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%.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline that the German carrier is planning a series of biofuel test flights over an extended period to evaluate the long-term effects of alternative fuels on airline operations.
An ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused further disruption to airline operations in Europe, mainly affecting flights to and from Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Austria, Scotland and Ireland over the weekend. Transatlantic flights were subject to "significant rerouting" that resulted in delays, Eurocontrol said. There were 22,424 flights within the parameters of Eurocontrol's Central Flow Management Unit on Saturday, about 200 below normal traffic levels, and on Sunday there were 23,491 flights, about 1,500 below normal traffic levels.
A group of US airlines led by the Air Transport Assn. is planning an immediate court challenge to a new federal rule that is expected to help unions organize workers.
US House of Representatives Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) last week wrote a letter to the Dept. of Justice to "strongly urge" it to reject the United Airlines/Continental Airlines merger on antitrust grounds. He said the tie-up would be "another domino in the chain" of airline industry consolidation, likely leading to "further consolidation" and less choice for consumers.
Dubai-headquartered flight services company JetEx says it is continuing its global expansion and will be announcing a new FBO when the business aviation industry meets at MEBA in December.
American Airlines flew 10.15 billion RPMs in April, a 1.3% year-over-year decrease, while capacity fell 2.1% to 12.38 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 0.7 point to 82%. American Eagle Airlines operated 700.32 million RPMs, up 8.7%, against an 8.8% lift in capacity to 966.13 million ASMs. Load factor dipped 0.1 point to 72.5%.
Delta Air Lines and US Airways said they intend to challenge in the US Court of Appeals the decision by the Dept. of Transportation that they must sell slots at New York LaGuardia and Washington National as a condition of having their slot swap transaction approved ( ATWOnline, May 5).
The European Parliament approved several amendments to the European Commission's draft directive on aviation security charges and decided that measures that are not listed as standard EU aviation security techniques, such as body-scanning machines, should be paid for by member states rather than airlines or passengers.
The Feb. 25, 2009, crash of a Turkish Airlines 737-800 on approach to Amsterdam Schiphol was caused by a malfunctioning radio altimeter, a non-stabilized approach, poor reactions from the pilots and insufficient directions from air traffic control, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report released yesterday.
Turkish Technic signed a base maintenance contract with Sky Express to perform one C6 check on a 737-500. Work will be carried out at Turkish Technic's Istanbul facilities this month. AJ Walter Aviation announced a partnership with EgyptAir Maintenance & Engineering to support Air Arabia's new Egyptian fleet of A320s. AJW will provide spares leasing and power-by-the-hr. support.
China's government has decided to exempt Chinese carriers from its 3.21% international routes operation tax in an effort to support domestic carriers' expansion. The new policy is retroactive to Jan. 1 with Beijing planning to return taxes paid by Chinese airlines during the first four months. Air China stands to benefit the most because it operates the highest number of international flights among the nation's carriers. It will save about CNY549 million ($80.5 million) in operating expenses based on its 2009 financial report.
Kuwait owned Q8Aviation is now one of the world's leading providers of jet fuel and has strengthened its network of European airports with the recent addition of Frankfurt-Hahn and Liège.
The EU Transport Council met in Brussels yesterday and endorsed most of the European Commission's proposals for addressing last month's six-day volcanic ash-induced airspace closure, while Spanish Transport Minister Jose Blanco admitted the closure decision was based on "bad science."
