While most of the air transport industry is focused on aviation’s impact on climate change, ICAO held a conference last month in Montreal looking at the potential impact of climate change on aviation. "While increased mitigation efforts will reduce climate impacts, even the most aggressive mitigation efforts will not eliminate the need for substantial adaptation,” ICAO said.
The UK's new coalition government indicated last week that it will cancel plans for a third runway at London Heathrow and refuse additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted, stating that it is committed "to implement a full program of measures to fulfil our joint ambitions for a low carbon and eco-friendly economy."
AirBaltic transported 211,503 passengers in April, a 3% decline year-over-year. Load factor fell 2 points to 63%. During the first four months it transported 835,694 passengers, a 16% year-over-year improvement. Load factor for the four-month period remained flat at 62%. Air France KLM flew 14.28 billion RPKs in April, a 15.9% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity was down 15.3% to 17.85 billion ASKs and load factor fell 0.6 point to 80%.
TAM, which yesterday officially became a member of Star Alliance, said it will make a decision by the second half of this year on whether to spin off its MRO subsidiary. "We've already talked to eight to ten possible" buyers, VP-Operations and MRO Ruy Amparo told ATWOnline this week in San Carlos, Brazil. "In about two months from now, we will decide if our MRO subsidiary will become a spinoff. We are ready to spin off [MRO]."
Investigators examining the Afriqiyah Airways A330-200 crash are expected to focus on faulty landing aids and the pilots being blinded by the sun as possible causes.
The UK CAA this week altered its approach to the promulgated No-Fly Zone by removing the 60 nm. volcanic ash "buffer zone" that was proposed by Eurocontrol and accepted by the Eurocontrol member states in the week following Iceland’s volcanic eruption.
US Dept. of Transportation yesterday named the members of a new advisory committee that will study the future of aviation and report back to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a year or more with recommendations on ensuring the competitiveness and capability of the US aviation industry. "Aviation is essential to our nation's economy and our ability to compete in international commerce," LaHood said. The panel's first meeting is scheduled for May 25 in Washington.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt called for increased cooperation between the US and China on runway safety, airworthiness, aircraft emissions and next-generation air traffic control. In remarks prepared for the China Civil Aviation Development Forum in Beijing, Babbitt said the two countries with the largest aviation systems, the US and China, need to be world leaders on these important issues. He noted that measures taken in the US to improve runway safety contributed to a 63% drop in the number of runway incursion incidents between 2000 and 2008.
ICAO's European and North Atlantic Regional office yesterday held an initial meeting to begin the process of amending its volcanic ash contingency plan, while EASA proposed adoption of the US practice of a 120-mi. no-fly zone around an ash plume, according to published reports.
Universal Weather and Aviation, announced today that its RAD-compliant, optimized online flight planning system - UVflightplanner.com - for business aviation, now performs integrated fuel tankering calculations.
Boeing said India's domestic freighter airline Blue Dart Aviation selected its Maintenance Performance Toolbox for its 757-200 freighter fleet. The software-based productivity tool unifies airline maintenance data, streamlining the documentation process.
Kale Consultants will provide its Revera passenger revenue accounting system and its Amber cargo revenue accounting system to Vietnam Airlines, which will deploy the solutions on a licensed basis. Travelport GDS signed a five-year, full-content agreement with Emirates providing Galileo, Apollo and Worldspan-connected travel agents with access to the airline's full inventory of flights and fares.
News from Travel Technology Update "Would you like fries with that?" McDonald's built an empire by offering something to consumers that would complement their purchase of a hamburger. It was offered to the right customer at the appropriate time, and it was not a complicated proposition. That is merchandising done right, Timothy O'Neil-Dunne said in his keynote address at the OpenTravel Alliance Advisory Forum in Seattle.
A senior US lawmaker is warning that the National Mediation Board exceeded its legal authority with a new ruling that strengthens air and rail union organizers.
Kayak buys German travel search site Social media company adds investors Travelport plans Q3 launch of Universal Desktop Saudi Arabian Air completes migration to Amadeus Altea CMS Carlson to test Sabre Hospitality's XML connection In Focus: GuestCentric helps hoteliers navigate social media World news briefing
"Would you like fries with that?" McDonald's built an empire by offering something to consumers that would complement their purchase of a hamburger. It was offered to the right customer at the appropriate time, and it was not a complicated proposition. That is merchandising done right, Timothy O'Neil-Dunne said in his keynote address at the OpenTravel Alliance Advisory Forum in Seattle.
As 2010 opened, airlines in the Philippines had reason to look to the future with some measure of optimism amid the first signs of recovery appearing on the radar. This is a country where the geography and demographics are ideal for the growth of air transportation. In fact, it consists of 7,107 islands that are home to the world’s 12th largest population, 90 million, with a growth rate of 2%.
