In the first quarterly update since the March launch of its aviation blacklist ( ATWOnline, March 23), the European Commission added four carriers. Three airlines were added because of "national measures notified by the member states." Surinam-based Blue Wing, notified by France, and Sky Gate International, licensed in Kyrgyzstan and notified by the UK, are subject to a total ban. Air West, based in Sudan and notified by Germany, is subject to operating restrictions.
Luxair ordered three 70-seat Q400s from Bombardier, worth $75.5 million at list prices. It also took three options. The company said last month that streamlining its fleet with the introduction of 70/90-seat aircraft was part of its effort to return its airline unit to profitability ( ATWOnline, May 16). It will take delivery of the Q400s next year and use them mainly on routes to London, Paris, Frankfurt and Munich.
AirTran Airways said glitches following a planned Monday night upgrade to its internal reservations and check-in systems caused long lines and delays yesterday at airports, primarily Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta. The carrier said "most" of the issues were resolved late yesterday but that the systems still were "experiencing periodic outages" and passengers should allow more time for check-in.
Southwest Airlines 737 scheduled to land at Chicago Midway 9 min. prior to the 737-700 that overran the runway last December diverted after its crew determined that the wintry conditions were too unsafe for landing, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed yesterday. The NTSB started a two-day hearing on the Dec.
Malaysia Airlines is expected to cancel its A380 commitment, according to an airline source. Speaking to ATWOnline, the source said MAS is close to canceling its order for six aircraft. This website understands from another source in Toulouse that at least one other airline is examining options to cancel its order. Before the delay announced last week by Airbus ( ATWOnline, June 14), MAS had been scheduled to take delivery of its first A380 in July 2007 and its sixth in May 2009.
SkyTeam members except for Aeroflot yesterday received a Statement of Objections from the European Commission that the alliance said is a "normal step in a Commission competition investigation." The EC has been reviewing the alliance since its 2000 launch and said yesterday that it "does not raise objections to the alliance as a whole but has concerns about a limited number of routes" on which SkyTeam cooperation "may have a negative effect on competition." It did not identify the routes in question, but said the "more problematic" ones include transatlantic and intra-EU routes and thos
Lufthansa Technik joined the Airbus MRO Network, which was launched in March 2005 and now includes 14 members. "The new arrangements will simplify and accelerate the exchange of technical data. Combined with our strong engineering resources, there will be a further increase in the efficiency of MRO services for Airbus airplanes," LHT Executive Board Chairman August Henningsen said.
Great Wall Airlines, a joint venture among China Great Wall Industry Corp. (51%), Singapore Airlines Cargo (25%) and Dahlia Investments (24%), a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, started a six-times-weekly freighter service from Shanghai to Amsterdam. The cargo carrier based at Shanghai Pudong initially will operate two 747-400Fs. Services to India, South Korea and Singapore will be launched in coming weeks.
Delta Air Lines filed documents yesterday with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to terminate its pilots' pension plan. The move, which Delta said is necessary to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, was not unexpected following the pilots' May 31 ratification of a concessions deal that will save the airline $280 million annually and that included incentives for pilots if they do not oppose the pension termination ( ATWOnline, June 1).
Air France will operate thrice-weekly flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Chennai from Oct. 30 using its own aircraft. It currently codeshares on the route with Delta Air Lines. AF's flights will be aboard a two-class A340 and also will be sold by Delta. In addition, AF will increase capacity to Bangalore from Oct. 30, offering seven weekly flights from CDG instead of five. The Paris-Mumbai route will use 310-seat 777-300s instead of the 270-seat dash 200s operated last winter.
Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee said yesterday that it had decoded the flight data recorder of the Armavia A320 that crashed into the Black Sea early last month ( ATWOnline, May 4) but the analysis uncovered no anomaly that could have caused the accident that killed all 113 passengers and crew onboard. The aircraft originating from Yerevan crashed in heavy rain and low visibility as it attempted a second approach to its intended destination of Sochi Airport.
ANA and Japan Airlines face a limited 24-hr. strike on June 21 by some pilot unions "over dissatisfaction with the management stance on career progression," among other issues. International flights will not be affected but up to 25% of domestic flights for both airlines will be impacted.
Qatar Airways and Asiana Airlines signed a codeshare agreement under which Asiana will place its code on Qatar's Doha-Seoul flights. QR operates a three-times-weekly service between the capitals via Shanghai. It will add a fourth weekly flight this summer. Delta Air Lines will launch daily New York JFK-Mumbai flights from Nov. 1 aboard 777-200ERs and four-times-weekly JFK-Accra flights from Dec. 11 aboard 767-300ERs. With the start of Mumbai service, it will discontinue the JFK-Paris Charles de Gaulle-Mumbai flights it now operates.
Bombardier said it will stay with the proposed CSeries program at least through this year, with a scaled-back team of engineers working on technology development issues for the 110/130-seat jet and a concerted effort to boost interest in the aircraft from international customers.
The European Commission tabled two initiatives to put "a legally sound framework" in place for the transfer of PNR data to the United States. Last month, the European Court of Justice ruled the current agreement dating from May 2004 was "founded on an inappropriate legal basis" and gave the EU and Washington until Sept. 30 to negotiate a replacement ( ATWOnline, May 31).
WestJet is consolidating its domestic and international charter operations at Toronto Pearson on Concourse C in Terminal 3 effective June 16. The airline operates more than 300 flights per week at the airport and said it represents 86.9% of enplaned passengers in T3.
Alitalia and Meridiana signed a codeshare agreement for the Rome-Cagliari route. Alitalia will add its code to Meridiana's flights while Meridiana will lease an AZ aircraft to operate on the route. Alitalia lost the right to fly to Cagliari and Olbia in April because it applied for renewal after a deadline set by ENAC. The three-year concession was awarded to Air One and Meridiana. Separately, Alitalia flew 3.35 billion RPKs in May, a 2.3% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.9% to 4.55 billion ASKs and load factor climbed 3 points to 73.6%.
Re-regulating the US airline industry in order to avoid future pension defaults by airlines would reverse the benefits to consumers of deregulation "and would not save airline pensions," according to a new study by the US Government Accountability Office, the research and investigation arm of Congress.
AirBridge Cargo added a second weekly IL-76 freighter operation to connect with its international services from its hub in Krasnoyarsk to Sakhalin to satisfy demand from the oil and gas industry in the region and opened an office on the island as well. It launched a weekly service to Sakhalin from Frankfurt and Amsterdam in March last year.
Air Berlin is expanding its presence in Zurich, turning it into a minihub for flights to Spain and Portugal. From Nov. 4, the carrier will start weekly flights from ZRH to Las Palmas, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Madeira. A spokesperson confirmed to ATWOnline that flights will be fed by services from Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Vienna. Air Berlin will add a third daily flight from Zurich to Hamburg on Nov 1. It has become the No. 2 carrier at ZRH behind Swiss International Air Lines, serving 700,000 passengers in 2005.
EgyptAir is looking for ways to increase its capital by 20% by year end to finance fleet expansion. According to the Arab Air Carriers Organization, the airline intends to add another 12 aircraft by 2016, a mix of short- and long-haul types. It ordered six 737-800s plus six options in 2005 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 10, 2005) and plans to take delivery of all 12 by 2010, increasing its fleet to 52 aircraft.
