The European Commission on Monday confirmed it intends to review its controversial Regulation 261/2004 on air passenger rights and look at “key issues” such as limitation of liability in cases of exceptional circumstances, compensation thresholds, effective rerouting of passengers, and shared risk between operators in the supply chain.
Etihad Airways has signed up local cultural ambassador Ali Al Saloom as the host and producer for its new in-flight television programme about life in the airline's home-base of Abu Dhabi.
Dubai-based flight support services provider Aviation Services Management (ASM} has denied it is in talks to sell the company and instead has outlined a growth strategy that has seen it launch a new branch in Mumbai.
Global Collect signed a service agreement with Royal Jordanian to process online credit card payments for the carrier. The agreement will soon be expanded to allow RJ customers to purchase tickets via credit cards through call centers. Amadeus signed an agreement with Singapore Airlines to provide its subscribers with access to the carrier's flight schedules and fares for up to five years.
US FAA proposed a $350,000 civil penalty against Republic Airways Holdings subsidiary Lynx Aviation for allegedly operating a Q400 "when it was not in compliance with federal aviation regulations."
US-China open skies and antitrust immunized joint ventures between US and Chinese carriers cannot occur until Washington loosens its visa restrictions on Chinese citizens traveling to the US, Air China VP and GM North America Zhihang Chi said Thursday. "We don't need open skies. Without visa liberalization we don't have enough passengers to fill the planes," Chi told the Phoenix International Aviation Symposium, adding that airlines have many unused frequencies to US destinations owing to the difficulties Chinese visitors face in obtaining visas.
ITA Software said it “will begin work immediately” to close its acquisition by Google following US Dept. of Justice approval of the transaction on Friday. Google announced its intention to acquire ITA for $700 million in cash in July ( ATW Daily News, October 1, 2010). “We … are committed to making the integration process as seamless as possible for our employees and customers,” ITA said. Google stated that it would “honor ITA’s existing contracts.”
US National Transportation Safety Board said the United Airlines Airbus A320 that exited a New Orleans runway when making an emergency landing on April 4 did not experience smoke in the cockpit but rather an apparently false automated smoke warning followed by system disruptions.
US National Transportation Safety Board said the United Airlines Airbus A320 that exited a New Orleans runway when making an emergency landing on April 4 did not experience smoke in the cockpit but rather an apparently false automated smoke warning followed by system disruptions.
Lufthansa Technik received German Federal Office of Civil Aviation certification to offer MRO services on Hamilton Sundstrand APS2300 APUs. Fokker Aircraft Services announced it has added re-skinning to its MRO services. It last year installed a new vacuum applicator at its interior shop that enables it to re-skin aircraft interior side panels, luggage bins and ceiling panels "no matter the size or aircraft type," it said.
SITA is building a community cloud computing infrastructure dedicated to the air transport industry and will launch the first cloud applications and services in June, CEO Francesco Violante revealed at a briefing on Tuesday in London. He refrained from naming the first customers for the ATI Cloud but noted that the interest from airlines and airports “is clear and diverse, cannot be geographically characterized” and that several airlines are already involved in pilot programs.
US Airways has not made a decision on whether to install Aircell's Gogo onboard Wi-Fi across its domestic fleet. At present, only the carrier's Airbus A321s are equipped and usage is very low, according to President Scott Kirby, who told reporters at the US Airways media day Wednesday that it averages "below 5%" while "breakeven is north of 20%." However, he also expects that onboard connectivity eventually will become prevalent among US carriers for competitive reasons.
UPS Airlines aircraft mechanics, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, voted to ratify a new labor agreement that will run through Nov. 1, 2013.
The Chinese government raised domestic jet fuel prices to CNY6,840 ($1,044) per ton, up 7.9% from CNY6,340 per ton in February, in response to escalating oil prices. This is the second price hike this year.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt on Wednesday told Congress that the agency is reviewing requirements for inspecting aging aircraft following last Friday's midair fuselage skin rupture on a Southwest Airlines 737-300.
US Dept. of Transportation said the nation’s largest carriers reported no flights in February with tarmac delays of more than 3 hr., down from 60 flights in February 2010. Data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics showed there have been only 16 tarmac delays of more than 3 hr. reported since the tough tarmac delay rule went into effect in April 2010 ( ATW Daily News, April 29, 2010).
Qantas' international operations are in serious jeopardy within months if Australian unions press ahead with claims for guaranteed job security, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation warned.
Cheapflights invests in Scandinavian meta search firm Amadeus report looks at airport of the future Ryanair adds fee to cover costs of ‘force majeure’ rules IATA rule sorts out whose bag fees apply on interline trips GuestLogix unveils OnTouch Analytics platform for airlines Travelport, Amadeus report 2010 earnings World news briefing
SITA is building a community cloud computing infrastructure dedicated to the air transport industry and will launch the first cloud applications and services in June, CEO Francesco Violante revealed at a briefing on Tuesday in London.
Southwest Airlines promoted Matt Buckley to vice president-cargo and charters. Arik Air received IOSA certification from IATA, the second Nigerian carrier to receive the certificate, but the only Nigerian carrier on IOSA registration to be fully operational under its own AOC. It operates more than 150 flights daily from its Lagos hub.
A Georgian Airways CRJ100 operating a UN mission flight crashed Monday afternoon in DR Congo as it attempted to land at Kinshasa Airport. The UN said 28 of the 29 passengers and all four crew were killed.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is inspecting a Monday incident in which a United Airlines Airbus A320 en route from New Orleans to San Francisco experienced smoke in the cockpit, forcing the aircraft to return to MSY 20 minutes after departure.
British Airways was fined $1.6 million and Cargolux fined $4.6 million for operating an illegal cartel to fix airfreight rates on flights into New Zealand.
American Airlines and Expedia Inc. said they signed a memorandum of understanding that will allow the companies to resume doing business together. Details were sparse and raised more questions than they answered, The companies said that effective immediately, access to American’s fares and schedule information is restored to Expedia and Hotwire sites worldwide. The information will “initially” be provided to Expedia via the GDS technology that was used prior to their breakup.
News from Travel Technology Update: American Airlines and Expedia Inc. said they signed an MOU Monday that will allow the companies to resume doing business together. Details were sparse and raised more questions than they answered. The companies said that, effective immediately, access to American's fares and schedule information is restored to Expedia and Hotwire sites worldwide. The information will "initially" be provided to Expedia via the GDS technology that was used prior to their breakup.
