Australia’s Alligator Airways remains suspended and grounded by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) as it continues to investigate “a range” of safety issues.
Lufthansa (LH) Group is implementing several measures to improve the group’s efficiency, including streamlining its fleet and better integrating its business units . Speaking to ATW June 1 during the inaugural Boeing 747-8I Frankfurt-Washington Dulles flight, LH chairman and CEO Christoph Franz said LH wants to “retain our position as the aviation powerhouse of Europe.” One measure includes better integration of its business units, he said. LH will also streamline its fleet, which Franz said has been too complex in the past.
The European Commission (EC) is recommending the adoption of ICAO’s so-called "balanced approach" to replace existing regulation on noise management at the region’s airports. At Thursday’s Council of EU Transport Ministers, the EC recommended that the ICAO standards and EU best practice in noise management become European law in order to even out disparities between states and ensure that certain processes are adhered to where measures are taken to mitigate air traffic noise.
Mediated talks between American Airlines (AA) and its pilots on a new labor pact, which took place June 4-7 under the supervision of a judge, are slated to continue the week of June 10 as the sides seek to avoid a bankruptcy-court imposed solution later this month.
Alaska Airlines will launch 5X-weekly San Diego-Orlando, Fla. Boeing 737-800 service Oct. 11, daily Seattle-San Antonio service Sept. 17 and daily Portland, Ore.-Washington National service Aug. 28. Silver Airways will launch 19X-weekly Jacksonville-Tampa, Fla. service Aug. 13 and will operate daily service to Lewisburg, W.V. from Washington Dulles and Atlanta May 1-Oct. 31, becoming 6X-weekly Nov. 1-April 30.
The air navigation service providers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary have contracted air traffic management consultants Austrian Product Assurance Co. (APAC) and Helios to provide project management services to the Functional Airspace Block Central Europe (FAB CE) initiative through the rest of the year.
International Airlines Group (IAG), parent company of British Airways and Iberia, has completed the sale of British Midland International’s bmi regional to Sector Aviation Holdings (SAH), a group of Scottish business investors.
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) has awarded aircraft type approval to Bombardier's Q400 turboprop to operate in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Embraer has seen a few short-term deferrals—but not cancellations—on deliveries despite the market downturn, according to Embraer president-commercial aviation Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva.
Changi Airport Group (CAG), operator of Singapore Changi (SIN), and Narita International Airport Corp. (NAA), operator of Tokyo Narita (NRT), signed a memorandum of understanding calling for more cooperation. “The MOU reaffirms the strategic relationship between the two airports to develop and expand the global air transport network, and provide high quality services to the users of both Changi and Narita Airport,” a joint press release said.
Virgin Australia (DJ) has launched an eight-week biodiesel trial in a baggage tug and push-back vehicle at Brisbane Domestic Airport. The biodiesel blend is derived from tallow and used cooking oil (20:80 conventional petrodiesel); it is produced by Ecotech Biodiesel in Queensland.
Flight operations at Manchester Airport (MAN) returned to normal Thursday following a disruption of fuel supply from the Essar refinery caused by “production problems” the day before.
Airports of Thailand (AOT) have confirmed they are in negotiations with 10 airlines to see them return to Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport (DMK), which closed for commercial flights in 2006. “We will announce when we get a final announcement,” an unnamed AOT official told ATW, declining to give further details. AOT is reportedly offering up to 30% off current landing and parking fees, as well as 30% discount on space rental and counter service fees, from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2013.
France’s Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS) will this summer be the first airport to trial SIM-based Near Field Communication (NFC), allowing passengers to pass through various control points and gates using only their mobile phones. Using the security of the SIM card, 50 selected passengers will trial the new service on BlackBerry smartphones, as part of a joint undertaking between TLS, IT specialist SITA, Orange Business Services and BlackBerry.
The opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) has been delayed again, this time to March 17, 2013, to allow more time to complete fire safety systems, the supervisory board announced. BER was originally scheduled to open in June, a date that was then postponed to August because of technical issues concerning fire protection installations ( ATW Daily News, May 9).
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) submitted its project profile to Hong Kong director of environmental protection (DEP) to add a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) ( ATW Daily News, April 5). The submission marks the launch of the project’s statutory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process and follows government approval in principle for HKG to expand to a three-runway operation.
Abu Dhabi Airports Co. (ADAC) has selected a consortium made up of local firm Arabtec Construction, Turkey’s TAV and Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) as the preferred bidder for the construction of the new midfield terminal building (MTB) at Abu Dhabi International (AUH).
The Indian minister of civil aviation and Air India (AI) management have announced a contingency plan to help the airline resume full operations after an ongoing pilot strike has crippled the airline.
