Boeing announced yesterday that TUI Travel will be the launch customer for the manufacturer's 787 GoldCare lifecycle support program. It said it reached agreement with the leisure operator to support its fleet of 13 787s. TUI, which last year lowered its firm order for Dreamliners from 23, is expected to take delivery of its first 787 in early 2012. The 13 787s will be operated by Thomson Airways, Tuifly Nordic, Jetairfly and Arkefly. The GoldCare contract is for a period of 12 years from the delivery date of each aircraft.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it began court proceedings against Malaysia Airlines and its wholly owned cargo subsidiary, alleging they engaged in "price fixing of airfreight." MAS is the 13th carrier to be targeted by ACCC
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel yesterday told reporters on the sidelines of a New Delhi business conference that "the worst is over" for struggling Air India, which has seen average monthly losses of INR4 billion ($90 million) begin to come down by INR1 billion a month.
News from Travel Technology Update: Travelport signed a new multi-year, multimillion-dollar software agreement with IBM for significant upgrades to the existing systems architecture and software infrastructure of its technology platform. The new investment in IBM software will more than double the information it processes, Travelport said. The deal will upgrade Travelport's core system operating software to the IBM z/Transaction Processing Facility (z/TPF).
Travelport signed a new multi-year, multimillion-dollar software agreement with IBM for significant upgrades to the existing systems architecture and software infrastructure of its technology platform. The new investment in IBM software will more than double the information it processes, Travelport said. The deal will upgrade Travelport's core system operating software to the IBM z/Transaction Processing Facility (z/TPF).
Lanyon introduces tool to address corporate hotel rate disparities Air India selects SITA to provide new passenger services system Orbitz, iSeatz to develop private-label solutions for suppliers Expedia launches hotel booking program for travel agencies Expedia links with direct-connection provider in China In Focus: Travelport signs new deal with IBM for z/TPF upgrade World news briefing
Nyras appointed David Huttner, MD of Antwerp-based consultancy planely spoken and a former executive with Virgin Blue, senior VP with special responsibilities for business development and project management. Planely spoken will be integrated into Nyras.
Raytheon will install passenger checkpoint screening equipment at airports nationwide under an $88 million task order issued under the TSA's Security Equipment Integration Services contract. The contract began March 24 and ends March 23, 2011.
Jordan Kuwait Bank and Royal Jordanian signed a marketing alliance agreement by which the two parties launched "Fly and Plus," a co-branded MasterCard credit card.
GuestLogix and Alpha Flight Services announced a partnership under which the Australian catering firm's customers will use the GuestLogix onboard retail platform OnTouch. The platform includes handheld point-of-sale devices. Alpha provides inflight catering at nine airports in Australia and serves 16 customer airlines.
American Airlines flew 10.58 billion system RPMs in March, a 2.5% rise from the year-ago month, while capacity dipped 0.7% to 12.95 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 2.6 points to 81.7%. American Eagle Airlines flew 664.4 million RPMs, up 3.3%, against a 3.4% rise in capacity to 924.4 million ASMs. Load factor matched the year-ago month at 71.9%.
Responding to Spirit Airlines' industry-first decision to impose a carryon bag fee, US Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he is considering introducing legislation to ban such charges and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the fee "outrageous." Sprit has gotten considerable attention in the US media since last week announcing it would begin charging customers up to $45 for cabin luggage that goes into overhead bins ( ATWOnline, April 7).
Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said he will consider some form of "legal process" to block the British Airways/American Airlines/Iberia transatlantic joint venture if it is approved by the European Commission.
IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani in Tokyo called on the Japanese government to "put its aviation house in order to compete in the Asia/Pacific market." Following a meeting with Japanese Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, Bisignani said IATA supports the minister's vision "to increase the competitiveness of Japan's air transport sector" and praised the country's airlines and airports for working together to meet the organization's target to achieve 100% barcoded boarding passes by year end.
ST Aerospace reached a $105 million, eight-year maintenance-by-the-hr. deal with Spring Airlines, expanding an existing contract covering 15 A320s to an "expected fleet" of up to 78 A320s. The contract, which includes the setup of a new warehouse at Spring's base at Pudong International, will commence in April.
ARINC and subcontractor IBM announced a four-year, multimillion-dollar contract from BAA to upgrade temporarily 150 older check-in kiosks at London Heathrow Terminals 1, 3 and 4 with new IBM software this month, followed by a complete replacement of all older kiosk units in September. A total of 202 new IBM kiosks will be installed by the 2011 first quarter, the largest deployment of common-use self-service kiosks at the airport, serving more than 18 airlines, ARINC said.
AirBaltic announced an insurance agreement with ERGO/ERV to offer passengers traveling on the airline "improved travel insurance," including coverage for sports injuries and sports equipment. ERGO Baltic States Management Board Chairman Kestutis Bagdonavicius said the "main advantage" of the "completely new travel insurance product" is that "winter sport and snorkeling [are] included into insurance coverage without any extra insurance payment."
US FAA said Friday it is proposing a $380,000 civil penalty against Frontier Airlines "for operating several aircraft on approximately 900 flights when they were not in compliance with federal aviation regulations." According to the agency, the carrier reconfigured passenger cabins on some of its A318s and A319s in 2008 and 2009 "to permit dual-aisle access to the overwing emergency exits. However, the airline did not replace the existing placards with placards showing the new configuration, as required. The placards are in place to tell passengers how to operate the overwing exits.
IATA said last week that it "strengthened its commitment to China's aviation development" with the opening of its new North Asia Regional Office in Beijing.
The new pipeline to supply aviation fuel to New Doha International Airport from Mesaieed refinery will become operational by the end of this year according to Mohamed al-Sobai, vice-chairman and managing director of Qatar's Woqod .
African Airlines Assn. stated its "concern" over the EU's latest blacklist, noting that the list of airlines banned from European airspace for safety reasons heavily penalizes Africa-based carriers. The 13th update of the list was announced late last month ( ATWOnline, March 31). AFRAA said "13 of the 17 countries affected by the EU ban are from Africa, with a total of 111 African airlines 'blacklisted' . . .
Lufthansa pilots represented by the Vereinigung Cockpit union agreed to drop their call for a four-day strike starting April 13 and enter mediated talks with LH management instead. An LH spokesperson told this website in Frankfurt that the two parties had agreed on key points for mediated discussons. A date for the talks was not set.
United Airlines passenger who caused a panic that sent two USAF F-16s scrambling to intercept UA Flight 663 and escort it to Denver International was a Qatari diplomat traveling to Denver on "official embassy business. . .and was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity," according to a statement from Qatar Ambassador to the US Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri posted on the embassy's website.
ARC reported that the recovery in US air travel sales that began last November accelerated in March as ticket sales through participating travel agencies surged 29.2% compared to March 2009 to $7.60 billion while credit card sales soared 30.5% to $6.83 billion, the highest figure for March since 2001.
