IATA and Flight Safety Foundation yesterday jointly issued a "Runway Excursion Risk Reduction" toolkit. The organizations said the package includes "an in-depth analysis of runway excursion accident data, a compilation of significant risk factors and. . . recommendations for operators, pilots, airports, air traffic management, air traffic controllers and regulators to assist in addressing this challenge.
ARINC was selected by Japan's Tokyo International Air Terminal to deploy more than 200 check-in and departure workstations equipped with its vMUSE common-use technology at Haneda's new international terminal. ARINC also will provide 20 SelfServ common-use self service kiosks. New terminal is scheduled for completion in July 2010, the same year in which HND's fourth runway is expected to become operational.
Jet Airways sought court relief yesterday from a continued sickout by nearly half its pilot workforce that has caused about half its flight schedule to be canceled since Monday night. Jet wants the National Aviators Guild, the union representing its 760 pilots, to be held in contempt of court for engaging in what it deems an "illegal action." The union has demanded that two recently fired pilots be reinstated and said it will continue the unofficial work action until the airline agrees to bring the pilots back.
Naverus said that Air China, with support from CAAC, successfully completed an RNP validation flight to Tibet's Linzhi Airport on Sept. 2 using an A319. Naverus called the 95-mi. RNP approach into the Himalayan airport at 9,760 ft. elevation "one of the longest and most challenging commercial jetliner landing paths." Without RNP, the airport "is accessible by air only 100 days a year, in daylight only, due to weather and terrain challenges."
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 15.42 billion RPKs in August, up 9% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 7.2% to 18.48 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.4 points to 83.5%.
Qantas is considering selling its 46.3% in Air Pacific, Fiji's national carrier, in order to compete with Virgin Group on routes to the tropical tourist destination. QF applied to Australia's International Air Services Commission, the route regulator, for capacity to Fiji on behalf of its Jetstar Airways subsidiary, but it would need to sell off its stake in Air Pacific. An airline spokesperson confirmed that the Air Pacific stake was under review and it is understood that the Fijian government is amenable to the sale.
AeroMexico 737 hijacking ended without further incident yesterday afternoon in Mexico City after the suspect were taken into custody. The Bolivian suspect claimed he was carrying a bomb onboard the flight originating in Cancun and reportedly demanded to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. The 104 passengers and seven crew were freed without injury. There were no explosives onboard and the suspect never entered the cockpit, according to reports.
Airbus executives remain adamant that reported findings by the World Trade Organization challenging the legality of government loans and launch aid for the A380 program will not affect plans for the A350 ( ATWOnline, May 21).
Air Arabia signed a joint venture agreement with Egyptian travel and hospitality conglomerate Travco Group to launch an Egypt-based low-cost carrier that will serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The new base will be Air Arabia's third after Sharjah and Casablanca. It did not say where the new LCC will be based or give details on specific routes or a timeline for launch. The venture will have startup capital of $50 million with Air Arabia Group holding 40% stake, according to several press reports.
Boeing is forecasting that the Asia/Pacific region will be the world's largest aviation market over the next 20 years, with a need for 8,960 aircraft seating more than 100 passengers worth $1.1 trillion. The manufacturer said that 40% of the world's airline traffic will begin, end or take place within the region. Over the two decades, Asia/Pacific air travel will grow from 32% of the global market to 41%. The area currently accounts for more than 8,300 flights and 1.2 million passengers daily and travel is expected to grow 6.5% per year over the next 20 years.
El Al CEO Haim Romano will leave the carrier within the next 18 months, according to a statement from the airline. No replacement was announced. El Al suffered a $19.7 million loss in the second quarter ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20).
Air Berlin and TUI Travel will not implement the cross-shareholding agreement between AB and TUI's German aviation business that was announced in March, although they will forge ahead on their commercial accord as planned.
Air France KLM flew 19.34 billion RPKs in August, down 2.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 4.2% to 22.81 billion ASKS and load factor rose 1.1 points to 84.8%. Delta Air Lines flew 18.73 billion RPMs in August, a 2.2% drop year-over-year. Capacity was down 3.2% to 21.64 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.9 point to 86.6%. Air Canada and Jazz flew a combined 5.13 billion RPMs in August, down 0.9% year-over-year. Capacity fell 3.6% to 5.92 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.4 points to 86.8%.
Pegasus Airlines increased its order for 737-800s in June, Chairman Ali Sabanci confirmed to ATWOnline in Istanbul, although he declined to reveal the number of aircraft involved.
Aer Lingus announced the purchase of 5.6 million of its ordinary shares from the Employee Benefit Trust for just over €280,000 ($401,300). The shares were cancelled.
News from Travel Technology Update: American Airlines' decision to work with HP to build a new passenger services system -- dubbed a "bold move" by Monte Ford, the carrier's chief information officer -- took many observers by surprise. Amadeus has been courting the carrier for several years. Its Altea platform is up and running, serving several of American's Oneworld alliance partners, including British Airways and Qantas. The announcement that American would end the most significant element of its relationship with Sabre also signaled the end of an era.
EasyJet appointed former AOL Europe CEO Dana Dunne as chief commercial officer, replacing Saad Hammad, who is leaving the LCC to join private equity firm Gores Group as MD. EgyptAir announced that GM-Network Planning Alaa Ashour has been named chairman and CEO of the airline and Vice Chairman Hussein Massoud has been named chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Holding Co.
Lufthansa granted interested airlines access to bmi's books as it considers the fate of the UK carrier, which it was forced to acquire when Chairman Michael Bishop exercised his put option last December ( ATWOnline, June 23). Sources told both The Times and Dow Jones that British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Flybe and carriers in the US, East Asia and the Middle East have signed confidentiality agreements and expressed interest in bmi or its assets.
Jet Airways said yesterday that about 40% of its pilot workforce "reported sick" starting Monday night, "disrupting the flight schedule and causing inconvenience." It said in a statement that 186 flights had been cancelled. The National Aviators Guild, the union representing the carrier's 760 pilots, said it wants two pilots who were fired to be reinstated.
China Eastern Airlines was granted approval at a Monday shareholder's conference to issue 1.35 billion A shares and 490 million H shares worth a combined CNY7.02 billion ($1.03 billion). The shares will not be available to the general public and will be circulated on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges respectively. The capital injection is expected to reduce the airline's debt ratio to 94.7%.
Finnair announced the withdrawal of three 757s currently used on leisure routes effective next spring. It plans to reduce leisure capacity next summer and said it intends to "use our long-haul fleet more flexibly on scheduled and leisure flights according to seasonal fluctuations in demand structure." It will continue to operate four 757s, with newer A330s operating certain leisure flights this winter. Finnair flew 1.74 billion RPKs in August, down 10.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 10.1% to 2.17 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 0.1 point to 80.2%.
Bordeaux-Merignac will construct a low-cost terminal scheduled to open in May 2010. Dubbed Billi, short for "Bordeaux illico" or "Bordeaux straight away," the facility will cost €5.5 million and is promising turnaround times of less than 25 min. "Our research highlighted a real need for a product tailored to accommodate the low-cost airlines, a product that would sit alongside our existing regional and international airport products," BOD CEO Pascal Personne said.
Frontier Airlines will raise the fee on the first checked bag to $20 from $15 and on the second bag to $30 from $25 on tickets purchased from Tuesday and on travel from Oct. 1. In conjunction, it is reducing the change fee on economy tickets to $100 from $150. It will allow passengers to confirm a seat on a different flight the same day for $100.
American Airlines flew 11.17 billion system RPMs in August, down 8.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 9.4% to 13.19 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.2 points to 84.7%. American Eagle flew 682.2 million RPMs, down 3.1%, against a 7.2% decline in capacity to 938.2 million ASMs. Load factor rose 3 points to 72.7%. Southwest Airlines said August passenger RASM fell 5%-6% year-over-year. It flew 6.69 billion RPMs, up 1%, while capacity dropped 6.1% to 8.34 billion ASMs. Load factor increased 5.6 points to 80.2%.
