Etihad Airways took delivery of the first of five new A330-300s it plans to add over the next two years. Aircraft seats 12 passengers in a new first class cabin, 40 in business and 151 in economy and will operate between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow. EY said two A340-600s already have been configured with the new first class product, with nine more to be retrofitted by December.
GE Aviation completed the acquisition of BMB Fuel Consulting Services of Ottawa, which identifies and tracks operational improvements for airlines that will reduce fuel consumption, according to GE.
TAM announced the promotion of VP-Finance, Management and IT Libano Mirando Barroso to president. Barroso joined the airline in 2004. Republic Airways Holdings named Frontier Airlines Director-Supply Chain Drew Skaff as Republic Airways VP-supply chain.
IATA said that Sunday's US Transportation Security Administration announcement concerning more random screening of US-bound passengers not connected with 14 specific countries considered to be security threats "is a welcome step in the right direction" toward a long-term model that is "globally harmonized, risk-based and [which has] efficient process for passengers." TSA now is requiring all passengers who are citizens of or traveled from/through Iran, Sudan, Syria, Cuba, Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen to undergo "enhanced
FlightSafety International will open a learning center in Johannesburg and begin training pilots and technicians working on Q300, Dash 8 and Beechcraft 1900 aircraft in March. SIM AeroTraining of France will manage the facility and maintain the training devices.
Delta Air Lines and subsidiary Northwest Airlines were granted a single operating certificate by US FAA on Dec. 31, an expected move that clears the way for full integration to be completed by late first quarter/early second quarter.
AirTran Airways will open pilot and flight attendant bases in Milwaukee in April. It will station 50 737 pilots and a minimum of 50 717 and 737 flight attendants in the city, where it will employ more than 300 people in all positions. Hawaiian Airlines announced a tentative five-year labor agreement with 418 pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. The airline said the deal, reached prior to the holidays, provides both increased compensation for the pilots and operational improvements for HA.
Ryanair will suspend operation of domestic routes to/from its 10 Italian bases on Jan. 23 in protest of a November ENAC decision to accept forms of passenger identification that the airline considers unsecure. Ryanair requires passengers to present either a passport or an EU/EEA national ID card at the gate.
EasyJet announced the following new routes: London Stansted to Bodrum, Dubrovnik (each thrice-weekly from May 15), Split and Dalaman (each four-times-weekly from May 14); Paris Charles de Gaulle to Palma (five-times-weekly from July 10), Split (thrice-weekly from July 10), Prague (daily from March 28), Malaga (daily from May 14) and Toulouse (twice-daily from March 28); Geneva to Faro, Brindisi (each twice-weekly from April 3) and Heraklion (twice-weekly from June 19); Bristol to Dalaman (thrice-weekly from July 16), Bodrum (thrice-weekly from July 17) and Heraklion (twice-weekly from J
Several of Carnival Corp.'s cruise lines adopted new policies that prohibit online travel agencies or cruise sellers from bidding on the lines' trademarked search-engine keywords. The similar policies, adopted by Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn Cruises, went into effect Jan. 1.
The US Transportation Security Administration implemented a new security directive on Jan. 4 mandating that every passenger flying into the country who is a citizen of or whose trip included a stop in 14 "nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest" will be subject to "enhanced screening." The move came 10 days after a Nigerian national attempted to detonate an explosive onboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. His trip started in Lagos.
When you think about groundbreaking technology in the travel industry, your thoughts probably don't turn to a 125-year-old company. But NCR Corp., founded to market the first mechanical cash register, has over the last century been a leader in areas as diverse as automated credit systems (1914) and digital computers for aviation (1952). It invented liquid crystal displays (1968) and marketed the first bar-code scanners (1974).
Navtech said that Delta Air Lines completed its transition to its Preferential Bidding System rostering software. Pilots will use the tool beginning next month. PROS Revenue Management won a contract from Royal Jordanian Airlines to deploy its new suite of network revenue management systems, with implementation scheduled for the 2010 fourth quarter.
Iberia flew 3.72 billion RPKs in November, a 5.9% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity was cut 6.8% to 4.79 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.7 point to 77.8%. Norwegian's November yield fell 20% year-over-year to NOK0.55, while unit revenue dropped 21% to NOK0.41. The LCC flew 872 million RPMs last month, up 27%, against a 29% increase in ASKs to 1.18 billion. Load factor dropped 1 point to 74%. Germanwings transported 501,687 passengers in November, down 1.3% year-over-year. Load factor fell 5.8 points to 70.5%.
