France intends to begin taxing airline tickets next year to raise development funds for Africa. "I have asked the government to start the necessary procedures so that such a levy is in place from next year," French President Jacques Chirac said. Despite major lobbying efforts by France and Germany to introduce a Europewide tax of €1 or €2 on each ticket, finance ministers in May only agreed to a voluntary tax with the decision on whether to make it mandatory left to individual EU members.
US airlines cancelled dozens of flights across the Gulf Coast region as Hurricane Katrina came ashore yesterday. As of midday Monday, Continental said it had cancelled 111 flights at airports in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana. A spokesperson for American Airlines said AA had cancelled 36 flights and American Eagle 65 flights. US Airways cancelled 40 flights over Sunday and Monday, a spokesperson said, while United Airlines dropped 63.
Belgian and French aviation regulatory authorities, as promised, are providing via the Internet the names of airlines that have been banned from operating to their respective countries ( ATWOnline , Aug. 29). The Belgian Ministry of Transport listed nine carriers on its website, all of them cargo airlines and most of them from Africa. The website of the French DGAC identified five airlines on its blacklist: Air Koryo, Air St. Thomas, International Air Service, LAM and Phuket Airlines.
Following France's example, Belgian and Swiss authorities announced plans to publish a list of airlines and aircraft that are banned from serving their airports ( ATWOnline , Aug. 26). The Belgian blacklist is expected to be on the website of the Ministry of Transport. The ministry also is considering the publication of other data, including a list of aircraft that have had technical problems.
Infratil agreed to purchase the assets and business of Kent International Airport for £17 million from the administrators of Planestation Plc. Completion of the purchase was expected Friday. Planestation, which also owns Irish low-cost carrier EUjet, went into voluntary administration earlier this month. EUjet ceased all operations on July 26 with the loss of 200 jobs after bankers to Planestation decided not to support the company with additional funding. The Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation officially revoked the airline's air carrier license Aug. 9.
Gate Gourmet and the Transport and General Workers Union , assisted by the Trades Union Congress, reached a nonbinding agreement on the terms of a voluntary redundancy program at its London Heathrow kitchens and the implementation of work rule changes. Gate Gourmet aims to cut some 670 jobs, downsizing the workforce at Heathrow to about 1,400. According to the terms of the framework agreement, all staff including the dismissed workers will be given the chance to take voluntary redundancy. However, the deal does not include the union's demand that all dismissed workers be reinstated.
Korea's Ministry of Construction and Transport gave the green light to low-cost operator Jeju Air, which is expected to start domestic operations in June.
Scandinavian Airlines reached agreement with Amadeus on a new distribution contract that will ensure its product is available to Scandinavian travel agents while also addressing its concerns over the high cost of using the GDS channel. The airline did not provide terms of the deal but said it is "a step in the right direction," adding that it is in negotiations with all its GDS providers "to obtain lower distribution costs." It intends to "alter its current full content strategy" as of Oct.
Singapore and India inked an agreement that allows airlines of both countries to expand services between Singapore and Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Fifth freedom rights also were granted.
Malev Hungarian Airlines' privatization process failed for the fifth time. State Privatization and Holding (APV) cancelled the sale Friday. According to Budapest Business Journal , the board of APV decided that none of the bids met its expectations and closed the tender. The sale had been criticized by some, with both opposition party Fidesz and the airline's trade union calling for a halt citing various reasons.
Asiana's pilot dispute has been referred to the National Labor Relations Commission, which has full power to solve industrial disputes. The South Korean government stepped in to resolve the dispute early in August and worked between the parties without success to reach agreement. The pilots have a range of issues including less stick time, more days off and a lift in retirement age from 55 to 60.
Lufthansa Systems and Ryanair signed a 10-year deal for the LHS NetLine network planning solution. Ryanair also selected LHS as its long-term IT strategic partner.
Northwest Airlines has largely recovered to pre-strike levels of reliability, the carrier claimed on Friday. In the first public disclosure of operating metrics since the carrier's mechanics and aircraft cleaners went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 20, Executive VP-Operations Andy Roberts said system completion factor was running at 98.2% as of mid-afternoon Friday.
CAE received an order for a 737-800 full flight simulator from Zhuhai Flight Training Center, its joint venture with China Southern Airlines. At list prices, the contract's value is C$16 million. The order brings the number of CAE-built simulators that the facility operates to 10, making it the largest independent training facility in China, according to CAE.
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Shenzhen Airlines chose CFM56-5Bs to power three A320s and two A319s on order. CFMI valued the engine deal at $60 million at list prices. GE will provide total maintenance support for the engines under a 15-year OnPoint Solution services agreement potentially worth up to $240 million.
Swiss Technical Services concluded a comprehensive long-term maintenance agreement with Blue1 covering five Saab 2000s. Swiss Technical Services also will perform heavy maintenance checks on Lufthansa CityLine's RJ85s. In view of the anticipated work volumes, the Basel-based unit will add up to 50 employees.
Mesa Air Group and AAR Corp. said they finalized an agreement under which AAR will purchase, manage and repair some $50 million in existing and future regional jet rotable spare parts to support the airline's fleet of more than 145 RJs. AAR will be responsible for handling all aspects of the parts supply chain under the 10-year deal. The companies valued the repair portion of the agreement at around $200 million.
American Eagle said it reached a tentative agreement with the Assn. of Flight Attendants, representing its 1,751 cabin attendants. It has been in contract mediation with AFA for nearly two years.
Sabre said Japan Airlines Group selected its AirMax Revenue Manager solution for managing revenues from international operations. Sabre said AirMax "is expected to generate additional revenue from a sophisticated and proven solution set of revenue management functions and business process services."
US FAA, after years of study and debate, announced yesterday that it will not mandate the use of child safety seats on airplanes and instead will continue to permit children under the age of two to travel on the laps of adult passengers "because of the increased safety risk to families." Analyses by FAA showed that if forced to purchase an extra airline ticket to accommodate a child and a safety seat, families might choose to drive, "a statistically more dangerous way to travel." The decision was supported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which cited FAA and NHTSA
In a move opposed by IATA ( ATWOnline , Aug. 25), the French DGAC on Monday will publish a blacklist of airlines deemed unsafe, Transport Minister Dominique Perben announced yesterday. The website lists will include carriers banned from landing in France, scheduled and charter airlines whose aircraft have permission to fly from France and the names of carriers likely to be chartered by authorized airlines.
Northwest Airlines "is prepared to operate the airline with our new maintenance organization indefinitely," the carrier said in a statement. NWA's mechanics and aircraft cleaners have been on strike since Saturday. The airline has experienced a small increase in the number of cancellations, part of which has been attributed to an alleged work slowdown by the mechanics prior to the walkout.
Goodrich Corp. was selected by China Cargo Airlines to supply the main deck and lower lobe cargo handling systems for its two new 747-400ERFs. The Goodrich cargo system includes the mechanical system, power drive units, electrical control system and floor panels. The aircraft will be delivered to China Cargo in July 2006 and August 2007.
Shandong Airlines' application to operate flights to Hong Kong and Macau was approved by CAAC. Shandong operates a fleet of 737-300s and CRJ200s/700s and has 737-700/-800s on order. It serves 43 domestic destinations and Singapore.
