CANSO, the Global Voice of air traffic management (ATM), today announced its 'Middle East Declaration', a statement committing the members of its Middle East Office and other aviation stakeholders in the region to work together to improve ATM across the Middle East.
The Route Development Group (RDG) is pleased to announce that the 18th World Routes, the largest gathering of airlines, airports and tourism authorities in the world, is to be held in Abu Dhabi in 2012. The forum will be hosted by Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) between 30 September and 3 October.
AirTran Airways launched thrice-weekly service from Gulfport/Biloxi to Atlanta and Tampa aboard 717s. China Airlines launched twice-weekly Taipei-Miyazaki service aboard a 737-800. AirBaltic will launch twice-weekly Vilnius-London Gatwick flights on March 4 and twice-weekly service from Riga to Amman on June 1 and Beirut on June 2
ASIG was contracted by Air Canada to provide grand handling services, cabin cleaning and deicing at Newark. ASIG and AC work together at 10 other US airports. AC also renewed its ground handling agreement with Singapore Cargo for services at Los Angeles.
Austrian Airlines, now a Lufthansa subsidiary, remains burdened by a long-haul product that has lost money every year since its 1989 launch and faces a critical 2010, during which it must make significant progress on its restructuring, CCO and executive board member Andreas Bierwirth said last week.
Lufthansa Italia will close its underperforming Milan Malpensa-Rome Fiumicino route on Feb 16. An LH spokesperson told this website that LH Italia plans to launch new service from MXP to Stockholm Arlanda, Warsaw, Olbia and Palermo.
Lufthansa will launch flights from Munich to Miami (thrice-weekly on March 29 aboard an A330-300), Tashkent (thrice-weekly on March 28 aboard a PrivatAir 737-800) and Teheran (four-times-weekly on March 29 aboard a PrivatAir 737). Iberia will operate new weekly flights from Madrid to Amman and Damascus July 3-Oct. 30 aboard an A319 and will re-launch summer services to Washington Dulles (thrice-weekly from March 29), St. Petersburg (twice-weekly from June 1), Dubrovnik (four-times-weekly from June 20) and Zagreb (twice-weekly from July 3).
Low-cost carrier Bahrain Air plans to grow the number of its passengers to one million this year due to new destinations and targets break-even during 2011
US FAA sent a portable temporary air traffic control tower to Haiti to assist with aircraft operations at heavily damaged Port-au-Prince International. The tower is 44 ft. long, 13 ft. high and 8 ft. wide, weighs about 25,000 lb. and was transported aboard a chartered cargo aircraft. Assembling the tower will take around 48 hr., according to the agency. Controllers providing terminal ATC services have worked outside at a folding table using military radios to handle about 160 flights per day, FAA said.
Ryanair will further reduce its capacity at Dublin Airport this summer and focus on "higher-yield, outbound, peak-month, summer sun routes, rather than stimulating year-round inbound tourism with low-access fares." It cited "high and rising" airport charges and the Irish government's €10 ($14.18) "tourist tax" ( ATWOnline, June 18, 2009). The LCC will cut its Dublin-based fleet from 18 aircraft last summer to 15 and trim weekly rotations by some 19% from more than 600 to fewer than 500.
