Winter weather forced cancellations and delays throughout the US Northeast and Midwest this week, but it was JetBlue Airways that dominated the headlines thanks to incidents at New York JFK and Pittsburgh Wednesday. The airline said 10 flights were "significantly delayed" at JFK, with news reports detailing passengers who were stuck on the tarmac for up to 10 hr. At PIT, passengers sat on a New York-bound aircraft for 4 hr. before being allowed to leave.
Air France is increasing its presence at London City Airport and will launch eight new routes on March 26, bringing to 10 the number of destinations it serves from LCY. New services operated by AF subsidiary CityJet will be to Geneva, Madrid, Milan Linate, Nice and Zurich. The Dublin-based carrier already operates six daily flights to Paris Orly and five to DUB under a franchise agreement with AF. In codeshare with ScotAirways it will launch flights from LCY to Belfast City, Dundee and Edinburgh. With the additions, AF will have up to 70 daily flights from LCY.
EasyJet opened its 17th base yesterday at Madrid Barajas, where it will keep four new A319s that will operate three domestic, 13 European and two North African routes ( ATWOnline, Aug. 25, 2006). It expects to carry 2 million passengers through the airport this year. The LCC's MRO supplier, SR Technics, opened a line maintenance station at Barajas. New twice-daily services launched yesterday were to La Coruna and Asturias.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines will return to Greenland after five years, launching a twice-weekly Copenhagen-Kangerlussuaq service in May aboard A319s, increasing to thrice-weekly in June. SkyEurope Airlines will launch three new services to Brussels, anticipating an increased demand for low-fare flights when Virgin Express ceases operations March 25 due to its merger with SN Brussels Airlines ( ATWOnline, Nov. 8, 2006).
Berlin Airports announced yesterday that Tempelhof International Airport will close on Oct. 31, 2008, following a decision by the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg. The number of airlines serving the airport has fallen to single digits--Brussels Airlines, Sterling Airlines and Cirrus Airlines are the largest--and last month's throughput was down 45.4% year-over-year to just 26,500 passengers. Berlin Airports CEO Rainer Schwarz said the company has lost €115 million ($149.4 million) on THF in the past decade.
NAV Canada selected Sensis to supply new surveillance technologies, including up to 200 ADS-B units, to areas in the northern part of the country and around Vancouver Harbor and Fort St. John that currently do not have surveillance coverage. NAV Canada President and CEO John Crichton said the deal will result in "safety and customer efficiency benefits at a much lower cost compared to traditional radar."
Snow, ice and freezing rain covered much of the US Midwest and Northeast yesterday, forcing many hundreds of flight cancellations and delays. Late yesterday, FAA's Flight Delay Information website indicated that flights to Chicago O'Hare, Cincinnati and Philadelphia were being delayed or cancelled at their point of origin. The Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority said "many flights" were cancelled at both National and Dulles.
US Airways will not join Delta Air Lines, so it intends to beat it. Less than three weeks after DL proposed to operate daily Atlanta-Shanghai Pudong service next year, US revealed its intention to compete for the route scheduled to be awarded by the Dept. of Transportation as part of the expansion of scheduled air services between the US and China.
Etihad Airways will launch four-times-weekly Abu Dhabi-Dublin service on Aug. 3 with an A330-200. Aer Lingus will launch thrice-weekly Dublin-Vilnius flights in May and twice-weekly Dublin-Santiago de Compostela service in March.
Just one day after reporting a thumping profit, Qantas was brought back to earth Friday when Singapore's Tiger Airways unveiled plans to launch Australian domestic services by year end with five new A320s. During the announcement tipped last week by ATWOnline ( ATWOnline, Feb. 9), Tiger President and CEO Tony Davis took a cheeky swipe at Qantas, saying his airline is ready to "deliver Australians genuine low fares, competing in a market which has returned to a cozy duopoly and seen fares increase."
Jazeera Airways last week launched a second base at Dubai International with a thrice-weekly service to Bahrain. The Kuwait-based LCC will add flights from DXB to Kuwait, Mumbai, Kochi, New Delhi, Muscat, and Salalah by March 27. "The commercial aviation sector in the Middle East and especially the Gulf region is picking up speed and Jazeera Airways aims to serve this growing market through establishing multiple hubs in the Arabian Peninsula," Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said.
Southwest Airlines said Friday it will resume service to San Francisco International "in a meaningful way in the early fall," ending a six-year-plus hiatus. SWA, which serves nearby Oakland and San Jose with 142 and 77 daily departures respectively, pulled out of SFO in March 2001 after more than 18 years, citing its inability to operate profitable services to Phoenix and San Diego.
US Dept. of Transportation yesterday finalized last month's tentative decision to award United Airlines the right to operate daily Washington Dulles-Beijing service ( ATWOnline, Jan. 10). UA recently launched daily service from IAD to Tokyo Narita and Kuwait City aboard 777s. Separately, UA named former Disney executive Barbara Higgins VP-customer experience.
Dutch government shelved plans for an IPO of Schiphol Group during the next parliamentary term. The long-awaited privatization was blocked last year following resistance from a minority shareholder, the City of Amsterdam ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4, 2006). "Considering the international competition with privatized airports in Europe, the Board of Management regrets that after years of consultation a longstanding wish will not be fulfilled," Schiphol Group noted in a statement.
Air Canada announced the following new services: Halifax-New York LaGuardia (daily from April 1 aboard an Air Canada Jazz CRJ), Toronto-Deer Lake (daily from May 4 aboard an A319) and seasonal Halifax-Edmonton (daily June 15-Sept. 16 aboard an A319).
Eos Airlines named former American Airlines and Royal Caribbean Cruises executive Jack Williams CEO, effective immediately. He replaces interim CEO David Pottruck, who will continue as chairman. Separately, Eos will add a third daily all-business-class New York JFK-London Stansted frequency "during peak travel days." The expansion is effective April 15.
Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulamont ordered Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport reopened to both international and domestic flights in order to prevent overcrowding at the new Suvarnabhumi International.
Ryanair announced yesterday that its 19th base will be at Airport Weeze about 50 mi. north of Dusseldorf. The LCC will invest €140 million ($181.2 million) in the facility, where it will base two new aircraft from June that will operate to 10 destinations. It is expecting to transport 1 million passengers in the first 12 months, rising to 2 million per year from 2008.
US NTSB is investigating a runway incursion incident at Denver International on Feb. 2 in which a United Airlines 737 had to stop short after landing to avoid running into a snowplow. The aircraft missed the vehicle by 200 ft. An airport operations vehicle that was escorting the plow already had cleared the runway. NTSB also is investigating a second incursion incident at DEN that occurred on Jan. 5 when a Frontier Airlines aircraft broke off a landing attempt when the crew noticed another aircraft on the runway.
SkyEurope CCO Karim Makhlouf told ATWOnline that the carrier intends to focus more on its to core markets and build its operation in Vienna to strengthen a business that lost €57.3 million ($74.2 million) last fiscal year ( ATWOnline, Dec. 5, 2006). The process will start next month with the opening of its Vienna base ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20, 2006).
