Iberia is only "cutting nonprofitable routes" at Barcelona International, Chairman and CEO Fernando Conte stressed to ATWOnline at the IATA AGM in Paris ( ATWOnline, June 2). "There is a lot of misunderstanding on this matter. We are not leaving BCN.
Privately held Italian carrier Air One is seriously considering launching long-haul flights from its Rome Fiumicino base, Head of Network and Marketing Giorgio De Roni told ATWOnline at the IATA AGM in Paris. "We are evaluating the opportunities," De Roni said. "Alitalia is going through a difficult time, but they will recover. Maybe we should seize the opportunity."
US FAA yesterday moved expeditiously to begin implementing a new contract for members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. following a 60-day mandatory Congressional review period that expired Monday. In a statement, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey noted "that the period for review has ended without modification of our proposal by Congress.
Opening of the fourth runway at Tokyo Haneda in late 2009 will present ANA with new growth opportunities but also increased challenges, including the arrival of low-fare airlines, President and CEO Mineo Yamamoto said. "We think we will see LCCs in Haneda in 2009," he told journalists in Tokyo last Thursday at an event organized by Star Alliance. Speaking through a translator, he noted that current plans call for the number of operational slots at the airport to increase by 40% vis-a-vis the current level to 407,000 annually.
TAP Portugal is searching for solutions to improve services at its overcrowded Lisbon Portela base but said the situation will remain problematic until 2009, when a new terminal extension is scheduled to open. "There is no space for us in Lisbon available [for further expansion], so we have to divert traffic to Porto," VP-External Relations & Alliances Jose Guedes Dias told ATWOnline last week in Tokyo. In so doing, TAP will take advantage of the recently renovated infrastructure at Porto, which could be developed into a minihub.
Iberia will reduce its operations at Barcelona International drastically, Chairman Fernando Conte told the carrier's AGM earlier this week. He said most of the routes it operates from El Prat are unprofitable. In April, Iberia confirmed plans to participate in an LCC that will operate point-to-point routes ( ATWOnline, April 28), largely to counter increasing competition at BCN from no-frills operators like Vueling and easyJet. Ryanair has a base at nearby Girona-Costa Brava.
ASIG, part of BBA Aviation Services Group, is providing ground handling and cabin cleaning services to ATA Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport.
In what ANA President and CEO Mineo Yamamoto described as a "great day for ANA and Star Alliance and the dawn of a new age" for air travel in Japan, 10 of the 11 Star Alliance airlines serving Tokyo Narita begin operating today from co-located facilities in the airport's Terminal 1 South Wing.
When information overload hit the information technology department at Vancouver International, officials concluded that IT support wasn't one of the airport's core businesses and outsourced it. By contrast, when the same thing happened at Las Vegas McCarran International, officials decided to beef up their in-house team to take on the new work.
Air Canada Technical Services appointed Stephane Guerin CFO, Danielle Poudrette senior VP-business strategy, Pat Iaconi VP-corporate development, Mark Swearingen executive VP-airframe maintenance and Ron Elvidge VP-components & engine maintenance. Air Wisconsin's former chairman & president, Preston Wilbourne, died April 20 at the age of 80. Alaska Airlines welcomed Paul McElroy as dir.-internal communications. ASIG promoted Dan Sellas to VP-sales & marketing. ATA Airlines welcomed John Kelly as VP-maintenance & engineering.
Singapore Changi Airport is perhaps best known for its upscale terminals that cater to the whims of every passenger. There are a movie theater, swimming pool, health clubs and lush interior orchid gardens, to name a few of the amenities. The new S$45 million ($28.5 million) Budget Terminal that opened in March offers a study in contrast. It features a functional, no-frills, utilitarian design that caters specifically to low-cost carriers.
Count us among those who applauded when Northwest Airlines began offering passengers the opportunity to reserve a select number of aisle or exit row seats in the economy cabin for an additional fee of $15. Whether or not the program is successful over the long termand early returns are encouragingNorthwest has taken an important step down the road toward product differentiation. All coach seats are not the same, so why behave as if they are? Moreover, it has put the consumer in charge of the purchase decision.
When Catherine Mayer found herself waiting in an airline customer service line to find out why her luggage didn't show up after an international flight in early April, she knew there had to be better way. In fact, she knew exactly what that way should be. Mayer is VP-airport services for SITA, which is at the forefront of an industrywide push to accelerate passenger self-service options.
Cathay Pacific Airways will launch twice-weekly 747-200F Hong Kong-Mumbai-Chennai cargo flights Friday. Estonian Air will close its Talinn-Manchester route on July 1 and its Talinn-Dublin service on Sept. 1. In the autumn, flights to Paris and Hamburg will be suspended for the winter season. Finnair today will launch daily Helsinki-Geneva flights aboard an Embraer 170 and on Saturday will start thrice-weekly Helsinki-Nagoya Chubu flights. It launched Helsinki-Pisa service earlier this month aboard an A320.
Competition regulators gave preliminary clearance to Qantas to establish an interlinked low-cost airline network in Asia through its Jetstar brand despite opposition from rival LCC Tiger Airways.
Aeroports de Paris yesterday launched its long-awaited initial public offering that will see the French government reduce its 100% stake in the airports operator by 28%-33%. ADP expects to raise €1.2 billion ($1.54 billion) in total, placing 30 million shares. Shares are priced at between €42 and €48.5 each for institutional investors and between €41 and €47.50 for French retail investors. Employees will be able to buy shares at between €32.80 and €38. About 10% of the shares to be sold are expected to be reserved for ADP employees.
Delta Air Lines this week launched daily Atlanta-Athens and New York JFK-Kiev flights and next week will start daily services from ATL to Edinburgh and Venice, all aboard 767-300ERs. Turkish Airlines and TAP Portugal concluded a codeshare agreement that will see TAP place its code on THY's thrice-weekly Lisbon-Istanbul service beginning July 1.
Transavia.com, celebrating its 40th birthday this year, achieved its 28th consecutive annual profit with a net result of €11.1 million ($14.1 million) for the financial year ended March 31. This compares to a net profit of €13.6 million in FY05, the 18.4% decline owing to a switch to EU-IFRS accounting standards. Revenues rose 15% to €597.1 million and operating costs increased 16% to €573.5 million. Cost per seat grew 6%, driven largely by fuel. Operating profit at the low-cost and charter subsidiary of Air France-KLM was €18.1 million.
Korean Air will launch thrice-weekly Seoul Incheon-Los Angeles-Seattle 747-400F cargo flights on June 1. Singapore Airlines last week began twice-weekly Singapore-Nanjing-Tianjin-Anchorage-Los Angeles-Shanghai-Singapore cargo flights using 747Fs. The new routing brings weekly Singapore-LAX freighter flights to 12.
BAA, facing a potential hostile takeover as well as a possible government inquiry into whether its control of seven UK airports creates a fair market for airlines and passengers ( ATWOnline, May 26), is pushing back and warning shareholders that Ferrovial Group's £8.75 billion ($16.41 billion) bid greatly undervalues the company. The Spanish firm, meanwhile, said it will cooperate fully with any probe into BAA's alleged "monopoly" status should it successfully acquire the airport operator.
Etihad Airways yesterday launched thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Jeddah service aboard A330-200s. The carrier also will increase Abu Dhabi-Bangkok service from 10 to 14 weekly flights from June 4 aboard 777-300ERs. AirTran Airways last week launched two daily seasonal Atlanta-Seattle flights aboard 737s. The service, which will be expanded with a third daily flight in August, will run through Sept. 5.
Alaska Airlines applied Friday to the US Dept. of Transportation for authority to operate Seattle-Cancun, Portland (Ore.)-Los Cabos and Portland-Puerto Vallarta flights. If approved, services will operate seasonally beginning this year from the end of October to the end of April. Seattle-Cancun and Portland-Los Cabos would be operated four-times-weekly while Portland-Puerto Vallarta service would be thrice-weekly. "This is part of our ongoing investment in our growing route system in Mexico," MD-Planning and Alliances John MacLeod said.
Alaska Airlines will add a third daily Seattle-Dallas/Ft. Worth flight and a second daily DFW-Anchorage flight via Seattle on June 4. Aer Arann launched thrice-weekly flights to Nantes from Cork and Manchester aboard ATR 72s.
Centavia, a new LCC based in Belgrade, plans to start services to Basle, Cologne, Bratislava, Budapest and Bergamo by late June. The new entrant plans to use a single BAE 146-200, adding a second aircraft by July.
Swissport Aviation Security, a product line of Swissport International, is providing passenger security screening on behalf of US airlines at stations outside the US, including Delta Air Lines at Dusseldorf and United Airlines at Zurich. It will provide screening for North American Airlines at Lagos when NAA begins service there next month.
