Midwest Airlines has fallen behind on payments to General Mitchell Airport, owing some $1.1 million in gate fees, an airport spokesperson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It is the latest in series of downward turns for the financially beleaguered carrier that recently announced it would cut its workforce by 40% and ground its MD-80 fleet by September ( ATWOnline, July 22). Midwest pays an estimated $700,000 each month in gate fees, according to an airport official.
UPS on Friday opened a 27,000-sq.-ft. flight training center at Anchorage International, which it is building into its "gateway to Asia." Currently, 402 UPS Airlines pilots are based in ANC and 30 aircraft, including its entire 747-400F fleet and some MD-11Fs, will be domiciled there by 2010. The new facility houses two flight simulators including the carrier's only 747-400 simulator, classrooms and offices. "Established to support all phases of flight training, the new facility will make it unnecessary for Anchorage-based pilots to fly to Louisville for training," UPS said.
TAM flew 2.16 billion domestic RPKs in July, up 8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 13.8% to 3.07 billion ASKs and load factor fell 3.8 points to 70.4%. International traffic jumped 37.5% to 1.48 billion RPKs against a 27.2% hike in capacity to 1.82 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 6.1 points to 81.5%. Copa Airlines flew 534.8 million RPMs in July, up 14.6% year-over-year, against a 15.2% rise in ASKs to 632.3 million. Load factor dipped 0.5 point to 84.6%.
Airlines on both sides of the Taiwan Strait carried 95,765 passengers across the strait with an average load factor of 87% over the seven weeks ended Aug. 18, according to Taiwanese authorities. Taiwan Civil Aviation Chief Li Long Wen told media last week that cross-strait routes are among the few profitable services operated by Taiwanese carriers.
Spanish investigators are backing away from blaming an engine fire for last week's Spanair MD-82 crash following emergence of a video of the failed takeoff that shows no signs of fire until after the aircraft, which elevated only a few meters off the ground, crashed back down on the runway.
SAS Group airlines flew 4.16 billion RPKs in July, up 2.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.9% to 5.27 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.7 points to 78.9%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.62 billion RPKs, up 1%, against a 4.1% increase in ASKs to 3.25 billion. Load factor fell 2.5 points to 80.8%. Austrian Airlines flew 1.93 billion RPKs in July, down 2.9% year-over-year, against a 3.3% decline in capacity to 2.42 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.3 point to 79.6%.
Spanish authorities continued to search for the cause of Wednesday's Spanair MD-82 crash on takeoff from Madrid Barajas that killed at least 153 passengers and crew as the carrier insisted that a malfunctioning air intake probe that delayed the scheduled takeoff by 1 hr. had no relevance to the investigation.
Sabre Airline Solutions reached agreement with Air One to launch Sabre's Mobile Check-In solution featuring advanced check-in capabilities across multiple touch points. Technology is part of its SabreSonic customer sales and service solution and integrates with other SabreSonic self-service options including Web and kiosk check-in. Sabre also announced that Kuwaiti startup Wataniya Airways selected its SabreSonic sales and service system featuring mobile technology aimed at expediting the check-in process.
Unite said yesterday that a strike by baggage handlers and check-in staff at London Stansted, Gatwick and Manchester planned for Aug. 25 has been "suspended" following a new pay offer from Swissport. It said a ballot of union members will begin "shortly" ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18).
ITA Software announced that LOT Polish Airlines extended application of its QPX airfare pricing and shopping system, launching a weekend airfare search capability on LOT's website featuring flexible booking capabilities and advanced travel and cost options.
Gate Gourmet finalized its acquisition of Inflight Logistic Services, a Sydney-based company offering services such as menu/service design, logistics and supply chain management, onboard point-of-sale solutions and cash management processes. ILS also supplies cabin cleaning and manages personal media players for inflight entertainment. Major customers include Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue and Rex Regional Express. ILS recently won a long-term contract to handle Jetstar Airways' domestic catering beginning Nov. 12.
Malaysia Airlines and GMR Hyderabad International Airport signed an MOU this week to establish an MRO company at Rajiv Gandhi International capable of handling "all types of aircraft," including the A380. Financial details, ownership structure and timetable for launch were not disclosed.
Air New Zealand and key partners aim to demonstrate commercial aviation's potential to reduce carbon emissions by millions of tonnes annually with a Sept. 12 test flight between Auckland and San Francisco.
"We are a fragile industry and we are in crisis; wait and see is no longer an option," was yesterday's assessment from IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani, who was addressing the Australian National Aviation Press Club in Sydney.
Aer Lingus Group appointed Babcock and Brown Air CEO Colm Barrington as chairman succeeding John Sharman effective next month. Barrington currently is a nonexecutive director of Dublin Airport Authority, from which he will resign before taking over at EI.
United Airlines will stop serving complimentary snacks to North American economy passengers effective Sept. 2 and will begin charging for meals in domestic business class (except for certain flights between New York and Los Angeles/San Francisco) and in transatlantic economy cabins on Oct. 1, according to a memo to flight attendants obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle and subsequently confirmed by a UA spokesperson. "These are difficult but necessary changes.
A Spanair MD-82 scheduled to carry vacationers to Las Palmas yesterday crashed on takeoff from Madrid Barajas' longest runway, 36L, and caught fire. Reports from the Spanish capital indicated that at least 153 occupants were killed in the accident. Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said late yesterday that 19 of the 172 people (162 passengers, six working crew, four nonworking crew) onboard survived, according to the BBC and CNN.
European Commission extended the deadline for its inquiry into Air France KLM's proposed acquisition of Martinair by 10 working days due to "first phase commitments" offered to alleviate competition concerns. Original deadline was Aug. 25. KLM currently owns 50% of Martinair shares and intends to acquire the other 50% from Maersk ( ATWOnline, June 12, 2007).
American Airlines yesterday launched its Gogo inflight Internet service provided by Aircell on 767-200s operating from New York to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. The service is available in all cabins and costs $12.95 per person on flights of more than 3 hr. ( ATWOnline, June 26).
Embraer and Aeromexico Connect signed a long-term service agreement supporting the carrier's growing fleet of ERJ-145s and E-190s. Contract covers more than 500 part numbers and includes landing gear overhauls on the -145s.
JAL Group yesterday filed an application with the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism requesting that international normal interline fare rates be raised by 10% on flights to the Americas and by 5% on flights to other Asian destinations and to the Middle East and Africa.
SR Technics signed an agreement with Avtrade Ltd. to provide MRO and loan services for a range of Honeywell APUs including the 131-9A, 131-9B, 85 Series, 331-200ER, 331-250, 331-350C and 660-4.
Mercator said that WestJet signed up for its RAPID Bureau Interline Solution hosted in Dubai, becoming the third North American customer for the interline revenue accounting solution.
SilkAir CEO Chin Yau Seng told reporters that demand for its services remains robust with the exception of "a few blips," and that capacity growth for the fiscal year beginning April 1 now is expected to be 5%-7%, down slightly from the 8%-10% previously forecast. "So far we have seen continued strong support to a lot of our regional points," Chin said, noting that demand is strong from both leisure and business travelers despite high fuel prices.
News from Travel Technology Update: Ryanair said it will cancel all bookings made through screen-scraping Web sites. "We believe this is a quicker and more effective way of discouraging this unlawful activity and we hope that by getting rid of screen-scrapers we will speed up passenger processing times on Ryanair.com, as well as ensuring that Ryanair passengers are not paying unnecessary handling charges or higher fares to screen-scrapers," the carrier said.
