The US airline industry won a small but significant victory last month in its bid to challenge the legality of the EU's plan to apply its Emissions Trading Scheme to non-EU airlines when the English High Court of Justice said it would refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
EADS demonstrated an all-algae-powered flight at the ILA 2010 Berlin Air Show this month using a Diamond DA42 New Generation powered by two Austro Engine AE300s. According to EADS, the higher energy content of the algae biofuel meant that the fuel consumption of the aircraft was 1.5 litres per hr. lower compared to conventional jet fuel while maintaining equal performance. Only "relatively minor modifications and adjustments" had to be made to the engines to qualify the biofuel from algae for the demonstration flights, the company said.
Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May called into question the discussion draft of the American Power Act, climate change legislation proposed by US Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), saying that while “the nation’s airlines are committed to promoting energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we have strong concerns about the punitive approach this draft legislation proposes for jet fuel and other refined products."
John Plaza, founder and CEO of US-based Imperium Renewables, warned last week that the future widespread availability of aviation biofuels in North America should not be taken for granted.
Mercator, The specialist aerospace IT solutions provider owned by the Emirates Group has today acquired the tikAERO passenger services system solution through TIK Systems.
AirBaltic transported 295,809 passengers in May, a 29% increase year-over-year. Load factor grew 3 points to 69%. Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 7.82 billion RPKs in May, a 10.3% rise year-over-year. Capacity grew 2.8% to 9.62 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 5.5 points to 81.3%.
US FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City reached a two-year cooperative research and development agreement with Boeing subsidiary Insitu and the New Jersey Air National Guard to study the integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system. Currently a limited number of UASs fly in the US under certificates of authorization or FAA waivers that are granted on a case-by-case basis.
IATA said Friday that it formalized a strategic partnership with the Ukraine to cooperate in a number of areas, including safety and security. DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani and Ukraine Deputy Transport Minister and Chairman-State Aviation Administration Anatolii Kolisnyk signed a Memorandum of Intention in Kiev, where Bisignani also met with officials from Ukraine International Airlines and Aerosvit Airlines. The organization will share ideas and best practices on safety, security, technology, airport infrastructure, air navigation, ground handling and training.
Rockwell Collins was selected by Turkish Airlines to provide a suite of avionics including its MultiScan Hazard Detection system, TCAS, datalink system and sensors for 20 firm and 15 option 737s and 20 firm and 10 option A319s/A321s with deliveries beginning in 2011.
JetBlue Airways said May RASM rose 13% from the year-ago month. It flew 2.3 billion RPMs, up 9.8%, while ASMs climbed 4.5% to 2.83 billion. Load factor increased 3.9 points to 81.3%. Gol flew 2.19 billion RPKs in May, up 14.5% year-over-year. Capacity rose 13.6% to 3.74 billion ASKs and load factor increased 0.5 point to 58.4%. Ryanair transported 6.44 million passengers in May, a 17% increase year-over-year. Load factor stayed flat at 81%.
SITA will provide the 50 airlines of the Frankfurt CUTE club with 73 common-use self-service AirportConnect S3 check-in kiosks at FRA beginning in July. Existing CUSS kiosks in Terminals 1 and 2 will be the first to be replaced, with deployment of all 73 units expected to be completed by year end.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.38 billion RPKs in May, up 4% year-over-year, while capacity fell 1.6% to 3.15 billion ASKs. Load factor was up 4.1 points to 75.6%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.17 billion RPKs, up 3%, against a 3.1% cut in capacity to 2.84 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 4.5 points to 76.5%. United Airlines flew 10.26 billion consolidated RPMs in May, a 7.5% increase year-over-year. Capacity grew 3.3% to 12.31 billion ASMs and load factor increased 3.3 points to 83.3%.
While claiming he did not want to make yet another controversial comment, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker did just that at the IATA AGM this week when he said there is no need for consolidation among Persian Gulf airlines because the majority will "just disappear."
Boeing said Jade Cargo selected its Airplane Health Management system to cover its fleet of six 747-400 freighters. Jade Cargo will incorporate all three modules of the solution, which assists airlines in managing unscheduled maintenance events, consisting of Real-Time Fault Management, Performance Monitoring and Custom Alerting and Analysis. Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance reached a two-year renewal of its contract with AeroMexico to maintain its fleet of four 777s.
"Governments should be careful how quickly they take the punch bowl away from the party," warned IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce when discussing the dilemma facing governments withdrawing stimulus packages. Responding to a question from ATWOnline at IATA's 66th AGM in Berlinon the significant gap between soaring business confidence and stagnating consumer confidence, Pearce conceded that business confidence, and thus the rebound in premium air travel, has been fed by government stimulus programs and not consumer demand.
News from Travel Technology Update: Since last fall’s rollout of Affinity Shopper, the application that allows travelers to search airline websites for destinations based on their interests, budgets and other criteria, the Amadeus team has been working to put more speed into the searches.
Germany announced a new airline ticket departure tax that it believes will raise €1 billion ($1.19 billion) annually, but the airline industry led by IATA slammed the proposal and vowed to fight it vigorously.
Since last fall’s rollout of Affinity Shopper, the application that allows travelers to search airline websites for destinations based on their interests, budgets and other criteria, the Amadeus team has been working to put more speed into the searches.
TripAdvisor creates B2B division, plans Asia expansion Ruba team moves in with Google Travelport, Rearden to offer combined solution Amadeus looks at new deployments for Extreme Search TRX releases revamped version of online booking solution Special report: China Online World news briefing
Southwest Airlines flew 6.66 billion RPMs in May, up 3.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 0.05% to 8.63 billion ASMs while load factor rose 2.6 points to 77.2%. Delta Air Lines operated 16.28 billion system RPMs in May, up 2.7% year-over-year. Capacity rose 0.6% to 19.39 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 1.6 points to 83.9%.
