Oman is planning to build three new regional airports in Adam, Haima and Shaleem. The government has allocated $43.9 million for consultancy studies, design and supervision of the proposed airports, the Arab Air Carriers Organization reported. The country also is planning to expand facilities at Muscat and Salalah.
UK airports operator BAA yesterday withdrew a plan to close its final salary pension scheme to new employees, removing the threat of a series of strikes scheduled at its seven airports. BAA airport firefighters, security, maintenance, administrative and clerical staff belonging to the Unite union had voted to stage two 24-hr. strikes and one 48-hr. work stoppage this month, although they called off the first, scheduled for Jan. 7, after BAA agreed to negotiate ( ATWOnline, Dec. 24, 2007).
Allegiant Air will launch twice-weekly Orlando Sanford-Plattsburgh flights and expand its twice-weekly Plattsburgh-Fort Lauderdale service to four-times-weekly on Feb. 1.
Bmi is looking for additional capacity, possibly 757s or 767-200s, to support growth on several former BMED routes, Chairman Michael Bishop told ATWOnline at the recent Star Alliance meeting in Beijing. "We are looking for interim aircraft to improve the competitive element of our operation to certain destinations, which I can't disclose at the moment. But I can say that three of the routes that we inherited [from former British Airways franchise operator BMED] look to us as if they are capable of almost immediate development and expansion into bigger aircraft," he said.
US Dept. of Transportation, while not formally setting a final cap for flights at Newark, said in a filing issued Friday that its study of operations at the airport over the past year revealed that average capacity was 83 flights per hr. DOT announced last week that flights would be capped at 82-83 per hour at JFK likely starting in March and that a cap would also be imposed at EWR ( ATWOnline, Dec. 21).
S7 Airlines launched thrice-weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Vladivistok flights aboard an A310-300. KrasAir will launch weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Salzburg service on Dec. 29 aboard a 757.
Aviapartner announced a joint venture with 2Serve of Cyprus aimed at expanding ramp handling services at Larnaca and Paphos. The contract transfers 2Serve's business and gives Aviapartner 51% of the new company, Aviapartner Cyprus, to be headed by current 2Serve GM Ian Hay.
TAM said it will adjust its domestic schedule from today as further restrictions take effect at Sao Paulo Congonhas ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26). Its daily slots will be reduced to 106 from 117, with total movements at the airport dropping from 33 to 30 per hr. between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and to 16 between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Fraport said it got the green light from German authorities to expand Frankfurt Airport, clearing a major hurdle for the €4 billion ($5.8 billion) project that includes construction of a fourth runway scheduled to become operational in 2011 at the latest and a third passenger terminal expected to be ready in 2013-14. The new terminal will be located to the south at the former US Air Force base. T3 should raise FRA's current annual capacity of 56 million passengers by some 44%, Reuters reported.
Ryanair said it plans to add 50 new routes next year, including 19 from seven UK airports. New destinations will be Angouleme, Arad and Constanta. CEO Michael O'Leary said the LCC expects to carry "almost" 60 million passengers in 2008.
Horizon Air plans to launch weekly Los Angeles-Loreto flights on Jan. 19 aboard a CRJ700, marking the regional's first service to Mexico. Sister carrier Alaska Airlines will continue to operate four-times-weekly 737-400 flights on the route. Emirates will start daily Dubai-Cape Town service on March 30 using A330-200s.
EasyJet will establish a base at Manchester, building on the presence of GB Airways, which currently has two aircraft based at MAN operating on six routes. The LCC intends to add another three aircraft by 2010, although final plans will depend on the regulatory approval of its acquisition of GB ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26), which it expects by the end of January. It also plans to develop its base at Liverpool with an additional two aircraft by 2010.
Singapore Airlines will launch four-times-weekly Singapore-Houston Intercontinental-Moscow Domodedovo service on March 20, creating the first direct link between Houston and the Russian capital and complementing SIA's thrice-weekly SIN-Dubai-DME flights. Houston route will be operated with a 777-300ER. Air New Zealand will launch twice-weekly Auckland-Beijing service on July 18 using 777-200ERs.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air entered into a codeshare agreement with Air France effective Jan. 5 under which AF will sell tickets on Alaska and Horizon flights serving 18 destinations in the US Pacific Northwest and Alaska, providing feed for AF's Seattle-Paris Charles de Gaulle service. Alaska/Horizon passengers also will be able to fly aboard AF beyond CDG to points throughout Europe, India, Africa and the Middle East. Ticket sales for codeshare flights will start Dec. 15. The carriers also expanded their frequent-flier program partnership.
Emirates will halt its Hamburg-New York JFK service March 30. The route was EK's first transatlantic service from Europe but was put under considerable pressure by Continental Airlines' Newark-Hamburg service. EK launched the route in October 2006 and will continue to serve Hamburg from Dubai, from which it also is planning to launch flights to Berlin and Stuttgart.
Verified Identity Pass said it opened an enrollment center for its Clear expedited security passage program at Denver International and by early next year will establish multiple enrollment stations pre- and post-security at the airport as well as at off-site locations in downtown Denver. Under the Clear program, passengers provide personal information in exchange for a card that enables them to gain expedited access through "fast" security lanes at more than 12 US airports currently part of the program.
Virgin America will launch thrice-daily flights to Seattle from San Francisco (on March 18) and Los Angeles (on April 8). LAX-SEA becomes four-times-daily on May 11. SEA will be VX's seventh destination.
Icelandair said it will terminate its operation at Baltimore/Washington International effective Jan. 13, citing "escalating costs and decreasing revenues." The carrier will continue flying from New York JFK and Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Orlando Sanford and will add Halifax and Toronto to its list of North American gateways next spring. "We are fine-tuning the Icelandair route network and our capacity in an effort to increase profitability," President and CEO Jon Karl Olafsson said.
Air France KLM will launch daily London Heathrow-Los Angeles service on March 30 aboard a 777. The same day, AF KLM will begin codesharing with Delta Air Lines on 12 DL flights between the US and the UK/Ireland ( ATWOnline, Oct. 18). Ryanair will launch service from Brussels Charleroi to Bergerac, Limoges, Perpignan, Porto and Zaragoza on March 5, when it will base a fifth 737-800 at CRL.
Aer Lingus yesterday launched operations at its new Belfast International base ( ATWOnline, Aug. 8) with three A320s and flights to Amsterdam and Barcelona. Service to Geneva is scheduled to begin today, to London Heathrow on Jan. 14 and to five more European destinations "before the spring," EI said.
Bmi will launch a daily London Heathrow-Tel Aviv service on March 13 aboard a two-class A320. It will be bmi's 41st destination from LHR. bmibaby commenced four-times-weekly Birmingham-Madrid flights. Service becomes six-times-weekly next summer.
The European Commission has contacted Hungarian authorities regarding the control and ownership of Malev Hungarian Airlines, the EC Directorate-General for Energy and Transport confirmed to ATWOnline.
Berlin Tempelhof, Germany's oldest airport, will close on Oct. 31, 2008, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled this week. Several airlines complained about the decision, which is tied to the construction of the new Brandenburg facility, which should be in operation by 2012. The City of Berlin withdrew Tempelhof's operating license to prepare for next fall's closure. THF, which counts Brussels Airlines and Cirrus Airlines as two of the few scheduled carriers still flying there, is famous as the site of the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49.
Jet Airways yesterday expanded its codeshare arrangement with Brussels Airlines and added its code to SN-operated services from/to Birmingham and Madrid. Centralwings will launch four-times-weekly Krakow-Amsterdam service and a Hamburg-Birmingham flight at the end of March.
