Etihad Airways expanded its cargo operations with the May 12 launch of twice-weekly A310-300F flights from Abu Dhabi to Milan Malpensa. The airline said additional new routes to Khartoum, Almaty, Addis Ababa, Bangalore and Chennai are expected to begin in the coming months.
Alaska Airlines contracted with Menzies Aviation to provide ramp handling services at Seattle-Tacoma International, which will result in the loss of 472 ramp service jobs at the carrier. The airline, which currently contracts with outside companies to provide ramp services in 41 of the 56 cities it serves, expects to save roughly $13 million a year through the move.
As the US Congress, the Bush Administration, airlines and other interested parties discuss how to fund the daily operation of the US air traffic control system while also maintaining investment in technology to meet forecast growth in operations ( ATWOnline, May 5), FAA confronts a major challenge whose outcome is central to the debate yet which until recently has received relatively little attention.
Servisair/GlobeGround began ground handling services at Miami International Airport and by the end of May will be handling flights there for seven major airlines: Aeromexico, Alitalia, Bahamasair, Copa, Varig, Taca and Martinair. The company already operates the largest into-aircraft fueling service at the airport and also provides cargo handling for Lufthansa there.
Iberia and Avianca have broadened their codeshare agreement to cover additional destinations in both Spain and Colombia. Effective May 1, Iberia added its code to Avianca's flights between Bogota and Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and Armenia, while Avianca placed its code on Iberia flights between Madrid and La Coruna, Santiago, Vigo, Oviedo, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Pamplona, Majorca, Malaga and Seville, as well as Las Palmas and Tenerife.
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. was appointed by Shanghai Airlines to be its service provider for cargo terminal operations at Hong Kong International Airport. The carrier will launch freighter service between Shanghai and Hong Kong in June.
America West Airlines launched two daily nonstop flights from Oklahoma City to Phoenix and one daily nonstop flight from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas. America West Express, operated by Mesa Airlines, is providing the services using 86-seat CRJ900s and 50-seat CRJ200s.
Thomas Cook signed an agreement with Ringways Handling Services in partnership with SAS Ground Services UK Ltd. for ground handling at Manchester. The agreement went into effect April 1. Thomas Cook operates some 110 flights per week to various leisure destinations.
Australia will resume highly sensitive bilateral talks with Singapore in two weeks with the aim of negotiating an open skies agreement by mid-year. Singapore Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said the governments of both countries will attempt to resolve the issue of Singapore Airlines' securing access to the Australia-US route during the negotiations. Qantas has been lobbying strongly against the move to grant SIA fifth freedom rights, arguing that it does not enjoy reciprocal benefits on routes through Singapore.
An alphabet soup of aviation interest groups testified yesterday before the US Congress on future funding for FAA and the air traffic control system, but organizations representing airlines, airports, air traffic controllers, corporate and general aviation disagree widely over whether the current funding mechanism is in trouble and if so, how it should be fixed.
Southwest Airlines touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport for the first time yesterday. Initially the carrier will operate four daily flights to both Chicago Midway and Philadelphia and one each to Las Vegas and Orlando.
Austrian Airlines and Vienna Airport jointly opened a hub control center to secure their position as an East/West transfer point, both companies said yesterday. The new HCC will employ 28. "Growing competition between hubs forced us to optimize our transfer policy in Vienna, which makes up 50%-60% of all our passengers," CEO Vagn Soerensen told ATWOnline. The carrier has seen performance at VIE slip; 83.7% of all AAG flights were ontime in 2003 but this dipped to 77.3% in 2004. AAG wants to boost punctuality there to at least 83% and perhaps up to 87% this year.
JetBlue Airways plans to open its new terminal facilities at Boston Logan today. In addition, the carrier will launch new daily service from Boston to Las Vegas and San Jose.
Thomsonfly.com launched services from its base at the new Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield April 28. The LCC, which is part of Thomsonfly and formerly was called Britannia Airways, anticipates that it will book more than 350,000 customers through Robin Hood within the first 12 months of operations there. It will base three 737-300s there and will operate flights to 11 destinations--Palma, Pisa, Prague, Paris, Ibiza, Alicante, Malaga, Valencia, Dublin, Jersey and Faro--throughout the summer season.
United Airlines and Jet Airways of India reached a new codeshare agreement under which United will place its code on Jet Airways-operated London-Mumbai flights, which will begin May 23, and on flights from Mumbai to other cities in India. Additionally, Jet will codeshare on United services from London to the US. The agreement is subject to US and Indian government approvals and would be the first international codeshare offered by a privately owned Indian airline, United said.
Cathay Pacific Airways will launch a new freighter service to Dallas and Atlanta to help meet the growing demand in the US for exports shipped through Hong Kong, the world's busiest international air cargo hub. A 747-400F will operate three times a week from Nov. 19, stopping first in Dallas and continuing to Atlanta. With this new service, Cathay will operate 21 scheduled weekly freighter flights to six US cities.
Lufthansa Systems and PortGround GmbH signed a contract under which PortGround will use a Web-based version of Lufthansa Systems' air cargo handling system ELWIS at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden airports from June.
Qatar Airways and ANA finalized a new codeshare agreement under which ANA will place its code on all Qatar flights between Doha and Osaka while Qatar will add its code to ANA's flights between Osaka Kansai and Tokyo Haneda, Fukuoka and Sapporo.
