The US Senate late Thursday passed a two-year, $34.5 billion FAA reauthorization bill by an 87-8 vote, and now waits on the House of Representatives to act on the proposed four-year, $59.7 billion bill approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.
The European Commission is continuing its effort to bring the bilateral air service agreements between individual member states and Russia in line with EC policies while ending the practice of EU airlines paying Aeroflot for Siberian overflight rights. In its latest step, it has launched infringement proceedings against Cyprus, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain over the matter.
The US House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday passed the FAA reauthorization bill introduced last week by Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), sending it to the House floor for consideration.
Malev Hungarian Airlines announced it will begin offering customers in Amsterdam the option of online check-in for departures. Beginning Feb. 25, passengers will be able to input reservation and ticket info on the carrier’s website up to 36 hours before departure and select a preferred seat. Online check-in is now available at 25 airports in Malev’s network, it said.
Air Transport Assn. President and CEO Nicholas Calio, who took over from James May in January, continues to put his stamp on the trade group, announcing a shake-up on Tuesday that saw the departure of long-time Executive VP and COO John Meenan and Chief of Staff Patty Higginbotham.
The Assn. of German Airlines forecast the new eco-tax, which took effect Jan. 1, will prevent five million passengers from flying in 2011 and 2012, thus destroying the creation of 15,000 new jobs in the German aviation industry, BDF President Ralf Teckentrup said at the Aviation Press Club in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
United Airlines temporarily grounded its fleet of 96 Boeing 757s on Tuesday for emergency checks on air data computer systems, but said the fleet was nearly back to normal by Wednesday afternoon. The carrier said 15 flights were canceled on Tuesday owing to the checks but none on Wednesday.
The world's largest FBO provider and distribution network for business aviation services, Signature Flight Support has selected Bahrain as the location for its first office in the region.
Southwest Airlines and its stock clerks, represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, announced Tuesday they have reached a tentative agreement for a new, five-year labor contract retroactive to Aug. 16, 2008. The accord, if approved, would run through Aug. 16, 2013. A previous tentative agreement was rejected by the 170 stock clerks ( ATW Daily News, Dec. 15, 2010).
US Dept. of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that US airlines carried 58.1 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in November 2010, a 6.1% increase from November 2009, representing the largest year-over-year rise since August 2007. Traffic rose 7.4% to 62.5 billion RPMs on a 5.4% rise in capacity to 77.7 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 80.4%, up 1.4 points year-over-year. Load factors for domestic and international flights averaged 81.1% and 78.4% respectively.
EgyptAir said its business is returning to normal following massive flight cancellations during the nearly three weeks of civil unrest in Egypt that led to President Hosni Mubarak's resignation Feb. 11.
US airlines' collective traffic will grow at an average annual rate of 3.8% to reach 1.71 trillion RPMs by 2031, well more than double the 786.7 billion RPMs operated by the carriers in 2010, FAA projected Tuesday in its latest long-term forecast.
A Central American Airlines Let L-410 crashed in Honduras Monday, killing all 14 persons on board including both pilots and 12 passengers. Among those onboard were the Honduran Assistant Secretary for Public Works and the leader of a key union, Associated Press reported. Flight No. 731 departed from San Pedro at 7:04 a.m. local time en route to Tegucigalpa, a 40-min. flight according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network. It crashed in a forest near Cerro de Hula at 8:02 a.m. The aircraft made its first flight in 1991 according to ASN.
Air Astana President Peter Foster told ATW that the carrier's dispute with GDS provider Amadeus is not over and could escalate. Amadeus was obliged to restore distribution services to KC after a Madrid court granted the Kazakh carrier injunctive relief on Feb. 3. Amadeus canceled KC’s agreement, which expired on Dec, 31, on Jan. 21 after 15 days’ notice, alleging a breach of the terms of the agreement ( ATW Daily News, Feb. 9).
Alitalia and Meridiana Fly are in talks about a possible partnership, Meridiana said, although it did not confirm reports in Il Messaggero that the airlines’ respective management teams are reviewing the details of a possible acquisition.
IATA projected that worldwide annual airline passengers will rise to 3.3 billion by 2014, up 32% over the 2.5 billion passengers that flew commercially in 2009.
Debate over FAA funding heated up in Washington, with a House of Representatives panel last Friday introducing a new FAA reauthorization bill and President Barack Obama on Monday issuing his budget proposal for the federal government's fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
Eurocontrol released its latest 20-year forecast that shows the number of flights increasing 1.8 times to 16.9 million IFR movements from a 2009 base in the most likely scenario.The range of the forecast scenarios is between 13.1 and 20.9 million flights in 2030 with growth at an average of 1.6% to 3.9% annually, with 2.8% the most likely.
BioJet Corp. received a three-year, $1.2 billion funding facility from Cayman-based Equity Partners Fund SPC to allow the company to move its feedstock and refining projects forward. BioJet Chairman Mitch Hawkins said in a statement that the funding agreement will form the cornerstone of capital projects over the next five years.
Airbus said more than 2,600 students have registered for the second biennial Fly Your Ideas contest that challenges university students from around the world to develop new ideas for a greener aviation industry. Students of 75 nationalities made up the 315 teams that entered the first round, a 40% increase compared to the first year of the competition in 2009.
New fuel-efficiency mandates could force the re-engining of today's aircraft, one senior airline executive reportedly told Airbus. Speaking with ATW's Eco-Aviation Today about the promised 15% fuel saving of the A320neo
London Mayor Boris Johnson continues to lobby for a new airport for the southeast region of England with a report warning that London will lose jobs to European competitors unless Prime Minister David Cameron backs one. “The capital’s airports are full, our runways are crammed and we risk losing jobs to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid or other European cities should we fail to act,” Johnson cautioned, according to a report in the Financial Times.
