Kiwi International Air Lines will launch nonstop service to Las Vegas from Atlanta and Chicago Midway Thursday. To kick off the event, a fake casino will open at Hartsfield Airport at 5 p.m., and an Elvis impersonator will entertain at Midway. One-way fares start at $90 from Chicago and $108 from Atlanta.
Finnair will offer deeply discounted fares to students and travelers who are under 25 years old on domestic routes across Finland Feb. 19-23. The special 70% discount, which coincides with Finnish schools' winter vacation, is the equivalent of a youth fare.
DOT has approved Carnival Air Line's request for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Fort Lauderdale and San Jose, Costa Rica. The carrier plans daily nonstop service on the route, using 737-200 and -400 aircraft (DAILY, Jan. 24). (Docket OST-96-1003)
Hyundai Group will replace another Korean company, Halla Engineering, as McDonnell Douglas's wing-building partner in the MD-95 program, a Douglas Aircraft spokesman said yesterday. Halla Engineering was named last Nov. 8 as the wing contractor, and because of the change, Douglas's traditional wing supplier, McDonnell Douglas Canada, will build the "first few wing sets" to keep the MD-95 program on schedule, the spokesman said. ValuJet, the launch customer and so far the only buyer, is scheduled to receive the first of 50 MD-95s on firm order in June 1999.
Carnival Air Lines' January traffic for its systemwide scheduled operations rose 32% to 199.5 million revenue passenger miles from 151.4 million RPMs. Its available seat miles outpaced traffic growth, increasing 33.2% during the month to 332.7 million ASMs from 249.9 million, resulting in a load factor drop to 59.9% from 60.6%. Carnival carried 168,761 passengers in January, compared with 123,868 in January 1995.
Airlines objecting to use of new Denver Airport funds to maintain facilities at the former Stapleton Airport "implicitly ignore Denver's obligation to dispose of Stapleton in a prudent and environmentally responsible manner," the City and County of Denver said this week. In response to a Part 13 complaint filed at FAA by nine airlines (DAILY, Jan. 4), Denver argued that federal law governing airport revenue diversion permits it to user airport system revenues to pay for the transitional costs of disposing of Stapleton.
Delta's plans to code share with Aer Lingus between New York and Dublin and Shannon may be delayed by protests from United and American. United applied yesterday for its own code share - London Heathrow-Dublin, with British Midland - and American opposes Delta because it cannot expand its own code-sharing deal with British Midland to cover London-Dublin. United and American are up against the Shannon provision of the bilateral, which bars U.S.-Dublin code sharing via London unless the U.S. carrier serves Shannon.
American will discontinue some service to Venezuela because of problems in getting its earnings out of the country. As of March 2, the airline will discontinue daily flights between Caracas and San Juan, and also between Maracaibo and Miami. It will keep in place its three daily flights between Miami and Caracas and its single daily flight between Caracas and New York.
Los Angeles's city controller this week urged Mayor Richard Riordan and the City Council to expedite an agreement to repay funds the Los Angeles County Grand Jury says the Department of Airports owes the city's general fund. The grand jury last year said the department owed the city fund $157.7 million - $5.4 million in principal and $152.3 million in interest - for loans dating back to 1928 (DAILY, April 10). Auditors for the city reviewed the grand jury recommendation and said the figure was closer to $142 million.
Phoenix Media Group signed a joint venture marketing agreement with DCI Telecommunications Inc. giving Phoenix exclusive rights to market DCI's Privilege Card to Asian-based airlines. The companies said many upscale merchants and restaurants in major U.S. cities have contracted with DCI to honor the card and grant discounts to cardholders. The cards will feature the logos of participating airlines. DCI has a contract with United, is negotiating with several European airlines and believes it will secure an agreement with a major Asian airline in the near term.
A coalition of five suing airlines argue that American is getting its new Super A concourse at Miami Airport at "less than half price." American has stated it will pay for the state-of-the-art facility and additional gates, while other tenant airlines' rent will rise only 10% above increases called for in the airport's overall $3.6 billion capital improvement program (CIP) (DAILY, Feb. 7). "We are pleased that American has said it is willing to pay for its fair share, and that goes a long way on a resolution to this.
Kiwi has chosen Long Haymes Carr, Winston-Salem, N.C., as its new advertising agency. The firm takes over the $8 million account, which previously was handled by Gianettino&Meredith, Short Hills, N.J. Kiwi said it chose Long Haymes Carr not only for its creative capabilities, but also for its aggressive compensation arrangements. "We have a new business plan, called Beyond Tomorrow, that aims to push our revenues up about 20%. Long Haymes Carr is a critical part of the formula to achieve this goal," the carrier said.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries October 1995 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator AF&T 1 Fokker 100 Tay650-15 Taba Ages A/C Intl 1 727-200 ADV JT8D-17R Mexicana Air Europa 2 737-300 CFM56-3B1 GPA Group Air Jamaica 1 A310-300 PW4152 Delta Air Liberte 1 MD-83 JT8D-219 Air Liberte Tunis
BFGoorich Aerospace introduced a steel brake for Boeing 737-600/700/800 aircraft, saying it will reduce operating costs by improving service life, turnaround times and reliability. The brake has a new friction material that will increase its performance life by 30% and reduce the frequency of overhauls and related costs, the company said.
Swissair is offering "giveaway" fares from Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Lugano to five Far Eastern destinations March 1 to Oct. 31. A roundtrip flight to Bangkok will cost 1,200 Swiss francs, to Singapore SF1,245, to Manila or Hong Kong SF1,460 and to Seoul SF1,645.
United will receive $49,029 from an investment banker who pleaded guilty Monday to simple assault on a flight attendant during a flight from Buenos Aires to New York in October. The passenger became rowdy when he was refused alcohol after the airline stopped serving drinks. Of the $49,029, $1,000 will cover cleanup costs associated with the passenger's defecating on a food service cart, and the rest will go toward the amount United reimbursed other passengers, according to press reports. The defendant faces up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
FAA said yesterday that Swaziland and Zimbabwe do not comply with international safety standards, and it rated Poland as conditional. This means any carrier from the first two nations cannot serve the U.S., and Polish carriers will get increased surveillance.
The success of FAA and the European Joint Aviation Authorities in harmonizing certification standards for newly designed U.S. and European small airplanes will boost the general aviation industry, Anthony Broderick, FAA associate administrator for regulation and certification, said yesterday in Washington. The agency published the harmonized rules in Friday's Federal Register, and Broderick praised the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee and JAA groups for the accomplishment. He added, however, that common rules on large aircraft are years away.
TWA has filed suit against Omega World Travel, claiming it violated its responsibility as an agent of TWA by selling discounted tickets it obtained from entities controlled by former TWA owner Carl Icahn. The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, seeks restitution of all revenues Omega gained by selling the discounted tickets to the public. Omega obtained some of the tickets from Global Discount Travel Services, which Icahn set up to sell the tickets under an agreement with TWA that limited the sale to groups or corporations.
Vanguard Airlines is offering $19 one-way fares between Chicago Midway and Des Moines, Iowa. The fares require a 14-day advance purchase. Vanguard has revamped its pricing structure to reflect that it no longer offers low fares only at certain times of day and days of the week. It operates three daily flights in the Chicago-Des Moines market.
Air Operations of Europe AB (AOE) is seeking renewal of its authority to operate charter service between one or more points in Sweden, Denmark and Norway and the U.S. Based in Sweden, AOE is wholly owned by ING Aviation Lease, a Netherlands corporation. (Dockets OST-95-118&OST-95-119)
Chilean carrier Ladeco has received renewed DOT authority to operate scheduled combination service between Santiago, Chile, and Los Angeles. The service is operated via Mexico City, with local traffic rights in both directions between Mexico City and Los Angeles (DAILY, Jan. 24). (Docket OST-96-1017)
Air Asia Co. and Boeing are near an agreement to cooperate in helicopter maintenance in Taiwan, according to Taiwanese newspaper reports. A formal accord be signed this month. Air Asia already signed helicopter maintenance agreements with Bell Helicopter Textron and Sikorsky Aircraft, and it has become the first Taiwanese company licensed to perform maintenance on the S-70C helicopter.
TWA, which did not know a year ago whether it would survive, signaled its return as a competitive factor in the airline industry yesterday by ordering 20 new 757s and taking options on 20 more. The carrier said in December it hoped to replace its L-1011s with 757s (DAILY, Dec. 12, 1995), and in yesterday's announcement it said it will use the new aircraft to replace 14 of the Lockheed trijets. Only last month, Chief Financial Officer Robert Peiser told an industry conference that a year ago, he was not sure TWA would be flying today (DAILY, Jan. 22).
