Fraport Cargo Services will be the handling agent for Japan Airlines under a long-term deal that gives JAL Cargo use of FCS's CargoCity South warehouse including its own freight acceptance and delivery office. JAL Cargo will head shipment document handling and oversee operations. Construction of a 5,000-sq.-m. warehouse and a four-story, 2,600-sq.-m. adjoining office building next to the airport tower is slated for completion this year.
Amadeus reached agreement with Flybe to expand fare content, enabling agents to gain access to full content. Flybe's route network is now 70% domestic UK, 20% European business and 10% European leisure destinations.
CHAMP Cargosystems acquired 100% of Zurich-based Softair, which provides integrated software solutions to cargo carriers and their distribution partners and recently introduced the first of its new Java/Oracle-based Cargospot suite of products. It has more than 100 airline customers around the world. "The Softair acquisition enables CHAMP to expand and reinforce its addressable market to include ground handling agents, general sales agents and forwarders, thereby supporting the full air cargo supply chain," CHAMP CEO John Johnston said.
Virgin Atlantic Airways announced it has scheduled a 747 biofuel demonstration flight for February. Unveiled in October ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2007), the alternative fuels initiative will start with a flight from London Heathrow to Amsterdam with no passengers and using "a truly sustainable type of biofuel that doesn't compete with food and fresh water resources." Boeing and GE Aviation will participate in the test.
CAE said Kuala Lumpur will be the location of its new training center, which will be developed in partnership with AirAsia. In November, CAE signed a contract to manage AirAsia's TRTO at the AirAsia Academy and provide pilot training services. The center also will train technicians and cabin crew across Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur will serve as CAE's regional hub for MPL and Airbus OEM training.
Airbus said yesterday that if the US Air Force selects Northrop Grumman over Boeing to produce next-generation aerial refueling tankers, it will establish its first US final assembly line in Mobile to produce both the tankers and commercial A330 freighters. Northrop's proposed KC-30 tanker is based on the A330. The defense firm is teamed with Airbus and parent EADS in its effort to win the tanker contract, which is valued at about $40 billion and is scheduled to be awarded on Jan. 31. The contract calls for 12-18 aircraft to be produced annually.
BOC Aviation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of China, announced 10-year lease agreements for five 737NGs with India's Jet Airways. Aircraft will be delivered to Jet by Boeing between March 2010 and November 2011. BOC currently owns 76 aircraft flying with 29 airlines worldwide and has 40 more 737NGs on firm order, 37 of which already have been leased. Last month BOC announced deals to lease four 737-800s to Hainan Airlines, two -800s to Shandong Airlines and one -800 to Skymark Airlines.
Iberia's maintenance and engineering division won authorization from Airbus to train maintenance technicians to work on its equipment. The agreement grants Iberia EASA Part 147 and Airbus procedure certification. It also allows IB to adapt training services to Airbus technologies and practices using tools such as Computer Assisted Training and Virtual Aircraft.
Flybe announced a franchise agreement with Scotland's Loganair that will take effect when the latter's run as a British Airways franchisee ends on Oct. 25. Flybe said the deal, which it claimed is the "first of its kind ever for a low-cost carrier," will see Loganair operating in Flybe livery from Oct. 26. Loganair is based at Glasgow International and operates 13 Saab 340s, two Twin Otters and five BN Islanders. Separately, Flybe will launch thrice-daily London Gatwick-Aberdeen service on March 30.
Aegean Airlines reported an 18% increase in passengers last year to 5.2 million from 4.4 million in 2006. Domestic passengers climbed 10% to 3.4 million and international passengers rose 35% to 1.9 million. Aegean said it "aims at accelerating its re-fleeting process and at further expanding its network" in 2008. Iberia flew 4.25 billion RPKs in December, down 0.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.4% to 5.52 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.5 points to 77%.
Air Arabia announced that it will establish a new hub in Katmandu from where it will operate a low-cost subsidiary in partnership with Nepalese carrier Yeti Airlines. It said the new carrier "will provide affordable and convenient service to a broad range of international destinations" throughout Asia. Flights to Sharjah will start before the end of the month, with service to Doha, Kuala Lumpur and India to follow shortly.
After what were described as "wide-ranging and lengthy conciliation negotiations," the European Parliament and representatives from the 27 EU member states reached an agreement Friday on revision of the regulatory framework for aviation security.
Aer Arann announced a franchise agreement with Nex Aviation under which the latter will offer the first jet service sold as part of the Aer Arann network. Customers will have access to BAe 146-200 flights to Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Malaga and Faro from both Galway and Waterford beginning May 1. Aer Arann currently operates 14 ATR turboprops and will take an additional eight 72-500s by 2009. MD Garry Cullen said the partnership with Nex "underpins the Aer Arann strategy of connecting regional Ireland to the UK and mainland Europe."
Transportation Safety Board of Canada launched an investigation into last week's incident in which an Air Canada A319 abruptly plunged and swayed, causing some passengers to "hit the ceiling" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 11). All 10 passengers/crew taken to a local hospital in Calgary, where the aircraft made an emergency landing, were released late Thursday. But the mystery of exactly what happened and why it occurred remained unsolved.
Air France KLM flew 16.61 billion RPKs in December, a 3.1% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.1% to 21.12 billion ASKs and load factor fell 0.8 point to 78.6%. American Airlines flew 11.24 billion RPMs in December, down 1% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.7% to 14.25 billion ASMs, lowering load factor 0.3 point to 78.8%. American Eagle flew 671.4 million RPMs, down 6.7%, against a 5.6% fall in ASMs to 967.7 million. Load factor dropped 0.8 point to 69.4%.
Canadian Transport Agency gave Air Canada, Jazz and WestJet one year to adopt a "one-person-one-fare" policy on domestic flights, forbidding the carriers from charging more than one fare for disabled individuals who require additional space or are accompanied by "an attendant for their personal care or safety in flight." CTA estimated the cost of implementation at 0.09% of AC's annual passenger revenue of C$8.2 billion ($8.12 billion) and 0.16% of WestJet's C$1.4 billion.
Chinese carriers enjoyed a fruitful 2007 as they earned a collective profit of CNY17 billion ($2.33 billion) in the first 11 months of last year, more than triple the CNY5.54 billion posted the same period of 2006, newly appointed CAAC Minister Li Jiaxiang said last week. Li credited yuan appreciation and fuel surcharges for the result but warned that "Chinese carriers still posted a collective loss if these two main contributors are excluded."
Dublin Airport Authority said it welcomed the decision by the Irish High Court to reject Ryanair's appeal against the granting of planning permission for a second terminal at Dublin.
Lufthansa Technik announced the inauguration and first-phase completion of its widebody MRO hangar in Frankfurt with capacity for two A380s or three 747s in a 25,000-sq.-m. ground plan. Second-phase completion is slated for 2015, when four A380s will be able to be serviced simultaneously. Total capital expenditure is approximately €150 million ($220.4 million), LHT said. Lufthansa has 15 A380s on order, with first delivery scheduled for next year.
Boeing played down the danger related to "new kinds of passenger connectivity to previously isolated data networks" on the 787, which were specified in special conditions mandated for certification by US FAA released earlier this month. The concerns that people could inadvertently or deliberately access aircraft systems through the IFE/connectivity features of the 787 were published by FAA last April and the matter was raised by technical media during the Dreamliner rollout in briefings with Systems Director Mike Sinnett.
Australian aviation regulatory authorities are going to come under the spotlight after Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air announced its plans to launch domestic operations in Australia with six 737-900ERs. According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, the airline has "reportedly reached agreement with an Australian company to take a 49% stake and base six aircraft in Australia."
Air Canada Flight 190, an A319 en route from Victoria to Toronto, was diverted to Calgary yesterday for an emergency landing following what was described as extreme turbulence that caused 10 passengers to sustain what the airline termed "non-life-threatening injuries." Emergency personnel met the aircraft following a smooth landing in Calgary and transported 10 of the 83 passengers to a local hospital. There were five crew onboard. AC said it was investigating an "incident" that created a "very stressful experience" for passengers and crew.
