Malaysia Airlines and Air Mauritius strengthened their codesharing partnership yesterday with the signing of a new agreement that expands the previous accord covering the Kuala Lumpur-Mauritius route to beyond destinations in Australia and Asia. In a second stage, MAS will have the opportunity to add its code to Air Mauritius flights connecting in Mauritius to selected destinations in the Indian Ocean.
New runways at Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles and Seattle-Tacoma International opened yesterday in time for the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period. According to the US Dept. of Transportation, the runways will allow "for an additional 330,000 takeoffs and landings each year." Cost of the runways was more than $2 billion, including $643 million in federal Airport Improvement Program funds. The opening of the ORD runway, 9L-27R, is a major milestone in the O'Hare Modernization Program and is expected to offer increased capacity when landing west.
Japan Airlines will launch daily 767 Osaka Kansai-Seoul Gimpo flights from Jan. 10 as it lowers from 21 to 14 the number of weekly flights it operates between KIX and Seoul Incheon. It additionally will add its code to daily A300 KIX-GMP Korean Air flights from Dec. 1.
US FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive late Tuesday requiring inspection of all 737NG center wing tank fuel pump autoshutoff wiring systems within 48 hr., warning that "incorrect wiring" could lead to "localized overheating of parts inside the fuel pump [that] could produce an ignition source inside the fuel tank." The agency said it received a report of "failure of the left-hand fuel pump of the center wing tank to shut off after being selected 'off' by the flightcrew during flight" on a 737-700 and subsequently the failure was found on two additional 737NGs.
Kilfrost said Flybe selected its deicing fluid DFsustain featuring an eco-friendly Susterra Propanediol glycol capable of handling temperatures to -40ÚC.
Shenzhen Airlines plans to launch Kunming Airlines in January in the capital of Yunnan Province. Preparations for Kunming Airlines' launch have been underway since 2004 and the carrier gained CAAC approval in 2005. But for various reasons, the preparations were suspended for some time before being revived earlier this year when Shenzhen Airlines came forward to say it would be the controlling stakeholder. It also will provide aircraft and MRO support.
Qantas's A380 flights into Los Angeles International are going well, Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsay said yesterday in Washington. "We can handle the A380 now," she told the International Aviation Club. However, LAX has made certain adjustments owing to the size of the aircraft: "We do basically shut down [other] operations to have a takeoff or landing of the A380," she said, adding that each arriving and departing A380 flight also receives a ground escort to and from the gate.
Horizon Air revealed that it is in discussions with Bombardier about pushing back deliveries of the 15 Q400s it ordered in April 2007 that were originally scheduled to begin delivering last month. Parent Alaska Air Group said in a regulatory filing that it is interested in "retiming" deliveries owing to capacity cuts; its 2009 first quarter capacity is expected to be down more than 14% year-over-year and full year 2009 capacity is slated to be 9% lower.
Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it has submitted a $7.5 million bid to gain the rights to 14 New York LaGuardia slots--seven roundtrips--formerly used by ATA Airlines, which declared bankruptcy and shut down in April.
Ryanair is threatening to close all of its routes to/from Fuerteventura from Jan. 31 unless local tourism group AIE honors the commercial agreement it entered into with the LCC to promote Fuerteventura as a tourist destination. The airline confirmed ongoing legal action against AIE and its individual members for breach of agreement. Ryanair began flying to FUE in 2006 and currently serves nine international destinations from the airport: Birmingham, Bremen, Dublin, Dusseldorf Weeze, East Midlands, Frankfurt Hahn, Liverpool, London Stansted and Shannon.
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals won a deal with Star Airlines Macedonia to provide ground handling at Hong Kong International. The carrier offers once-weekly charter service between Istanbul, Almaty, Hong Kong, Sharjah and Lagos.
Assn. of European Airlines adopted "The Hague Declaration" at its Presidents' Assembly in The Hague last week, urging national governments and EU institutions to better value the airline industry and not unduly impose restrictions based on environmental concerns. "Aviation is a staple requirement for European mobility, prosperity and jobs. Especially now, in the current severe economic downturn, the sustainability of European aviation is at stake," AEA Chairman and KLM President and CEO Peter Hartman said.
International premium passenger numbers declined 8% in September compared to the same month in 2007, "reflecting the severity of the economic downturn," according to IATA. This followed a 1.5% year-over-year decrease in August. Routes within the Middle East plunged 13.8% in September. IATA said Middle East premium traffic "had been booming at a rate of 20% a year up to August on the back of the economic activity generated by strong oil revenues in the region." Premium travel within the Far East dropped 12.1%, following on a 7.8% fall in August.
Lion Air signed an MOU with ATR for 10 firm ATR 72-500s with options for 10 more. The deal is valued at more than $380 million including options. Deliveries are slated to start in 2009. The 72-seat turboprops will be operated by Lion Air subsidiary Wings Air, which is aiming to develop a low-cost network to feed Lion Air's major hubs.
BAE Systems announced a lease deal for three BAe 146-200s for operation with Air Congo Ltd., bringing to eight the number of 146-200s the Brazzaville-based airline will be operating.
Thales was selected by Airbus to supply the head-up display for the A350 XWB as a customer option. Thales said its HUD will support features such as Enhanced Vision Systems "and potentially Surface Guidance Systems and Synthetic Vision Systems." The new HUD has been redesigned with improved head clearance, "and the graphical generation is embedded within the Display Units, allowing a simplified architecture for the overall cockpit solution." This higher level of integration means a weight saving of around 16 kg. in a dual installation, it said.
EasyJet's profit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 dropped 45% to £83.2 million ($123.4 million) from £152.3 million the year before amid an escalating dispute between founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the LCC's board.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday said he "spoke about Alitalia" with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Trieste and claimed they "very much agree in looking with favor on the possibility of collaboration between Alitalia and Lufthansa and we hope it will happen," the Associated Press reported. AZ reportedly is cancelling up to 100 flights per day as wildcat strikes continue in protest of Compagnia Aerea Italia's €1 billion ($1.25 billion) takeover ( ATWOnline, Nov. 14).
US federal court sided with United Airlines and imposed a preliminary injunction against UA pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. for "instigating a sickout among United's junior pilots in July" in violation of labor laws ( ATWOnline, July 31, 2007), ordering ALPA to cease similar activities.
Lufthansa will reduce the workforce, including management, at its CityLine subsidiary by 20% (500 positions) by 2010 and cull 14 CRJ200s from the regional's fleet of 72 aircraft, an LH spokesperson confirmed yesterday to ATWOnline. The company hopes to make the cuts without layoffs and will try to offer displaced workers positions elsewhere with Lufthansa Group.
Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn. President Carl Kuwitzky last week told union members that he "cannot support" the carrier's new codeshare agreements with Mexico's Volaris and Canada's WestJet. In a letter obtained by the Dallas Morning News, he said that the alliances have "the potential to severely affect the career of all pilots on our seniority list." Regarding Volaris in particular ( ATWOnline, Nov.
CSA Czech Airlines reported a pre-tax profit through the first nine months of 2008 of $22.1 million, more than double the $9.8 million earned in the year-ago period. Operating profit increased one-third to $39.2 million, the carrier said. "We are in very good financial shape compared to comparable competitors," President Radomir Lasak said. "We expect a positive financial result at the end of the year." Revenue rose 28.3% year-over-year to $1.13 billion on a 4.9% increase in passengers to 4.4 million. CSA said it expects passenger growth "to level off in the future."
President George W. Bush yesterday touted his administration's "strong record on improving air travel" and offered his "advice" on future US aviation policy, including a strong push toward satellite-based ATC, utilizing "the power of the free market" to manage congested airports and "standing side-by-side with consumers in a reasonable way. . .to make airlines more accountable."
Compass Airlines, launched by Northwest Airlines last year and now a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, named NWA VP-Regional Airline Operations Tim Campbell as president. He succeeds John Bendoraitis, who will become president of Comair.
