Birmingham (U.K.) Airport officials said they have selected Irish airport owner Aer Rianta to begin formal negotiations for a "strategic partnership." Under the agreement, Aer Rianta will take up a substantial minority shareholding while the existing owners, seven local district councils, will reduce their shareholdings below 50%. The remaining shareholder has yet to be named. Besides Aer Rianta, National Express and Airport Group International made final presentations to the Board of Birmingham Airport.
Travel Industry Association (TIA) says the price of travel has grown at a slightly slower rate than the overall cost of goods and services in the first half of the year. Cost of transportation overall is up 2.8%, with increases in airline fares, up 0.9%; motor fuel, 5.8%; lodging, 3.5%; food and beverages, 2.2%, and entertainment, 3.3%.
From its new position within FAA, the Office of Commercial Space Transportation hopes to benefit from FAA regulatory expertise and experience, Frank Weaver, director of the office, said yesterday. As part of the administration's restructuring of DOT, the space transportation unit will move Oct. 1 from the Office of the Secretary to FAA, and Weaver will become FAA associate administrator for commercial space transportation.
Alamo Rent A Car has launched a Fall Partners promotion that gives customers free airline companion tickets, upgrades and hotel stays, as well as discounts on car rentals in 1995 and 1996. The offer is good at any of Alamo's 121 U.S. locations and applies to customers renting a car for at least four days between Sept. 23 and Dec. 15. Alamo's partners are Alaska Airlines, Carnival, Delta, Hawaiian, KLM, Midwest Express, TWA, United, USAir, Choice Hotels, Hyatt Resorts, Ramada and Busch Entertainment.
MarkAir is expected today to submit to a bankruptcy court a letter of intent for the sale of the Denver operation to a new investor. The carrier, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April, now operates only six aircraft from Denver and no longer operates any flights from its Anchorage base to the lower 48 states. MarkAir has not revealed the identity of the investor. Separately, the struggling airline is attempting to break its collective bargaining agreement with its pilots.
USAir yesterday touched off an airline stock rally on Wall Street with a prediction that it will report third quarter and full year 1995 pre-tax profits, barring unforeseen events. USAir's revised financial forecast - it had not previously projected pre-tax results, but had provided analysts with yield and cost estimates it felt compelled to update because of securities laws - bumped its stock price up 1 5/8 yesterday to 9 5/8 in heavy trading. At one point, USAir was among the most actively traded issues.
Ladeco S.A. of Chile asked DOT to renew its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Santiago and Toronto via U.S. co-terminal points Miami, New York and Baltimore/Washington. (Docket 49717&OST-95- 519)
Distribution Of Airline And Union PAC Contributions By Party Contributions to Rep Dem Distribution 93-94 91-92 89-90 87-88 1/1- 1/1- Rep./Dem Rep/Dem Rep/Dem Rep/Dem Rep/Dem 6/30/95 6/30/95 Airlines Airborne Freight $4,000 $0 100%/0% 77%/23% 76%/24% 53%/47% NA/NA Alaska 3,000 1,050 74%/26% 42%/58% 51%/49% 69%/31% 45%/55%
Africa holds tremendous potential for expansion of aviation; there is no other way for the continent to go, according to IATA Director General Pierre Jeanniot. Speaking at the first-ever IATA Africa roundtable, "Indaba," held recently in Johannesburg, Jeanniot said the very geography of Africa dictates that air transport is "the only way forward." The Indaba audience comprised executives of African airlines, representatives of civil aviation authorities across Africa and members of the media.
All Nippon Airways boarded 180,002 passengers on international flights in July, an increase of 30.5% from the same month a year ago. The airline's international passenger load factor fell seven percentage points to 68.2%, however. ANA's domestic passenger volume rose 5.7% to nearly 3 million, but its load factor slipped 0.5 points to 60%. Through the first four months of its current fiscal year, which began April 1, ANA carried 614,578 passengers on international routes, an increase of 26.4%. Its international passenger load factor was 62.5%.
Tarom has asked DOT to amend its Bucharest-New York/Chicago authority to permit operation of combined flights from Bucharest to the two U.S. points with no traffic rights between New York and Chicago. The carrier also wants authority to increase its Bucharest-Chicago service from two to three roundtrips per week. In all, Tarom proposes offering three weekly roundtrips between Bucharest and Chicago and New York, using Airbus A310 aircraft. (Docket 41734&OST-95-550)
Western Pacific Airlines asked DOT to take another look at its application for an exemption from slot rules to operate Colorado Springs-Chicago O'Hare service. After being turned down in April, the carrier filed its current bid for four new-entrant slots in May, gaining support from the Colorado governor and congressional delegation as well as the City of Chicago (DAILY, May 31). The carrier distinguishes its bid from Spirit's failed attempt to gain slots at LaGuardia (DAILY, Aug. 28).
First Boeing 777, WA001, leaves Seattle today for an eight-day tour of Europe. Boeing said that "despite a downturn in the airline industry, the 777 has captured more than 70% of all orders in its market category since its launch in October 1990." Sixteen customers have placed orders for 167 of the new aircraft, the company said. During the tour, the 777 will establish speed records on its departure, Seattle to Geneva, and return, Frankfurt to Seattle on Sept. 13. Other European cities it will visit are Warsaw, Vienna and London.
America West's FlightFund frequent flyer club members can now book award travel on Continental, gaining 48 domestic destinations and additional opportunities in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Mexico and Canada. Members were previously allowed to accrue frequent flyer points when flying Continental but could not redeem mileage on the airline.
With an 87% on-time performance in July, Southwest scored the best record among the majors for the second month in a row. Overall, flights of the nation's 10 largest carriers arrived within 15 minutes of schedule 80.1% of the time last month , up from 75.9% in June and 79.5% in July 1994, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report, issued yesterday. USAir was first runner-up with 81%, while TWA and Continental tied for third at 80.4%. Alaska Airlines, the on-time leader for May, placed last with a 69.4% record.
British Airways flew 8% more systemwide revenue passenger kilometers last month than in August 1994 on 5.5% more capacity, and the airline's load factor topped 80% (80.5%) in August for the first time since 1987. The number of passengers boarded rose 3.7%. The increases in passenger traffic and volume were largely driven by strong intercontinental service demand. BA's intercontinental traffic rose 9.4%, while its U.K./European traffic increased 2.1% last month.
Indianapolis Airport Authority Board Friday approved a contract, effective Oct. 1, with BAA USA Inc., a subsidiary of U.K. airport operator BAA plc, for management of the city's six airports over the next 10 years. The agreement, which covers Indianapolis Airport, the downtown heliport and four suburban airports, will be signed next week at the Airports Council International-North America annual conference in Washington D.C.
Iberia and Carnival Air Lines are seeking renewal of their authority to conduct blocked-space, code-sharing operations. Under the arrangement, the Spanish carrier operates service between New York and Miami, on the one hand, and Madrid, on the other. Carnival operates service between Miami and New York and other domestic points, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and New Orleans. Iberia's code is used on Carnival flights for all international through service, while Carnival provides solely domestic service, using its code between Miami and other domestic U.S.
European Commission approval of the British Aerospace-ATR regional aircraft joint venture will be announced within days. The commission subjected the proposal to more scrutiny than the applicants had hoped for, but Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert, given authority to approve the deal, did so.
ValuJet, contemplating its first-ever purchase of new aircraft, has been wooed in the past couple of weeks by Boeing, Airbus Industrie, McDonnell Douglas and Fokker. The carrier, which has bought nothing but used DC-9s so far, is considering new 737, A319, MD-80 and Fokker 100 aircraft. It says it will need at least three weeks to complete cost/benefit analyses and decide whether to go for new airplanes or stick with 113-seat DC-9s, which break even on only 50 ticket sales.
Hurricane Luis wreaked havoc on airline service to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico yesterday, causing cancellations at least through today. The Category 4 hurricane, with 140 mph winds, caused USAir to cancel flights through today to St. Thomas from Baltimore and San Juan from Baltimore, Charlotte and Philadelphia. Delta operated flights out of St. Thomas and St. Croix yesterday but canceled everything at San Juan after 2 p.m. American, with 57 daily jet flights and 70 American Eagle flights to San Juan, suspended service after 7 p.m.
British Airways this week is launching its first pilot recruitment drive in five years, targeting women and ethnic minorities. BA, which last ran a Cadet Entry Pilot recruitment campaign in 1990, said it needs to ensure a sufficient supply of new pilots to replace the "hundreds" of current pilots who will reach the airline's mandatory retirement age of 55 during the next five years. The airline is targeting women and minorities because it has only 42 women and a "handful" of ethnic minorities among its 3,200 pilots.
Canadian Airlines International will launch next month Club Empress, an enhanced international business- class product centered on a custom- designed, fully electronic seat with 50-inch pitch, and individual video screens. The new business class also will provide improved airport services and inflight features, including six video and eight audio channels of entertainment. Passengers will be able to decide when they want to eat. The upgrade cost CAI C$20 million, and the carrier expects to recover the investment in 11 months. With a launch date of Oct.
DOT issued yesterday "The Regulatory Reinvention Initiative Report," which details FAA efforts to reduce regulatory costs while maintaining safety. FAA Aministrator David Hinson said the report "describes these efforts and outlines future ways to make the agency more responsive to the public."
Air New Zealand's management yesterday posted a record after-tax profit of NZ$260.2 million (US$174.5 million) for the year ended June 30 and said the company's shares are undervalued on the stock market.
