flights between Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and beyond those cities to Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Gold Coast (Coolangatta), Hobart and Perth.
The integration of Qantas and Australian Airlines had a negative impact in net terms on the merged carrier's business, according to Qantas Managing Director James Strong, but Qantas this week will post improved 1994-95 earnings that are expected to be but a prelude to sharply higher profits forecast for fiscal 1995-96. "It's very clear looking back that the integration...was a very difficult process," Strong told The DAILY last week in Sydney. Qantas acquired Australian, one of Australia's two primary domestic carriers, in September 1992.
Air New Zealand and South African Airways have signed an agreement to develop business opportunities among South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, and study possible joint ventures, schedule agreements and streamlined connections at common gateways in Asia and Australia. About 100,000 passengers travel from South Africa to Australia and New Zealand each year, and that number is expected to increase to 250,000 annually within the next five years. Arrivals from South Africa into New Zealand increased 70% during the first three months of 1995.
Several leading Taiwan dailies report that Federal Express and Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) have reached a preliminary agreement on a deal under which FedEx will set up an air cargo transit center in Taiwan. The agreement reportedly calls for FedEx to provide the necessary capital for the center's facilities and equipment, and for the MOTC's Civil Aeronautics Administration to acquire the land needed for the project.
Draft legislation to privatize major Australian airports would cap airport charges for five years and allow the Prices Surveillance Authority to monitor the charges.Non-Australian interests would be limited to 49% stakes in the long-term leases, and airlines would be limited to 5%. Leases would run 50 years and could be renewed for another 49.
Airport Systems International said it was selected to provide an instrument landing system for Capital Airport, Springfield, Ill. The company said Springfield is the second city, after Concord, N.C., to select recently a commercial, off-the-shelf ILS over comparable equipment developed under FAA's facilities and equipment program. ASI and Wilcox Electric produce commercial systems that are certified by FAA and cost about 40% less than the FAA's F&E alternative, according to Mike Warner, VP of ASI.
William Compton, chairman of TWA's Air Line Pilots Association unit since 1991, said he will not seek a third term in September but will continue to represent pilots on the airline's board. Compton told the pilots the period following TWA's restructuring, which is expected to lift the carrier out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by monthend, is the best time for new leadership.
TWA will launch nonstop service Oct. 1 from St. Louis to Jackson, Miss., and Reno. It will operate three daily flights on weekdays and two flights on weekends to Jackson, and two daily flights to Reno. With the new service, TWA will be operating 349 daily departures from its St. Louis hub. Trans World Express partner Trans States Airlines offers 177 departures. TWA said Jackson is poorly served for customers wanting to travel to business centers in the Midwest, and Reno customers will gain single- carrier connections to other stops in the Midwest and East.
Alaska Airlines will tap into Northwest's worldwide network under a marketing and code-sharing agreement, announced yesterday as one of the largest such arrangements ever between two major U.S. airlines. The agreement covers 280 flights a day to 37 cities, connecting Alaska's stronghold in the Pacific Northwest with Northwest's flights to the Pacific and its code-share service with KLM to Europe and beyond.
Worldspan has selected Koll, a real estate services company, to manage its 350,000-square-foot Atlanta data center, located near Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. Koll will maintain all mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, manage energy consumption and administer vendor contracts. It manages more than 150 million square feet of space in the U.S.
North East Cargo Airlines is applying for authority to operate charter cargo service between a point or points in Russia and a point or points in the U.S. A state-owned enterprise, the Russian carrier is seeking to inaugurate service as soon as possible, using Il-76TD freight aircraft. North East said the typical service pattern will be operated over a Magadan-Anchorage-Houston routing with 13 weekly roundtrips carrying general cargo during the first quarter, 16 roundtrips in the second and 26 roundtrips in the last two quarters of the first service year.
IATA projects in its new European Air Transport Forecast that international scheduled traffic to, from and within Europe will grow on average 5.1% a year to 2010. The forecast's average annual growth rate for total passenger traffic on all services in Europe, including international scheduled, domestic scheduled and charters, is 4.5%. France, Germany, Spain and the U.K. accounted for 69% of European domestic traffic growth in 1993, but IATA believes their share will shrink to 58% in 2010.
The market value of U.S. airline company stocks tracked by The DAILY increased 6.7% in July, to $32.42 billion from less than $30.4 billion in June, maintaining the upward movement the group has enjoyed for much of the year. The market value of the eight major airline company stocks rose 7% for the month to $23.85 billion. All but USAir managed month-over-month increases in share price as strong second quarter earnings performances boosted investor confidence.
Air South is running what is likely to be the smallest ticket giveaway in history. Observing its first birthday, the carrier will give anyone with the surnames "Happy," "Birthday," "Air" or "South" a free ticket for travel between any two points it serves. A photo identification is required. Tickets cannot be transferred, and once they are issued, the destination cannot be changed.
DOT will miss the Aug. 23 congressionally mandated deadline to complete a study of gambling on commercial aircraft engaged in international transportation.
Preparing to emerge again from bankruptcy, TWA says it is in the market for new aircraft.In a filing update to DOT on its request for South Africa frequencies, the carrier said it "has started to acquire additional aircraft and is actively searching for international widebodied aircraft."Contacted on Friday, a TWA spokesman would not comment on the statement.
Associated Air Freight appointed Tony McFarland director-credit and collection operations, worldwide. Atlantic Aviation named Bart Lalla director-aircraft services. Avitas appointed Rick Russell director-strategic development, effective today. Barnes Group Inc. appointed Cedric Beckett president of Windsor Manufacturing, a unit of Barnes Aerospace. Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems elected Mark Newman chairman in addition to his duties as president and chief executive.
World Airways says it is on the verge of an alliance to bolster its bid to serve South Africa. The carrier told DOT last week it is "in the final stages of negotiations with a major U.S. carrier for a joint marketing agreement that would generate traffic feed at JFK for World's [proposed] New York-Johannesburg service." USAfrica, which currently holds all six frequencies in the market, took a similar tack last month, signing a marketing and operational alliance with Continental.
