Virgin Blue Group’s strategy for a network of global alliances to help it take on Qantas received another blow Friday when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued a draft ruling rejecting its bid to forge an alliance with Air New Zealand.
US FAA on Friday issued its long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on pilot flight time, duty and rest requirements, setting the stage for the likely adoption of new regulations that call for flight deck crew at US airlines to get more rest time and spend fewer hr. on duty.
Transportation is behind other industries in terms of environmental impact Joule Unlimited believes it will be delivering biodiesel fuel US airlines have improved fuel efficiency 110%
While a majority of Australians polled through the recent federal election campaign said they favor strong action on climate change, only a fraction of Australian air travelers are opting to pay to offset the carbon generated by their flights. New figures released by Qantas and Jetstar, both of which have carbon-offset programs, show that only 9% of passengers are paying what amounts to a tiny fraction of the airfare. On longer flights across the country, where the carbon offset costs just A$6.26 ($5.81) return, the figure drops further to just 4%.
Singapore Airlines is committing $3 million toward the Harapan Rainforest Initiative aimed at restoring ecosystems threatened by deforestation in Indonesia. The initiative supports a new government policy introduced in 2004 to avoid further deforestation and maintain lowland forests. The project straddles Indonesia's Jambi and South Sumatra provinces and the forest is 1.5 times the size of Singapore and also home to some endangered wildlife such as the Sumatran tiger and Malayan tapir.
The all-electric Cri-Cri, jointly developed by EADS, Aero Composites Saintonge and the Green Cri-Cri Assn., made its first flight at Le Bourget last month. It is the first four-engine all-electric aerobatic aircraft and was first shown at the Green Aviation Show at Le Bourget in June.
A comprehensive study carried out for the European Commission found that energy efficiency improvements of up to 50% are anticipated by 2050 for aircraft and ships, whereas for other modes of transport the potential improvements are likely to be less without the use of alternative fuels and energy carriers.
Ignoring strong and widespread criticism from the air transport industry, the German government imposed what it is calling an "ecological air travel levy" that took effect Sept. 1 for travel beginning Jan. 1, 2011. The tax was included in a package of government spending cuts introduced earlier this year by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has maintained that Berlin needs to slash spending by €80 billion ($101.5 billion) by 2014 to alleviate the nation's shaky fiscal situation.
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Open AXIS, the new organization that is seeking to establish technical standards for the sale of airline ancillary services, signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the OpenTravel Alliance. The agreement is designed to dispel the confusion surrounding the new group's intent, according to Jim Young, Open AXIS' executive director. "It is not our intent to usurp OpenTravel's role," he said.
Aeronautical Engineers announced it redelivered four 737SF passenger-to-freighter conversions in the third quarter, consisting of one 737-300SF to Cargo Air, one 737-400SF to MNG Airlines, one 737-300SF to Sideral Air Cargo, and one 737-200SF to Transmile Air Services. "The redelivery of four 737SFs in one quarter is a strong indicator that economies around the world are starting their upwards journey towards recovery," AEI VP-Sales & Marketing Robert T. Convey said.
Canadian regional Jazz Air announced Thursday it has reached a tentative labor contract with approximately 43 crew schedulers represented by CAW. Terms of the agreement were not released. "I commend the CAW leadership and Jazz management teams involved in the process for their hard work and professionalism," said Jazz President and CEO Joseph Randell.
Finnair yesterday reached a preliminary agreement with Finncomm to acquire a 20% stake in long-time regional partner Finnish Commuter Airlines and to acquire 100% of the companies that own Finncomm Group's 12 ATR 42/72 aircraft.
All Nippon Airways and Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group have signed an MOA to establish what the two are calling “Japan’s first low-cost airline” to operate both international and domestic routes from Osaka Kansai International.
JetEx Flight Support is rapidly developing its network throughout Ukraine as it builds on the success of its 24-7 multi-lingual operation at Airport Kiev.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.39 billion RPKs in August, a 7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.2% to 3.07 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2 points to 78.2%. Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.19 billion RPKs, a 6.5% increase, against a 3.4% rise in capacity to 2.76 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2.3 points to 79.3%.
Air Berlin said it has begun levying a new fee through all booking channels for travel beginning Jan. 1, 2011, in order to cover the “ecological air travel levy” introduced by the German government last week.
Virgin Atlantic Airways and the British Air Line Pilots' Assn. representing the carrier's cockpit crewmembers reached an agreement resolving their dispute concerning time off for pilots, averting the possibility of strike action.
US Dept. of Transportation yesterday tentatively decided to reject an application for antitrust immunity for services between the US and Australia from Delta Air Lines and affiliates of the Virgin Blue Group including Virgin Blue, V Australia and Pacific Blue units in Australia and New Zealand.
Air France KLM operated 19.09 billion RPKs in August, a 1.2% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity was down 0.9% to 22.61 billion ASKs and load factor fell 0.3 points to 84.5%. British Airways flew 10.55 billion RPKs in August, down 2.9% year-over-year. Capacity was cut 2.6% to 12.51 billion ASKs as load factor fell 0.3 points to 84.4%.
International air cargo traffic growth is likely to slow for the remainder of 2010 and 2011 following the sector's rapid rebound from the recession, according to IATA.
[Corrected version] CAAC, which has been conducting widespread safety inspections of China's airlines in the wake of last month's Henan Airlines Embraer 190 crash that killed 42, confirmed that an investigation carried out in 2008-09 revealed that more than 200 pilots had falsified their resumes. Of these, 103 were employed by Shenzhen Airlines, parent of Henan Airlines. The regulator noted that the vast majority of the pilots had been suspended, however, it added that this did not mean the problem had disappeared which is why it initiated a new round of investigations into pilot qualifications.
US President Barack Obama said restoring runways and implementing a satellite-based ATC system are key components of his "comprehensive infrastructure plan" unveiled Monday that includes "a $50 billion upfront investment" to quickly spur projects.
