Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has selected US-based Sensis for the deployment of its Advanced - Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) and Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) systems for King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah and King Fahd International Airport, Dammam.
ATG airports announced at the Dubai Airport Show today that it has developed the 'Passive System', a straight-forward airfield ground lighting (AGL) distribution system with no active components.
UK airports operator BAA said yesterday that it will appeal the Competition Commission's ruling that it must sell both London Gatwick and Stansted and either Edinburgh or Glasgow International, claiming that the decision was both "affected by apparent bias" and failed to account for the current economic climate. BAA is asking the Competition Appeal Tribunal to review the March ruling. It said its accusation of bias is based on "links between a member of the Competition Commission panel and an organization interested in acquiring the airports that BAA is required to sell."
American Eagle will launch four-times-weekly Los Angeles-Roswell flights on Aug. 25 aboard an ERJ-140. Yangtze River Express will extend its Shanghai-Los Angeles freighter service to Dallas/Fort Worth four-times-weekly beginning May 22. VLM Airlines suspended Manchester-London City service last week, stating the route has been "heavily loss-making" and was "impeded by unfair competition from a subsidized rail network and airline ticket taxes that often make up over 50% of the overall fare."
Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) to develop aircraft communications for poor weather, poor visibility and in emergencies.
Thailand-based ASA Group has been given the go ahead by Airports of Thailand to develop "Thailand's first world-class fixed base operation at Phuket International Airport".
Qatar Airways has said it will invest $1bn at Doha International Airport to cope with the "staggering growth in passenger numbers, fleet size and capacity". The infrastructure investment includes the carrier's Premium Terminal which will operate until the new airport opens in 2012.
Air Astana confirmed plans to expand significantly its Central Asia network including more cities in southern Russia and neighboring countries. Two leased E-190s scheduled for delivery in early 2011 will enable growth, President Peter Foster said, adding, "We identified enormous opportunities to expand further over the next five years with a new network." Air Astana currently operates to 22 domestic and 21 international destinations from its hubs in Almaty, Astana and Atyrau.
VivaAerobus will cease service June 1 at Austin-Bergstrom, where it operated flights to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. Due to "the unfortunate outbreak of the swine flu virus," cancellations have risen to "unprecedented" levels, it said.
Arabian Support and Services Company (ASASCO), established a new joint venture company Arabian Aircraft Shelter Company Ltd. (ARAISHCO) with ARASCO, the biggest FBO operator in the Middle East and owners of Bexair, to develop, design and build the first ever aircraft shelters project in Riyadh and Jeddah International Airports.
Italy is stepping up its chances of commercial penetration in international markets, with a new cooperation agreement between two leading companies that extends over the whole line of Air Traffic Management and control systems.
Dubai's flagship construction project - the 140 square kilometre aviation city Dubai World Central - will go live in June 2010 according to the emirate's aviation supremo.
UK company Zoeftig will unveil "infinite" - a new seating design - for the first time in the Middle East when it takes part in the UK pavilion at the Airport Show in Dubai next week.
Aer Lingus will remove one of three aircraft at its Belfast International base next winter and temporarily cut five destinations owing to poor demand. It plans to drop BFS-Milan Malpensa in September with services to Faro, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Barcelona and Rome Fiumicino going in October. It said the aircraft and most of the routes at Belfast will be restored from March. It will also remove one aircraft at Dublin.
Polet Airlines, a Russian charter carrier of heavy and outsize cargo, is entering the international cargo market. It has leased three IL-96-400"s from Ilyushin Finance Co. and wants to bring them into commercial operation by autumn 2009. It plans to add three IL-96-400"s in 2010-11. The company said in a statement that it is expecting to achieve positive results by 2011. Munich has been selected as its main base in Europe. At the initial stage, sales and marketing will be done in cooperation with partners and GSAs, though direct sales may be considered as a long-term plan.
Emirates announced an additional 12 weekly flights to regional destinations, bringing weekly flights across the Middle East to 197. From July 1, the 12 additional flights using A330s will serve Kuwait (two), Amman (two), Damascus (three), Sana'a (one) and Doha (four). Ethiopian Airlines is launching a thrice-weekly Addis Ababa-Malabo service on June 2 using 767-300 and 757-200 equipment and a twice-weekly service to Riyadh with 737-700s and -800s.
Asiana Airlines will introduce daily service between Seoul and New York JFK with the addition of two more flights from May 28. It will use a 246-seat 747-400 Combi on the route. Decision to increase service is owing in large part to "the sharp increase in demand" for seats following commencement of the Visa Waiver Program between the countries.
Shannon airport in southern Ireland is keen to promote itself to Middle Eastern flyers, both corporate and airlines. The airport is on schedule to open its full US pre-clearance facility for airline operations in July and for business jets in September this year.
Airbus announced creation of a new subsidiary, QuoVadis, based in Toulouse that will "sell and provide Required Navigation Performance services. . .ranging from RNP procedures design, testing and flight operations packaging to RNP training." The manufacturer said it signed a cooperation agreement for RNP procedure design with the French Civil Aviation University in Toulouse and CGx Aero in SYS, a specialist in aeronautical and geographic information systems based in Castres, France.
Hawaiian Airlines and Korean Airlines will expand their codesharing agreement from June 15 to allow HA to place its code on flights operated by KE between Seoul Incheon and Honolulu and between ICN and Busan, as well as from ICN to destinations in Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. The two carriers began a codeshare relationship in 2007, with KE putting its code on HA's inter-island and Hawaii-US mainland flights. Flydubai announced daily flights from Dubai to Damascus starting June 8 and daily Dubai-Alexandria service from June 9.
Airports Council International-Europe said it "regrets" the European Parliament's adoption of the proposal suspending the use-it-or-lose-it rule for airport slots for the summer 2009 season, while the EC confirmed that it has no plan in place to maintain the suspension during the winter.
Norwegian continues to report rising traffic, load factors and yield despite the downturn and is committed to continuing to challenge SAS for market share. Fresh off an improved first quarter ( ATWOnline, April 27), the carrier transported 861,530 passengers in April, an 18% increase year-over-year. Load factor rose 3 points to 79% and yield was up 6% to NOK0.63 (9.69 cents). It took delivery of its 44rh aircraft, a 737-800, last month.
