Aviation Daily

Staff
Qantas yesterday filed a legal challenge to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department's proposed restrictions on its carriage of fifth-freedom traffic through Hong Kong to Bangkok and Singapore. The restrictions are scheduled to go into effect July 1. Qantas filed an application to the Hong Kong Supreme Court for a judicial review of the decision. The Hong Kong government decided in April to restrict Qantas's fifth-freedom traffic to Singapore and Bangkok to 50% of the total number of passengers on each flight.

Staff
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Income Statement October 1, 1994 - April 30, 1995 Current Month RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 17,863,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 364,823,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 13,220,000.00

Staff
United has revamped its North American Division by appointing five officers, as well as two officers to handle international and public affairs. United Chairman Gerald Greenwald said the changes were made to focus on customers, key markets and profitability. "The role of these regional officers in key North American markets will be to ensure that United responds quickly to customer needs and market opportunities."

Staff
The first group of pilots from Gujarat Airways - a new Indian regional carrier based in Baroda, the capital of the Gujarat state - has completed training at Flight Safety's LaGuardia Airport and Wichita centers. The pilots completed type ratings at FlightSafety for Beech 1900D aircraft. The carrier will use 1900Ds to serve a 12-city route system, connecting regional cities with Baroda and Bombay.

Staff
Meanwhile, according to at least one news report, Saab is informally discussing with Raytheon a joint venture relating to the manufacture of regional aircraft. A Reuters report, quoting an account in the Swedish business paper Finanstidningen, said only that full negotiations between the companies were not yet on the agenda and that a Saab source referred to Raytheon as "a very interesting option." Raytheon Aircraft President Roy Norris previously said the company is interested in the possibility of developing a regional jet.

Staff
Price Waterhouse, at a summit in London yesterday on the convergence of the entertainment, media and communications industries, predicted that video servers on aircraft will be in commercial, non-test usage by yearend and that within five years, the Internet - a new marketing tool for airlines - will no longer give information away.

Staff
European regional aircraft manufacturers not included in the new AIR joint venture - CASA of Spain, Daimler Benz Aerospace (DASA) and Saab Aircraft of Sweden - may be allowed to join AIR in whole or in part, or may not. There is some speculation that they may elect to form their own joint venture in competition with the British, French and Italians. DASA certainly covets a spot in the new partnership and would like very much to be designated the lead on any new 100-passenger jet project, which seems to generate the most excitement among the members.

Staff
The Airbus Industrie jetliner consortium companies involved in Europe's Future Large Airlifter (FLA) have formally transferred responsibility for the military plane to an organization within Airbus, meeting one of Britain's key demands for returning to the FLA program and buying the aircraft.

Staff
Emirates has chosen the Rolls-Royce Trent 890 to power the four B version 777-200s it will begin taking from Boeing in February 1997, Boeing said yesterday. With its selection of the Trent 890, Emirates, the international carrier of the United Arab Emirates, became the first 777 customers to select an engine for operation at 90,000 pounds thrust. Emirates has seven 777s on firm order and seven options. The carrier will begin taking delivery of its first three 777s, all shorter-range A versions of the twinjets powered by the Trent 877, in March 1996.

Staff
KLM and Northwest plan to inaugurate daily nonstop service from Washington Dulles to Amsterdam on Oct. 29. The joint service will be flown with a Northwest DC-10. Arrival in Amsterdam will be timed to provide convenient connections to such KLM destinations as Berlin, Moscow and Delhi. KLM and Northwest currently operate three times a week between Washington and Amsterdam, but the flights do not connect to a KLM flight bank at Schiphol.

Staff
Turkish flag carrier Turk Hava Yollari (THY) has placed an order for two additional Avro RJ100s - to be delivered at the end of the month - bringing THY's Avro RJ fleet to 10 aircraft. The deal was valued at $50 million. The aircraft will be configured in a 99-seat, five-abreast layout The order brings the total orders for Avro RJs to 61 aircraft, 34 of which have been delivered.

Staff
House Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) co-sponsorship of the commercial jet fuel tax repeal bill (H.R.752), made official last week, is unusual. House speakers rarely sponsor or co-sponsor bills, and Gingrich has attached his name to only three other measures this year. He has sponsored a bill to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and co-sponsored resolutions renaming certain rooms in the Capitol and condemning the Oklahoma City bombing.

Staff
American is shutting down its Nashville-London flights, service it fought hard to win in 1993 and which the city of Nashville offered to bankroll. American will end the service Oct. 1 after losing "several millions" of dollars to operate the flights, which drew mostly Nashville-originating passengers and produced low-yielding, coach/discount travel, a carrier spokesman said. Given its cost structure, American needs stronger business- and first-class traffic to make a profit, he said.

Staff
Maruzen Air Express International, the Japanese parent of Air Express International, has been awarded ISO 9002 certification by the International Organization for Standardization. MAEI is the first integrated logistics provider in Japan to comply with the internationally accepted standard for quality management for its entire operation, AEI said. MAEI specializes in air and ocean freight forwarding, warehousing and distribution, and customs clearance.

Staff
Air Ontario and Air Alliance have applied for authority to operate scheduled and charter combination service from any point or points in Canada and the U.S. Both carriers are wholly owned subsidaries of Air Canada. Operating a fleet of de Havilland Dash 8-100 and 300 aircraft and a Beech King Air 200, Air Ontario currently operates scheduled service between Toronto and Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Hartford and Indianapolis. Air Alliance operates scheduled service between Canada and Hartford, New York and Philadelphia. The carrier flies all Dash 8-100s.

Staff
Switzerland yesterday became the fifth country to sign its open skies agreement with the U.S.Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Norway have yet to sign their pacts.

Staff
British Aerospace's Asset Management Organization and AlliedSignal Engines this week announced an initiative designed to reduce ALF-502 maintenance costs on the BAe 146 23% - to under $40 per operating hour over the next five years. Current selling standard for maintenance cost per flight hour is $52. Both companies will contribute funding for hardware improvements, AMO said.

Staff
Delta is the favorite domestic airline of travelers on long- and short-haul routes in first class and coach, according to a customer satisfaction survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates in conjunction with Frequent Flyer Magazine and Official Airline Guide. The results are derived from 3,000 respondents who average more than 25 roundtrips a year. The ranking, in terms of overall customer satisfaction, was Delta, American and United, followed by America West, Northwest and TWA - in a three-way tie - USAir, Southwest and Continental.

Staff
Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is urging President Clinton to press the issue of aviation rights for U.S. passenger and cargo carriers at this week's Group of Seven summit meeting in Halifax, Canada. Pressler said that Clinton should confront Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama concerning Japan's violation of its agreement allowing United and Federal Express to operate into Japan and beyond to other points in Asia.

Staff
America West's dispatch/flight control employees rejected a bid by the Transport Workers Union for representation. Of 41 eligible voters, the National Mediation Board counted only 18 in favor of the TWU. America West President Maurice Myers said, "We're obviously pleased with the result. America West is committed to building a high-performance corporate culture in which employees are valued and compensated competitively." The carrier noted that employees have rejected four union attempts to organize in the last six months.

Staff
American Eagle opened its expanded, $14 million passenger terminal at Dallas/Fort Worth yesterday and added 45 daily departures. The additional flights include new service to Houston Hobby and Memphis. The new 18,000- square-foot facility is nearly four times as large as the original one.

Staff
Delta Connection carrier Comair's May traffic rose 22.9% from the same month last year on 18.9% more capacity, pushing the airline's load factor up 1.7 percentage points to 52.8%. The number of passengers boarded increased 14.1%. Through the first five months of the calendar year, Comair's traffic increased 27.6% on 25.6% more capacity, and its load factor increased 0.8 points to 48.8%.

Staff
Bombardier's board of directors has given the long-anticipated go- ahead for the de Havilland Dash 8 Series 400 program, the 70-passenger, high-speed twin turboprop that has been on the drawing board for at least five years (DAILY, June 13). Bombardier and de Havilland officials this week at the Paris Air Show detailed plans to develop the high-speed commuter carrier that will build upon the Downsview, Ontario's, product line of the 50-passenger Dash 8 Series 300 and the 37-passenger Series 100 and 200 aircraft.

Staff
Regional Airlines of Nantes, France, took delivery in Paris of the first of three Saab 2000 turboprops. The aircraft, configured for 53 seats, will begin scheduled service between Lyon and Madrid. Additionally, Saab announced that Air Marshall Islands has taken delivery of its first Saab 2000, becoming the third carrier to operate the high-speed turboprop.

Staff
Delta Connection Comair will introduce jet service from Cincinnati to Outagamie County, Wis., Airport Sept. 11 when it upgrades aircraft from 30- passenger turboprops with Canadair Regional Jets. The carrier operates four daily flights to Outagamie County, and the early morning and late evening flight will be operated with the RJ.