Commercial aviation's carbon footprint in 2009 will fall 7% from the "just under" 670 million tonnes of carbon dioxide produced in 2008, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The global recession is responsible for a 5% reduction, while strategies employed by airlines resulted in a further 2% cut. "Shortening routes, spreading best practice in fuel management and using more efficient ways to land are among the measures that we are implementing to reduce emissions. Since 2004, our. .
CSA Czech Airlines next month will merge all handling activities under an independent subsidiary called CSA Support. Approximately 800 CSA employees will be transferred to the new operation.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said that "any number of options have been explored" to determine how to finance equipage of commercial aircraft with NextGen ATC technology such as ADS-B, including consideration of the government's providing airlines with money for early equipage that would be "subject to repayment."
Malaysia Airlines and SITA Lab announced the launch of MHmobile, a mobile phone and PDA application allowing users to book, pay for, check in and board their flights. It also connects to social networking sites, features geolocation capabilities and offers access to SITA WorldTracer so passengers can check the status of delayed or mishandled baggage.
ASKY Airlines, a Togolese startup affiliated with Ethiopian Airlines ( ATWOnline, July 8, 2008), plans to launch service to regional destinations on Jan. 15 with two 737-700s on lease from ET and said it intends to serve Europe, the Americas and Asia in the future. Shareholders include ET (20%), Ecobank Group, Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development, West African Development Bank and the Sakhumnotho Group of South Africa.
RwandAir signed a financing deal with the Eastern and Southern African Trade & Development Bank for $13.5 million in loans to cover the acquisition of two CRJ200s. In addition, the carrier said that talks with "large aircraft suppliers are at advanced stages for the acquisition of mid- to long-range aircraft beginning 2010. The airline intends to expand its fleet considerably over the next five years."
Baltic Aviation Academy, a unit of Vilnius-based Avia Solutions Group, said it received its Flight Training Organization License from the Lithuanian CAA and is offering ab initio pilot training from private pilot license and instrument rating courses to commercial pilot license, multiengine pilot license and airline transport pilot license courses. Ab initio classes start in January.
The UK House of Commons Transport Committee issued a report yesterday endorsing a third runway at London Heathrow "subject to the effective application of tough environmental conditions," while suggesting that Gatwick, rather than Stansted, would be a better choice for a second runway after 2019.
KLM completed installation of its new Economy Comfort premium economy product on 61 long-haul aircraft and officially launched the offering yesterday. Seats offer 35 in. pitch instead of the standard 31 in. An average of 34-40 Comfort seats will be offered, depending on the aircraft type ( ATWOnline, Sept. 17).
The US Environmental Protection Agency yesterday issued a formal finding that greenhouse gasses including carbon dioxide emissions "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people," clearing the way for the agency to regulate a wide range of CO2-emitting industries under provisions of the Clean Air Act.
AirBaltic concluded one-year agreements with the Austrian and Swiss governments for provision of flights for government employees to/from more than 60 destinations. It signed similar deals with the Danish, Finnish and German governments this year.
APG Global Associates announced that eight additional carriers joined APG IET in November including Turkish Airlines and Philippine Airlines, bringing the number of airline partners to 54. President Jean-Louis Baroux said the company is targeting 100 carriers by the 2010 first quarter. APG GA introduced the APG IET program to airlines in cooperation with its partner Heli Air Monaco (YO/747), which functions as the validating and issuing carrier.
Delta Air Lines flew 13.57 billion system RPMs in November, a 7.1% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 8.4% to 17.06 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.1 points to 79.6%. American Airlines flew 9.49 billion system RPMs in November, down 0.5% year-over-year. Capacity fell 4.2% to 11.92 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 3 points to 79.6%. American Eagle flew 634.6 million RPMs, up 11.7%, against a 6.8% increase in capacity to 901.2 million ASMs. Load factor was up 3.1 points to 70.4%.
Gulf Air Director for Information Technology Jalal Al Qassab has been voted the 'Top CIO” (Chief Information Officer) by a group of global leading technology research organisations.
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras, the year-old Campinas-based LCC, plans to increase passenger traffic 50% next year and "will continue to grow significantly faster than the overall market," CEO David Neeleman told Dow Jones last week. Azul currently operates 14 aircraft to 16 domestic destinations and plans to add seven planes and three new airports in 2010, he said, "but we could still expand much faster than that."
Air China Senior VP Fan Cheng was named Communist Party Secretary at Shenzhen Airlines last week, increasing speculation in China that CA will seek control of Shenzhen following the arrest of controlling shareholder Li Zeyuan ( ATWOnline, Dec. 2). Fan reportedly will oversee day-to-day operations at Shenzhen, in which CA currently holds 25%.
Dublin Airport Authority said Ireland's Commission for Aviation Regulation has determined that the average maximum passenger charge will increase to €9.97 ($15.04) in 2010-15, more than 33% higher than the current period, although the commission's report "contains many variables." DAA said charges "in real terms" have fallen 30% over the past 20 years and that the increase still compares favorably to European "peers" that charge an average of €12.50 per passenger.
ANA last week told ATWOnline that it is "definitely very interested in deepening our relationships with partner airlines" but would not comment on press reports that it plans to seek transpacific antitrust immunity with both United Airlines and Continental Airlines once an expanded air service agreement is signed by the US and Japan, which could happen as early as this week. "At this point, it's premature for us to talk publicly about plans, timetables, etc.," an ANA spokesperson said.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said regulators, airports and airlines have "picked off all the low-hanging fruit there is to pick" to improve runway safety and now must focus on gathering "more detailed information" that can be analyzed to preemptively identify airfield risks.
Seabury Group completed its merger with Minneapolis-based Organizational Concepts International, a global advisory and investment management firm. Terms were not disclosed. Seabury made a minority investment in OCI in 2008. The firm will use the Seabury name and add Minneapolis to its global office locations, with former OCI President and CEO Marty Kuehne serving as CAO and MD-human capital. John Kuehne, who was executive VP and partner at OCI, will become CFO and MD.
Southern Air Holdings, parent of Connecticut-based ACMI freight carrier Southern Air, announced the appointment of DHL Express Asia/Pacific CEO Daniel McHugh as CEO effective Jan. 1. He succeeds Southern founder James Neff, who is retiring but will remain a board member. Southern operates 16 747 freighters and plans to introduce its first two 777-200LRFs in the 2010 first quarter. It will operate the aircraft for Thai Airways.
Aerowing patented what it described as a "new technology to enhance and improve the leak detection market." According to Nevada-based Aerowing, the portable HyTracker Leak Detector hydrogen tracer gas detector can detect fuel leakage down to "bacteria size."
Bombardier reported a $168 million profit in its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 31, down 25.7% from the $226 million earned in the year-ago period, but enjoyed an increase in commercial aircraft deliveries and yesterday announced that AMR Corp.'s American Eagle firmed options for 22 CRJ700s.
