Al Jaber Engineering and Contracting has been awarded a Dh4.3 billion ($1.17bn) contract to build Dubai International Airport's Concourse 3, according to COO Fatima Obaid Al Jaber.
EgyptAir yesterday launched operations at Cairo International's new Terminal 3 with a daily service to New York JFK. MS and several Star Alliance carriers plan to transfer operations to the new facility over the next month.
Transaero launched thrice-weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Blagoveshchensk aboard a Tu-214. Jetstar Asia will launch daily Singapore-Penang service on July 1, increasing to twice-daily on Oct. 1.
Porter Airlines will invest C$45 million ($37.2 million) in a new 150,000-sq.-ft. passenger terminal at Toronto City Centre Airport, with the first phase scheduled to open in November. All 10 gates, customs facilities and both passenger lounges will be operational by next spring. Porter plans to be operating 18 Q400s by year end and will launch a YTZ-Thunder Bay service on June 26.
Airlines on either side of the Taiwan Strait are expected to reap further benefits following the Sunday signing of an expanded agreement by the Taipei-based Strait Exchange Foundation and the Beijing-based Assn. for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait that will more than double the number of permitted flights.
Delta Air Lines will begin serving Dallas Love Field on July 6 with thrice-daily service to/from Memphis aboard CRJ200s operated by Pinnacle Airlines. DL currently flies to Dallas/Fort Worth from seven US cities. American Airlines recently announced the suspension of its DAL service from June 11 ( ATWOnline, March 13).
CSA Czech Airlines will launch twice weekly Prague-Novosibirsk service on April 28 with an A319. Korean Air will launch daily Incheon-Shizuoka service on June 4. Jet Airways launched daily Chennai-Dubai service Friday aboard a 737-800.
Joy Air, the joint venture launched by AVIC and China Eastern Airlines in March 2008, is expected to be formally operational in June, AVIC Chairman Lin Zuoming told China Business News. Lin said the Xi'an-based carrier plans to conduct trial flights in May, although it has not yet obtained its airworthiness certificate. It has registered capital of CNY1 billion, in which AVIC originally contributed a 60% stake and China Eastern Airlines 40%.
Al Maktoum International Airport may not open until 2015 and could feature one less runway than planned plus first flight dates of 2010 could also be put back, reported Reuters.
China Eastern Airlines, which reported a company-record loss of CNY13.93 billion ($2.04 billion) in 2008, is committed to engineering a turnaround through cost control, targeted expansion and SkyTeam membership despite the threat of insolvency.
Emirates will increase service from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur from 12-times-weekly to 14-times-weekly and to Jakarta from daily to 10-times-weekly on May 1. Allegiant Air will launch twice-weekly Oakland-Eugene service on June 8. SpiceJet launched daily Ahmedabad-Bangalore, Pune-Kolkata, and Mumbai-Coimbatore flights. Its summer schedule will comprise 119 daily flights aboard 19 737-800s/-900ERs.
Alaska Airlines said it became the first airline approved by US FAA to conduct its own Required Navigation Performance flight validation, which could lead to faster RNP procedure approvals.
Chicago Midway's privatization plan collapsed after a group of private investors failed to raise the funds needed to secure a $2.52 billion long-term lease for the facility. City officials said Monday that Midway Investment and Development Corp., the group that made the successful bid on the 99-year lease, was unable to raise the required financing. The consortium included Vancouver Airport Services, Citi Infrastructure Investors and John Hancock Life Insurance ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2008).
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol must lower tariffs that took effect April 1 by €3.5 million ($4.5 million), Dutch competition authority NMa ruled yesterday. Schiphol Group incorrectly passed several nonaviation costs--including the costs of building a sound barrier around one runway, of training baggage handling employees and of an accountancy control--to airlines when setting landing and handling fees, NMa said. Under rules introduced in 2006, airport fees must reflect the actual cost of operations, be nondiscriminatory and reasonable.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said that Dubai's new airport may have its first flight pushed back further than planned, and that officials will review the $33bn facility opening date in the coming weeks. "The question we're now asking is: When is the right time to open the new airport?" reported the Associated Press.
AirAsia X will increase five-times-weekly Kuala Lumpur-London Stansted service to daily on July 1. Jetstar Pacific will add a fourth daily Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang flight and a second-daily Hanoi-Da Nang frequency and will increase four-times-weekly Hanoi-Can Tho service to daily on June 1.
Sensis said Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International now is operating with Sensis Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X, a runway incursion detection and alerting system. Fifteen of the 35 airports to receive the technology through FAA's ASDE-X program are operational, the company added.
Shenzhen Airlines reported a first-quarter net profit of CNY160 million owing to a strong rebound in the domestic market; the year-ago result was not available and the carrier did not disclose its first-quarter revenue, expenses, passenger or cargo traffic. Owing to double-digit growth in the domestic market, Chinese carriers posted a collective net profit for the quarter of CNY1.78 billion, according to CAAC.
Australia's Leighton Holdings has said that the Al Habtoor Leighton group and its joint venture partners Murray and Roberts and Takenaka had come to a mutual agreement with the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation to withdraw from a $2bn contract to build the Dubai Airport Concourse 3.
Despite the global financial slowdown one area of massive investment in infrastructure is still attracting attention. Throughout the Middle East, airports are expanding to meet the increased traffic demands that the region is predicting.
Air Canada and TAP Portugal announced a codeshare agreement under which TAP will place its code on AC flights between Canadian cities and international gateways including Newark, London Heathrow and Madrid. AC will place its code on TAP flights from Lisbon and Porto to the same gateways.
