GlobalAir.com has developed an app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch that enables pilots to compare fuel prices. The FBO Fuel Prices app provides updated fixed-base operation pricing across the U.S. Participating FBOs must update their prices at least once every 30 days, and in competitive markets, prices are updated weekly, GlobalAir says. Users can search by airport code or city and state and check pricing in a 100-nm radius.
Brazil’s finance ministry has granted its approval of Grupo TAM’s proposed merger with Chile’s LAN Airlines. The backing from the Treasury Department’s Secretaria de Acompanhamento Economico, while noting there are overlaps on three passenger and 10 cargo routes, says the merger should be approved without restrictions because the airline industry is sufficiently competitive to assure the airlines will not dominate the sector.
Canada and Costa Rica have tentatively approved an open skies accord to replace a bilateral air services agreement from 1996. The deal, which must still be ratified by both countries, follows open skies agreements Canada has signed with Brazil and Mexico (Aviation Daily, Aug. 11).
Australia’s Strategic Airlines plans to build on its new Hawaii routes by linking to mainland U.S. destinations, challenging the established players in the lucrative transpacific market. “Ultimately we are planning to add connections to the U.S. mainland and beyond,” Strategic Chief Commercial Officer Damien Vasta tells Aviation Week following the announcement of flights from Melbourne and Brisbane to Honolulu. Vasta has previously signaled that the beyond-Hawaii links could be achieved through a code-share or interline agreement.
Jay Pierce, chairman of Continental Airlines’ Air Line Pilots Association chapter, is applauding moves to implement a new fatigue risk management system for the work group. The lack of a fatigue plan has for some time been a major concern for Pierce, and he again raised the issue late last month when United Continental Holdings complained about the cancellation of Continental Boeing 737 services at its Newark Liberty International hub because of an apparent sick-out (Aviation Daily, July 29).
Australia’s Tiger Airways is preparing to resume flying on a second route following the lifting of the carrier’s operating suspension last week. Tiger is restoring its Melbourne-Brisbane route beginning Aug. 18 after reintroducing its Sydney-Melbourne service on Aug. 12. The carrier is “resuming Australian domestic services gradually,” and regulators are only allowing it 18 sectors per day during August.
Latvian airline Air Baltic continues to grow traffic in spite of a long-standing dispute among its shareholders. The airline saw traffic increase by 7% in the first seven months of the year. In the same period, the load factor improved by six points to 73%, albeit lower than industry average.
US Airways is citing the Justice Department’s investigation into possible antitrust violations by global distribution system providers as one of many reasons why the airline’s antitrust lawsuit against Sabre should be allowed to proceed.
Frontier Airlines is expanding its presence in Kansas City, Mo., by adding service to Las Vegas and Houston Hobby Airport, starting Nov. 1, on 99-seat Embraer 190 aircraft. With the additions, the low-cost carrier will serve 18 destinations nonstop from Kansas City. As a result of the service expansion, which follows the addition of three other routes within the past year, Frontier will be expanding its facilities at the airport to include a fifth gate in Terminal C. Republic Airways, Frontier's parent company, has crew and maintenance bases in Kansas City.
Israel will build a new international airport at Timna near the Red Sea resort of Eilat to boost tourism in the southern region of the country. The airport will be named after the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon.
EADS CFO Hans-Peter Ring arrived in New York last week for meetings with institutional investors and analysts in the middle of a stock market meltdown. “Obviously the markets feel that there is [the threat of] a double-dip recession,” he says. But if that does happen, Ring is confident the company’s Airbus unit is prepared.
Efforts to establish the first carbon dioxide certification standard for aircraft are proving difficult, and the recent failure to agree on a metric for CO2 emissions risks delaying completion of the standard. Any delay could empower environmental groups already putting pressure on governments to regulate aircraft CO2 emissions in the absence of a global standard.
Air Lease Corp. is in talks with Boeing about the re-engining plan for the 737NG, but has questions about whether the aircraft can be competitive with the rival Airbus A320NEO (new engine option).
SEOUL, South Korea—Korean Air (KAL) has identified China and Southeast Asia as its top business jet markets, but believes Russia is coming on as an emerging market. Speaking to reporters Aug. 8 in Seoul, Keehong Woo, managing vice president and head of the passenger business division, said that while China is the main market, when it comes to Russia, “We expect more demand there.”
Jet Professionals has opened a new branch office at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The office will provide aviation staffing services to the Middle East market. “Our Al Bateen presence allows us to better serve and support our Middle East customers and to handle this market’s current and anticipated growth,” says Hani Farag, managing director of Jet Professionals Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) & Asia. The company is working with its affiliate company in the Americas to provide universal staffing and support services.
ROBERT LUMMUS was named vice president and general manager of StandardAero Business Aviation’s Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) facility. Lummus had been acting vice president/general manager since April. He formerly served as director of operations at the facility and was responsible for profitability of engine operations, as well as overall customer satisfaction and engine growth. Before joining StandardAero, Lummus held engineering and leadership roles with McDonnell Douglas and Landmark Aviation.
LYCOMING ENGINES (L)O-360, (L)IO-360, AEIO-360, O-540, IO-540, AEIO-540, (L)TIO-540, IO-580, and IO-720 series engines [Docket No. FAA-2006-24785; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-20-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to replace certain crankshafts. This proposal would supersede an existing directive (AD 2006-20-09), retaining all its requirements, but changing the start date of affected engine models from March 1, 1997, to Jan. 1, 1997.
Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) set a template for partnership in the future growth of the company after the IAM approved the company’s five-year contract offer on Aug. 6, says HBC Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture. The contract, approved by 69% of IAM voters, marks a turnaround from the contentious negotiations and contract rejection that the company faced last fall.
Montreal-based Zenith Jet is forecasting that 11,103 business aircraft will be delivered between 2011 and 2020, with total billings of $245 billion. The business aviation management company expects to see a compounded annual growth of new aircraft deliveries from 2011 to 2016 of 15%. “Opportunities exist for OEMs to develop new clean-sheet designs as existing airframe platforms are increasingly unlikely to yield successful derivatives,” the report says.
Precision Castparts has completed its deal announced last month to acquire Primus International—a Bellevue, Wash.-based supplier of aluminum, titanium and composite aerostructure components—for $900 million in cash. Primus, formerly owned by private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, employs 1,500 workers at sites in the U.S., Thailand, China and the U.K.
