Preston Aviation Solutions will supply its Total Airspace and Airport Modeler software package to Dutch consultancy firm To70 for use in capacity studies of Amsterdam Schiphol. Menzies Chengdu Airport Services was awarded two handling contracts from China Postal Airlines and United Eagle Airlines. China Postal, the first scheduled freight airline at Chengdu, operates six 737 cargo flights a week to the airport while United Eagle will launch its first service at the end of this month.
Southwest Airlines yesterday offered to spend $130 million to construct facilities at Seattle's King County International Airport--also known as Boeing Field--that would allow it to transfer its operations from Seattle-Tacoma International, where it claims that "ever-increasing costs have become an obstacle to growth." In addition to being the delivery site for Boeing narrowbodies, KCIA is served by a few small Regional airlines along with corporate and cargo operators. It has runways of 3,710 ft. and 10,001 ft. in length and is located 5 mi. from downtown Seattle.
Continental Airlines will begin nonstop Saturday service between Newark and Liberia, Costa Rica, on Dec. 17 using a 737-700 in a two-class configuration. The carrier currently operates daily nonstop service to Liberia from Houston.
Ryanair said it will base two new 737-800s at Pisa and launch daily routes to Dublin from Oct. 12 and Eindhoven and Alghero from Jan. 12, bringing the total number of routes from Pisa to 10. Pisa will be its 14th European base.
Raytheon was awarded a $4.6 million contract to supply turnkey installation of an airport surveillance radar for Maiquetia International Airport in Caracas. Consorcio Hardwell Computer is the prime contractor for the project.
Aviapartner shareholders reached agreement on the acquisition of the ground handling company by private equity fund 3i and certain Aviapartner managers. Price was not disclosed. The special-purpose company for the takeover is called Aviapartner LH3 SARL. Over the coming months, CEO Alex Verougstraete will assume the position of nonexecutive director and Theo Dilissen will become the new CEO. Completion of the transaction, which is subject to customary conditions, is expected by the end of August.
Southwest Florida International Airport has postponed the opening of its new terminal, which was scheduled for July 20. The airport said the new opening date will be announced once a certificate of occupancy has been issued. According to the airport, the terminal still needs US Transportation Security Administration certification of the baggage-handling system, installation of airline data systems and e-ticket kiosks, the life-safety and building systems, training and general cleanup.
Germanwings started a new thrice-weekly service from Cologne to Moscow Vnukovo on July 16. Centralwings plans to begin a new weekly Warsaw-Grenoble service by November.
Carinthian Spirit, a new Austrian Regional, will start daily Klagenfurt-Salzburg-Zurich service by Sept. 5 using a CRJ200. The carrier is owned by Styrian Spirit, which also operates regional brands Slovenian Spirit from Maribor and Salzburg Spirit out of Salzburg. The new brand is named after the southern Austrian province of Carinthia. Carinthian opened its base in Klagenfurt and plans to add a second CRJ, expected to be a new CRJ700, by next year to start Klagenfurt-Graz-Amsterdam service in cooperation with KLM.
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) yesterday introduced a bill designed to lift flight restrictions imposed by the Wright Amendment, a 1979 federal law that limits airlines operating at Dallas Love Field to serving destinations within Texas and seven nearby states. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) is a co-sponsor of the bill. Earlier this year, Texas Republican Congressmen Sam Johnson and Jeb Hensarling introduced their own legislation called the Right to Fly Act, which immediately would repeal the Wright Amendment ( ATWOnline, May 27).
Aero Vodochody is drafting proposals to set up a second airport in Prague that could help relieve some of the traffic from the fast-growing Ruzyne hub, Reuters reported. The military jet maker yesterday said it had developed a plan to convert its company airstrip north of the city into an international airport for use from 2006. A final decision on the project would be up to a new owner of the company. The government has said it aims to sell Aero by next year's election.
Royal Jordanian will launch direct twice-weekly flights from Amman to Milan on Oct. 30. Etihad Airways will start thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Brussels-Toronto service Oct. 31 using A330-200s. The flights will be operated in codeshare with SN Brussels Airlines.
British Airways will begin a trial of new landing procedures at London Heathrow and Gatwick aimed at reducing the number of people affected by early morning aircraft noise.
Southwest Airlines will launch two additional daily nonstop flights between Las Vegas and San Diego (for a total of 14) and one additional daily flight between Las Vegas and Oakland (for a total of 13) from July 17. This will bring the number of daily flights the airline operates from Las Vegas to 201.
Virgin Nigeria will commence a twice-daily Lagos-Accra service tomorrow using A320s. The airline started operations June 28 with flights between Lagos and London Heathrow and subsequently added domestic flights from Lagos to Abuja and Port Harcourt. CEO Simon Harford indicated the carrier will be operating on about nine routes by spring.
Aer Lingus will launch new direct services from Dublin to Fuerteventura, Bordeaux, Riga and Salzburg as well as a new direct service from Cork to Warsaw in its winter schedule. The Warsaw-Cork flights represent its first direct service to Poland.
KLM and Air France will adjust their Eindhoven service. From the start of the winter schedule, AF will connect Eindhoven and Paris Charles de Gaulle with twice-daily service using a 48-seat ATR 42-500. A third daily service will be added from Dec. 11, when KLM cityhopper will suspend its flights between Eindhoven and Schiphol. Also on Dec. 11, NedRailways will launch a new direct and frequent rail link between Eindhoven and Schiphol.
SITA concluded a $5.4 million multifaceted contract for wireless and management services for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The contract includes design and implementation of an airportwide Wi-Fi and mobile wireless network as well as management of the airport's new fiber, mobile and Wi-Fi networks for one year. The project will be fully operational in the fourth quarter. Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport will unveil its new $1.2 billion, 2-million-sq.-ft. International Terminal D Saturday.
Air Canada unveiled plans to launch a number of new daily nonstop flights in Canada and the US this winter and boost service on several key domestic routes as well as others inside Canada and to the US.
Gulf Air will launch a thrice-weekly service from Bahrain to Dublin beginning Dec. 2 using A330s in three-class configuration. The flight will be Dublin's first-ever scheduled service into the Middle East. "There is a huge amount of traffic from Dublin to the Gulf and beyond that now has to travel over London or Amsterdam. There is a huge leisure market, a large VFR market as well as a strong high-yield business market," Gulf Air President and CEO James Hogan told ATWOnline in Dublin.
JAL Group will launch flights to six destinations from Kobe Airport when it opens on Feb. 16. Under current plans, the carrier will operate 10 daily flights to Tokyo Haneda, Sapporo, Sendai, Okinawa, Kumamoto and Kagoshima. JAL said it is evaluating what type of aircraft to use for the flights and should come to a decision by November.
EasyJet is adding six new routes to its network, increasing the total to 216 and the number of key airports served to 64. London Gatwick-Murcia service will commence Sept. 23, Gatwick-Grenoble Dec. 16, Dortmund to both Barcelona and Milan Malpensa and Geneva-Lisbon Oct. 30 and Geneva-Malaga Nov. 1. The new daily services will connect currently served destinations with the exception of Lisbon, which is a new city to be added to the airline's network.
KLM Customer Ground Handling concluded an open-ended contract with Icelandair to perform full flight handling for its 757 operations at Amsterdam Schiphol. Icelandair currently operates eight weekly flights to Amsterdam.
Virgin Atlantic will commence its earlier announced London Heathrow-Dubai service March 27 using an A340 fitted with the Upper Class Suite. The flights initially will operate four days a week, increasing to five on May 1 and daily on June 1.
