Mechtronix said its Ascent FFS X 737-800 simulator received Level D certification by CAAC. The unit is installed at the Flight Simulator Training Center of Civil Aviation Flight University in Guanghan, Sichuan Province.
CSA Czech Airlines will end its Prague-Newark route by the end of October but continue to operate A310 services to New York JFK. Separately, the airline said it expanded its e-ticket facilities for travel agents in the UK with Amadeus and Galileo. Sabre will come online Sept. 15 and Worldspan Oct. 1.
Cabin staff at North American Airlines voted to be represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Of 229 eligible voters, 118 (52%) voted to join the Teamsters.
KLM appointed Peter T.M. Elbers senior VP-corporate communications effective Nov.1. He replaces Jan Christiaan Hellendoorn, who took up a new position as head of communications at Albert Heijn.
United Airlines flew 10.4 billion RPMs in August, down 4.4% compared to the year-ago period, as a 12% decline in domestic traffic offset double-digit gains in Latin America and the Pacific. Capacity dropped 5.6% to 12.3 billion ASMs owing to a 14% decrease in domestic ASMs. The domestic market represented 60% of UA capacity in the month, down from 66% in August 2004. System load factor was a record 84.8%, up 1 point. EasyJet carried 2.9 million passengers in August, up 18% on the year-ago period. Load factor slipped 0.2 point to 88.4%.
Skyways Aviation arranged the sale of three Saab 340As to Nordic Solutions AB of Sweden, which will operate them on a newly established Nordic Solutions Air Services AOC in Lithuania. All three will be converted to freighters.
The airline industry's legal challenge to the European Commission's new passenger rights legislation requiring cash compensation for delayed and cancelled flights suffered a major defeat yesterday when the Advocate General to the European Court of Justice rejected in their entirety the arguments that were put forth by IATA and the European Low Fare Airline Assn. The case had been referred to the European Court of Justice by the UK High Court, where the original challenge was heard.
European Commission reiterated its goal of creating a Europewide blacklist of unsafe airlines and said it "hopes for a political agreement on the common criteria, the EU blacklist, and the EU-wide ban by the end of the year." France, Belgium and Switzerland recently introduced blacklists of banned airlines on a website open to public consultation, while the UK already had such a list. However, not all European countries feel compelled to follow suit. "It is necessary to go beyond national blacklists," the EC said following a meeting of its Aviation Safety Committee Wednesday.
US Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta late Wednesday reportedly floated the idea that the Bush Administration is mulling a temporary lifting of the 7.5% domestic ticket tax to help airlines offset the cost of fuel. According to JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker, US carriers would save $4 billion on an annual basis. "This could potentially alter the bankruptcy probability currently ascribed to Delta and Northwest while moving AMR and Continental close to breakeven at near-current fuel prices," Baker said in a report.
Italian Civil Aviation Authority ENAC suspended Tuninter's authority to operate to Italy after the continuing investigation into the Aug. 6 crash of one of the airline's ATR 72s revealed that the turboprop had been fitted with a fuel gauge for the smaller ATR 42. "If it is proved that the fuel gauge was not the one prescribed for this plane, that means to say that the company has not respected quality norms," ENAC Chairman Vito Riggio said. The Tunisian aircraft went down in the Mediterranean after both engines quit, killing 16 people ( ATWOnline, Aug. 9).
Mercator will provide passenger revenue accounting for Virgin Nigeria under an outsourcing contract announced by the Dubai-based IT division of Emirates Group. The Lagos-based airline is 49% owned by Virgin Atlantic Airways with 51% held by 20 Nigerian institutional investors.
Amadeus was selected yesterday to provide the Common IT Platform for passenger service systems for the Star Alliance. The multiyear selection process was managed and decided by Lufthansa and United Airlines, the carriers that will be the first Star members to migrate to Amadeus's next-generation Altea platform, which also has been chosen by a number of non-Star airlines.
UK and India officially signed a bilateral air services treaty replacing the one dating to 1951. The bilateral formalizes new traffic rights that will allow UK airlines to operate 56 services per week between London Heathrow and Delhi or Mumbai, 14 weekly services from the UK to Bangalore and to Chennai and seven weekly services to each or any other destination in India by the end of next year. Indian airlines can operate a similar number of services on routes between Heathrow and Delhi or Mumbai and may provide unlimited service to other UK destinations.
Lufthansa Cargo plans to raise prices on some routes out of Germany. The increases start Oct. 1 and mostly will be 3%-5%, though the hike on some routes may be higher. The carrier raised fuel surcharges 11% to 50 euro cents per kilo Monday.
British Airways is increasing the fuel surcharge on its long-haul flights from £24 to £30 per sector (£60 per roundtrip) from Sept. 12. Fuel surcharges on short-haul flights will remain unchanged at £8 per sector (£16 return). Earlier this week, Virgin Atlantic Airways announced it is raising its fuel surcharge on tickets sold in the UK to £30 per flight.
Northwest Airlines and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. were set to resume federally mediated negotiations yesterday, but earlier in the week the carrier warned the union that it may begin hiring permanent replacement workers as early as Sept. 13 if employees do not return or it does not reach a new agreement with the union. Northwest has been operating with a mix of supervisory staff, temporary replacements and third-party providers carrying on the work done by 4,000 striking AMFA mechanics and aircraft cleaners. In a letter to AMFA head O. V.
Bombardier opened a new spare parts distribution center adjacent to Chicago O'Hare that will consolidate facilities in Detroit and Wichita and streamline the delivery of spares to customers in North America. The 238,000-sq.-ft. center is being operated in partnership with Caterpillar Logistics Services. "They have the infrastructure, knowledge and systems we need to run our business," said Bombardier VP-Parts and Logistics Desmond Bell at an opening ceremony this week in Chicago. A similar Caterpillar-run facility is scheduled to open later this year in Frankfurt.
ANA customers by the end of September will be able to use a single e-ticket when traveling on ANA and connecting to flights of any of the 11 Star partner airlines. Currently, ANA e-tickets are valid for connections on nine Star carriers: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Asiana, Austrian Airlines, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines. Lufthansa and Varig will be added by month's end.
Air France-KLM Group said August passenger traffic increased 8.1% compared to the year-ago period to 17.3 billion RPKS on 5.1% higher capacity of 20.5 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2.4 points to 84.1%. The group carried more than 6 million passengers in the month, up 6.9% over August 2004. The European network remained "particularly buoyant," with traffic increasing 7.4% on a 1.5% rise in capacity and load factor improving 4 points to 72.8%. Cargo traffic climbed 3.2% on a 7% hike in capacity, pushing load factor down 2.2 points to 60.9%.
The European Commission published its long-awaited rules on aid to airlines starting up new routes from regional airports, generally defined as those having an annual passenger volume of under 5 million. The new guidelines will, according to the EC, guarantee "equal treatment for public and private airports and ensure that airlines receiving aid are not unduly favored." Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said the Commission "wishes to encourage the development of regional airports and personal mobility."
US Dept. of Transportation yesterday issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require US airlines and non-US carriers operating to and from the US to provide medical oxygen "without charge" to passengers who need it. The proposed rule would apply to passenger carriers operating at least one aircraft with more than 60 seats.
Aug. 14 crash of a Helios Air 737-300 occurred owing to a series of errors and miscues that will likely have human factors experts studying it for years. According to a report in the International Herald Tribune that cites several people "connected with the investigation," the problem began during an overnight maintenance check in which a technician apparently left a "pressurization controller rotary knob" out of place. The cockpit crew did not discover the mistake during their pre-flight check and the cabin failed to pressurize after takeoff.
Olympic Airlines reported that revenue and passenger traffic increased in the first seven months of 2005 compared to the year-ago period. Revenue rose 14.6 % to €298.6 million ($372.4 million) on a 3.6% gain in passengers to 3.34 million. Results were achieved with four fewer aircraft as the fleet dropped to 40 from 44.
B/E Aerospace was selected by Connexion by Boeing to provide integration, certification and kit production of inflight high-speed Internet service for 777s and 767s.
